The Streetpoet

The meaning of Christmas gets more and more real to me. Since God has given us sons and made me a mother, I understand a little better the miracle of the Incarnation. In teaching my boys about the reason we celebrate and give gifts to each other comes the reminder in my own heart to daily, hourly, and moment by moment surrender to Him who lives in intercession for my soul and for redeeming the souls given into our short care!

We are so blessed to be able to live near Peter’s parents. They have loved us and supported us, fed us and helped with the boys. Holidays with them are real celebrations and God honoring events in our lives. I’m thankful that our boys have the influence of godly grandparents and aunts and uncles, and cousins, too.

Here’s a glimpse into our Christmas with them: Abby took all of these pics, by the way:

This was the first Christmas we’d ever had with Gigi in our home with us! She spent the night after helping us wrap the boys gifts and put them under the tree. Since Ian is teething our nights have become eventful and she said she slept through it all…

It was SO wonderful having you a part of our Christmas, Gigi! You MADE my day! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Here are some pics from our morning together:

Seth was woken up a bit earlier than he would have liked. He just stood there looking at Jerome’s stocking dumped out until Jerome dumped his out for him!

Thank you for the music table, Mema and Gigi! Ian loves it!

And so does Seth. 🙂

Breakfast break for Ian:

Seth got some new trains for Christmas and he gathered them and went to his room to play!

This one makes me laugh! Yes, we had a terrible night:

Jerome’s big gift:

And Seth’s gift:

And of course Seth was immediatly outside with it:

And Jerome is indoors building with Daddy:

Merry Christmas, Gigi! Thank you so much for spending your morning with us, you made it so special and cheerful! And there’s just something about having someone who shares the same memories and little traditions from childhood that makes it familiar and understood. I love you!

Christmas Eve

Ian is teething, and crawling so the best we got was with a stick in his mouth…

Until Daddy got home and made him smile!

What a joy you are to all of us, Ian Daniel! Merry First Christmas to you, son!

Last Sunday Peter took me out to the Nutcracker at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. I knew he wasn’t so interested in seeing it himself as he was in taking me, so I was even more thrilled to go with my man!

I had seen it once before when I was small. My Memama took us in our little velvet dresses to the Fox theater in Atlanta. What a dazzling experience for a small girl! And Sunday I saw twins in little red velvet dresses…

My father-in-law’s brother-in-law’s mother left behind a beautiful wardrobe of antique and handmade clothing that we were allowed to select some articles from and one of the pieces given to me was a hand sewn black velvet gown. I had so much fun wearing it that evening! We call her Honey, and I thought of her all evening and wondered what she wore it to and wished the gown could tell me.

It was a beautiful evening, Peter, thank you for taking me!

While Peter and I were out to the Nutcracker, Mom stayed with our boys and made the dough for a gingerbread house and gingerbread men. On Wednesday she rolled, cut, and baked the dough with them, and on Thursday she had them over to decorate their house and men. Last night they put the finishing touches on with Daddy’s help and they’ve been playing with it and admiring it all day. A BIG thank you to Mom for all your hard work!

“Parenthood is partnership with God. You are not molding iron nor chiseling marble; you are working with the Creator of the universe in shaping human character and determining destiny.” ~Ruth Vaughn

“The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply, and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us.” ~Oswald Chambers

“The home should be a self-contained shelter of security; a kind of school where life’s basic lessons are taught; and a kind of church where God is honored; a place where wholesome recreation and simple pleasures are enjoyed.” ~Billy Graham