Monday, December 27, 2010

The "W" in Christmas

I stole this from someone else's blog. I love it.



The "W" in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas. My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love." The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

Monday, December 13, 2010

Christmas festivities


I just love watching Raegan dance. She is such a natural on stage. She gets that from Russ. She gets a lot of things from her daddy. The ability to pick up on things so quickly and making them look so easy. I wish I could say that it is me--BUT nope all Russ--and I am so grateful. She LOVES to dance. This year she was able to be in the Christmas Spectacular at the town's 12 days of Christmas program. It was a lot of fun for her. She loves getting to wear make-up and getting her hair curled. She is just too stinkin cute. We just love her. *She is hard to see in the video. Her face is all white and that big black speaker is right in front of my camera. But she is the one in the front row on the far right. (the cutest one)

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Gingerbread houses with Ninna







We are so lucky to have our Ninna live so close to us. She is such a blessing to our family. Russ and I can go out when we need/want and we always know Ninna will be there to watch our kids. And love them as much as we do. But that is not the only reason we feel so blessed to have her. She loves my kids so much. She is wonderful with them. The girls LOVE to sleep over at Ninna's. She is soooo patient with them. Last night Russ and I were SUPPOSED to go out so Ninna said she would help the kids make gingerbread houses with graham crackers. The kids were so thrilled. They love projects like this. Reese was so fun to watch. She placed each little nerd and piece of candy in the perfect place. Thanks Ninna for helping them and being so wonderful. We love you.