Caroling for the elderly

A few homeschool families went caroling this evening at a nursing home close to our house. The last time we went, Jaxon was in Kindergarten. Tonight was great! It started off rather funny...okay, downright hilarious. I made arrangements with the lady who works there and set up the time and everything. When we got there, there was another group ready to sing away. The woman in charge of that group asked what songs we were singing, to which I replied casually, "Rudolph, Frosty, and Jingle Bells!". She said those weren't on their list but that she had extra printed out if we needed them....oooookkkkkkaaaaayyyy...I was confused. She then asked if they could go first since they had 2 other stops. Of course I said yes....and thank goodness I did. They all get ready and started to sing....in harmony, with a little tuner thing (no I have no clue what it's called)...they had been practicing! We just wanted to sing some fun songs and have some fun! Which is exactly what we did and the people living there LOVED it! One woman was in tears afterwards talking to us about how much it meant to have children come visit especially for those whose family aren't around or just don't bother visiting!

Here is the first group...yes I had to snap a shot! They really sounded good!

And here's our group! Singing a little Frosty. Who really knows all those words by heart anyway....hehe ;)

We even moved into the dining area (by request of course) so they could have a little entertainment with their dinner!

Here are all the sweet kiddos posing for a picture in front of the tree. They did SUCH a good job!

I was extra proud of Camron and Caden for going around before we left and giving Christmas hugs to the residents! Melted this mama's heart!

Last Wednesday evening, Camron started acting a little out of sorts. We had planned to all take part in our church's Live Nativity that we SO look forward to each year. I stayed home with the youngest 3 and Daddy-O and Jaxon went to be townspeople in Bethlehem. The next morning, Camron woke seemingly fine so we went on with our day. Jaxon, who didn't eat much for breakfast, began complaining of lower right abdominal pain before lunch. Knowing the signs of appendicitis (because I had it at a young age) began pressing and questioning. I decided to take him and Camron to the Dr. that afternoon. The Dr. immediately did a strep test on Cam which was positive and was concerned about Jax. He had another Dr. examine him and we all decided the hospital was a good option. There are no pediatric surgeons in High Point so our pediatrician sends you to Brenners. I ran Camron home, picked up Daddy-O who had to leave work early and off to Brenner's ER we went! Once we arrived at the hospital, we were seen by various Dr.'s of different levels. I honestly couldn't keep them all straight. It's funny how you are in a Children's ER so you would think ALL the staff would be "good" with kids....MOST of them were, don't get me wrong, but here was one Dr. who was very skeptical! I could tell she thought Jax was just fine! And he was doing really well compared to some appendix patients! He wasn't vomiting, his fever was low grade, he was even smiling and laughing off and on! I know my child...I knew something was not right! After hours of different people pushing, poking, making him jump up and down, and finally blood work, they decided that this was more than likely his appendix. Whew! I tried to tell them! Don't they know a mama's gut is usually right?! They took him back to prep him for surgery shortly after midnight. We were all exhausted and starving at this point! Daddy-O and I grabbed some "dinner" and he ran home for some things. At 3 something they called from the recovery room and I could hear my poor baby screaming for me. Talk about breaking a mama's heart. I ran there as fast as I could to try and calm him as he came out of anesthesia. He was in a lot of pain. They gave him some meds to calm him and shortly after Daddy-O got back. We were finally able to get back to his room a little before 4. They discharged him late Friday afternoon and we have been taking it easy since. He is still sore and wants to do more than he can. Bless his heart, he wants more than anything to be able to pick up his baby sister!

Camron and Caden were both treated for strep and are back to their usual active selves! We are so thankful that this happened the week before Christmas! We know how blessed we are to have caught this early before he got really sick or worse, the appendix ruptured!

LCHE Christmas Party

Our homeschool group at church has a wonderful Christmas party each year. The kids LOVE to take part in acting out the Christmas story. This year, Camron and Caden were shepherds and Jaxon was the innkeeper. Here are a few pictures of the play. It was great!

Here are the shepherds afraid when the angel first appears before them...didn't they do a good job of looking scared???

The "cast" after the show!

The "cast" looking afraid...just 'cause I thought it was super cute and really wanted a picture of them all doing it! ;)

Santa Pictures

We have a lot of "events" where Santa shows up this time of year. It helps that Poppi is our very own personal Santa. Given the fact that Jossalyn isn't too fond of men (other than Daddy-O), we are lucky to get a good shot of her with Santa! This first one takes the cake!

I just loved this one of Camron and Caden! Talk about identical! These were taken at the GMOM Christmas breakfast.

This was the MOPS breakfast with Santa

RACK

Random

Acts of

Christmas

Kindness

I got the idea from a blog and just knew this was a perfect idea for our family. My children, Jaxon especially, really enjoy doing nice things for people. So for Advent, we have an envelope for each day of December containing a "random act". For example, one day, our card told us to make cookies and take them to a neighbor. One day we bought lunch for the person in the car behind us in the drive through. Today, we purchased flowers at the grocery store and Jaxon gave them to an elderly lady as she walked into the store. Each time, the person we "RACK" gets a card explaining what we are doing and telling them Jesus loves them! I took into account things we already had planned for the month and made sure I could coincide these things into our RACK activities. Next week we (along with some of our homeschool friends) are taking stuffed animals to the pediatric floor at the hospital so I made sure our card instructed us to do so! This has been very rewarding for us all. The kids have loved surprising people and talk about it continuously! After we "RACK'd" our neighbor, a few days later, she "RACK'd" us back! The love of Jesus flows right on through to the next person! So, as the "12 days of Christmas" begin, how can you RACK someone? You never know how you may touch the life of someone who truly needs it!

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

I've got a feeling, somebody's watching me....

We recently studied the eye. We talked about the parts of the human eye, how it compared to the parts of a camera, how blessed we are to have our vision, how God used Paul's vision to get his attention, etc. What better way to finish off a fun unit then to dissect an actual eye and see it up close and personal?! We are very lucky to have a friend who hunts and he recently shot a deer! He brought us the eyes and we got right down to business! The boys were a little apprehensive at first but once they slapped on those rubber gloves, the fear subsided and they couldn't get enough!

Here are eyes after being washed and the eyelashes being removed. (by the way, I am SO glad today was a nice day and we could do this outside!)

The boys were pretending to be grossed out here.

They wished we had 3 eyes so they each could have their own!

This is just for the gross factor. This is what comes out of a deer eye when you slice it open!

Here is a picture of the lens.

We had a great time doing this activity together! This is just another reason I love to homeschool!

Daddy-O loves his baby girl!