We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Nativity

I really thought we were close to retiring the Little People nativity set, but we had great fun with it this year.  After hearing our pastor speak at MOPS about keeping the nativity set at their house Biblically correct, I changed it up this year.  I put out the stable, animals, angel, Mary, and Joseph.  Of course they wanted to know where Jesus and the Wise Men were.  I explained Jesus didn't arrive until Christmas day and the Wise Men were following the star that appeared at his birth.  They proceeded to inform me that what I had set up wasn't quite right.  The angel appeared to Mary and to Joseph before it appeared on Jesus' birthday.  How right they were!  The following is the story of Jesus' birth told via sweet children, Fisher Price, iPhone, and Instagram. 

 The angel appeared to Mary and told her she would have a son.  His name was Jesus.  The angel came to Joseph in a dream and told him to not be afraid.

 Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem

 There was no room in the inn, so Jesus would be born in a stable

The Wise Men saw a star in the east and followed it to Jesus

Tomorrow morning, the kids will open a present.  It is baby Jesus to be placed in the manger.  God sent his only son to save us.  The perfect gift.

Merry Christmas

Gifted Tag Christmas

Browse our collection of Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

The Real Christmas Story

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:4-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”  Matthew 2:1-2

 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.  Matthew 2:7-12

Dairy-free NO MORE!

A few weeks ago Evie's skin test came back negative for milk, so we did blood work over Thanksgiving that also showed no antibodies to milk.  The final step was a 2 hour milk challenge in her allergist's office.  She hates whole milk, but the challenge was a success!  No rash, hives, or stomach issues so we were declared allergy free to milk!!!!  There are some emotional hurdles to get over, but she is trying lots of new things.  So far she doesn't like plain cheese or plain milk, but loves pizza, loves chocolate, and likes macaroni and cheese.  We feel so blessed that she outgrew this allergy.  Both of the kids are still allergic to eggs, but this opens up her diet (and my cooking) so much.  

Ready for the 2 hour milk challenge

She loved reading a book on the iPad

Celebrating 24 hours later at Big Ed's

 Happy Milk Day!

Chocolate kisses for dessert

Fantasy of Trees

Fantasy of Trees 2011

 Evie with her class gingerbread house

 Noah's Ark-Andrew's favorite

 Hello Kitty's house-Evie's favorite

 Andrew loved the cars

 Amherst Elementary tree

 Dr.Bremer's tree/scene (the kids' cardiologist)

 Dr.Darryl and Dr.B's tree (the kids' dentists)

 Fun on the carousel

Soccer Celebrations

All 2 of the players on Andrew's team and Coach Ray

 Airplane high fives.  This was a really fun season!

 Pizza party at the field

 Bubblegum Crew

Evie with Coach Bryce and Coach Keith

Happy Halloween

I couldn't find a cute/appropriate Halloween outfit for Evie, so I got a little help from the internet 

Iron on transfer from Once Upon a Design and bow from Super Twirl

 Astronaut Andrew

Lollipop Fairy

Boo @ the Zoo

Report Card Rewards *updated*

Both the kids have worked hard the first 9 weeks of school and brought home excellent report cards today.  "Andrew is a joy to have in the classroom" brought tears to my eyes.  I'm proud of them and want to reward them but we don't give $ for grades.  Personal choice, and if they were struggling we might feel differently.  After a little digging I found 3 places in Knoxville that offer rewards for good grades.  All of this info is from their websites/facebook pages.  We are headed to Zuma and Bruster's tomorrow after school, so I can confirm those tomorrow!  I couldn't find it in writing anywhere, but I've heard you get a free doughnut from Krispy Kreme too.  

Zuma Fun Center *confirmed*

FREE Tokens for Grades

We appreciate good students! Bring in your current, original report card for FREE Tokens*!
A = 3 Tokens
B = 2 Tokens
*20 Tokens Maximum

Chuck E. Cheese believes in the value of a good education. Have your child bring in their most recent report card and they will receive FREE tokens for good grades.

Valid only with a food purchase. Up to 15 tokens maximum per child. All grading systems accepted.

Bruster’s Knoxville *negative at Cedar Bluff*  The manager said they have never given sundaes to kids for good grades.  Makes me wonder who is running their facebook page?!


If you bring your child's report card to any of our Knoxville locations, they can get a FREE dirt or dino Sundae, just for making honor roll!

 Fun at Zuma!

We bought Bruster's anyway

Fall Break

Day one of fall break was a washout, so we went the dollar movies to see Cars 2.  Andrew liked it much better the second time.  We headed to the pumpkin patch yesterday afternoon and then drove on to Fall Branch to help peel apples for apple butter.  The kids loved peeling and being able to help.  They weren't so excited by the (long) process of cooking the apples today.  They stirred a couple of times, but had more fun playing with the dog, running around, and getting tractor rides.

 Wandering through the corn maze

 Tractor carts

 Andrew found his buddy from school last year on the bouncer

 Awesome contraption