Not My Child Monday

I most certainly am not the mother who is linking up to a not my child Monday on a Tuesday because I most certainly did not have time to even think yesterday.

My dear daughter would never have green paint up her nose since she decided to "scratch" it after finger painting. She also would most certainly not lie to me about said '"scratching" despite the huge green streak coming out of her nose.

My darling son would not enjoy being petted yesterday by an African American boy at the toy store. The boy thought apparently that white hair was really soft and yelled to his sister to come and "pet" my son. My son would not be the one that screamed in anger when the boy stopped petting him. And I would not be the mother who didn't know exactly what to say about the whole incident.

My daughter would not be the one who asked after church last week "does Jesus have a potty" when in fact she really meant, "does this church have a restroom?" She also would not be the one who when told that she should listen and obey if Jesus was in her heart that asked what rules he would have if he were in her belly instead.

My son would most certainly not be the 8 month old who decided to try and eat a leaf last week and got ticked off when his mommy decided that it wouldn't be a good idea. And my daughter would not be the one with a black eye in her Christmas photo's since she decided to take a swan dive out of her booster seat face first into the table.

And finally, my children would not be the ones who have fevers and coughs the week of Christmas and are messing up all my attempts to shop!! How dare they?!

Pondering Christms more

I came across this passage this week and thought it was a good fit with what I had already been thinking about. How amazing must it have been for Mary and Joseph to try to figure out how exactly to deal with this holy child. How their minds must have been swirling with confusion and trust issues. Yet with very little direction they dove in believing God's message and taking on the challenges that lie ahead. How utterly amazing that God himself would come down knowing full well what the ending of his story would be. Willing to die and deal with all the mess that is the human life.... for us!

"Mary didn't know whether to give him milk or give him praise, but she gave him both since he was, as near as she could figure, hungry and holy.

Joseph didn't know whether to call him Junior or Father. But in the end he called him Jesus, since that's what the angel had said and since he didn't have the faintest idea what to name a God he could cradle in his arms....

Don't you think...their heads tilted and their minds wondered, 'What in the world are you doing, God?' Or, better phrased, 'God, what are you doing in the world?'" --Max Lucado

Thanks for noticing....

Thanks for noticing that Hannah looks like she's put some weight on. It is encouraging to hear that...and not just from 1 but from multiple people! However the outfit is what did it... 3 layers and a bulky Gap sweater. The scale is still holding strong at 22lbs fully dressed. I can get her to hit 22.5 if she's just eaten and has shoes on! HA! She actually is looking more scrawny if that is possible since she is starting to stretch out. This as always is a prayer request- GAIN WEIGHT (if only her mother had that problem!). We don't go back to the doctor until her 3 year visit in March but it will be a source of discussion you can bet.... as she has not gained anything still! In the meantime, I will continue to take pictures of her in this outfit.... since it makes her look a little more plump and chalk it up to good cooking! HA!!

We have also decided that she might be a member of Team Edward.... as of late she has not wanted to eat or sleep, and she is so pasty white.... a vampire might be a good career path for her! Just Kidding! We actually think that the 2 year molars might FINALLY be coming in.

Kid's Christmas Party

Our mom's group had a Christmas party last week. We went to the Durham Science Center and went on the Santa Train. It was awesome! We had a pot luck style dinner together and then sat on Santa's lap and got a present specifically for them.
Here are the 3 amigos! These girls are best buds and go to preschool together. Here are Bethany, Hannah, and Molly waiting to see Santa!
Drew did great with Santa.... I mean two jolly fat men! Of course they would be buds! Why should I have doubted it?
Drew was AMAZED by Santa... he really was into the beard!
Hannah LOVED Santa..... even before she realized that the gift was perfect!
He knew her name, age, and where she lived.... and she was in awe! I love 2 year olds at Christmas.... soooooo much fun!

Before we got on the train to the North Pole, Hannah got her face painted for the first time.... She loved it. Unfortunately the jacket she had on rubbed it off a bit but she still was thrilled.
Here is the pony that Hannah had asked for and that Santa had brought her.
And my happy men right before bed! We had an awesome time!

Fall photo shoot

We went to the park a few days ago .... it was a beautiful fall day. Drew had his first experience in a swing.
As you can see .... he LOVED it!


