It's Not About Santa

We were packing up, getting ready for our annual trip to see Santa when my oldest came close, lowered his voice so his brothers wouldn't hear him and said, "Mom, do I have to go see Santa? None of my friends do that anymore."

I felt a slight crack in my heart!

We've gone to this same place to see this same Santa since the year my oldest was born. This man has held every one of my children. His face graces every one of our Christmas photos (except one - my mistake).

We have a tradition of lining our kitchen cabinet doors with the photos during the holidays. They remind us of the beautiful gifts God has given to us and help us mark the passage of time. They make us very aware how fast time slips by. (Someday, I will run out of cabinet doors!)

My husband recently questioned whether we needed to continue the tradition since the boys all know Santa isn't real. I reminded him we have a two-year-old and that we have many more years of visiting Santa. He was thrilled!

For me (and I reminded my son), it's not about seeing Santa. He's just our excuse. Once a year, we get to sneak away for a day of shopping and fun while everyone else is having school.

We get to get away from normal.

We eat at our favorite places (this year everyone was hungry for Japanese).

We teach our children to think of others first and to be generous with each other.

We celebrate the One who is our greatest gift.

When we finally got to the picture taking, the boys climbed in Santa's lap and huddled close for the photo. When we were done, my husband shook Santa's hand and Santa said, "I remember the first time you brought them in."

We couldn't believe that after twelve years and thousands and thousands of children, he could remember our family.

But then again, we've always been somewhat of a spectacle.

Josiah's first Santa visit - 1998

Ellison and Aidan's first Santa visit - 2002

Bennett's first Santa visit - 2008

This year's Santa visit - 2010

~ When All the World Is Still

When all the world is still...

...wrapped in blankets white,

God speaks in the silence.

The winds have come and the clouds have delivered a fresh covering of snow to remind us that His love covers everything.

Worship Him wherever you are today.

We're not going anywhere!

Enjoy!

(To listen, just pause my player in the right column.)

~ A Boy and His Books

I came into the living room this morning during those last minutes of darkness just before dawn. The soft glow of the Christmas lights revealed my nine-year-old snuggled in a blanket in the chair next to the Christmas tree.

I asked him where his brother was. They never, NEVER, travel alone!

He pointed behind his chair.

And that's when I spotted him, curled up behind the chair reading, the yellow glow of the tree spilling onto his pages.

I asked him what he was reading, and he held up a tiny little book ornamnent from the tree.

The boy will read anything.

Since we started homeschooling in September, he has read fourteen books, including the entire Little House series. (Right now he's reading two different books at the same time.)

Tonight when I put him to bed, he asked if he could keep reading, and I said no because it was pretty late. I told him if he woke up early tomorrow he could read in his bed. He informed me he would read seven chapters then.

He loves words just like his mama.

Don't get me wrong. When it comes to language, he confuses the terms proper, plural, and pronoun all the time. Half the time he's capitalizing when he's supposed to be 'changing the y to i and adding -es'. Or when asked to change the noun to a pronoun, he'll give you a proper form of the noun instead.

For the mom who loves writing and grammar and diagramming sentences, it makes my head want to explode.

But for the mom who loves books, it makes me proud. I love watching him finish one and immediately hunting for the next one. He's always excited to share the story with me. He's the kind of boy who would get in trouble with the teacher for reading when he's not supposed to be reading.

I guess it's a good thing his mama is his teacher.

Now if I could just get him to understand the difference between a pronoun and a proper noun!

~ I Need a Do-Over

Last night in Wisconsin (and perhaps other parts of the world), school children gathered their shoes (or boots or stockings depending on where you are from) to put outside their bedroom doors so that when St. Nick came, he would fill it with trinkets if they had been good this year.

If they weren't, tradition has it, they would receive a lump of coal.

I did not grow up with this tradition.

Oh, I grew up with stockings all right, but until my first child entered kindergarten and his teacher told him on Dec. 5th that St. Nick would be coming to his house that night (Thank you very much!), I had never heard of St. Nick's Eve.

This observance has its roots in the Catholic Church and in German tradition. And if Wisconsin is anything, it is Catholic and German in its roots.

I on the other hand, am Protestant and my people are from the hollers of Tennessee (not sure where beyond that).

Anyhow, I digress.

As I was saying, somehow without meaning to, St. Nick's Eve has become a part of our holiday tradition. That first year, I had to run out after my kindergartner had gone to bed so that he wouldn't be the only child left behind the next day.

As usual, last night I was caught off guard again. Luckily, I had done some Christmas shopping the day before and had some small toys in my trunk outside for each of them.

They scurried around looking for their boots before bed, putting them "just so" by their bedroom doors.

The big boys worried about the smallest one's boot. He was fast asleep, and they were afraid he would be left out. I told them not to worry.

I would handle it.

They said, "But his shoes are so little. Will there be enough room."

I assured them, "I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT!"

They all went to bed anxiously anticipating St. Nick's arrival and totally at peace that mom was taking care of everything. All was well until...

...St. Nick forgot to come to our house last night and they woke to empty boots this morning.

