Christmas 2011

We're still recovering from Christmas around here. It flew by. We were so busy that it crept up and before we knew it, it was here.

It can't be Christmas without a photo in front of the upside down tree at church, so here it is. This is one of the few pictures I took this year:


My brother-in-law came to Georgia for Christmas. He moved out to California and it had been a few years since he'd been home. It was good to spend time with him. Of course, the boys were smitten by him and are already asking when he's coming back.

We usually go over to my parents house for breakfast and gifts on Christmas morning. Since Christmas fell on a Sunday this year and my parents' church had service, we had Christmas morning on Christmas Eve morning. My mom cooked a delicious breakfast and we opened gifts. It was loud, hectic, and wonderful- as always!

Later on that afternoon my parents and my Aunt Rita came to watch Shaun sing at the Christmas Eve service at church. It was nice to be in church with them, and Chris and I were able to be in a service together, so that was nice too. I never went to church on Christmas Eve until we came to Free Chapel, and I'm so glad it has become a tradition with us. I look forward to it every year.

The choir was amazing, of course. Jordan was a little bummed that he wasn't able to take part this year. He was a cow during the nativity scene in last year's service, but couldn't make it to the rehearsal this year because we were spending time with Uncle Jeremy. Jordan said his time with Jeremy was worth the sacrifice, but when he saw all of his "barn yard" friends up on stage he sat up in his chair and whispered (loudly), "Hey! I'm supposed to be up there!"

There's always a funny moment, right? Ha ha! There's always next year!

Here's a picture of Shaun and some of the other boys in the choir before the service. Jordan was there, too.

And here's a shot of Jordan in his new boots from Susie and Papa. He insisted on wearing them. I think they were his favorite gifts.


After church we went back to my parents house for my family's Christmas get together. We ate too much, laughed a lot, played Dirty Santa, watched all of the kids be spoiled with gifts. Both of my boys were given Star Wars items from my Aunt Jenny. I'm pretty sure she's their favorite aunt after those gifts!

Speaking of favorite gifts, here's mine:

My Aunt Nancy made all of pillow cases out of my grandmother's old shirts. I couldn't love anything more.

Before the boys went to bed we put out a treat for Santa on the fire place...Aunt Jenny's famous fruity Jello dessert dish. I'm not sure what its called but she's been making it on Christmas Eve since I was a child. It is delicious, and Santa was really pleased to have been left something besides milk and cookies. The boys fell asleep in record time, so Chris and I went to bed early too. We slept in until about 8, when the boys woke up and wanted their presents. Jordan's favorite gift was his new scooter. He'd been wanting a bigger one for a long time. Shaun liked his iPod Touch best. It was already loaded up with his favorite music and movies.

We went out to Chris' sister's house for Christmas lunch with his family. We had a nice meal and got to visit for a long time. We were all spoiled (again) with too many presents.

We headed back to North Hall for Christmas dinner with my grandparents later on that night. More food, more laughter, and togetherness. We all had a good time, ate too much, and opened more gifts than we deserved.

When we returned home that night we were exhausted and everyone slept really well. It was a great Christmas!

my boys rock

Last weekend Chris asked Jordan if he wanted to play his guitar during the KidPak Jr service on Sunday. Jordan looked up at his dad with an expression of utter disbelief on his face and said, "Not with your band, Dad. I'm starting my own band. It's gonna be me, Christopher, Myles, Benjamin, and Elijah. And we're gonna rock, too!"

I guess Jordan's "real" band couldn't get it together on such short notice, because the next morning he did indeed play his guitar with his daddy and the rest of the KP7 band.

He was great! Even though he's just started with guitar lessons and wasn't allowed to play "plugged in" until he gets a little more practice, he still rocked it.

Later on that same evening we headed to Lula for the AMPED service. The hubs and his other band, Ambered Stripes, have the honor of ministering here one Sunday night each month. We have come to love this church and all the people in it. Chris asked Shaun if he wanted to help him lead worship. Have I mentioned lately that Shaun has a beautiful voice? Before long he'll be giving Chris a run for his money! He was glad to be able to worship on stage with his dad. And of course, he rocked his songs too.

Jordan was allowed to go up with his guitar again as well. This was the first time my three boys had been on stage ministering together. What a sweet sight it was. I'm so proud of them all.

Before service started, Chris had a talk with the kids and told them that they could only stay on stage for the praise songs. When the worship songs began, they had to come down in the audience. Because, let's face it. They're so stinkin' cute no one would be able to concentrate on worshiping because they wouldn't be able to tear their eyes away from all of that anointed adorableness. They both said they understood. But when Jordan came back down to sit with me he had tears in his eyes because, "Dad said I could play three songs and then he only let me play two! Wail, wail, siffle, sniffle".

I snuggled him up and he whimpered for a few more minutes before falling asleep in my arms. I guess he was a little tired.

