Merry Christmas!!

From Our Plain Life to yours, we truly hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven and nature sing,

And Heaven, and Heaven and nature sing!

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders of His love,

And wonders, wonders, of His love!

A future Reformer?

If you went to the same grade school as I did, you would have learned all about a certain man named Martin Luther. Now, this isn't Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights leader from the 1960s. No, this Martin Luther lived in the late 1400s and early 1500s. And as you would in any good Christian Reformed school, we learned all about him and the start of the Reformation against the Catholic Church.

On October 31, 1517 (Reformation Day, not Halloween!) Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These were essentially grievances that Luther had against the Catholic Church (many of them having to do with the selling of indulgences). With these Theses, Martin Luther is known for starting the "Protestant Reformation."

Alright, crazy history major, enough of the history lesson, what in heavens name does this have to do with Our Plain Life?!

Well, it seems as though we have a Reformer in our midst. In our house, Sunday afternoons are made for Sunday afternoon naps. Regardless of age, gender, or creed you will be in your room for at least an hour (or two) on Sunday afternoon. It's ingrained in Dan and I, and dog gone it you will take a nap on Sunday afternoons! Dan often says that even if he was in a coma for like 8 years and woke up from this coma on a Saturday, he would still take a nap on Sunday afternoon. It's just what we do.

Anyway, back to our Reformer. So last Sunday afternoon, Landon had fallen asleep for his nap, but a mere 30 minutes after he fell asleep he woke up with a stinky # 2 diaper (AUGH!). After changing the diaper, there was no going back to nap time. So Landon and I went down into the basement to play. Annika came down at one point and said "Why is Landon up?" I told her what happened, but since her quiet time wasn't up yet she had to go back up to her room until her time was up. After a bit of arguing she went back upstairs and, apparently, she wasn't happy with the decision. For this is what we found posted to her door later on that day...her grievances so to speak, her one Theses (or is it thesis?) taped to her bedroom door:

Since, it's a bit hard to see, Annika's proclamation says:

"No More nap time for me

I am 6 years old

and Landon is

2 years old."

Perhaps we should start calling her "Annika the Protestant?"

I just don't get her

After picking Taryn up from childcare at church, or whatever event, I often hear "She's so quiet." Dan and I are usually shocked when we hear this. At home, she is the FARTHEST thing from being quiet...even at dinner, she makes noise (yep, still humming loud and strong!). Here's a clear example of the difference that Taryn is at home and when she is out.

A few days ago at my MOPs meeting, the 3 and 4 year old "Moppets" sang a few Christmas songs for the moms. I thought Taryn would do fabulous because she loves to sing. Life is a musical for her. But, I was very wrong. She walked in, saw the crowd of moms and I think she wanted to crawl into a hole. I could tell she was trying very hard not to cry. She didn't want to line up with the rest of the kids. I think she thought that if she sat away from the kids then no one would notice her:

What a sad pathetic face!!

I do have to give her credit, she stayed on the stage the whole time. When I asked her later why she didn't want to sing, she said to me "All the mommies were smiling and I didn't want them to laugh at me!" Maybe next time I should stand in front and give an announcement..."Ladies, will you please look sad and angry so my child will sing for you?"

You can understand my confusion after watching the video below. I took it the day before the MOPs performance. Doesn't look like she has much stage fright, does it?

Taryn and Landon Singing 121310 from Rebekah Eekhoff on Vimeo.

Oh, Taryn, you drive me crazy but how I love you!!

Merry Christmas to me!!

And an early Happy New Year too!!!

You have no idea how happy this makes me (considering the next closest store is 166 miles away)!! I did a little jig in the car when I saw this sign ...

Definition

Here is a definition of disappointment for you.

Coming home to a package on your front step from here:

Getting super excited and then realizing it was delivered to the wrong address. Actually, I don't think disappointment is even the right word to describe the feeling!

Do you think the neighbors would notice if the box was opened and resealed? I really should sample the contents to make sure they are o.k. After all, I wouldn't want them to be disappointed.