Dude, can you push me?
Then we tried to get a picture of the kids.
Aren't they so sweet?

Halloween Pics..... finally!

So I uploaded some pictures FINALLY! So here they are:

As you can see Drew was a lion and Hannah was a bee. Drew of course did what I said costume wise but Hannah chose her own. This was rather a surprise since we all assumed that she would choose to be a princess...... but no she decided to be a bee!
Wasn't he the cutest little lion?!?!
Hannah really loved saying trick or treat this year. Daddy went to almost every door but by the end of the night she was askign to do it herself.... to funny!
And of course all the loot!

The years in between.....

Tonight at church we had a Christmas presentation and it was awesome. It talked about how the story of Christmas did not begin in the manger but rather Jesus was with God from the beginning. You know the whole: "In the begining there was the word and the word was God and the word was with God." Such a simple concept that I know that my head has known for a long time but tonight it made me realize how segmented my faith and beliefs are. I mean this is Christmas... it's about the birth of Christ about His begining. What do you mean he was around before? Oh you mean the trinity? Yeah well that is another part of my theology it doesn't go with the whole baby in a manger thing..... we can talk about that another time.... NOT! How simple my human mind is and how compartmentalized my beliefs are. How difficult it is for me to put it all together and see the larger picture!

You see in my head
There was the begining.
There was Adam and Eve.
There was the story of Christmas.
There was the crusifiction.
There was the ressurection.

But they are all separated by the way my mind works. I know they are on the timeline of Jesus's life and ministry but what about the daily life and the daily activities in between. I mean we all know Jesus was born in a manger, but then in my head he is suddenly a young boy and at the temple, then it fast forwards years to his ministry.

What about the years in between? Do you realize the Jesus teethed just like our children? He had to be potty trained? Do you realize that he didn't like certain foods or had certain likes and dislikes? That he had friends as a young boy and probably played in the streets with them. There were probably nights that he didn't want to go to bed? I think it's hard for me to imagine because while I know that the Word became flesh; I am also very aware that He remained without sin. It is sooooo hard for my mind to even fathom a life without sin. Somehow in my compartmentalized mind sin has become so wrapped throughout my everyday activities that I can't imagine those years in between his birth and his ministry (because I can't visualize daily activies free of sin) ..... for goodness sakes I can't even picture what a day without sin in our house would look like (an if I'm real honest it's hard to picture an hour without sin around the Page household).

So as if my brain didn't hurt enough from thinking about this then I started to think of Mary. (Ok so I heard Mary did you know? one too many times this season.) I started to think about how she delt with a child that had no sin. I mean it sounds soooooo good. Especially as I am dealing with a screaming child who refuses to eat, sleep, or do ANYTHING that I ask. I would love a sin free child.... wouldn't I? The gravity of her situation though was so extreme. To have a child who knows EVERYTHING! I mean I have one who thinks she knows everything but to actually have one. To be humbled by a mighty God and put in a place to carry the savior but then to live the ins and outs of his pain. To have your child go missing and not know where they were..... to have a child go against the grain and be despised by so many. Her motherly heart must have pained for him. To be shown daily your sin by your sinless child.... my child shows me so much of my own sin.... how much more if I actually had Jesus living out his life in my presence!

Ok- so I have a lot more to say about all this and this is jumbled at best right now but wow.... how Big of a God we serve. What an amazing story that He has wooven! To become Flesh and endure such agony and to know before time that this would be the case. To create what you know would cause you pain yet love them enough to do just that. To seek glory for yourself knowing full well that those who worship you would do so so completely imperfectly yet sacrifing yourself......

Stopping myself cause my brain hurts.... more soon!

Christmas Day Meals

So after a lot of thought and prayer, Jeff and I have decided that we are going to stay at home for sure this year on Christmas day. We want the kids to have a chance to wake up at their own house in their own bed and get to do some family traditions on Christmas day. We plan on opening presents, reading the Christmas story, baking Jesus a cake, and making snowman pancakes. We've decided that it will be a "screen-free" holiday. No tv, computer, ipod, or any other type of electronic device. We already have some ideas of things that we will be doing lined up but since it will just be the 4 of us we aren't exactly sure what we are going to eat..... seeing how one of us still is fairly toothless!
My mom always makes a huge NY strip roast and his family seemed to always have a roast chicken or turkey..... but what is going to be "Our" meal. Last year I didn't give it much thought and just threw something together, but this year I want it to start a tradition.....

