Advent

I mentioned in a post from right before Christmas that our family was going to be participating in lighting a candle for advent at our church. We did it on Sunday, December 23. Michael gave a short testimony about the advent tree we use as a family during the month of December, which includes Scripture readings and putting felt cut-outs on a felt Christmas tree-shaped background. Then Alley read the Scripture to go with the candle we lit. She stood behind the pulpit, where no one could see her since she is shorter than the pulpit, and she read the passage PERFECTLY. Her voice was clear and strong and she didn't stumble or hesitate over any words. We were very proud of her and we received so many comments about her reading over the next couple of Sundays. One lady who was visiting our church that day even asked if she was homeschooled and I said yes. She said, "I'm a teacher, I can always tell the homeschooled ones." I thought that was interesting and it was an encouragement, even though I take no credit for her good job. Homeschooling is hard work and God is faithful to give encouragement just when we need it!

Mommy, I Love You

Here is yet another post about Dresden! It's not that my other children are not doing or saying things worthy of remembering but Dresden is at that indescribably cute age where she is saying and doing lots every day to reveal her little personality and her growing grasp of the English language. I want to record as many as I can here for my own benefit and you can read it if you want!

One of the things that she says often (and I mean MANY times a day) is, "Mommy, I love you." She says it randomly, when she thinks of it, even if she just said it 5 minutes before. She sometimes says it this way, "I love you TOO much!" She thinks she is saying SO much but that's how it comes out and it is very precious. She doesn't say it only to me, Michael gets a fair share of this as well, and even Alley and Liam and others hear it sometimes. I know she will outgrow this and I won't always get to hear her say this so sweetly so many times in each day so I am trying to remember it and enjoy it as long as it lasts.

She is a challenge in ways the other two never were and she taxes my patience many times a day but she balances it out with her sweet hugs and kisses and words of love! She is also speaking in more and more sentences and using bigger words and even displaying an "attitude" sometimes. The other morning she took a drink of water and then said, "Dee-licious!" Also, this morning, she was upset at Michael for correcting her and she stomped towards her bedroom saying, "I go my room!" I was a little surprised to hear that from the mouth of a two and a half year old! She definitely keeps us on our toes!

Christmas in KC

These are a few pictures from our Christmas this year.  At the top is Alley and Daddy riding in a pumpkin carriage on the Kansas City Plaza.  Alley has wanted to do this for several years and this year it was her Christmas gift from us.  Thankfully, this last weekend was warmer and they headed down there Saturday night.  They had to get on the list and then wait two hours until their turn!  But Alley says it was worth the wait!

The next picture is a shot of the famous Kansas City Plaza.

My Uncle Ross and Aunt Jane and Anna Beth came to Kansas City for a few days after Christmas to visit and we were able to spend lots of time with them.  This is a picture of the kids having fun with Uncle Ross and Aunt Jane.

Last but not least, Alley and Liam both participated in the Nativity Pageant at church.  Alley was a cow (I'm not sure if there were Holstein cows in Bethlehem, but...) and Liam was Joseph.  They both did great and had lots of fun!