Make Time For It

Monday, February 9, 2015

Winter Wonderland

The Second Annual Winter "Wonder"land science fair took place at Stonehedge Elementary last Thursday. Students in kindergarten through second grade participated in group run research projects and displayed their findings for their parents and peers.

The school is decorated...

inside and out

The doorway displays were quite eye-catching!

We visited Mark's first-grade teacher and found some baby hippos (calves) visiting her too!

Miles' favorite was the giraffes- wish JoJo could have come too!

Wildfires

The kindergarteners' penguins were all over the school

Zebras...

Snakes...

He he Mark skiing in a snow globe! Not part of the winter wonderland but I had to take a pic :)

Mark's clay diorama of tsunami's. The wave is curved over and kept on breaking apart, but I got a pic of it intact! Below that is a picture of the tissue paper wave that some of his classmates worked on. These kids worked hard!

volcanos...

earthquakes...

tornados...

more decoration...

and finally a visit to the blue cafeteria where the kindergartener's penguin display featured ice tables, photo ops and more of our favorite arctic bird! Can't wait till Miles gets to do this next year.

Penguin Mark

More Winter Fun

Harmonica + Sunglasses = Good Times

Paint Nite! at Trappers II with Pam

Ready to Shred!

Church School Dapper

More Ski

Pam, Me and Jenny, with Mark photobombing...

Bowling With Our Buddies 1/3/15

Sammy Gets a Strike!

The teams

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Christmas

Three Kings

The nephews on New Years Eve

Snuggly PJ's by Aga

The Mess

Christmas at my Dad's House

Peter and TiTi share a snack

Spiderman Race Track

Old neighbors, still friends

Bedtime Stories with Unkle Mike

Dol Guldur

Hoodies from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Tom

Christmas is all about a baby boy. A couple becoming a family. An unexpected miracle to bring salvation to all the Earth. When I found out I was expecting our first child I remember a distinct feeling of sheer terror. Not the emotion most people would expect. This was the news that changed my life in more ways than I could imagine. I was 25 years old, married, we had a house and steady jobs, great friends and family connections. I was, as they say, prepared. Without these preparations I cannot imagine surviving the next nine months, let alone the next seven years. I cannot imagine going through this alone, despised for my condition, confused, without medical care, in a strange city, in a barn, at 14. And yet this is precisely the situation in which Mary found herself, her new husband, and her new baby boy. Now as I listen to the Gospel accounts of what happened that blessed Christmas Eve I find myself cringing at the circumstances around my Savior's birth. If He had come the way He deserved it would have been as a glorious powerful being descended from the Heavens and emanating rays of wisdom and peace that all nations would instantly see and understand. People would fear Him too much not to follow Him, there would be no question of His authority. But our God is a God of mystery, working always in subtle designs and appealing even to the most strenuous of all human experiences: birth.

Christmas Pageant

The Shepherds- looking "sore afraid"

Pageant Cast- the boys

Front Row Seats

Beautiful Church on Christmas Eve

In the Act

Edited on PiZap

More Christmas: Christmas Eve Gifts

It started with impatience. My brother and I couldn't wait to give each other the gifts that we had picked out, so our parents let us exchange just one thing on Christmas Eve. After a while the Christmas Eve Gift became more special than anything else I purchased. Something I knew he would cherish. A few years ago I started this tradition with my boys, giving them a quiet time with just each other to experience the joy of giving a thoughtful gift.