First steps

Well apparently Ella was just waiting for a bigger audience before she decided she would start walking

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party!

We had our Christmas party with our homeschool group last week. It was SO much fun! Beth did an AMAZING job planning & hosting it! We started the party with the Christmas story, recited & acted out by Joshua with his Fisher Price nativity set. He's been memorizing a few verses each year and now has the entire 2nd chapter of Luke memorized. He's never done it for a crowd though, and did a GREAT job! And the other day we were surprised to learn that Caleb has actually been paying attention as Joshua has been practicing his verses every day (hmmm...Caleb with an attention span longer than 5 seconds? I know...pretty amazing). Anyway, Josh was reciting his verses one morning and after "...and the angel said..." Caleb threw his hands in the air and announced, "do not be afwaid, I bring news & great joy for all people!". Josh and I both sat there with our chins on the floor. It was pretty darn cute.

So back to the party. After the telling of the Christmas story, we did crafts and had fun making all kinds of Christmas ornaments. Then we had lunch, decorated cupcakes for dessert, & sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful group of homeschooling families!

Ella and Eli ~ our future students...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I Love Advent

I absolutely love this time of year! With the only exception being the removal of my wisdom teeth, and despite the fact that I'm still appreciating the effects of the narcotics, it's been a fun December at the Nuzum home! And with our church staff just returning from a trip to Uganda with Samaritan's Purse, and generosity being the topic of discussion, I feel like I've been more aware than ever of how blessed we are, how many things we have to be thankful for, & more importantly how much we have to GIVE.

I know I'm in the minority but I LOVE the cold weather. I love warm PJs & thick comfy socks (& I love that since we homeschool, we can stay in them all day if we want). I love that Joshua and I never miss a day (usually when the little ones are napping) of sitting down with a cup of hot chocolate & a book to read together...sometimes in front of the fire if it's really cold.

I love that Donnie's schedule is less hectic and I'm so thankful for the days when he can come home early & we all get some extra Daddy time. Joshua was very excited this day. Can you tell?

I absolutely love celebrating Advent as a family. I love seeing the kids faces as they anxiously await the chance to open each door of their Advent calendar & discover the surprise that awaits them (it's the only time of year they get chocolate after breakfast, and also the only time of the year they get their morning chores done so fast!) They've had a few extra surprises along the way like a new Christmas movie, a day of cookie making, and a new game for game night. By the way, this is a great family board game for Christmas and, as we found out with our small group, a lot of fun for 10 adults as well!

The last couple of years we've had an Advent wreath and Joshua really enjoyed lighting the candles and having our devotion by candle light. But I realized we were getting too busy during the week & only discussing Advent on Sundays when we would light the candles. Christmas Day comes and goes so fast, we want to take every opportunity to talk with our kids about the reason for Christmas, and make it part of our daily discussion and activities. So this year, I adapted the idea of a Jesse Tree. We have a daily scripture reading & Joshua colors the ornament that illustrates that story. Instead of having a tree to hang them on, we just string them on some yarn and hang it in our school room. I love being able to show them how each story points to the coming Messiah, even 2,000 years before his birth!

We also had the opportunity to help pack 500 shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child with our church. We were so excited to be able to take the boys so that they could experience "giving back" in a small way as they stuffed boxes and wrote notes to include for the kids receiving them.

So I'm very torn at this point. Part of me wants the days to slow down so I can enjoy each moment a little longer. But another part of me can't wait until Christmas when my family will arrive and we can continue the celebration with them. And I especially cannot wait to get my hands on that nephew of mine!!

O Christmas tree!

So our plan to head to the mountains this weekend for our annual tree hunt was thwarted by less than desirable weather. Playing in the snow for awhile would have been fun. However the thought of trapsing through a field of trees with three kids, in freezing weather, trying to find that perfect tree in the midst of a snow storm....Well, let's just say the boys were just as excited when Dad drove up to the house with our beautiful Christmas tree...from Lowes. And we had just as much fun staying in our jammies all day & decorating it...with a few breaks for hot chocolate.

Ella went straight for the ornament with her brothers' picture on it.

Blankies & Thumbs Anonymous

Hello. My name is Caleb James & I am unable to hold my blankie without my thumb immediately going in my mouth.

Hello. My name is Ella Grace. And I'm feeling his pain. Don't even think about taking my blankie.