Any ideas blog folks? What do you have for a Christmas day meal?

Virtual Cookie Exchange

So my friend Carrie is hosting a virtual cookie exchange. Post one of your favorite recipes and link up with us. I'm actually very excited as this is really the first year since I am married that I will be making lots of different cookies. Hannah is so in to it!

Chocolate Crackles (SUPER EASY!)
1 package Devils Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
powdered sugar
1T water
1/2 c. oil

Combine cake mix, eggs, water, and oil. Mix well. Shape dough into walnut sized balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes!

Christmas Pictures

This week was the week of Christmas pictures. On Sunday we got up early and went to get family photo's done. We got a terrific family pic and a picture of Jeff and I for the first time since we got married. I wish I could post them but the scanner isn't working.
However, Monday my friend Christine took some of the kids and they are histerical. They turned out terrific. And when you look at them all in a row you can see Drew falling and Hannah landing on him! A riot.... here are a few for you to view...

Prince of Peace

We started our advent tree in Hannah's room today. I decided to start with Prince of Peace. It seemed like a good place to start since she is all about princes and princesses. We used the verse from Isaiah.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

We talked about what a prince is and what peace means. We talked about how Jesus is the "best prince ever" and she came up with her own that she was his princess. We also talked about how God can give us peace when we are upset and how he likes it when we are content. She was so good about drawing references to playing with her toys, sharing.... I loved it! This verses will be the one that we do each night for the next 4 days. I thought it would be a great place to start since it would be repetitious and hopefully get her understanding. She already has started to memorize it.... go figure she will be better at scripture memory than her mother is or ever was!

After we prayed together I took her to school. I assumed that she would be so caught up in her light up reindeer tshirt (hey we are going to have a Santa too in this house) that she would totally foget about the tree. But as soon as I picked her up she told me that she told Ms. Trish all about the Prince of Peace! I was soooo excited and so was she. This definitely will be a great advent tradition!

Pictures will be coming soon.... we are finally starting to decorate around here!

Jesus Tree Under Construction

So it's almost finished... the preparation at least... Today I spent a large part of the day writing the names we are going to use on cardstock. Jeff and I discussed where this "tree" would be going. We really wanted it to be some place that Hannah spends time and that she can show her friends. After a lot of discussion we decided that we need a new house, HA! Well not complete Ha since it is true that we are quickly outgrowing our house but for the sake of this tree, HA! Anyway, instead I've decided that we will decorate "ornaments" on flashcards and we will post them on an empty wall in her room. That way she will wake up to it first thing in the morning and it will be a reminder to us to talk about it before bed. Basically as we do each day we will construct a paper tree that in the end will be in the shape of a tree..... the last name we will have will be on a star at the top and say "Jesus".

In short it will look like this,

Star
name
name name
name name name
name name name name
name name name name name
name name name name name name
name
name

name

Now I have to figure out how to get it to stick to the wall without peeling off the paint!

Thanks CA- for your suggestions... I overlooked so many "simple" ones in my effort! They were great!

Jesus Tree

Hannah has really started to grow in her faith in the last few months. I think she is starting to really get it.... the concept is so broad though and her little 2.5 year old mind is so fleeting that it's hard to tell. Either way she is all about some Jesus... which just makes my heart swell. She has been desiring to read her bible more and more and to pray before meals. She has been asking questions and is LOVING church! Praise God... I thought she was going to hate church forever but she FINALLY is starting to not only like it but LOVE it! (Drew of course just goes with the flow... I swear that kid is so easy to get along with!)

Anyway, this year I decided that I want to do a "Jesus Tree." Basically the idea is to create ornaments with the different names of Jesus on them. I want to do this sort of as our advent calendar in preparation for Jesus's birth. So each day while Drew naps in the mornign she and I are going to create an ornament with Jesus' name on it. I have been scowering the bible tonight looking for names of God that I felt would be simple enough for her to understand or for me to explain. I must say that it was a little more difficult than I had imagined. Don't get me wrong, I love all the names for God and have rather enjoyed my time of mediating on each in my search, but most of them seem so difficult to explain to a 2 year old. I have picked 25 that I think I can, with some divine intervention of course, explain to Hannah. I am hoping that we can make this a tradition. Now I just have to figure out how to display them and where to put a second tree!

