Merry Christmas!

Joy to the World, the Lord has Come!
Merry Christmas to all
Love - The Noonan's

The fluffy stuff

Lucy calls marshmellows - "Marsh-pillows"

Play by Play...

The children are playing with their nativity set this morning (while I tackle laundry)...there is a big party at the stable - Mary just brought the shepherds pizza, Hashmakaka (the camel) is guarding the party food, and the angels are singing jingle bell rock. Some my Little ponies and batman are there - I'm told "they're here to worship Baby Jesus, Mama."

Yummy Christmas Treats

We have been making some yummy goodies (anything covered in chocolate counts as a goody).
Lucy missed the cookies and the "peppermint sprinkles" landed on the floor. The chocolate covered marshmellows turned out fine without them.


Lucy and Samuel sing this little song - I'm not sure where they got it from or if it truly is a Noonan sibling orginal. It goes "We're brother and sister, we're always together". Of course, for Lucy it sounds like "we're bruder and si-ter we're always togeder." They are having a wonderful playing and enjoying the Christmas break. I'm enjoying that they are sleeping until 7:30 - 8:00!!

Go, Tell it on the Mountain

There is an old story about a little redheaded girl who loved the song "Go, Tell it On the Mountain." When she was 3 years old, she was in a church preschool performance dressed as a angel. Her mama, daddy and aunt were in the audience and she was the picture of angelic beauty in her white robe, red ribbon and red curly hair. She stood on the stage with the other performers and like any girl who knows what she wants...she stepped to the microphone in the middle of the performance and said loudly "I want to sing, Go, tell it on the Mountain." And a little later, because she wasn't sure anyone heard her she stepped to the mic and said "I said, I want to sing Go, Tell it On the Mountain." From that point on the adults were fighting over who had to claim the redheaded girl after the show! I'm sure I have the details off but here are two other redheads singing GTIOTM - the full version usually involves more singing but I didn't catch it all on video. These kiddos do like to sing.

For Grandma

Grandma got to see one of her Grandbabies in front of the tree - Baby Wyatt, Aunt Erin and Uncle Casey have their tree up - but she wanted to see these two. Here we are Grandma - Merry Christmas!

Christmas Greetings

Here is our front walk - decorated for Christmas! Stop by for a cup of coffee if you are in the neighborhood

I forgot one other book

Just thought I would put another plug in for the best Storybook Bible I've seen - The Jesus Storybook Bible - Every Story Whispers His Name. This is another great place to read the Christmas story (and the whole rest of the greatest story ever).

Georgia Snowmen

Tonight we decorated the gourds Mama painted white for us last year (THANKS Grandma!). I think the children did a great job with their Georgia snowmen - Lucy thought of putting the hats/socks on their heads - aren't they cute? Then we drank hot chocolate and watched Frosty.

Time with Friends

Lucy and I had the chance to visit my good friend Sarah (and Jerel) this week. We got to meet little Elliott (8weeks), play with Nolan (22 months) and Rocky (the wonder dog) and see her beautiful new house. We had a wonderful time and Lucy especially enjoyed playing with Nolan and Rocky. Nolan is so sweet and ALL boy - he is rough and tumble and had a couple of bruises from a run in with wall - but he is super cute! I can't believe I didn't get a pic of the adorable, chubby Elliott - you'll have to check out Sarah's blog to see more of him. Thanks so much Jerel and Sarah - we had a wonderful time and can't wait to visit again!

Christmas Happenings

This week Samuel had his Christmas program at school. They sang "O, Come Let Us Adore Him", "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Shepherds, Shepherds". I didn't good pictures because the lighting was bad but here is one with little sis after the program.
Samuel had his school party - Lucy enjoyed the cupcakes and the children were excited for Christmas break.
Lucy put stamps on all of our Christmas cards today - hopefully they will all make it to the right places!
Enjoying yummy candy from Grandma! S and L loved them!

Some Advent ideas

We are enjoying the advent season at the Noonan home. We made decorations out of left over Christmas tree branches and some holly for our front porch. Each night we are reading from Christmas books and an advent book. Samuel came home today with reindeer antlers so we sang Rudolph a couple times and then Lucy sang "Go tell it on the Mountain" at the top of her lungs while running up and down the hallway (it reminded me of another little redhead girl I know who wanted to sing Go Tell it on the Moutain).

