Tonight, before bed, each of the boys recited Psalm 23. Timothy needed only a couple of prompts in the places in which he typically gets confused. He is so good at memorization. Nathaniel also recited it, with more prompts and some of the cutest flubs. My favorite was “Thou preparest a table for me, and presents for my nemenies.” I think we may need a little more work on that line.

The rest of the day was pretty typical. I took care of some bills and some banking. The boys love the bank because they get suckers if they behave very nicely. I did housework, the boys ate lots of apples, blocks were built, tears were shed, hugs were given…just a usual day in our house.

I’ll leave you with pictures of the boys at bedtime. Just to warn you, that was the best face I could get Timothy to make. Oh, and he chose to go to bed without jammies (I think he gets pretty warm at night) and his head isn’t really 3X the size of the rest of him.

 

Today, the second Sunday of Advent, we enjoyed a church service with many Christmas songs, the lighting of the second Advent candle, coming to the Lord’s table, and the preaching of the Word. After this, and after taking care of the money for the church and the rest of the paperwork to the PCC, we had a special lunch from Sonic (yum!). The boys then played outside in the bitter cold.

This time I did brave the snow to take pictures of them. I don’t know how they kept playing out there. I was so cold I hurt after about two minutes. They are tough little guys.

Yes, Timothy’s coat is a little long in the arms, but that’s what happens when you have a boy who grows very quickly but is between sizes. The good thing is that he likes his “long coat.”

Before bed this evening, we lit the second Advent candle in our own little service at home. The boys were fascinated by the flames, as was I at their age. They listened (mostly attentively) to the Scripture readings and helped me sing too. I just love how sweet they are.

Unrelated to these daily posts, if you are interested in the book The Holiness of God by R. C. Sproul, it is free on Kindle for a limited time.

 

Today was a day for football, relaxation, and online shopping for Christmas gifts. Ah, I do love Amazon Prime. The boys played outside in the cold weather, and instead of photographing their play I stayed warm and sipped a delicious glass of egg nog. Silly mama. I made up for that missed opportunity after baths while we were watching a bit of the Bedlam game.

They kept being silly and making what they called “sad faces,” which were, instead, quite silly looking. After this, they pretended to be penguins (natch) until bedtime.

 

This morning we took a trip to the post office to mail a gift to someone very special. The boys enjoy the post office, and the postal workers enjoy them right back. Both Timothy and Nathaniel told the gentleman helping us that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday. Actually, my little sweeties have told that to nearly everyone they have met since we put up the tree.

Later, we made our biweekly trip to our local Pregnancy Care Center, where I do the bookkeeping and payroll and such on a volunteer basis. Timothy and Nathaniel and I are always blessed when we spend time with all the lovely employees and volunteers. They colored some pictures and I picked up the paperwork I needed before we headed home. Below is a snippet of the little bit of coloring they managed to get done.

One mildly strange thing I have discovered about my kiddos this week: they love plain yogurt. (I’ve sweetened it slightly or made it into a smoothie for them before.) Of course, they come by this naturally as I love it too, but I guess I didn’t expect Timothy to beg for it hourly after we ran out. I think we need to buy in bulk!

 

I am doing a little bit of journaling all through December, a la Abbey and her yearly December Daily project. I mostly won’t post these on the actual day, but I am concentrating on taking photos and/or thinking about the little moments and big events of each day.

Thursday, December 1, 2011 was a unique day in Utah. We had a violent windstorm tear through our area. Friends of ours suffered damage to homes and lost huge, beautiful trees. Our little town was spared the most brutal winds, and for that we are thankful. We did run a couple of errands, but this weather made it mostly an inside day.

 

Timothy: The birds sit on their eggs.
Me: Why?
Timothy: To keep them warm.
Me: And why do they keep them warm?
Timothy: So they can cook them!
Me: *sigh*

 

Our family prefers to celebrate Reformation Day instead of Halloween. This morning I talked briefly with the boys about Martin Luther and his contribution to the Protestant Reformation, then they each colored a picture of him.

Sharing our faith, including church history, is an important part of why we have chosen to teach our children at home. What a privilege it is to have the freedom to do this.

(I found a site full of coloring pages here; the Martin Luther page can be found here.)

 

What a day! We took the boys to Black Island Farms to participate in a fundraiser for Jesus Field, a local youth ministry. The boys bounced in a pumpkin bounce house and slid down numerous slides, even taking their daddy with them sometimes.

We all laughed our way through part of a corn maze, then set out on the event the boys were most excited about…a ride on [a trailer pulled by] a tractor!

Our driver steered us expertly around crops of corn, cabbage, and pumpkins until we arrived at our assigned pumpkin patch. Here we let the boys pick their favorite pumpkins, and they were cut fresh off the plants by our driver. After the whole group had picked their pumpkins, we rode around more crops and finished a fun ride. This was our second year to go to Black Island Farms, and I hope to make it an autumn tradition as long as we live nearby.

Jun 022011
 

No pictures yet, but I think my mother is now reading my blog through a buttonhole just in case. There is a garter snake living in my yard. Patrick and the boys are thrilled and love watching him sun himself. I am…less enthused. This picture does, however, remind me of a snake, but in the cutest possible way.

Timothy is growing up so quickly. I can hardly believe how much he’s transformed from a little guy with chubby cheeks to a handsome boy.

Jun 012011
 

Finally, a sunny day to play outside, and a silly picture to make me smile.

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