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!