Advent Devotional Day 15

"Go and Tell" was the title of tonight's devotional. First, this title makes me think of the song "Go Tell It On The Mountain" (which is should). That is one of may all time favorite Christmas songs. But more to the point, the story continues with the shepherds meeting Jesus. They were so excited when they met Jesus, that they couldn't wait to tell everyone that Jesus was born.

I talked with the boys about how God wants us to do the same. God wants us to tell others about Jesus. I asked the boys if they had ever told anyone about Jesus. I already knew the answer, they have. They talk about him all the time, and it makes my heart pretty happy. I asked the boys what were three things they could tell people about Jesus? (1) He is the son of God; (2) he came to take away our sins (couldn't believe they got this one- wow); and (3) he is tall like Daddy. (love them).

The ornament shows the shepherds excited about going and telling others about Jesus.

Miles' turn.

Tree update!

~Miles' Mommy

Advent Devotional Day 14

Today's lesson was about the shepherds out in the field the night Jesus was born. They saw a bright light and angels around them. The shepherds were afraid, but the angel said "do not be afraid." The angels told the shepherds they brought news of great joy. They told of the babe born in a manger, who would be a savior.

We talked about times when we are afraid like the shepherds were. I asked the boys to think of times they are afraid. FYI- Max is afraid of vampires (???) Miles is afraid of spiders. After we talked about their fears, we talked about how we can ask God to take our fears away, and to help us with our fears. So we prayed about our fears and ask God to help us with those.

Tonight's ornament had a beautiful angel on it.

Max hung the ornament.

~Miles' Mommy

Advent Devotional Day 13

Tonight's lesson was about Jesus being born in a stable and placed in a manger. What a humble beginning. We talked about how a stable is where animals live. I asked the boys what they thought it was like being born in a stable. Miles said he thought it was noisy. Max said he thought it was stinky. ;) Then we talked about how they were born in hospitals, wrapped in warm blankets, and surrounded by lots of doctors, nurses and loved ones.

Our ornament was this sweet picture of Jesus in the manger. They both loved to look at it (and they loved his crown).

Miles (and Alvin) hung tonight's ornament.

I know our tree looks a little bare, but that's because we turned it to spread the ornament love.

~Miles' Mommy

We Met Santa! (No Really...We Did)

I know Mommy has been monopolizing my blog lately while we do our awesome Advent devotional. But I thought I'd drop in today to tell you about our amazing day! Mommy took the day off of work, and we took the day off of school to go see SANTA!!! Mommy said he was visiting from the North Pole so we headed to Northpark Mall in Dallas to see him. Mommy braved the trip solo with all three of us, but she said we were great!

We left the house about 7:45 and arrived at the mall about 9:30ish. First we loaded up into our stroller and went to get a ticket to return to see Santa. They start giving away tickets at 9:00 a.m. By the time we got there (on a Tuesday mind you) the "come back" time was 12:15. Wow. But that's okay, we had lots to see and do before we saw the big guy.

So we headed to the Ronald McDonald House's train exhibit (also in the mall). I highly recommend this. It is a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house (an organiztaion we were so thankful for when Mason was in the NICU for several days and Mommy and Daddy had somewhere to sleep and shower). Plus, it is full of trains!!!!

There were trains everywhere. There were also these little red buttons we could push everywhere that would make things in the scene move (a pump jack pump, or kids swing). It was cool to push the button and figure out what was happening.

Even Mason loved the trains.

After one more picture with the trains, it was time to head to the 10:30 story time with Santa.

There were lots of kids there for storytime.



And of course, I made a friend.

Then Santa came!

We had great seats for his two stories.

We did all of the motions with him.

He wrapped up about 11 so we headed to the food court for a little lunch.

And then we had a special treat...we got to Build A Bear! We have never done this before. It was great. We each picked out our animals. I picked Alvin (the chipmunk). Max picked a camo bear. They had a $5 special for an already made bear if you spent a certain amount of money, so Mason got the special bear. :)

He loved all over it.

After we picked out our bears, we went to the stuffing area. We picked out a heart to put in the bear, made a wish, and put our hearts inside.

Then I pressed the pedal and watched Alvin come to life! (it was loud so I covered my ears).

I love him!

Next it was Maxer's turn to bring Camo bear to life.

He loves him!

Then we fluffed and scrubbed off our bears. By the time we were done, it was time to head back to see Santa.


Right next to Santa's house were these great super heroes. I asked Mommy to take our picture with them.

The cool thing about a come back time was, once we came back, there was really almost no wait. Here we are (third in line) to go into Santa's house. This is WAY better than waiting for an hour in the line, don't you think?

And this is how we all wait in line in the stroller built for two. :)

At last it was time to see Santa. He was so great. I told him I was going to be at Granny and Pop's this Christmas and so could he please bring our presents there. He said sure. He asked if we were going to leave anything out for him. I told him "milk and cookies" he was excited about that. And he asked me if we could leave out a few carrots for his reindeer because they get pretty hungry flying around all night.

And this is our picture with him. Mommy was so excited that we all smiled. There is an excellent photographer there who takes his time and gets the great shot.

We had a wonderful trip to see Santa today. I am thankful for days like this with Mommy and my bros. I think Mommy had a pretty good time too!

