December Smorgasbord

Getting ready to decorate and eating the first treat of the Christmas season: Oreos. (Yes, I momentarily forgot our fair trade dedication. Some things are so traditional it is hard to remember we don't do that anymore!).

Taking the decorating very seriously.

My kids LOVE decorating. They think each ornament is like a little treasure. I tend to agree!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, fa la la la la, la la la la.

Filled that tree up. We have childhood ornaments plus an ornament each year for each of us. I LOVE a full tree. Just full of reminders of so many happy blessings.

Goofin' around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday. Alden loved that song this year.

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!
Blunt the knives and bend the forks!
That's what Bilbo Baggins hates.

Getting ready to sing for the Cantata. Alden is center and Rhi is 2nd row left. Yes, and iPhone shot. They sang How Far Is It to Bethlehem.

Rhianwen had her first harp recital. I think she did a great job introducing her piece (I caught the very end on video). She did not mutter or look at her, and I was proud even before she played a note. She did a great job and kept going through her little mistakes, and she didn't look nervous (no shaking hands or fingers) to me even though I know she was. A friend of the family very sweetly made Rhianwen a white dress for the recital. I think she envisioned Rhianwen as an angel playing on the harp :) Grandmama and Grandaddy were able to come and listen too!

So happy to be done. 

Thanks Gradmama and Grandaddy for a nice family pic!

With her teacher and other students. I just love her teacher. She is very affirming and patient and encouraging. 

Awesome monster art by the boys...a collaborative effort.

With Aunt Hannah outside the DPAC looking at the Christmas tree walk. 

This was before Corwin chose to push the button on the yellow security box. At first nothing happened, at which point I did not know whether to feel relieved or worried. Then 2 minutes later, (a point at which had I really had an emergency, I'd either have been shoved into a car or died or cardiac arrest), a voice came on asking if anyone was there and if there was an emergency. Sigh. At least it was not the fire alarm. I just had to bashfully admit that my child had pushed the button. My only consolation is that judging from the position of the box along this Christmas tree walk, it probably gets pushed pretty often this time of year...just par for the course. From that point on, I had Corwin keep his hands in his pockets.

Alden getting his very first Trail Life badge. 

This is a group that seeks to mentor boys to be leaders, to serve well, and to experience nature. The troop in Durham has just started, so everything is still being worked out organizationally, but Wally and Alden are having a great time. 

The younger portion of the troop. It's been fun to see them form closer friendships.

Enjoying the first early morning snow. As you can see, PJ's are still being worn. 

Christmas cookies! Thank you Hannah for delivering coffee and help!

Alden  has really gotten into playing checkers. 

Family devotions around the fire.

Advent tree is almost full! Exciting!

The advent tree is one of my favorite things about Christmas. Going through the prophesies and accounts of Christ's birth is just so special. Using Scripture, symbols, and song is just such a meaningful way to meditate on Jesus' work of love through history to His people.

At Morgan Imports getting really excited about Christmas!

Thanksgiving

Thankful Tom Turkey. We did a good job this year! He's nice and fluffy full.

We painted the boys' room green, the shade they agreed upon. Now they are enjoying battling it out in there. We still need to put the last layer of chalkboard paint on the wall under their window.

Reading bedtime stories to Corwin and his cousin Benjamin. They  had so much fun playing together!

When we get together, our kids like scheming about how nice it would be to live together every day!

Hanging out with Uncle Averett and Aunt Jaime. I forgot my nice camera, so everything was taken on my iPhone :(

Making place cards for the feast.

Making Mr. Eggplant, a Tinsley family tradition, to grace the table.Yes, this is serious business. It takes many men to get the job done.

Putting on Mr. Eggplant's face.

Finished!

Now for the cooking. Yes, men can do that too! They enjoyed making cornbread stuffing with Grandmama.

I often am a terrible photodocumenter when it comes to large family gatherings. I'm just too busy enjoying eating, watching, and catching up with people. So I didn't get a single photo of Smiley (my cute little niece) nor of her parents nor of Andy and Gina who are Greats for the kids. So sad :(

We had a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that we all share the same faith. Fellowship is sweet.

