A Christmas Poem

What is Christmas?
by Hannah and Luke Ross

Giving hope to people
Celebrating Jesus' birth
A cup of hot cocoa
All wrapped up in snow
Freshly baked cookies
A big family reunion
Fun of new gifts
A sweet candy cane
Singing Christmas carols
The train going around the tree
Putting ornaments on the tree
The smiles of children
The love of God

Crazy Kids and Technology

Rock Star

Ack! Twins?

Noogie Double Time

Fish Eye View

Pictures

Cousins

Fall

Luke is seven?!

Sideways Cubscout

Stuffed Animals Have Rights Too.

Can you find the real animal among the stuffed ones? Not too hard I suppose. As we have been studying American history, we have been looking at the Bill of Rights. Today, Hannah had to write her own Bill of Rights for any subject she choose. Here is her work:

We, the stuffed animals of America, in order to insure our safety, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United stuffed animals of the America.

1.You shall not toss stuffies (short for stuffed animals) around like a rag doll.

2. You shall always sing to your stuffies before bed.

3. You shall always leave your stuffies in a comfortable bed.

4. You shall snuggle all stuffies evenly and with equal affection.

5. Stuffies shall never go near the road and shall always be buckled in the car.

6. Stuffies shall never be used as a weapon.

7. You shall never spank your stuffies on their heads.

8. You shall always see to the repair of broken stuffies.

9. Never drop your stuffies and treat them carefully.

10. Always name your stuffies respectfully.

11. Never let animals chew on your stuffies.

School and the Blues

Well, most parents cry when their little ones go off to school, especially if it is for the first time. I cry every year when my kids go back to school, cause I am the teacher. (Just kidding, homeschooling humor there).

I have to say that this year school caught me totally by surprise. Summer was very different than what we thought it might be and so I could not handle even the thought of school, or September, fall and cool weather either. So today we put our noses to the grind stone and got physically ready for school.

Our school room is our basement. It needed a lot of work as it is also kid play world. I had ignored it all summer and the school table and supplies were buried under Legos, art projects and a thick layer of dust. I knew we needed a big overhaul as the little man is a first grader now and will have more school to do then in the past. Also, I felt a change would be good for us, it goes along with the other big changes in our lives. LUCY!!! She is a big change, she is our new puppy. We just love her but as you know if you have ever owned a puppy, she is a bit of work. What joy she has brought us though, a good diversion and comfort.

Oh, wait, this was supposed to be about school, and our life and such. Okay so we got everything ready physically and we are getting ready mentally (I have been warning the children for a week now that school would be starting). What are we doing spiritually to be ready though?

I have thought a bit about some scripture I want us all to memorize during our school year. And I have landed on 2 different ones. The Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes. The Lords' Prayer is a classic and something I think everyone should know, but I pray we can dive deeper into the meanings of the phrases, the meat of Jesus' instructions to us on how to pray. We take it too lightly and it is our example for every prayer, it has food for our souls.

The Beatitudes, or Sermon on the Mount, is like God's little instruction book for a Christian's life. Consider this quote from Martyn Lloyd-Jones: If only all of us were living the Sermon on the Mount, men would know that there is dynamic in the Christian gospel; they would know that this is a live thing; they would not go looking for anything else. 

The word of God is living, it is active, it is sustaining, it is instruction and comfort and hope and help and healing and changing and life; real life. If my children learn nothing else this year, I would pray that they learn this; God is enough, he is everything, he wants all of us, he spoke truth in the Bible, he is the only way to be ready for real life.

Here we go!

Getting Sweet for Christmas

Okay, Christmas is long over and we have all settled into the long, yet weird, winter blues. Looking back brings me some sweet memories and some profound thoughts.
We took a lot of time, two days almost, to sweeten up for Christmas. You know, sweet goes down much easier than sour.

"You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar," so the saying goes. What would Christmas be without sweets?
It would be long lines, and high prices and extended family gatherings (think Chevy Chase) and whining children.

There is one thing left though, even if we took away all the sweets, and all the sour...

there is the Savior.

He left the unimaginably scrumptious heaven, to bring some sweetness to a sour world, to save us from our bitter selves, to bring us into a savory and delectable relationship (think eternal chocolate without the calories) with him...forever.

So life is a little tart right now. Spend time sweetening yourself, and your life up, with the bread of life, no fat and never sour.

The Long Winter

The winter this year has seemed especially cold and long. The cabin fever has caused a bit of craziness to happen around our house.

Luke's hair has gone completely out of control.









We have a 'pet' squirrel eating our suet.
And the bitter cold has even caused the hardiest superhero to faint.

Keep Warm!

Super Kids

One of the best presents HJ and LA got for Christmas were their Super costumes. They wear them often and have made up an entire superhero land with characters and wonderful happenings. Of course, I think that my children are always super and they are learning about the power they have. You see, as children of God we all have super natural power. It is the power of Christ living inside us. We can overcome any obstacles within ourselves and in the world if we call on Jesus. The Bible says, "Greater is HE (Jesus) that is in me, than he (Satan) that is in the world." 1 John 4:4 Now, we have to live that way!

The Fighter

Luke has been taking Karate lessons this year. There is nothing more fierce than eight 4 year old boys learning how to karate chop someone. Anyway, he is having a great time and learning discipline and useful life skills. The fierceness of Karate has not taken away his ability to ham it up as you can see in these pictures. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Christmas Smiles

We had a delightful Christmas this year made even more fun by having all of the grandparents around. God is certainly good to us.

Vacation

Our family vacation came in September this year and we all had a wonderful time. The cooler temperatures and less crowded attractions really made the trip more enjoyable. We spent a lot of time hiking, observing nature, playing and relaxing.

John made sure the week wasn't wasted and taught the kids everything he could about plants, animals, trees, stars and rocks. We even captured 2 catapillars in hopes the would turn to butterflies, but they did not. I truly count it a blessing to have the ability to get away for a while and enjoy the beauty God created without interuptions. We are so busy and so 'plugged in' all of the time that the simple things of life slip by. My children have grown so fast and so quickly that I find myself forgetting what they were like when they were little.
Life is a gift, one to be treasured and celebrated.

Learning To Fish

On vacation this fall Hannah and Luke learned to fish. With their Papa at their side, they learn all the FUNdamentals and had a good time.



Too bad they didn't catch anything. Luke was pretty sad about that.

Hannah and Luke

Hannah Joy 7 1/2