Hark the Herald Angels Sing!

Our home has been invaded by angel-children.







their halos act as night lights.

Christmas Trees and Holidays

We have an annual tradition of going and cutting down our Christmas tree...

We have to find the perfect one first.

This means going up and down the fields of the Christmas tree farm to find the PERFECT evergreen...

Then after every tree has been examined, Daddy cuts in down.

And the kids "help" him drag it to the shed to be paid for, shook and baled.



We dream of hot chocolate with marshmallows.



And wish everyone a Happy New Year!

turkey thoughts

Our little guy desperately wanted to see the turkey before we roasted it.

He begged to see the turkey...shamelessly.

So, I called him to the kitchen when I took the bird out of the refrigerator and removed the wrapper. He stared in disbelief.

"Where's his head?" he asked.

"Ah, well he doesn't have one anymore," I replied.

"Where's da legs?" he inquired.

I pointed them out on the bird...along with the wings. (The gizard, heart and various other bagged body parts were already in the trash.)

He was clearly troubled.

"I don't like turkey," he said. He spun around and walked away.

home made goodness

mix and measure some of this...

then get the candy thermometer...

to make sure it's just the correct temperature...beat thoroughly...add peppermint extract and you will have..

home made peppermint marshmallows.

make a rich cup of hot chocolate

drop in a few marshmallows

sit back

relax

yum

heard on the street...

Scene: 4 year old son sitting next to Daddy as Daddy is talking...

4 year old son says, "Daddy, I was listening, but I didn't hear you..."

Giving

Kate has become very passionate about giving.

She has been saving the money she has been given or earned since she was about 3 years old.

(Sidebar: She is on straight commission at home: if she does her jobs, she gets paid at the end of the week. If she doesn't do her jobs, she does not get paid. There are basic jobs you are required to do if you live at our house, then there are the jobs you can do to earn coin. We believe it's important to learn the value of work at a young age...so we started the commission plan earlier this summer. No entitlements at this house.)

Sunday she reminded me we needed to take some money out of her bank to send to Chinese orphans. We had been talking about where she might want to give some of her money, and she chose the children of China.

As we took the money out of her banks, a look of panic spread across her face. She then asked, "I don't know how to count in the millions, how will I count my money?" I assured her that I could count high enough to figure out how much cash she has on hand.

We counted the all of it (less than $1 million dollars on hand) and then divided it into 3 piles. The first pile is for giving. This will be going to support her passion. The second pile is for saving. The third pile is for spending. She can use this to purchase things she wants and to learn how money works.

While she doesn't completely understand the system yet, she certainly is excited about sharing what she's earned. She also was very excited to take her own money and buy her own *Silly*Bands*. I didn't personally love the idea of buying rubber bands with her hard earned cash, but it's not my money. It's hers and it's part of her education...that is priceless.

I am proud of her giving heart and hope it only becomes more compassionate over time.

Busy week for Kate...

This girl has her hands full with school this week...she's been assigned a variety of jobs.

Monday: special helper to the teacher
Tuesday: attendance keeper
Wednesday: custodian (when questioned she is to "dust and stuff")
Thursday: the meteorologist
Friday: the librarian

Being a kindergartner is a not for the faint of heart.