Church Christmas Program

Tonight was our church Christmas program.  This was Nate's first time to sing in a preschool program.  To say that it was entertaining is an understatement.  Our sweet, precious Nate was the WILD child that has the audience in stitches. Darren said he knew it was going to be bad when Nate was walking to the stage and said loudly "We're going to the stage!"  Then when they got on the stage, he yelled "We're on the stage!"  I moved down front to get pictures.  Before they started singing Nate started reciting another child's lines...lines the other child had already said.  His choir teacher kindly shushed him, but he never checked up.  At this point, I began to laugh uncontrollably.  I honestly don't even remember hearing them sing.  I remember Nate discovering a microphone right above his head and realizing how loud he sounded, which encouraged him to talk even louder.  When he decided to sing he just mumbled words/sounds to the tune of the music.  When he saw me sitting down front, he started saying "there's Mommy" over and over again.  I kept thinking I need to stop this train wreck, but all I could do was laugh.  I laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face.  I looked around and the people around me were doing the same thing.  All of the other children behaved pretty well, so I guess Nate provided some entertainment.  He has another preschool program this week and I'm already wondering what in the world he will do.  We will be having lots of conversations about the upcoming performance.  For the record, we had lots of conversations about this performance.  The worst part is we didn't video it.  We discussed it and decided not to take the camera.  Several people asked if we captured this hilarious moment on video.  A friend offered to let us make a copy of her video.  I think we will definitely be doing that.

Love you Daddy!

Nate and I decorated the Christmas tree a couple of weeks ago while Darren was working.  We emailed Darren this picture to brighten his day.  We really do love Daddy!  Darren is a wonderful husband and father and we are blessed to have him in our lives.

Peter Pan

Last night we saw Peter Pan at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.  It was fabulous!!!  The sets and costumes were amazing.  It was action packed and very entertaining.  Peter flew out over the audience sprinkling pixie dust several times and the pirates came out into the crowd to interact with the children a couple of times.  Nate had a great time and behaved well (for the most part).  It will be playing until Christmas Eve, so it's not too late to take your kids.  I'm positive it will be a hit.

Nate and William

Nate and one of the Lost Boys

 

Keeping Christ in Christmas

Now that Darren and I are parents, we have an even greater desire to make sure that we focus on Christ during this crazy holiday season.  Our church preschool director does a great job every year preparing an Advent devotional.  I honestly had never heard the term advent until Nate was born and we received the Advent devotional.  Advent means coming or arrival.  We are really trying to focus on the coming/arrival of Christ and focus on His birth without getting too carried away with Santa and all of the commercialism of Christmas.  This is hard.  It's not hard to focus on Christ, but it is hard for me to not get carried away in all of the commercialism.  I can think of so many things that I want to get Nate for Christmas.  This honestly hasn't been a struggle for me until this year.  This is the first year that Nate has really been aware of presents and Santa.  This is the first year that I can think of lots and lots and lots of toys, games, books, etc that I know he will love.  I am kidding myself if I think Nate won't care anything about toys every Christmas, but I also want him to get excited about celebrating advent - the birth of Christ, our only true source of hope and salvation in this world.  I also want him to love and share with others.  This won't happen if Darren and I don't model these behaviors for him.  I am praying that God will change the desires of our heart and give us wisdom to handle situations.

I found this neat advent calendar several weeks ago.  It has 24 tiny books that contain scriptural facts leading up to Christ's birth.  Each night before bed, Nate gets to find the correct book and Darren or I read it to him.  Then we discuss it and Nate gets to hang the book on the Christmas tree in his room.  If you have older children (4 or 5 and up), you might want to check out this link to creating a Jesse tree with your children.  What are you doing to keep Christ the focus of Christmas...and every other day of the year?  I would love to hear your ideas.       

Hand-Me-Down

Nate has received several hand-me-downs from his cousins, Cam and Carson.  I think this is the best so far.  Thanks again guys!!!

Fun Dip...Fun Mess

Cake Wreck

Several couples from our church recently had a welcome home party for my (Cover)ed partner's son, Anderson.  He is a precious 2 1/2 year old little boy from Thailand.  This is what the cake looked like.  Rather than have it changed, our friend Joy decided that it would be a good laugh...and it definitely was.  To see more cake wrecks, click here. 

Holiday Market

The Holiday Market was a success!  (Cover)ed sold 13 towels...which means $195.00 to donate for orphan care in Thailand.  We also have more to add to that from a few sales prior to the market.  We'll post the total on our (Cover)ed site when we make the donation.  It was a fun night and it allowed us to get some local exposure.  We got a lot of encouraging responses.  We are excited to see where God is going to take this.  This is my great partner, Casey, and I before the market.

The Frog Prince

A couple of weeks ago the Birmingham Children's Theatre came to town to do a performance of The Frog Prince for all of the local preschools.  I hoped we would get pictures with the cast after the performance, but we had to settle for the golden ball instead.