I would love to hear some of the ways you are celebrating advent and the Christmas season. I had a friend ask about the books we are reading right now and I thought I would list some of them and a couple of ideas I have heard about. There is no way to incorporate all the good ideas you hear but some will be better for children at different ages and some may work for your family and some may not.

One thing I did hear about when we were living in Indiana was that a family would save the trunk from their live Christmas tree and use it to make a cross at Easter to connect the two holidays in their children’s minds. I hope we can do that this year and begin to bring a tangible connection to the two celebrations.

Jesse Tree – this is another way to celebrate advent – go to this website to read more about this.

Have an advent calendar that your children can count down to Christmas. This can be as simple as some toilet paper tubes in a garland or glued together like a tree (see here for where I got my idea) with either a verse and candy inside or a “time ticket” for something you are going to do with your children that day (drink hot chocolate, watch a movie, read a book, decorate the tree, mail cards, etc)

And there is also the Little People nativity set and advent calendar

OK – here are the books we have (you can borrow any of mine or look at them if you want to know more about them) – l would love to know if your family has some other books they enjoy.

1. We have several books that tell the Christmas story – the same basic Biblical story – one is a pop up, one is lift the flap, one is from when I was a kid, one has bright pictures and one is very simple. It’s neat to see the children fill in the gaps since each story focuses on something different.

2. Advent Storybook - 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas– about a Little Bear’s journey to Bethlehem to see the “little Child”. Each day he meets another animal or character and learns more about God in the process. Each night we read from this book.

3. The Advent Book by Jack and Kathy Stockman (these people also have a website that gives some good ideas about celebrating each holiday) – open a different door each day that has a piece of the Christmas story from the Bible. You can also make one like this that my friend Jessica made that has verses for each day and talks about the Christmas story.

4. When all the World was Waiting by Workeman – This seems like it will be a great book for when the children are a little older. It has a story and activity for each evening. This one is out of print but can be found used.

5. God Gave us Christmas by Lisa T. Bergren – a story about a Polar Bear Mama and an adventure she has with her little cub to explain that God invented Christmas. It touches on Santa in a way suitable for those with differing opinions on the guy. http://www.amazon.com/God-Gave-Us-Christmas-Us/dp/1400071755

6. The Last Straw – I got to visit my friend Sarah in Greenville this past week (Thanks friend!) and Lucy enjoyed this book of theirs about one of the camels that carried gifts from the wisemen to the baby.

7. Richard Scarry’s The Animals’ Merry Christmas –(there is a new edition and old edition) this has some short stories in it about animals and Christmas. Some of them are good some not so good but animals are always a hit around here.

8. Nutcracker – this is a great story for that little 4 year old who needs a little sword fighting action between a nutcracker and a seven headed mouse king.

9. The Legend of the Candy Cane – The Inspirational Story of Our Favorite Christmas Story – A story about a little girl named Lucy and how she helps the new candy business in town set up and about the candy cane.

10. The Legend of Saint Nicholas- A story of Christmas Giving – there are several of these out there that tell the well known story of how Saint Nicholas began his tradition of “giving”. I’ve read one about how the presents end up in the stocking but this one seems to work well with our St. Nicholas Day tradition.

All of these stories could be improved upon and none are perfect but books are a great way for us to enjoy the season. We have a couple of music CD's - the LITTLE PEOPLE one is a favorite for our children and the Fernando Ortega one is my most played this season. We also have been listening to the Christmas songs on the radio - Lucy told me today that for Christmas she wants "my two front teeth and an hippopatamus"

What are some of your fav books or music to celebrate the season?

Yippee!

Finals are over and I am ready for a little time with my family, some Christmas cheer and a little of this...

Deck the Halls with..

...toilet paper holders! (My Mema will appreciate this) As I've mentioned before toilet paper holders are so very useful even after their initial purpose of holding toilet paper. I think the possibilities are endless - and even my children enjoy using them. On Sunday while I was making a garland with them for my fireplace, Samuel wanted to use some to make the characters from the Nutcracker. He made a Nutcracker, Mouse king and Claire (for Lucy). I added a few touches with the hot glue gun that Samuel couldn't get to stick otherwise. The children had a great time playing with them all afternoon and they were the first thing they wanted to play with when we got home today.

