the end.

what christmas season is complete without a little cutthroat competition? no? just me?

we blocked the kitchen view from the 4 foot and under crowd while auntie and i got our gingerbread competition 2011 all set up.

there was excitement..

and enthusiasm...

and glee.

we got smart this year and took a tip from ashley ann and hot glued graham crackers instead of the baking and cutting of authentic gingerbread.
we had very strict rules to abide by as the adults were in steep competition for the crown of winner. only graham cracker to graham cracker could be hot glued-- the rest had to be attached and secured with frosting.

i did find, after trial and lots of error, that the very high temp hot glue is the kind you want for this project.

it's possible that after 6 hours i was still working on it. i found it cathartic. notice the children in the background forced to eat at their school table so as not to splash spaghetti sauce on my winter wonderland christmas gingerbread scene. i took quite a bit of grief for my meticulousness.

i i

i had to 'gently' remind others that a time limit had not been part of the aforementioned rules.

without further adieu... i bring you the 2011 entries:


nate's happy house
i enjoy his use of height... and personality. he would like to point out that he has TWO smiley faces on there... for that extra dose of cheerful.

auntie's ugandan mountain and hut scene
it might be important to note that the auntie lives in uganda.. and is right now on a mountain trek with the gorillas. this is relevant because what she has created here is actually the scene of her and uncle scott and friends hiking the mountains (black chocolate pieces) with the gorillas (orange and red candy pieces) on the green mountain background.

she would also like you to notice the stream with grazing goats..

i like her creativity with the abstract mixed with realism.

i also thought she had an excellent interpretation of her available materials.

this is my entry.. it is a somewhat to scale replica of our own house.

i like the porch swing.. the turquoise door and the red doormat.
and the fact that building a to-scale replica of my house out of candy was on my bucket list.
for reals.
check.

this is arianna's house.
i like how she really took her time and wanted to use every different kind of candy we had.

this is grayson's house.. it used to be as covered as arianna's house until we realized that in about two hours he had secretly snitched about 1.5 pounds of candy and was spiraling downward into a red dye #5 meltdown.

i like that he is predictable. and yet so unbelievable. :)

so in the end we realized we had all contestants and no judges. so the thrill of the making things out of glue and candy and crackers had to be prize enough. or in other words.. i win. ;)

last year i made our advent calendar...that link will also give you a little glimpse into how advent works at our house.

here is a sampling of a few of our advent adventures:
party in the bath night.. 

for 'sacrifice' we made butter by hand. you have to shake that jar of cream for seriously 20-30 minutes... but it was yummy. :)

the night we had 'peace' we did the same activity as last year. the kids lie still with blocks on them while we sing silent night. and then they get a treat for being so peaceful.  that much peace is really hard work.

family yoga night... i forget how i tied this one in to our advent word. somehow it did make sense. maybe something about standing firm? irregardless enjoy your fill of babies doing yoga. good stuff. :)

one night the advent surprise was getting to do the classic drive around and look at christmas lights with hot chocolate in your jammies.

i kid you not, i threatened to go home 3 separate times.
it was magical evenly interspersed with misery.
but i feel like that is kind of the point with holidays and small children.
if you want the magic then you are signing up for the misery.
the more i accept and anticipate that at some point no matter how lovely our time is...someone is going to cry... the happier i can come out the other side.

when i got out of the car to take a picture of that big house ( um that's not weird... i only had my fixed lens.. i had to get the right angle... i would have told that to the guy staring at me through his window but he closed the blinds)
anyways-- i tapped on the kids window but it was so dark they couldn't see me.. all they could hear was tapping. ari was staring out into the dark like i was the ghost of christmas past. it was hilarious. i maybe tapped like 3 times before nate told me to get in. :)

in other news:
while reading a book titled 'fancy nancy's hair do's and hair dont's... (bossy storybook children who tell me what i should and shouldn't do with my hair really bother me p.s.) there was a section on the amelia earhart bob haircut. arianna said she would like that. i agreed and said lets do it. she agreed and followed me to the bathroom. i think we were both thinking the other would change her mind when i gave one final "are you sure??" and then lopped it off.
you will ignore the dirty mirror and the baby clearly eating candy off gingerbread houses in the background. thief.

she liked it. :)

backwards elbows alert. :)

you should know i am the kind of girl who samples all the chocolates in the box out of an act of love for my husband. that way he gets to try them all too. nate is so lucky. ;)

we gave my homemade peach butter and this poundcake that i made last year too. it's my favorite.
 j'adore poundcake.

christmas eve

the night love came...

so we watched the grinch. :)

this was grayson's first time seeing the grinch.
what you are about to see is a facial expression timeline of grayson's reaction to his first viewing of the grinch in all his grinchiness.

oh man. i was dying. crying laughing. could not breathe.

and then when luci slipped her arm around ari's neck at the end after singing and clapping to the final whoville song... well my heart melted into a big drippy pool of christmas eve mush.

our christmas tradition is that each babe gets a new bible or devotional book on christmas eve...

then they get to read it until they fall asleep under the tree...

while i loop string from their sleeping spot to the secret hiding spot of their stocking.

one of our advent activities is picking 'gifts' to give to favorite charities in lieu of giving them to each other. we have been doing that for the last few years and it's one of our favorite times. 

this year unfortunately the night i had it planned i was sick so nate had the kids 'think about' what we wanted to give which was somewhat less meaningful. don't worry it's top of our new years to do list. :) 

there are so many great opportunities to give... from water wells to chickens to adoption funds. 

there are ways to give that can hit everyone's interests and passions... last year ari gave money for school supplies and grayson gave money for sports equipment.

it's too fun not to do-- i promise. :)

since we aren't running crazy with presents we can leisurely get ready for church... or still wait so long doing lots of nothing that we are still crazy hurrying out the door to church. ;)


a bonus of being a pastors family is that we even beat baby Jesus there. the girls were concerned. 
he showed up a little after us so don't worry.

we are finding our rhythm over here. i remember holding my babies in those early christmases wanting..yearning for them to truly know christmas. to know, somehow, that it's not about the presents. it's not about having just the right food. it's not even about how much we love being with each other.


it's about grace from head to toe. it's about love so deep and true that it didn't need an army or a political party. it's about seeing our days for what they are... numbered.


these babies won't get it all the time... there will be tantrums during advent and fighting over who gets to unwrap baby Jesus from the nativity scene.


but as i see them fighting it out..rubbing shoulders with the truth that this life is bigger than them...
i realize i am still learning. i pick truth up and put it down again and replace it with a lie.
try harder.
do more.
be better.
stay safe.


no.
this year i will insist that i am not the value of my works.
i will put my foot down on the idea that my cushie comfort is my job.


this love that came small and fragile as a baby grew up to cover me.


He has made me new this year.
and a new year i will start.