~Miles

Advent Devotional Day 12

As you can see from today's ornament, the lesson was about how when Mary and Joseph finally made it to Bethlehem, there was no room at the inn. We talked about how some people live their whole lives without making room in their heart for Jesus.


A Meaningful Christmas had a great activity to help us all put things in perspective. It called for coffee beans, but since I don't drink coffee, I improvised with rice :) So, the rice stands for all of the things we do with our day. From the unimportant, to the things we love (cooking, working, shopping, talking with friends....or if you are Miles and Max, going to school, playing with toys, watching shows, eating). These things are good things and should be a part of our lives. But the really important things--the balls--also need to fit into our day. The balls represent God, Jesus, prayer, spending time in the Word. When you put the little things first in your day, the big things will not fit.

But if you start with the important things and put those first...

everything fits just fine into the day. All of the little things somehow fit around the big things.

Max hung the ornament low.

And crashed during his breathing treatment. :)

Our tree update

~Miles' Mommy

Advent Devotional Day 11

The boys were pretty smitten with the ornament tonight (see below) because they think donkeys are pretty awesome. I'm not sure riding 70 miles on a donkey while pregnant is my idea of a good time (and man can I totally sympathize with Mary in my current state), but tonight's lesson was about doing the things we don't want to do with a good attitude. Boy do I struggle with this one. But we are called sometimes to do things we do not want to do. And we are called to do it cheerfully (or at least without too much grumbling).

So back to Mary and that donkey...she traveled to Bethlehem while pregnant on a donkey with a good attitude. Her story is a reminder that some things that are necessary are not fun or easy.

I asked the boys if they ever had to do things that they didn't like to do. They couldn't think of anything, but a "how about cleaning up the play room?" was really all it took to get the list rolling. We try to make those things "more fun" by incorporating the clean up song, or making the chore a game, but the truth is, Ted and I expect the boys to do those kinds of things--if not cheerfully--then at least without complaining. God expects the same from us.

One thing Miles definitely did not mind doing was hanging tonight's ornament.

11 days in, our Advent tree is looking pretty spectacular.

The boys drew pictures of things they thought Mary and Joseph might have seen along the way to Bethlehem. There were animals, and candy canes, and all sorts of sights. :)

~Miles' Mommy

Advent Devotional Day 10

Today's lesson was about Immanuel. It was about how an angel told Joseph that Jesus would be called Immanuel, meaning God is with us. The message that "God is with us" has appeared in many places in my life lately. As I struggle with learning (over and over again it seems) patience for God to show me His plan regarding a couple of areas of my life. I keep hearing in different places a gentle reminder that in the midst of my frustration with developing patience, God is with me. I heard it today in Sunday School. I heard it in this devotional. I heard it at a funeral I attended earlier this week. And so this was an easy message for me to talk to the boys about, because it is one that has been on my mind a lot lately.

And as I think about what I'm waiting for God's guidance on (truly simple things in the grand scheme), I think about Joseph and his visit from that angel. Here's a guy who is engaged to a woman, and finds out: (1) she's pregnant; and (2) not only it is not his, it's God's. Talk about trusting God. Wow. But Joseph knew God would be with him, just like he is with you and me today.

Today's ornament is a hand with the word Immanuel on it. A reminder that God is always with us. He sent His son, Jesus to live among us and die for us. He is always walking with us. And the Holy Spirit lives in us. I am trying to remember that when I feel most lost (now is not one of those times by the way), He is right there.

I wrote the word "God" on the boys' arms tonight so that tomorrow when they looked down at their arm, they could be reminded that God is with them.

Max hung the ornament (on a blue light)

Our tree update.

About a decade ago, someone told me about a great way to remind yourself that God is with you, so I thought I'd pass it along. I do a lot of my talking to God in the car. I commute, and I just find that it's a time of silence for me. (it also helps with the road rage...just saying). Anyway, someone advised me to put a little sticky note in my dashboard that says "Invite me to come with you. --God" Of course God doesn't need an invite. He is always there. But He is there waiting for you and me to engage with Him. So the note is really a prompt for me to talk to Him. And I have found that I do so much more since the note took it's spot right next to my fuel gauge about 10 years ago. Try it. Maybe you'll find that the car ride is a great time to share a conversation with the guy who wants to talk to you more than anyone else in the world.

~Miles' Mommy

Advent Devotional Day 9

Tonight's lesson was about trusting God. It was about how Mary had to trust God in His plan for her as Jesus' mother. But it was also about how when God asks us to do hard things, we just have to trust Him.

This is a hard lesson for the boys at this young age. I think it will be a great lesson in a few years. But tonight I asked each one if they could think of something hard they had been asked to do. Miles said it's hard when I ask him to clean his room. Max said it's hard to get Mason to be nice to him. So...clearly...we have a bit of work to do on this message, but we tried :)

Can I just say, how cute are these boys? Here they are laying down watching a movie tonight. Love.

Our ornament tonight is of Mary while pregnant. So we talked about how I'm pregnant like Mary (but you know...it's not Jesus). The boys were fascinated with Mary's eyes--and one may have fallen off--but that's what glue is for.

Miles hung the ornament.

Our tree update

This has been such a fun thing to do with the boys each night. Even on the days that I am not sure it is sinking in, I know that at least we have this sweet time each day to think about the reason for the season.

~Miles' Mommy