Quotes

On Friday night I took the children to Home Depot to get a Christmas tree. As we were pulling into the parking lot, Samuel and Lucy were talking about Christmas and here is what I heard -

Samuel: "No, Lucy, this is not the first Christmas, last Christmas was the first Christmas and this is the second Christmas."
Mama: After a little laugh "Actually buddy, the first Christmas was over 2000 years ago when Jesus was born."
Lucy and Samuel: "Holy Guacamole!" (their new exclamation from an unknown source)
Samuel: "Well, how old is Jesus anyway?"
-----
As you know, schools have plenty of fund-raising opportunities and many ways to promote them. Samuel's class won their box tops contest and this is the conversation where he tells me about it.
Samuel: "Mama, I'm so excited. I won my test. It's not a test like you have at your school but one we had at my school about who can get the most box tops. AND, do you know what? (in a very excited voice)
Mama: "No buddy, what?"
Samuel: "We won recess on the tumblebus (a school bus that has been converted into a gymnastic jungle gym play area). [after a brief pause] Mama, what is 'recess'?
------
This week during dinner one night, Samuel dropped some of his black beans and rice on the floor. He jumped up and ate it off the floor before I even knew what happened. I told him he didn't need to eat food off the floor. Samuel broke into a song and dance with the refrain "I like to eat things off the floor". He threw in a little jig, one verse and I was laughing... not as loud as I was when Samuel finished, took a bow, sat down and Lucy immediately broke into her own "I like to eat things off my plate!"
----
Samuel: "Mama, what are we doing tomorrow?"
Mama: "It's supposed to rain tomorrow but, Lord willing...."
Samuel: "I'm not Lord Willing - who's Lord Willing." (Note: Samuel thinks of himself as a knight NOT a lord or a king)
----
And lastly...
We pulled out our Little People nativity scene and the children have enjoyed playing with it. Samuel put on a play for Lucy and me a couple of night ago. Chewbacka from Star Wars (sp?) was the narrator and each act in the play had dialogue and attention to detail. The story was Biblically acurrate from Gabriel with Mary to the wise men's visit - until the end when the donkey took Chewbacka back to "star wars" in a donkey cart!

I LOVE getting to spend time with my children!!!!

St. Nicholas Day

Today we celebrated Saint Nicholas Day at our house. I asked Samuel what he remembered about St. Nicholas Day and he said "It's when we give other people stuff." That's the attitude and memory I was hoping would stick.

We started celebrating this last year as a way to teach our children about the real St. Nicholas, remember a tradition I learned about while in Eastern Europe and a way to focus us on giving to others during Christmas as we remember that we have been given so much (I don't need to spend time teaching them about getting and wanting!) If you want to know more about how we celebrate this let me know - but in general we bake goodies for our neighbors, someone who serves us (like firemen or police men) and we get a small gift for each other. We leave our shoes on the fireplace and we get the surprise in the morning. The children were so excited this year to get something for each other - and they did a great job choosing things the other would like, we didn't get to give out our goodies- a migraine did me in for the day - but we will get to that this week. Here are some pics from the morning and our tree decorating this evening.

Thanksgiving Wrap up

We enjoyed spending thanksgiving in Lee getting to see all the great-grandparents, Papa, Grandma and even Grandpa Noonan. There were aunts and uncles and cousins to play with - Samuel especially liked playing with Thomas! but before those festivities (and one little incident with the dog and a now dead chicken) Samuel had a Thanksgiving program at school - here are a few pics from that program and our final "thankfulness" tree at home.
Here is some art work from school - Samuel's favorite color is red and therefore, the Mayflower is red.
Waiting for everyone to line up.
I gotcha pilgrim!
Samuel and two of his school buddies.

Fashion Police

Lucy wearing Samuel's police hat and a few other items to make her fashion police outfit complete

Laughing

Before I post the rest of Thanksgiving - I just wanted to let you know about two great comedians we heard about through friends and have provided great (clean) laughs for us - Laughter has been a great healer in the past few years. As we head into the Advent season I hope your days are full of joy, laughter and wonderful memories.