Let's just say it was not pretty. There were tears - theirs and mine.

I blame it on the kindergarten teacher. It's really all her fault. I'm just thankful we have this motto at our house.

I better get going. St. Nick's Eve is on Dec. 6th this year (at least at our house).

~ He Thinks He's Korean

I walk through the door to his squealing delight.

"Mooommmmy, you're home!"

"Yes, and I got a Christmas tree."

"Yea!!! Let's go open it. I do it and you do it and Siah do it...," and he continues, eyes bright, until he has gone through the whole list of us.

His enthusiasm contagious, we open boxes and pull out treasures, each like a friend from the past. As I remove each one from its box I unwrap its significance for the boys.

To one I say, "You have more ornaments because you have been with me the longest."

To another I warn, "Be careful. This one was Mommy's when she was a little girl." (Daddy points out it is verrrry old!)

And then I pull still another one close and whisper, "Let me tell you about this one. See the date. I bought it for you on your very first Christmas while you were still in Korea. I wanted you to know you were ours even though you weren't here yet."

He turns it over and reads,

"We can't wait until all your Christmases are with us!"

His face dimples and he cradles the precious words in his hands all the way to the tree.

They continue placing each ornament in its perfectly appointed spot, sometimes one right on top of the other.

One says, "I love doing this!"

The smallest one says, "I do one more." He keeps saying it until the boxes sit empty and then he comments about how "bootiful" it is and plays "I Spy" through the branches.

"I see you, Mommy!"

He is mesmerized by the shimmer of the lights and all the ornaments. He spots the star with the picture in it. (You know, the kind the first grader brings home, made with paper and glue and glitter, lots of glitter.) Once again, his eyes dance with excitement.

"Daddy, it's me!"

"No buddy. That's your brother."

"No Daddy, it's me."

He argues like this for a while and what we always snickered about, from the moment he was a miracle in my tummy, has become a reality.

We used to joke, "He'll probably grow up thinking he's Korean."

After all, these are the faces he plays with all day long.

These are the faces he hugs good night every night.

These are the faces he touches when he first says good morning. (He pets their heads.)

We often look at the twins' pictures from the past and get them confused. That's the thing about identical twins. But trust me, there is no mistaking this little one from his brothers!

His blue eyes and blond hair are a constant reminder that God chose to complete our family in His own perfectly imaginative way.

There will always be a blur of white in the sea of dark heads.

There will always be a little piece of sky among the earthy brown eyes.

And there will always be a little one who wants to be just like his brothers.

Children often ask us when they see our Korean boys, "Are you going to tell them they are adopted!"

We just laugh! Isn't it obvious!

It just never dawned on us we might have to tell our youngest one he's not Korean.

~ No Promise Can Compare

Yesterday, we started our countdown to Christmas, marking the days with small little mittens filled with treasures as we prepare for Christ's coming. This year, in addition to our traditional countdown, we began an advent devotional from one of my favorite writers, Ann over at Holy Experience. The passage for Dec. 1st took us right back to the beginning of the story of Jesus' coming - right there in the book of Genesis.

We have spent alot of time in the book of Genesis lately. Our history curriculum for the year covers the Old Testament and Egypt. Our Bible curriculum covers Genesis through Joshua. In our read aloud, we have been reading the Genesis commentary that I raved about here. And my oldest son's Omnibus curriculum had him reading and studying the book of Genesis for the first month of school. As I opened the devotional for yesterday's reading, I wondered if I might hear their little voices moan with, "We've already done this."



But Ann has a way. As we read the verses about the Fall and Eve's decision to sin once again, we caught a glimpse of Christmas, right there in the words God uses to curse the serpent.

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Their little minds didn't catch it at first because, as Ann put it, it was only a whisper, a hint of what was to come.

Jesus!

Christmas!

Right there in the first book of the Bible.

As we discussed it, their little eyes sparkled with realization. Jesus is coming. It was God's plan from the very beginning. The Old Testament confirming the New Testament. Or perhaps it is actually the New Testament that confirms the Old.

At the end of the devotional, Ann's challenge was to sing a worship song or a Christmas carol to invite Christ to come be with us. My oldest immediately responded with, "Mom, I have Shout to the Lord on my Ipod." I told him that would be great. I knew we probably all knew that one.

He grabbed his Ipod and began to play the song. I was blown away that I was getting to worship with my children in school for the first time. (I'm quite sure that is their first experience with that!) As we got to the chorus, we sang louder. Then we sang the words that will give new meaning to Christmas for my boys this year -

"Nothing compares to the promise I have in You!"

God is amazing. He is weaving His story together for my boys. We've been preparing for Christmas for the last three months, and we didn't even know it. We've studied creation. We've studied the fall. We've studied the curse. And now, my boys understand even better the promise that God made from the very beginning. Jesus is coming. There's no promise that can compare to that!

And this year, we'll be ready!

Take a moment and enjoy our favorite new Christmas song; after all, it's all about Jesus.

Just press pause on the music player in the top right margin.

This is the Lincoln Brewster version my son had on his Ipod.