Beach Trip

It's been a LONG time since we've been to the beach and stayed in one of these.

For the past 8 years all of our beach trips have been camping trips.  We love camping, but this was a nice change.  The condo we stayed in was family owned and super nice.  We didn't have to worry about condo/hotel germs or bed bugs. :)  The weather was great.  We thought it was going to be pretty cold so I didn't pack any swimsuits.  Big mistake.  The first day we played on the beach, it was too cold for swimsuits and getting in the water.  Nate did okay about not getting in the water, but you could tell that he really wanted to play in the water.  Thankfully, the next day the weather was supposed to be significantly warmer.  I made quick trip to Target and got a clearance swimsuit for him.  Now I know to ALWAYS pack a swimsuit when going to the beach, no matter what the forecast says.  The next two days Nate was able to play in the water.  Yay!!!  The water was beautiful...more beautiful than I've ever seen the gulf. 

My absolute favorite picture from the trip.

We really enjoyed sitting on the balcony.  We had lunch out there, played memory out there (and lots of other games), and watched beautiful sunsets.  God's creation is AMAZING!

You're invited...

to come check out our (Cover)ed towels in person!  If you live in Chilton County or the surrounding area, please plan to attend the 2nd Annual Holiday Market on November 19th between 5-8 pm.  It will be a great opportunity to Christmas shop for lots of great handmade items.  I hope to see you there!

Care Net

Last Thursday night I had the privilege of attending the Care Net banquet.  Care Net is a Christ centered pregnancy crisis center.  Our small town is very blessed to have such a wonderful ministry like Care Net.  I honestly just learned about Care Net about a year ago.  A few weeks ago I stopped by to talk with them about volunteering my (very amateur) photography skills.  I was thinking baby pictures, but they called and asked me to take pictures at the banquet.  The pictures turned out okay.  Fluorescent lights in large rooms are difficult...for me anyway.  I also broke a cardinal rule when taking a picture of the Care Net board members.  I allowed a man to stand in front of a microphone and it kind of looks like he has a mic coming out of his head....oops!  It actually crossed my mind to move it, but I was a little insecure in this photographer role.  I was afraid that I would somehow cause a problem with the mic or that it would take too much time to move it.  Next time (if there is one) I will definitely follow my instincts! 
All of the Care Net workers/volunteers were so kind.  It is obvious that they truly care about all of the women they meet.  The entire banquet was wonderful, but one part really stood out to me.  The director spoke of a woman that came to their office several times trying to decide whether or not to have an abortion.  Sadly, she did end up having the abortion.  The counselor that had been meeting with her called her after the abortion to check on her and tell her that she still cared about her and would be there for her if she needed to talk.  That's grace.  The Care Net ladies are loving these women and showing them God's grace by being there for them regardless of the decision they make.  Don't get me wrong, they don't want any of the women to have abortions and they do everything they can encourage them to keep their baby or pursue adoption, but the fact is that some of the women choose abortion.  I wonder how many Christians would extend the same amount of grace?  I'll be honest and say that a few years ago, I would have judged that lady and grace would have been the last thing on my mind.  Praise God, for His grace in my life...for changing my judgemental, legalistic heart.  Even though I've never been in the position of this woman, without Christ, I am a sinner in DESPERATE need of  a saviour.  My flesh is prideful, selfish, impatient, quick to anger, and the list could go on and on.  Praise God for a changed heart!  This doesn't mean that I have it all together.  That's the beauty grace, it's not about me, it's not about having it all together.  It's all about Christ.   If you have not experienced this grace, I would love to talk to you more about it.  You can email me at darrenandjulie@centurytel.net.
Care Net is a great ministry and I hope you will join me and pray for everyone involved.  Let's pray for the people working/volunteering there as well as the women they meet.  Right now Care Net is only open two days a week.  Let's also pray that they receive the funding they need to become a full time ministry.

Halloween

Halloween evening we went to a local church's "trunk or treat."  Halloween weekend was Nate's turn to bring Porky home from preschool.  We dressed Porky up like an Auburn football player.  War Eagle! 

Stick 'em  up!

Nate's favorite part of the trunk or treat was the playground. 

 

Town Trick or Treat

Nate had another fun preschool activity this morning.  A lot of the businesses in town participate in a town trick or treat.  Nate had so much fun seeing all of the different costumes and (of course) collecting LOTS of candy...and we still have candy left from a parade back in June!  I think his favorite stop was the bank because his Granna works there.   
I will admit that I was a little skeptical about starting preschool this year, but Nate loves it.  He enjoys playing with the other kids and getting a "treasure" from the treasure box on Thursdays.  Right now they are preparing for a Christmas program and Nate is learning several fun new songs.    



Nate Nate and his choir teacher, Ms. Melinda.  Ms. Melinda has called Nate "Nate Nate" since school started.  I noticed several of the kids in his class calling him Nate Nate also. 


Ashton and Nate


After trick or treating we returned to Nate's classroom for a party. 

Rainy Day Fun