Brian Regan - we found some of his stuff on netflix and here is the website http://www.brianregan.com/
AND
Tim Hawkins - we went to his website and watched the clips http://www.timhawkins.net/

Autumn Walks

We have enjoyed the last few afternoons of fall this week. The weather has been beautiful and I got to come home early two afternoons this week! We walked in the neighborhood and the children played on an old fallen tree - one time it was a pirate ship and the other day it was the Mayflower.

Gift Ideas

This a post for all of my mom friends who have asked me for an idea about gifts and are trying to plan Christmas for their little ones and the other kiddos on your list (or gifts to give others). I have LOVED getting ideas from friends about what they give or have received for their children and thought I would pass on some of those ideas. I would love to hear some of your ideas - if you have some ideas please let me know. Hopefully you can take some of these ideas and pass on to family members. Many of them can be simple and cheap and most of them help the children play, imagine and create rather than just be entertained. FYI - my children are 4 1/2 and 2 1/2.

1. Dress up box - last year my aunts got the children a plastic tub full of things for them to use to play dress up. They got halloween costumes on clearance, a couple of uniforms, a cowboy outfit and some random things like hats, scarves, vests, assessories that my children LOVE to play with. This can be extravagant or thrift store sensible.
2. Musical Instruments - Ukeleles, triangle, drums, tamborines, xylophone, rythm sticks, bells, etc. My children started their own band and named it "Rock-o Taco"
3. Books and Books on CD - My children love to get books and especially books on CD. I have a friend whose in-laws live far away and the grandma made a CD of her singing songs and telling stories. The child loves it, they hear grandma's voice and Mama gets a break from singing Twinkle, Twinkle for the 187th time that day. A thought, have grandma buy a book, read it into a tape and then give the tape with the book (DINGS inserted so the child knows when the turn the page). That's a ten minute or 6 hour gift to child and Mama.
4. Wooden Blocks, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs and Legos - the possibilities are endless and it helps with fine motor coordination.
5. Little People - Fisher Price Little People have been a staple toy in our family since Samuel was 1. They still play with them and use them in their imaginary play. They are a great size for a shoe box to become a house, barn or gas station and they are chew, dirt and waterproof by being hard plastic. They also have a nativity set and a Thanksgiving set that make playing with the decorations easy.
6. Puzzles and Games - Like this Melissa and Doug one. And small jigsaw puzzles are great. We play board games as a family and make adjustments for the children (ex. for Samuel in Candyland he gets two cards and chooses which card he wants to use to get him farther but Lucy just gets one card and moves it). Memory, Bingo and Eye Spy.
7. Art supplies or an art table - Paint, crayons, glue sticks, coloring books, paper, stickers, cookie cutters as patterns and play dough. Also, my children love doing crafts like simple, cheap odd and ends they can glue on a paper or a piece of foam. At Michael's for $1 they have the sets of wooden cut outs (they come with markers to color with or you can use your own paint). Simple projects or the material to do something is fun and sparks interesting creations is great.
8. Puppets - My children are getting a homemade puppet theater this year - I'm trying to make one like this but there are a several ideas out there for table top ones. You can buy puppets or let your children make them (or make one for their sibling) out of socks or popsicle sticks.
9. Pet Rocks - This would have to be given to the right child but it's something even small children can make for their friends and it might just start a revolution. My children have loved their pet rocks and a few weeks ago when we saw a really large rock Samuel said "Mama that would make a really big pet!"
10. Catalog gifts for others - Such as World Vision or Heifer International or a local cause or ministry that you are involved with. I would like to do this more when they grow and can understand more but they do surprise me even now with what they know!
11. Pottery - Several years ago we gave our moms a plate with Samuel's handprints on it shaped like a reindeer (hands were the antlers and his foot was the head) and a bag with garden theme (fingers as bees, flowers, butterflies). I went to one of those pottery places but the same idea could be used for a tote bag, or paint your own pottery from Walmart. Look onthe web for some ideas.
12. A collection of something - give a collection of buttons, postcards, beads or something small and colorful. My children love to sort, hide and use a ziploc full of anything. It is amazing what they turn ordinary things into. Glass beads from are a pirate treasure, Buttons are sorted into colors and put in a glass jar and beads are used as necklace by one child and a "tangle rope" by the other (to tangle the enemy in when they try to reach the castle).
13. Memberships - Annual membership to the zoo, aquarium, state park or other place that makes it easy throughout the year to go somewhere.
14. Magazines - My children have enjoyed the National Geographic magazine KIDS. It is a good age for both of them and they are intrigued by the animals. It is a treat for them to get it in the mail each month.
15.Camping or Outdoor Gear - Even if you are not outdoorsy, children love to make tents and forts in the living room and put their sleeping bag in the floor with their flashlight handy. Lanterns, flashlights, bug catching equipment (we like the bug gun Samuel's friends gave him for his birthday), butterfly net, backpack, water bottle, rain boots, rain coat, basket for their bike or marshmellow roasting sticks.

