12.27.08
Now All I Need Is a New Camera Bag
I expect to do some serious photography this next year with this! It has the quality of my old Minolta 35mm, with the speed, memory and convenience of digital. It’s amazing how fast it takes a picture! And, it came with the basic 18-70 mm lens, and the 75-300 mm zoom lens! Hubby did good this Christmas!!
12.24.08
Luke 2
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
“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 room for them in the inn.
“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 of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
12.20.08
Dear Santa
Finn writing last year's Santa letter
Finn’s Dear Santa letter from school:
Dear Santa,
I want Star Wars Legos. How do his nose light up?
Awww. How sweet. He only asked for one toy and it’s the same one he’s consistently asked every Santa in town for. His second comment though, which I assume is about Rudolph’s nose (not Santa’s nose), is interesting because it’s so him. He is so logically-minded and wants to make sense of things. And he’s good at making sense of things, and I’m often amazed by his ability to reason things out in his head and then explain them to others. He could be wrong because he just doesn’t have enough information to really get it all right, but his rationalizations are very well thought-out and make sense given his age and life experience. He’s so unique and such a joy!
So some of the other Santa letters from his kindergarten class and my responses:
I want an Ipod, a Wii and an Alabama helmet.
An iPod for a 5-year-old? C’mon. Finn would love to have an iPod Touch — he loves the games on my iPhone and actually likes it for music too. But to give a child who can’t even keep up with shoes from day to day a $200 high-tech doodad? Not to mention it’s fragility and the likelihood it would be dropped? I don’t think so.
I want a Wii and Legos. I’ve been feeling good.
See, there’s a difference in feeling good and being good.
I want a DS and I want a Barbie doll. I want a play pony. How are the reindeer? How is Mrs. Claus? Are you okay Santa? I’m going to leave you some cookies.
This one is obviously from a girl; she wants girl toys — a Barbie and a pony. But that’s not what makes it obvious. It’s her chattiness. How is this, how is that, etc. And “are you OK Santa?” Does she know something we don’t know about the Big Guy? Why would Santa not be OK?
12.19.08
A Christmas Poem
I’m no poet, but the following is a Christmas poem I wrote and included in our Christmas cards this year:
Merry Christmas from our family
We hope you had a good ‘08
Please follow along with me
As I share things from this year that were great.
Finn turned 5 in summer
And started kindergarten in fall
He played tee-ball, soccer and coach pitch this year
And worked really hard to hit the ball.
He’s doing well at school
And learning how to read
He enjoys music class and making crafts
And his favorite color is green!
Caden has been two all year
He’ll be three the 29th of December
His year has been busy too
Learning new words to remember.
He talks, talks, talks, all the time
And loves to kiss and hug
Such a sweet little guy when he wants to be
And such a cuddlebug
Learning to use the potty
Was Caden’s big feat of the year
Mom and dad are glad that’s done!
No one else to potty-train for us, ya hear?
As for the hubby and I
We’ve been busy with work and school
He changed jobs mid-year
And so far it’s been pretty cool
Hopefully by this time next year
We can add “Dr.” to his name
He’s not too much left to do for his PhD
Spring or summer is his aim.
Me, I’m still at NASA
And turning into quite a little space geek
I’m also one course away from the graduate certificate
That I went to school to seek.
We’re hopeful for 2009
And all that may be in store
So Happy New Year to you all
May you receive the wishes of your heart and more!
12.17.08
Christmas, Don’t Be Late
LEGO Star Wars MagnaGuard Starfighter
Finn’s Christmas present finally shipped today with an ETA of Christmas Eve! This present is THE present. It’s the only thing he asked for from every Santa we’ve seen: a Star Wars Lego set. So it’s very important that it get here on time!
I ordered it from Amazon about 2 weeks ago — so I thought. Turns out I put it in my shopping cart and never confirmed my order. So this past Sunday it dawned on me that I’d never followed through. I quickly logged on and confirmed my order only to receive an email on Monday that my order wouldn’t ship until January 19!! What?!? I had ordered two other Lego sets with it — a box of regular Legos for Finn and a new box of a Duplos for Caden — and these were out of stock til January.
Once I took the back-ordered sets off my order, the Star Wars Lego was ETA Christmas Eve!! I could have switched from Free Super Saver shipping to $5 shipping, but me and shipping don’t mix. Paying for shipping eats up half of what I saved by ordering online in the first place (the set was $10 cheaper online than in stores). I’m confident that Amazon (er, Santa) will get it here on time. But just in case, Walmart doesn’t close until 6 p.m. Christmas Eve and the one nearest me has three in stock.
“We can hardly stand to wait, please Christmas, don’t be late.” — Alvin and the Chipmunks
12.05.08
Decorating for Christmas
I played around with a few photos to make the banner on my blog more Christmas-y. Since I can only pick one, thought I’d share the other options. All photos were taken by me, with my iPhone, and edited in Photoshop.
12.03.08
Target iPhone App
Target has an iPhone app and it’s awesome!!! You tell it the age range and gender of the person you need a gift for, shake the phone, a bunch of pretty snow blows across the screen, and voila!, it gives you a gift idea. You can add the gift to your favorites and make a shopping list, or shake it again for another idea.
The app is way cool, but then again I’m excited just having the Target logo on my iPhone menu! (It’s a free app, by the way.)
12.01.08
Songs for a Cause
Everyone was all miffed a few years ago when Target wouldn’t allow the Salvation Army to have bell ringers outside their stores. Target explained that its policy was not to allow any group to solicit money outside its stores, and while the Salvation Army was a worthy cause, they wouldn’t make an exception. They would instead support the Salvation Army in other ways.
I was one of the few that agreed with the Target decision. I like the policy because I don’t like being hit up for money from every cause known to man when I’m trying to shop. I like that Target stood behind their policy, knowing that if they made an exception for one they would be begged for exceptions from others. And, I like that Target honored their pledge to support the Salvation Army in other ways.
One of those other ways is Target’s annual “Songs for a Cause” CD. The CD costs $5.99 in Target stores — $2 of which goes to the Salvation Army — and has 13 songs by people you actually want to hear — Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Gavin DeGraw, Sarah McLachlan … even Elvis made his way on to this CD! It’s only available in stores, so check it out, enjoy some good Christmas music and help a worthy cause.