I was sort of tired too, but it was a good tired. It was a good day.

oops! he did it again!

I'm pretty sure the Hubs is trying to start an off the wall Christmas tradition.

Remember this post from last year? This year's tree excursion was a little different. We still didn't manage to get a tree until 2 weeks before Christmas, but we did all go together to get our tree as a family.

Here's a shot of the boys in front of the tree they picked out.


And here's a shot of my three manly men carrying the tree back to the tree shaker thing.

The kids and I teased Chris all day long about last year's tree incident. As we turned onto our street that night with our tree I decided to get one more jab in. "Chris", I said. "Don't forget to park the car before you make it to the car port. We don't want any holes in our tree this year." In response, I received a murderous glare and these words: "Alright, Erin. You've been doing this all day. Would you just shut up about it already? I'm not going to mess up the tree again!"

He was really beginning to get angry at me, so I let it go. And then when we got home, he promptly drove the car (and our tree) under the car port. Again. I burst into laughter and yelled, "You did it again!"

Chris looked at me in disbelief and said, "Holy crap. I can't believe I just did that".

I couldn't stop laughing. Even when I got out of the car and saw that this time, he'd actually knocked the tree off of the car. I am, however, happy to report that there was no damage to the tree this year. Thank goodness.

dreams

I have recurring dreams. Several of them. I frequently dream that I'm at the bottom of the ocean. My lungs are about to burst and I put my hands over my mouth and, in desperation, take a slow deep breath. Much to my surprise, I can breathe under water as long as my hands are over my mouth. That's all I can ever remember. I've always wondered what happens next.

As a child I would frequently dream that I was being chased by a stranger. I run and run and then finally get into a car to drive away. Only I don't know how to drive because I'm about 7 years old... and the inside of the car looks more like the cockpit of an airplane. Lots of knobs, meters, and dials. And that's all I ever remember. I've been having this dream for at least 20 years, and I've never gotten to the end of it.

Another dream I have all the time is that I'm home alone and someone is breaking into my house. I get the phone to dial 911 and I keep getting the numbers wrong. This dream has changed over the years. It actually reflects the type of phone I currently have. When I was first married my "dream phone" was our cordless phone. Now, it's my iPhone. Strange, huh?

The dream I have most often is this: I'm back in high school, junior year. I go to English class with Mrs. Clendenning. I haven't been to class in a while. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was skipping. But I'm there, and as soon as the teacher walks in she announces that it's final exam day. I begin to panic because I haven't been to class in weeks and weeks, so I have no idea what this test will cover. And if I fail it, I'll fail 11th grade. I've been having this dream since I was actually in 11th grade, and once again- I never get to the ending. Now here's the really strange part: a few months ago a friend of mine sent out an email announcing that she was putting her house on the market and needing to get rid of some things. She said that she had tons of homeschooling books and whoever wanted any of it was welcome to have it. I told her what I was interested in, and she came to co-op with a huge garbage bag full of curriculum for me to take home. In that bag I found, among other things, the same English book from my 11th grade English class.

Creepy.

I keep asking myself if this means anything significant. I asked a few other people too. Most of them just laughed. One asked if I'd done anything bad to Mrs. Clendenning or anyone else in that English class. In case anyone's wondering, the answer to that question is "no!". Chris says I worry to much and that when I stop worrying these crazy dreams will stop.

I am curious though. I haven't really studied dreams since Psychology 1101 back in college. I think I'm going to do some research on my own. Maybe the Holy Spirit's trying to tell me something though my subconscious. Or maybe recurring dreams are just little quirks we all have to keep us guessing.

on the time Generation Praise sang with Mac Powell

Today was a big day at church. Mac Powell was there. Yes, Mac Powell from Third Day. Not only did he sing, but he sang a song with Generation Praise. We had a lot of excited children on our hands! Us adults were pretty excited, too. I mean, it's not every day that your kid gets the chance to sing on stage with Mac Powell!

Shaun had been looking forward to this for awhile now. It was really easy to get him out of bed this morning, despite our late hours last night. We got to church super-early, warmed up, had a sound check, and then I watched from back stage as our kids ministered alongside the one and only Mac Powell. They were great, as usual. Even if they had to have a lecture after first service about proper stage decorum. You know. No picking your nose, biting your nails, staring at yourself on the big screen, or asking Mac Powell for an autograph on your way offstage. Ha ha!

I didn't get to watch the sound check because I was downstairs getting attendance reports together, but my friend Kendra took this shot. I love how all the kids are looking up at Mac in adoration. He was so good with all of them! They sang Children of God. This was the first time Mac Powell had ever sang this song with a kids' choir. Pretty awesome!

I got this photo from my friend Melissa.

I snapped this one myself. This is actually a picture taken of the screen from backstage. I think it's pretty cool, anyway.

It was a great day to be at church!