I just read this blog post on a womans blog and I think it sums up how I want to do Santa in our home. Thought I'd share it on our blog!
How We Deal with Santa: The Legend of Saint Nicholas
"As part of our Giving and Serving week of our advent celebration, we talked about Saint Nicholas. I had purchased the book The Legend of St. Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall from Christianbook.com.
This book tells the story of a boy selfishly focused on getting things at Christmas. He hears a store Santa telling the Legend of St. Nicholas: his parents teach him that God loved us so much He gave us the gift of His son; when he is left orphaned he decides to give secretly to meet the needs of those around him. Upon hearing this tale, the boy in the frame story experiences a total change of heart and cheerfully buys presents for his siblings and generously purchases toys to donate to kids in needs.
With 4-6 sentences per page, this book is fairly text heavy for young kids. We lost two-and-a-half-year old Sis almost immediately and I had to work to keep four-year old Big Brother focused. The illustrations are lovely, but this book is clearly about making a specific point, and is not truly compelling literature, with the boy's radical about-face feeling a bit corny. However, it is the best book I could find about St. Nicholas and the point it makes is the point I want to make with my children, so it's a good tool for our family.
After reading, we discussed that Santa's real name is St. Nicholas and that he was a real person who lived a very long time ago. He loved God so much that he gave other people lots of gifts to share God's love with them. I explained that he was such a special gift-giver that even after he died, many families like to pretend that he brings the presents on Christmas still, but really moms and dads buy presents for their children.
Many people think I'm a party-pooper not to include Santa in our Christmas celebration and I certainly don't think this is a black and white, right versus wrong decision. However, I fear that encouraging faith in an unseen fictional Santa would damage my parental credibility as I encourage faith in an unseen living God."
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Afternoon Fun
Sawyer had a little fun yesterday after we went grocery shopping
She found some chalk
Then heard the neighbors
Tried to figure out what they were saying
Went and looked in their house to see if she could find them
Then she thought she could color the grass with the chalk
Climbed our other neighbor's steps to see their pumpkin
Gave mommy a funny look after I told her to be careful
And then ran around having a ball!
Today marks 13 months of life for Sawyer!!! She sure is a delight. But is also getting more personality that can be fisty at times. She can for sure throw a fit (not sure where she gets that from, hehe). We are working on discipline at the moment. I'm trying to figure out what is the best form of discipling her. A lot of my friends have recommended the book "Don't make me count to Three" by Ginger Plowman. It is wonderful so far, and has given me some great pointers!! I'll share some quotes from the book later!
Sawyers favorite thing to eat is vegtables. If I put pizza and green beans on her tray she will always eat all the green beans first and then a few bites of pizza. Sometimes for lunch she will eat a huge bowl of mixed vegtables and then some bread/crackers and fruit. I hoping this keeps up! =D
She adores being outside and playing with her best buddies Jane, Gianna, and Marissa. She will follow these girls around for hours giggling and watching them play.
Her vocabulary is growing. She will try and say "hot" "hat" "baaa" (like a lamb) "woof" "momma" "dada" "whoa" And then lots and lots of babbling! She knows where her head, toes, belly, nose, ears, and mouth are. If I ask her to get her pants, or shoes, or shirt, etc...she will go and get them and bring them to me to put on her. She loves taking her socks off and try to get them back on, she will do the same thing with her hats and bows. She is taking all of the world in and it is too cute to watch. We still have some snow in our parking lot and she LOVES it. She will walk real slow up to it, squat down and slowly touch it. Then she looks up at me a smiles, and then touches it again. She will do this for a good 10 minutes!
Sawyer, you are a delight and we love your full personality that we know will continue to grow and develop into a wonderful young lady one day! We are praying that you come to know Christ at a young age, and that you will have a compassionate heart for others and desire to make Christ known wherever you go. We love you so much and can not wait to experience Christmas with you this year!!!
She found some chalk
Then heard the neighbors
Tried to figure out what they were saying
Went and looked in their house to see if she could find them
Then she thought she could color the grass with the chalk
Climbed our other neighbor's steps to see their pumpkin
Gave mommy a funny look after I told her to be careful
And then ran around having a ball!
