Snapshots of the Past

As in days of old when families gathered around their radios, every December my kids like to gather around the computer and watch old video clips of them from Christmas mornings past.  They laugh and cheer and call to each other, while remembering gifts they received and how cute their siblings were when they were toddlers.  I love listening to them and catching glimpses of their sweet little-child faces on the screen.

This year, due to a conversion of our old camcorder tapes and an Amazon fire stick, we were able to watch videos on our TV from 1999 onward.  It has been wonderful - a true gift to see those little people I remember from years ago. . .the little ones who slowly morphed into the big kids and young adults I live with now.  I didn't realize it was happening at the time, but looking back, what a joy it is to see those precious faces and hear their darling little voices.  Among the clips we found:

• One of the boys falling asleep in his food at Fudruckers while on vacation.  His head kept bobbing, he kept smiling and drifting. . .until he finally gave up and fell asleep. 
• A sweet three year old boy singing the Transformer theme song - with amazing accuracy and an adorable voice.
• Countless Christmas enter-the-room-and-see-the-stockings-and-presents clips.  The expressions of excitement and joy on their little faces makes my heart sing.
• New babies being brought home and siblings welcoming them - with songs and overtures of love.
• Videos of family members who have passed away. . .clips of three of our grandmothers.  Oh - how lovely to see their expressions and hear their voices.  Such a gift.
• Countless birthday cakes and songs and candles blown out - each year passing more quickly than can be imagined.
• Dances (including a certain four year old dancing on the table for his birthday) and music videos that some of the kids can barely bring themselves to watch.
• My eldest daughter at age 3 recounting (with amazing accuracy) the ENTIRE Christmas story, while directing my husband and her imaginary friend to play all the parts with her. 

More than once I was moved to tears as I took in all the faces, voices and details of the past.  How precious are these memories of so many dear people.  Time passes so quickly we can scarcely see the changes as they occur.  What a gift to have these memories!S

The Week(ish) in Pictures, Holiday Edition

The last few weeks, in picture form:

Twinsies!

  Someone snapped this picture while my daughter and I were working on Thanksgiving dinner and it made me so happy.  Love this girl, and love that we wore the same outfit and same pony! (I don't know how she felt about twinning with dear old mom, but I loved it!)

My youngest daughter's Elf on the Shelf winter scene creation

 She loves the Elf on the Shelf, like her older brother before her, and she had such fun creating this scene for Hedgy (the Elf), and Blair and Claire (the reindeer).  I love her imagination!  And you'll be pleased to know that our dear naughty doggie only ingested some of the cotton balls from the scene. 

Cheesy Christmas Movie Graphic!

We don't have the Hallmark channel, but my youngest and I have watched a couple of Prime/Hulu/Netflix equivalents and I can report that this plot generator is spot on.  And while I generally prefer Law and Order SVU while wrapping Christmas presents, I have to say that, while very predictable and cheesy, the few movies we watched were pretty sweet.  And bonus - the ones we saw were completely appropriate for my ten-year-old's eyes and ears!  Since that's hard to come by anymore, I say three cheers for fluffy Christmas movies!

Monochromatic Christmas decor!

I needed to update my Christmas decor (I was informed of this by my teenage daughter), so off I went to Hobby Lobby, the best store on the planet.  Hours later, I emerged with several Christmas gifts and a few new decorations, all for a song!  This little corner cabinet makes me happy with its gray and white decor, and nod to a favorite Christmas hymn. 

The Best Gift

All five of our kids made this project in preschool (some of them made it more than one year, hence the nine you see - I don't have four other children I haven't ever mentioned). And every year, we hang them up somewhere and they bring me Great Joy.  I love that from a young age, they were being taught at school and at home that Jesus is the best gift they'll ever receive.  I am now in my sixth year of teaching preschool, and I continue to do this project with my preschoolers.  As I work on it with each child, I love reminding them that no matter what gifts they'll get on Christmas, nothing is more important than the gift Jesus gives them - the gift of Himself.