I've listed the names I've choosen below. I am open to suggestions if you do this in your house... Please try to remember that we are doing this with a 2 year old and that I would like the scripture to back it up! Thanks for the suggestions!

Beginning and End (Rev. 22:13)
Bread of Life (John 6:35; 6:48)
Bridegroom (Mt. 9:15)
Creator (John 1:3)
Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)
Faithful Witness (Rev. 1:5)
Gate (John 10:9)
God (John 1:1; 20:28; Heb. 1:8; Rom. 9:5; 2 Pet. 1:1;1 John 5:20; etc.)
Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14)
Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23)
I Am (John 8:58)
Immanuel (Mt. 1:23)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lord (2 Pet. 2:20)
Master (Lk. 5:5; 8:24; 9:33)
Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)
Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
True Vine (John 15:1)
Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)

Prince of Peace (Isaih 9:6-7)

Everlasting Father (Isaih 9:6-7)

Long over due

This month has gone by so quickly.... it seems like only yesterday that I posted the last time. I had great intentions of adding Halloween pictures and some of our other festive fun but on the 6th we received some sad news. My grandmother, who I talked with daily, and who lived with my parents for 6+ months of the year, died suddenly in her sleep. It was very unexpected. We packed the car that day and had a whirlwind trip 10 + hours to PA for the funeral and other arrangements to get my grandfather down here. Needless to say, when we returned I was not in the mood to write right away.

It was a long and emotional week in PA and before I new it it was Thanksgiving. So here we sit.... I never finished my Disney posts, I haven't added my Halloween pictures, and I have Hannah's Thanksgiving feast at school to post too.... but all of that is on the camera and I have yet to download it. But I have some free time tonight and thought I would post.... so though it will be out of order you are somewhat caught up on our life and craziness. Hopefully I will get caught up with week on posts... although with Christmas on the horizon I can't guarantee anything!

Dougnuts for Dad's

Today at preschool was dougnuts for Dad's. Hannah was so excited for Jeff to go with her to school. She told me I wasn't allowed to come. I was to stay home with Drew and she would go and eat dougnuts. "Like a date" was what she said! So cute!
Anyway, it was also picture day at school. As the dad's pointed out, who came up with the grand idea of mixing dads, dougnuts, dress clothes, and pictures! It was a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily the Lord was smiling on us and both Hannah and Daddy remained powder sugar free for the pictures. Hannah's bow didn't make it and Daddy doesn't do hair.... but he did convince me that she looked good and he combed it??? We'll see ;) I'll post it when the pictures come out. The took individual photos, Daddy and kiddo photos, and a class photo. They were outside shots too so I hope they turn out! Here are some before they left... can you tell she was excited?

Posing with her boots! She loves them and rarely gets to wear them!


Loving the camera! This age is great for picture taking all of a sudden.

Can't control the giggles and excitement!

The duo before they left for their "date"! My favorite picture!!!



And what did Drew and I do all morning..... what else.... we rolled around on the floor! Fun times!

Harvest Party @ Preschool

Hannah's preschool celebrated with a harvest festival today. The kids had cupcakes, fruit kabobs, made spider webs, and the read a special book.

Fall @ the Science Center

Last Sunday we went to the Science Center with Molly and her family. They had just opened the new Dinosaur exhibit. The girls had a great time. The boys weren't huge fans but the survived. We will definitely be going back but most likely not until the spring.

We got there too early since it didn't open until noon. So they all sat in the back and watched A Land Before Time to prepare for dinosaur.


Jeff and Hannah and Molly and her mommy.


Molly and Hannah having some dinosaur fun.

My State Boys

So NC State stinks but my boys are still pretty cute... check it out!

Cookie Bakin and Photo Taken

Last week it rained... alot. We were stuck inside for most of the week without a lot to do. One day we made some pumpkin shaped cookies. They were alot of fun to make but Hannah loved decorating them the best! Enjoy the cookie pics and photo shoot!


Rolling out the cookie dough.
Having such a good time.

They sort of look like pumpkins.
Hamming it up for the camera.
Wishing that he could eat the cookies too!