Jen is a Scrapbook SuperWoman!

Hey, everyone!

Jen is into digital scrapbooking (creating scrapbook pages on the computer) and uses a company called Scrapbooks to Share to print off her pages to put into the actual scrapbook. Well, she wrote in a testimonial to the website, and they put her on their front page! Here's the link to the website where Jen's pages are shown off: http://sbtoshare.com/

See the testimonial at the bottom of the home page and be sure to click on the "Printing" page to see one half way down the page!

My wife is an awesome digital scrapbooker!

~AG

We finally saw Santa!

Well, we finally visited Santa Claus. It's never been a big deal to either me or Aaron to have our kids visit Santa ... the malls are so commercial and the pictures are outrageously expensive! And I don't want to push Santa at Christmas anyways. Last year, I asked the kids if they wanted to visit Santa and they said "no." This year I asked if they wanted to visit Santa and they said "yes." So we went to the Bucks County Visitor Center, visited Santa, Caleb told Santa he wanted a dragon toy and Ellie said she wanted a Tiana Polly Pocket and Charlotte barbie, we took our own pictures (none of which turned out fabulous, but then, do any candid pictures of young children turn out fabulous?). We then looked at all the Christmas trees on display and had a great time! All in all, I think it turned out nice. The kids got to visit Santa but it was low-key and relaxing. And the trees on display were beautiful!

The kids are in bed, Aaron is having fun with the guys at church watching football (alas to the Metrodome!!! How sad! It's such a part of the Mpls skyline!), and I scrapbooked. A relaxing end to the day. Well, mostly. I really need to clean our room! Off to do that now!


~JG

Kraiz

Just finished Kraiz scrapbook pages. Yeah for Grandpa Dick with a nice camera! Now off to unload the dishwasher. Booooo. Well, ok, Praise God for dishwashers!

~JG

Kraiz

Yes, today was our Kraiz performance in "big" church! The first time we've gotten to see Caleb sing! Hurrah! I was so excited! And he did great. The entire choir did great - the actors did great. There wasn't any snaffoo - no mics fell off, no one fainted (like last year), everyone remembered their lines ... it was all lovely! Ellie got up with Dylan towards the end to sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" and she actually sang! (I was a bit worried after yesterday's practice where she perfected a petulant and very silent pout during the entire song ... she "wasn't ready" ... but she sang great today! She didn't even flash the audience with her spinny dress.) Alas, we got nothing on camera worthy of America's Funniest Home Video. I guess that $100,000 grand prize will have to wait.

Here are some pictures (thanks to Grandpa Dick's awesome camera!) ...

Caleb singing - very seriously.

Ellie and Dylan singing "Happy Birthday Jesus"

More singing "Happy Birthday Jesus" (and Caleb is Joseph - he only poked Jesus' head once trying to make him comfy in the manger - Caleb and Isabella are both very "Type A" - they were both very responsible parents!)

Afterwards

Wait Caleb and Eric were doing after Kraiz while we cleaned up and put away mics and such ... ahh to be young again ... and able to fit under pews again ...

Now to RELAX!!!

~JG

Charlie Brown Christmas

I read this on Focus on the Family and thought it was so true!

By Jim Daly

I was only four years old on the night of Thursday, December 9, 1965 (45 years ago!), but to this day, I can tell you where I was and what I was doing - watching the debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas on CBS in our southern California home.

It was an instant hit, much to the surprise of network executives, but surely not to me. (I assumed the whole world was watching!) Creator Charles Schulz argued with the bosses at CBS over a host of issues. At the time of its creation, studio personnel thought it was too religious (Linus quotes Luke 2:8-14) and too amateur (all the voices were of kids, not professional actors). They also believed the theme music was too contemporary for kids’ tastes (Vince Guaraldi’s jazz soundtrack is now a classic and instantly recognizable by all) and that the lack of a laugh track left the production feeling flat and too contemplative, but in an overly simplistic kind of way.

Isn’t it interesting that all the things we like about it are the very things Hollywood didn’t?

It's a miracle!

Aaron put Ellie to bed tonight and this was their conversation ...

Ellie: I want to listen to the CD about the White Witch and about Aslan the lion ...

Aaron: You mean, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?

Ellie: Yeah. I just can't say Wardrobe.

Aaron: You just said it! You just said wardrobe.

Ellie: (pause) HaHa! It's a MIRACLE! It's a miracle of Jesus!


Gotta love those little unexpected miracles whenever they show up! Ha!

~JG

Star Wars Action Figures + Cheerios + Overhead Transparency = Zacchaeus story

I couldn't sleep last night, so as I lay awake, I pondered what new way to tell the Zacchaeus story. And I came up with the combination of Star Wars action figures, cereal and an overhead transparency. OF COURSE! The perfect combination! And what's better ... Caleb agreed to help me tell the story! Awesome!

Point of the story: Show how Zacchaeus didn't just say he'd change ... he did it. Good intentions are not enough.

So, the day started with the kids asking what the overhead projector was. Man, I feel so old. They probably think a slide projector is a historical artifact.

Anyways, I started the story with Yoda as Zacchaeus, laid on top of the overhead (so we could see his shadow up on the stage screen), and showed how Zacchaeus, as a tax collector, was stealing money from people. He charged Han Solo 1 silver coin (or cheerio), but took another silver coin (or cheerio) for himself. Then Caleb got to eat the Cheerios. Then Yoda charged the Storm Trooper 2 cheerios of tax, and took 2 cheerios for himself. And Caleb ate. Then Yoda charged Leia 5 cheerios of tax, and stole 5 cheerios for himself. And Caleb ate.

Then I briefly told the action part of the story, we all sang the song, and we got to the part where Zacchaeus changed. I told the kids, "Something happened in Zacchaeus's heart. He didn't want to steal anymore. In fact, he told Jesus that he was going to give back all that he stole!"

Immediately, I heard Caleb mutter under his breath, "I don't know how I'm gonna get all those Cheerios out of my belly ..."

And I lost it. I just started laughing. Really laughing. And everyone looked at me like I was nuts, 'cuz they couldn't hear what Caleb had said. So of course, I had to tell them. And then they laughed. But, I think they all laughed more at me laughing than what Caleb actually had said. I laughed so hard I started to cry. Ahhhhh ... it's been awhile since a good guffaw like that. Well, I did get my composure and finished the story. Zacchaeus paid back 4 times what he had stolen. So Yoda went to Han Solo and paid him back 4 cheerios (Caleb counted them all out from his bowl) ... gave 8 to Storm Trooper ... and then we just dumped the bowl on Leia. Then Caleb got to eat them all again. The Cheerios, not the action figures.

It was a fun story. I like working with Caleb! He's funny! He is a great gift from God!

That just goes to show you ... you never know what you can do with 3 weird items. Try it. Pick out 3 weird things in your house and just see what story you can tell! It might just make you laugh!

~JG