I am merry because....

• 1. Christmas Cards! Thank you for sending them. I rush out to the mailbox everyday during the month of December. If you didn't send one to us, please do next year. They make me so happy!
• 2. I have a mother-in-law who just knew that a starbucks gift card in the mail two weeks ago would be a huge treat-at just the right time. And, because she has been patient and gracious to me as I have discovered what it really means to be a daughter-in-law. When I finally completely opened myself up, the richness of relationship has come from fully sharing my husband and her son.
• 3. I have sister-in-laws that I am counting down the days to see and spend time with in March, and I love the men in their lives just as much!
• 4. I have a dad who picks up the phone whenever I call, wherever he is.
• 5. A mom who constantly hugged, kissed, and cuddled us growing up, and who has never critized one moment of my parenting.
• 6. A brother that loves having some "guy" time with my boys, and neices who adore taking care of their cousins.
• 7. Dinner and story time with the YLM boys. For the friends from our class who made the idea happen, for the time spent with them and their families, and some special boys who instead of praying for God to change their situations pray that God gives them the strength they need. Pray that I remember this the next time a complaint crosses my mind or lips.
• 8. Friends that love me knowing I am a work in progress. I read this recently, "You don't create intimacy; you make room for it. This is true whether you are talking about your spouse, your friend, or God. You need space to be together. Efficiency, multitasking, and busyness all kill intimacy." I have been letting those last three things creep in. Thanks for being patient with me, being there for me, and loving me through my many imperfections. I love being part of your lives.
• 9. That there were two lululemon packages under our tree as well as a picture of me driving a brand new minivan! Slam dunk, M-you did good!
• 10. That I got my number 3, and he has red hair with a little ducktail curl in the back to boot! Not to mention, he loves his momma something fierce and she loves every minute of it.
• 11. That a father of a little girl Whitt's age came up to us last night after seeing Whitt on the Christmas video at church and said, "I better keep ____ (his daughter's name) away from Whitt. He is just to cute!" His energy can be challenging at times, but it is also completely contagious. I never know what is going to come out of his mouth, and he makes me laugh so hard my sides hurt at least twice a day.
• 12. That my sweet girl looked at her brothers in the bathtub tonight and said in a fit of giggles, "That is what we got for Christmas, a day full of laughter." Yes, my almost five year old is way more profound than me.
• 13. That I have a man who makes me feel so beautiful every day that I am finally able to say I like my body just the way it is.
• 14. Homemade toffee from a friend and peppermint ice cream!
• 15. That as we walked outside last night at 7:30 to leave our reindeer food on the driveway our copy of How Christmas Began had all of a sudden been delivered to our back step just in time. Since I don't believe in coincidences, it was like God patting me on the back, saying here you go. All the insecurities I felt about how we were handling Christmas with our children this year washed away. And, to all a good night!

Discipling the big guy in the Red Suit....

and, Remebering who the Big Guy really is!

So, we have been doing a Jesse advent tree devotion for the past twenty-three days, read the Christmas story over and over, played with our different nativity scenes, talked about the cake we are going to bake for Jesus birthday, and have created a love chain where each link talks about how they celebrate Jesus' birth in different countries on Christmas day (great tool our church gave us). But, to be honest it has not eclipsed the fascination of Santa Claus for Mae and Whitt. I don't think it is as much the three presents Santa brings as it is the wonder and spirit of the jolly old man who lives in the north pole with his mysterious flying reindeer (don't get me wrong I know they really like the presents as well). A dear friend told me about a book How Christmas Began by Claire Boudreaux Bateman that explains how Jesus helps Santa do his job, but unfortunately, there must be several parents with this same issue because when I ordered it three weeks ago it was backordered. So, Mae and Whitt were interviewed for the kids video that is played at the 4:00 Christmas Eve service at our church. Well, yesterday the video came in the mail, and Mae and Whitt answered "Santa" to what Christmas is all about. Now don't get me wrong, the video with my two little Christmas cuties giggling and talking away will be a treasure to me for years to come because of their interesting thoughts and responses. I just realized it was time for Santa to have a "come to Jesus" moment at our house. We needed them to be interwoven in our conversations for the time being. So, this christmas we are discipling Santa. I asked Mae and Whitt to draw pictures showing what happened on the very first Christmas and what it means to us so that we could show Santa. Here they are:

The first side of Mae's has baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, a wiseman, and a peace dove. The other side has Jesus' birthday cupcake, the tomb where Jesus was laid, and a cross.

Whitt asked to use his stickers to help tell the story. He said the black in the background is the birthday cake truck and the blue is Jesus' cake.

We are leaving the drawings with Santa's cookies and milk and decided to make some angel, cross, and lamb cookies to go along with the santa, reindeer, and snowman cookies we usually leave. And, as Whitt said while icing cookies, we are "showing Santa the way to Jesus."

On another note: as much as Mae and Whitt LOVE Santa, the little red-headed man has a total aversion to him. It is intense!

PS-I am open to any suggestions, ideas, or insights on this complex dynamic : )

And, I know the drawings need to be rotated, but I have no clue how to do it. So, for now you will just have to have neck spasms while attempting to look at them-SORRY!

And, who said men can't multitask?

After fixing breakfast this morning, Michael and I were standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee, and attempting to have a five minute conversation before he had to be out the door for work. As I was standing across from Michael, I all of a sudden noticed his legs moving slightly side to side. I looked down to see our very own little gnome/ elf/ koala bear tucked in between his daddy's legs. He had evidently walked over and cuddled up with his blankie and fingers for a little rocking session. I never noticed, and to michael's credit, his eyes never left mine and he just kept on talking like all of it was second nature to him.

What goes on in their cute little heads!?!

I run across little set-ups like this four or five times a week. They always make me smile, and ALWAYS leave me wondering what exactly they were thinking. Here we have a place setting for four complete with cookies and toast and quite a crew waiting at the train station: the three pigs from Shrek, Bruce the shark from Nemo, donkey, Snow White, Cinderella, Chic-fil-a cow, strange wood-face girl, wolf, otter, and killer whale. Oh, and they definitely needed the pink Dora phone in case of emergency. I just love how everything is placed in such a way that you know much thought/ strategy went into this little set-up, and there was most certainly a specific reason behind each placement. Good to know imaginative play is alive and well at the Stockburger house!

Why I love this Christmas...

My favorite part of the season so far is this... Mae brought this home from school today. She had some "journaling" time, and out of all the things she could have picked to draw, she decided to draw baby Jesus in his manger. I just love that this was what was on her heart today.

Our Red-headed Wrecking Ball....

It's official. Bruce has entered the stage of learning through continous exploration which is really just code for, "I destroy anything that is in my path." This is what happens when you turn your back for just one minute or even just thirty seconds: You think you have a napping baby in a peaceful slumber when you really have a kleenex kid that has reached through the bars of the crib and joyfully strewn every last kleenex from the box along with a stack of diapers everywhere.

You start to unbutton older brother and sister for bath time, and next thing you know you have a fully clothed baby in the bathtub. And yes, the super absorbant diaper soaked as much water as possible and then decided to explode, releasing all those little gel balls throughout the tub.

And here he decided to repay the dog for all the rodeo riding he had been doing on Tank's back by feeding him as much as he possibly could. Ninety pound dogs do eat alot, just not an entire laundry room full of food.

Yes, just an average day for Big B. At least, he looks super cute while wreaking havoc; it makes the mess totally worth it.