OK - these are my initial ideas though we haven't used all of these ideas. I know all of these ideas can be improved upon and I would appreciate new ideas!

Play by Play..

As a write Samuel and Lucy are wrestling with Daddy at my feet in the living room. Here is what I heard to begin the fight -

Samuel said - "Ladies and gentlemen, for our fight tonight - we have Sister-Slam-Slam and Brother Bam-Bam in one corner and in the other corner Daddy-o!!! No chairs will be used for this match (pillows are sometimes used as chairs but not tonight) Ding-Ding-Ding...

Sister Slam-Slam and Brother Bam-Bam's signature move is the "belly button" where they try to get Daddy's belly button.

Oh what fun there is in the simple fun of time together -

Quotes

Samuel while looking at a book about the pilgrims and a picture of the Mayflower -
"Mama, is this a war vessel?"

While playing "Monster hide-n-go-seek"
Jeremy said "Ok, I'll be the monster and try to find you"
Lucy said "...and we'll be the tacos and you can eat us up!"

We are memorizing a Bible verse about being thankful and one about not complaining - as we focus on giving Thanks in all things.
As I was saying the verse "Do everything without complaining or arguing..."
Samuel had to add "..or whining!"

Fall Farm Fun

Here are some pics from time at the farm ...

Redneck art - writing in the dust on the window in the truck
Wait...Lucy is in the chicken pen and the chickens are out...
Lucy loves the chickens
After feeding all the animals - cats, cows, chickens, dogs

The baby chickens

Thanksgiving Tree

Thanksgiving season is here and I saw this idea from my friend Jessica last year and thought I would take it and make it part of our Thanksgiving celebration - a way to help us give thanks throughout the month. I took some packing paper and painted a tree and then made leaves. Each night at dinner we talk about things we are thankful for, who we are thankful to and then write them on a leaf (sometimes the children draw a picture on the back). The children like adding to our "thankful" tree every night - they also enjoyed painting the turkey at the bottom and owl for the tree.
"Let us come before HIM with Thanksgiving" Ps 95:2


After we painted the turkey and owl (that I printed from the internet) I let them paint whatever they wanted - here is where their personalities come out - Lucy painted "a Fall garden" on the bottom Left and Samuel painted "an Indian shooting a bow and arrow and a pilgrim holding a sword" in the bottom Right. We used the left over paint on our hands to make the tree in the middle. We had a great time and I look forward to seeing our tree full of leaves and our hearts reminded of what and to whom to be Thankful. Hope you are enjoying the Thanksgiving season - how are you giving thanks?

who is having more fun?

I think it's impossible to tell...
One dirty farm girl

The children are at Grandma and Papa's for a few days while we let the flu air out here. Thanks also to Grandpa Noonan (who was so sweet to meet me at 6AM at the Varsity to pick up Lucy for me so I could be at the hospital EARLY!) and our friends who have helped with the children in the last two weeks while Mrs. Jessica gets better!

It is such a great time to be at the farm and the kids are enjoying the chicken pen, feeding the animals, playing with Papa and picking up pecans. Samuel is very excited that Grandma is going to let him keep whatever money he makes from selling them at the end of the week. I'm so glad they get to go and enjoy the Fall weather...but I miss them.