St. Nick

I think we may have done a post about Santa Claus last year but I can't remember exactly. So here's a Santa Claus post:

Heath and I decided a few years ago that we didn't want to lie to our girls about Santa Claus. We expect the truth without exception from them and we feel like they should be able to count on the truth from us too. There have been alot of questions this past year about ALOT of things; who made trees? where are the dinosaurs? are dinosaurs real? are pirates real? what are hands made of? are opossums good or bad? are wolves mean? where is God? is God real? is Santa real? If you have or have had a 3 or 5 year old you're familiar with these types of questions. They really go on and on. We don't lie to them about wolves or dinosaurs or God or pirates. So we told them the truth about Santa too. Heres the truth:

The story begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made a Bishop while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need and his love for children.

We have not tried to keep Santa out of Christmas in our home. All our stockings have Santa on them (yes we hang stockings) we have Santa ornaments and Christmas books about Santa Mouse. Santa is a large part of the culture we live in and pretending like we can't see him isn't really helpful (or honest- which is what we're going for here). And really, we don't mind if you tell your kids there's a Santa who hops down chimneys and brings them toys. We really don't. We are simply emphasizing the "giving to people who are in need" part of Santa rather than the "whats Santa gonna bring me?" part. When the girls ask me if Santa is real (which has happened about 3 times a week since the beginning of Dec.) I tell that the that real Santa, Saint Nicholas, gave gifts and money to children who didn't have money or toys. That Santa Claus is pretend but that it is now very important for us to help take care of people who need help. Just like Santa- who tried to be like Jesus.

ava and anabelle singing christmas songs part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW17Fkb1ZUU

Ava and Anabelle Sing Christmas Songs

Ava had a pre-school Christmas program last night. Here are some of the warm-ups:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1PIGJo6iis

Anabelle's Art

Here are a few more drawings from my class. This black and white is a "master study" of an ink wash Rembrant and charcole Paula Moderson-Becker.

This is my first drawing in color. Its an unfinished still life of a stuffed frog and yellow bowling pin. Its not terribly inspiring but it was pretty fun.

Today Ava wanted to be a ballerina. She wore a swimsuit over her pj pants and 3 tutus. She looked beautiful.

holloween fun

Last weekend we went hiking at Lost Valley Trail in Ponca, AR, and then we went to Round Top Trail just north of Jasper. It was one of the most fun days of my life. We hiked about 4 miles, and my arms were very tired the next day, because, while Anabelle can bounce around and run the whole time, Ava is going through a "I can't do it" stage. So, I carried her a lot. But it was well worth it. The weather was in the 60s, not a cloud in the sky, and the leaves...well, the leaves will take your breath away if you let them. After the first hike we had a picnic lunch on a blanket, and after the second hike we had ice cream and milk shakes and a little diner on the square in Jasper.

C is for cookie

my self portrait and my alter-ego mask.

charcole on paper.

drawing fundamentals II

This is a mask of my alter-ego. My alter-ego eats more cookies.

My assignment over the next couple of weeks for drawing is to sketch my mask and my self portrait. The final product will be a drawing that combines my self-portrait and mask into a single drawing. This is definitly the most fun project so far.

I had a really hard time trying to decide what my alter-ego looked like. I'm curious what you're alter-ego mask would be. Any ideas?

Dress Up Time

We had a ball tonight.

last first day

Tuesday was my first day back to school after 6 years away. I'm taking drawing II and college algebra. It feels so much different then it did before I had kids. I don't feel old but I'm definitly older then every one else in my classes, except the teachers. Well, actually, I think that the grad student teaching my algebra class is probably about my age, maybe a year older. I've got my work cut out for me. My drawing is rusty (at best) and there is a large time requirment for my math class. Yesterday after some bad drawing and a horrible math assesment test I was sure that college wasn't for me and that I was going to spend the rest of my life waiting tables or something equally unfulfilling. I am so thankful that Heath is a consistent voice of reason for me as I am prone to over reacting when things seem bad. I'm sure he'll have to give me the "you can do this" talk again in the future, but for now at least I believe it :).

First day of school

Yesterday was Anabelle's first day of school. She did great! We really like her teacher. I think Anabelle is going to love Kindergarten.

Anabelle had to write her name as her first piece of homework. Thats Heaths shadow over the homework. Ava's first day of school was today. She was also very excited. We'll be hearing how her first day went around 3:30. Thanks to every one who said a prayer for Anabelle (and me) on her first day. I think I may sleep all night tonight- since all the "first days" are over.

school supplies

I have a new theology/church-ish blog

http://mondaymorningpreacher.blogspot.com/

The New...

Grammy and Papa (that is Heath parents) sent the girls a new picnic table. It is really fun. Thanks guys!
This is the new puppy. Yes, he is cute but don't be fooled. He does every thing puppies do. His name is Cereal.
This is our new house. I have some landscaping plans, but I'll probably wait til fall to do them so the pants don't go into july shock.
This is my new cell phone. Call me if you want the #. Just kidding. I'll call you.
This is the new car. Its a Honda Fit. I'm pretty excited about it. I think Heath will be posting soon about purchasing it.

I heart vegetables

I didn't grow these but today was the best day at the huntsville farmers market so far. the highlights to me are the corn (a variety called peaches and cream because it's so sweet) those green tomatoes are fully ripe- they are called zebra stripe tomatoes. The pepers are called sweet paprika peppers. Today there was a little girl selling little magnets at her moms vegetable table. so that was kind of like a bonus. We ate some of the peaches for breakfast. they were perfect. Thanks farmers.