Today marks 13 months of life for Sawyer!!! She sure is a delight. But is also getting more personality that can be fisty at times. She can for sure throw a fit (not sure where she gets that from, hehe). We are working on discipline at the moment. I'm trying to figure out what is the best form of discipling her. A lot of my friends have recommended the book "Don't make me count to Three" by Ginger Plowman. It is wonderful so far, and has given me some great pointers!! I'll share some quotes from the book later!
Sawyers favorite thing to eat is vegtables. If I put pizza and green beans on her tray she will always eat all the green beans first and then a few bites of pizza. Sometimes for lunch she will eat a huge bowl of mixed vegtables and then some bread/crackers and fruit. I hoping this keeps up! =D
She adores being outside and playing with her best buddies Jane, Gianna, and Marissa. She will follow these girls around for hours giggling and watching them play.
Her vocabulary is growing. She will try and say "hot" "hat" "baaa" (like a lamb) "woof" "momma" "dada" "whoa" And then lots and lots of babbling! She knows where her head, toes, belly, nose, ears, and mouth are. If I ask her to get her pants, or shoes, or shirt, etc...she will go and get them and bring them to me to put on her. She loves taking her socks off and try to get them back on, she will do the same thing with her hats and bows. She is taking all of the world in and it is too cute to watch. We still have some snow in our parking lot and she LOVES it. She will walk real slow up to it, squat down and slowly touch it. Then she looks up at me a smiles, and then touches it again. She will do this for a good 10 minutes!
Sawyer, you are a delight and we love your full personality that we know will continue to grow and develop into a wonderful young lady one day! We are praying that you come to know Christ at a young age, and that you will have a compassionate heart for others and desire to make Christ known wherever you go. We love you so much and can not wait to experience Christmas with you this year!!!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Happy Halloween!
We had a wonderful Halloween night! We had the Rogers' over for dinner last night: pork, butternut squash, stuffing, and pumpkin cupcakes! Our neighbors, Mike and Kellie and their girls came over for cupcakes. All the girls played and giggled...it was precious! Sawyer was our little winter bunny. Her bunny ears would only stay on her head if her hat was on...so that is how she became our winter bunny. But, I thought it was fitting since there was snow on the ground.
I am so excited for next year because I think Sawyer will understand so much more!
Here is our little bunny
I asked her to give the pumpkin a kiss, and she did!
She loved looking at the snow. She would squat down and look and talk to it...she is going to love this winter I think!
Now we can focus on Thanksgiving!!! Happy first day of November!
I am so excited for next year because I think Sawyer will understand so much more!
Here is our little bunny
I asked her to give the pumpkin a kiss, and she did!
She loved looking at the snow. She would squat down and look and talk to it...she is going to love this winter I think!
Now we can focus on Thanksgiving!!! Happy first day of November!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Snowy Day
It's gonna be a long winter...so far I don't think I will mind. I love cozy days, bundled up in the house. However, I might change my mind come February =D
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Our Day at Princeton
Yesterday my sweet husband surprised me with a day trip to Princeton, New Jersey. We went with our neighbors and dear friends, the Rogers. The guys took a day off of work and both families loaded up in a van and headed an hour north to the beautiful town of Princeton. It was a perfect day filled with great food, beautiful weather, amazing history, gorgeous sites, uplifting conversations, and happy babies!
The girls loved running through the graveyard. The had no idea what they were running around, but they didn't care.
The girls loved running through the graveyard. The had no idea what they were running around, but they didn't care.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Recipe-White Chicken Lasanga
lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat and used 12 noodles!)
1/2 c. butter
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper, to taste
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. nonfat milk (Trust me, the white sauce was totally creamy!)
4 c. mozzarella cheese, divided (I didn’t actually measure out my cheeses… just use what looks good to you!)