Living in the Light

Homeschooling it. We've been studying the Middle Ages this fall, so we took an afternoon to make subtleties and mead.

Cheers! Enjoying a nonalcoholic version of mead, a favorite of the Vikings.

Corwin's subtleties (bird's eggs and nests).

Rhianwen's were flowers and birds and insects.

Alden's were towers. And yes they were all edible!

A bunch of people at the ocean. I just LOVE his drawings. They make me happy. Yes, his face is dirty quite often. I try, but often fail to follow through after reminding him to go wash it.

Cleaning out a pumpkin on Halloween.

So enjoyably icky.

Our pumpkins represent us and our hearts in need of cleansing and filling with the light of Christ.

So happy to be shining. Still unique but all with the same light. 

This Fireman is all business.

Plants to the left sprouted in the dark, to the right in the light. Fun little experiment for the kids. I could wax eloquent on how this makes me think of people and our need for Christ's true light for thriving, and how we think we are growing wonderfully on our own but end up being really kind of sick and weak and constantly searching. But it really was just a science experiment.

Spanish. Alden loves it, but I'm not sure if he really is following. Rhi is following but hates having to figure it out or getting things incorrect.

Framed this and put it in his room. He gets SO messy, but he loves it.

Aunt Hannah reading Petit Rouge Riding Hood, a story that is written in New Orleans English. REALLY fun to read once you figure it out. You can see Hannah's look of concentration. This is her first time through it. 

Uncle Christopher reading to Alden.

Why, do you say, are they here randomly? Because they were visiting to scout out Durham! They now live 10 minutes from us!!! Yay! Please pray for their search for a church home and small group. We know from experience how difficult it is to start feeling rooted without one.

Rainbow! Just a theme of light. 

Rhianwen is 8!

The one who started this whole confusing, crazy, sweet, frustrating, fun, inspiring, eternal parenting journey. I just remember how excited we were to hold this little life. How crazy to see that she is more than halfway to being my height.

We didn't catch her in bed, but we sang happy birthday first thing!

Reading her cards. The boys are on the edge of their seats!

They love licking the candles. Now you will wonder when you come for other birthdays...are those the ones that were licked???

For her birthday party, Rhianwen wanted a sleepover. I limited it to 4-5 of friends of her choosing, and we had a fun time. They didn't get to sleep until 1am and had a lot fun!

The result of blindfolded girls putting Olaf back together. Pretty good!

We hid Anna's/Marie-Grace's winter stuff for the girls to find and get her ready for cold winter weather.

A "sleigh ride" down the hill during our treasure hunt.

We had an ice relay, "sleigh ride", snowball fight against Marshmallow the monster snowman as part of our treasure hunt, and did lots of crafts like making snowflakes and painting winter scenes, and of course watched Frozen. 

I actually enjoyed having so much time to do things instead of feeling so rushed to pack things into a 2 hour party window!

What to say about my girl? I always try to sum up her little life in a paragraph at the end of her birthday posts, but Wally is sawzalling in the same room and Corwin is screaming for me from his bedroom, and it is hard to hear myself think! So you see why I'm very behind on blogging...life is not conducive to writing.

Rhianwen has begun learning to play the harp this year and singing in children's choir, both things she loves. She's composed 2-3 songs on her own too...not Mozart, but really writing down notes on a score and putting words to it. She has loved having a dog, and his cuteness has not worn off to her. She is still very much into imaginative play. She constantly talks, if not to a person, to tell stories and narrate what she is acting out. This makes her great at making conversation but not always great at being a listener. She has had doubts about the truth of Scripture this year, but after working through the logic, she is convinced that it is believable and not a myth or fairytale. She loves dancing and also does this constantly and still hopes to be a ballerina when she grows up. I just pray that God will make His calling clear to her and that she will have the desire to walk in it.  

So thankful for my sweet girl even if we are so very different!