Church Christmas Eve Service

Our Church has finally posted the Christmas Eve Service on their YouTube Channel. If that sentence alone doesn't tell you that our church is a little... different, check out the pageant. It's a modern day, Grand Rapids-based retelling of the Christmas Story. If you watch the angels, you'll find a familiar face among the angels. The service is in 3 parts. Willa is at ~ minute 1 in the first part. If you just want a quick glimpse of adorable little girls dancing, watch part two, from one minute on.


Part 1:


Part 2: (this is our video. This part was edited out. Watch from about a minute on. Willa is front and to the right.)


Part 3:


Part 4:

Support from his sister.

Henry's Big Boy Underpants Dance

Henry is ready - I think - for potty training. He knows when he needs to go, he doesn't like a dirty or wet diaper on him. He has the capability to use the toilet. Dude is just a little... distracted with everything else to be reliable.
I'm taking it easy on him, and trying the big boy pants only when we're home for a long stretch. Mixed results.
Today we were at the Meijer Gardens, and he yelled out, "I NEED to use the potty!" We ran. He went. Willa was impressed (even though he's been doing this for -on and off- about 5 months now).
We got home, and she asked if she could go get a penny from her piggy bank. She wanted to give it to Henry as a reward for using the toilet.

A few Christmas notes and photos

Christmas was here last month, of course. I am a bit behind what with illness and the new little job and preparing the house to put it back on the market and all of the extras that came with Jim locking himself in the basement until his Masters Thesis was finished.

Pals, we all know that baby Jesus (above in the manger with the traditional puzzle piece animals and the often mentioned Christmas Skink) being born was a miracle. So was the completion of the Thesis. Jim finished it last week after months of toil: research reading, interviewing peers, surveying program participants, writing, writing, writing. All in a new APA format. I'm so proud of him. That was a mighty big mountain he climbed. I should call it a miracle, it was a lot of work and grit and Twizzlers that got us all through.

And there was so much JOY!

Actually, this is a new Christmas tree ornament for 2010. We got it to mark an important and fun moment for Willa. This year, she got to participate in our Church Christmas pageant. I'm still looking for some uploads on YouTube, so I can share some film clips, but here's a photo of our little angel.

And here are the two ornaments we picked for the kids this year.

Henry's bear is enjoying the wagon just as much as Henry enjoyed ours this summer.

Willa's bird is a Goldfinch. Just like the birds that frequented the birdfeeder outside our kitchen window. She loves them so much, she thanked God for the beautiful birds every night during prayers.

Listening in

Willa is "reading" a series of feelings-based books to Henry right now. This is what I'm overhearing.

When I'm mad...
... I jump up and down and try to break the earth
... I dress up like a carrot
... my mama says I can't paint on the walls
... I just go up in my tree house

When I feel glad...
... I give a big heart of love
... I pretend that I'm in the clouds
... I blow heart bubbles that are pink
... I feel baby kittens and it's so good

I love...
... look Henry, his heart flew out of his body, and now he's looking for it... looks like a monster

Facebook moments

A lot of moments that I may have recorded briefly here, instead when to a quick note on Facebook. Here are a few of the quick thoughts compiled by a pretty cool application.

Correction

Henry has a shirt that has dinosaur skeletons all over it. As he put his hands through the arm holes, I said, "I like this dinosaur shirt, buddy." His head popped out of the neck hole and he correct me: "they're fossils, mama."
I know that later in life that trait might get him pushed into middle school lockers, but at two, I find it charming.