1 c. shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 c. part-skim ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese
1 1/2 c. cooked and shredded chicken
1 layer of fresh spinach (you can use frozen)
Around 3 cups butternut squash puree ( you can use frozen)
Melt butter in a large saucepot. Add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until translucent. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Cook flour mixture 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute. Turn off heat and add 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese. Stir in dried spices.
Lightly spray a 9×13″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Ladle some cheese sauce onto the bottom to thinly cover. Add a layer of lasagna noodles. Layer with more cheese sauce, the chicken, and the ricotta cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce, spinach, and 1 c. mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce. Using a spoon, spread the butternut squash puree over the cheese sauce. Top with remaining 1 c. mozzarella cheese and 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese. Add final layer of lasagna. Top with remaining cheese sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until bubbly. If cheese doesn’t brown on top, turn on the broiler for the last couple minutes. Allow lasagna to sit about 15 minutes before serving for easier slicing.
I made this for our neighbors and we all loved it!
1/2 c. butter
1 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
ground black pepper, to taste
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. nonfat milk (Trust me, the white sauce was totally creamy!)
4 c. mozzarella cheese, divided (I didn’t actually measure out my cheeses… just use what looks good to you!)
1 c. shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1 c. part-skim ricotta cheese, or cottage cheese
1 1/2 c. cooked and shredded chicken
1 layer of fresh spinach (you can use frozen)
Around 3 cups butternut squash puree ( you can use frozen)
Melt butter in a large saucepot. Add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until translucent. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Cook flour mixture 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 1 minute. Turn off heat and add 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese. Stir in dried spices.
Lightly spray a 9×13″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Ladle some cheese sauce onto the bottom to thinly cover. Add a layer of lasagna noodles. Layer with more cheese sauce, the chicken, and the ricotta cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce, spinach, and 1 c. mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of pasta. Top with cheese sauce. Using a spoon, spread the butternut squash puree over the cheese sauce. Top with remaining 1 c. mozzarella cheese and 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese. Add final layer of lasagna. Top with remaining cheese sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until bubbly. If cheese doesn’t brown on top, turn on the broiler for the last couple minutes. Allow lasagna to sit about 15 minutes before serving for easier slicing.
I made this for our neighbors and we all loved it!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Fall into Fun!
We have been having an amazing fall week. Filled with all kinds of fall goodies! And to top it all off Sawyer Beth is becoming so much fun!!! I can't believe how smart she is getting. I can ask her to go get things from her room and she will walk back to her room and get them!! It's amazing to me. She is also starting to enjoy so many things. For example, the trees blowing in the wind, dogs barking, our pumpkin on our porch, little pieces of paper...the list could go on. AND her vocabulary is growing. She points to the oven and says in her little way "hot", and she points to our pumpkin and says "pum pum." One last thing...she is loving putting stuff on, especially mommies necklaces! I don't mind because it's a very easy entertaining tool when I"m cooking =D
I have to add these pictures too, the first is of an a Halloween outfit my mom got her, the leggings and so cute with bats, and spider webs. And the other outfit is an adorable fall outfit, Susu (my MIL) got her that hat and she wears it almost everyday!
This last picture is of Sawyer waiting for her Daddy to get home. She will stand by the door and say "da da da da" =D Melts my heart
I'm loving these fall days. I want these next few months to go by so slowly =D I'm already planning our menu for Thanksgiving, and I'm starting some things for us to do as a family for Advent this year!!!!! Ahhh Christmas...but first Fall, and then Thanksgiving. Okay I am done rambling.
I have to add these pictures too, the first is of an a Halloween outfit my mom got her, the leggings and so cute with bats, and spider webs. And the other outfit is an adorable fall outfit, Susu (my MIL) got her that hat and she wears it almost everyday!
This last picture is of Sawyer waiting for her Daddy to get home. She will stand by the door and say "da da da da" =D Melts my heart
I'm loving these fall days. I want these next few months to go by so slowly =D I'm already planning our menu for Thanksgiving, and I'm starting some things for us to do as a family for Advent this year!!!!! Ahhh Christmas...but first Fall, and then Thanksgiving. Okay I am done rambling.
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