Have you read the book in the title? If you haven’t then remedy that ASAP. It looks like this:

This is the second year that we have read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever out loud and I just love it. I love that I can hardly read a page without laughing and I love that every few pages Bubba is sent into giggles as well. I love that it is written from the perspective of a very honest child. I love the Herdmans – everything about the Herdmans.

I think my kids like reading the book too. I would finish reading three chapters and Bubba would say, “Keep reading!” while KB chimed in with, “That wasn’t very much!” Little has a hard time keeping up with us but she stays in the room and every now and then interrupts to say things like, “Did she punch that shepherd in the eye?” (So, I know she is listening.)

The only thing I know they don’t like about reading this book is that it makes me cry. I cried last year and I cried this year. I warned them. I knew it was coming. I just couldn’t stop myself.

I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t read the book. I’ll try to keep it vague. The bottom line is that this little family hears about Jesus for the first time and their response is so honest and raw that it would move even the toughest bloke to tears. This story we spout off year after year . .  . the Herdmans cause the reader to pause and see it through fresh eyes and it is nothing short of beautiful.

Josh Wilson accomplishes a similar feat in his song, “Jesus is Alive”. I am pretty sure I wrote about it last year but I can’t help but write again this year. I love this song. I love that it makes me want to lift my hands and worship. I love that I can’t finish a line without my heart going, “huh”. It makes me cry. It made me cry last year and it makes me cry now. It takes the story of Jesus’ birth and uses words that are honest, fresh, and nothing short of beautiful. Words like. . .

“When you turned a stable into Holy ground.”

“So go, and tell, the world that death has died. ‘Cause Jesus is Alive!”

“This Savior in a manger changes everything.”

“This baby boy is making all sad things untrue.”

I’m crying again. So powerful to consider looking in the manger at that wee baby boy and knowing the Truth that He is the answer to all life’s woes. Death’s sting will be no more. It is powerful, right? He’s the Savior in a manger and nothing will ever be the same. I can hardly stand it.

So go to your computer and order a copy of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Josh Wilson’s Christmas cd, “Noel”, and a box of Kleenex. Then get ready to see Jesus in a new way and to WORSHIP.

I used to love roller coasters. Back in the days of Jr. High and High School I loved going to six flags and riding the Mind Bender over and over. I remember the trip that I first got super motion sick and had to stop and watch my friends take the next ride without me.  The sickness lasted the rest of the day at the park and I knew in my heart it was the end of an era. It’s just gotten worse since then. Then I had kids and I can barely twirl around one time without feeling my stomach wretch.

Life with Little is a roller coaster. Funny enough, I would say it is a Mind Bender too!! Just a week or so ago I was writing of this horrible development at school and wringing my hands as my Lord asked me, once again, to trust Him with the life of my oldest child. My heart was broken. My doubts were mounting. There were tears.

Well, last night was astronomy night at Little’s school. I was dreading going because I was expecting it to be another reminder of her limitations; imagine my joy when she came home from school telling me her tummy hurt and maybe we should stay home. Turns out she was just hungry and we headed out to Olander at 6:30 PM.

Astronomy night is a fourth grade event and an opportunity for the students to report on the planet they have been studying. There were telescopes of different sizes and strengths all over the back lot and we were able to see a star cluster of between 10,000-1 million stars, a galaxy, a nebula, the moon’s surface, a double star, and the star cluster Subaru. IT WAS AMAZING. Bubba was beside himself.

We made our way inside as the students finished the inner planets and got ready to hear reports on the outer planets. Little joined her friends, she put on her white lab coat, and I braced myself. When the Jupiter kids finished fielding questions, Little and two of her classmates walked to the front and introduced themselves. The next 10 minutes were such a sweet gift from our Father. Each time it was Little’s turn to speak, the little girl beside her would smile and point to the place on her index card to help her know where to start. She would whisper, “read loud” and Little would.

They sat down during the Powerpoint presentation. There were pictures upon pictures of Saturn and each girl’s voice filled the room in turn, spewing facts. Little did such an amazing job and her little sing-song lilt made everyone in the room smile. It was beautiful to watch. It was so overwhelming I got a bit tickled. I mean, seriously, how can one little voice have that kind of effect on a room. Amazing.

After the presentation, the girls stood back up to answer questions. A daddy asked about the many colors of Saturn and his daughter gave a quick response. The next thing I knew, Little’s teacher stepped forward and asked the daddy to repeat the question and to ask Little to answer.  “She has more information she can give you, ” said Mrs. Haskett. Watch the video below to see what happened next:

Yep. That’s my girl. I sat there listening to her and my heart was soaring. My joy was mounting. There were tears.

Such a silly little thing, right? But I have to tell you, it is “silly” stuff like that which allows this mommy to go another day. Just think! What if I had skipped Astronomy Night? We would have missed all the amazing stars in the night sky and that super amazing Little Star in the classroom.

I can’t believe that it is December and I never processed through our October. It was a good month – full of friends and fun. I loved almost every day of October.

KB and Bubba’s school had a fund-raiser called a Fall Festival. Each class was responsible for a game with little prizes or activities for kids to participate in and each of these cost tickets (1-3 tickets each). If you pre-bought your tickets you got a cut on the price but the brilliance of the plan was that the tickets didn’t go far and there was someone at the door selling more!! You can see that we had a great time.
We had a visit from my dear friend, Debbie.Debbie’s husband is one of the coolest men I know and he is always kind about sending her out to see me. She stayed four days and it was wonderful. We sewed curtains, went grocery shopping, and TALKED ourselves to death. It was nice since we had been here just long enough for me to realize I didn’t know ANYONE.

Then my sweet friend Caroline flew out.Caroline brought her newborn and stayed less than 48 hours AND IT WAS AWESOME. It was hard to tell if the kids were more excited about the baby or the photos she brought from home.It was a busy month at school too.  Bubba had a special project due: a competition for Lego and Mo Willems. The competition required the student to either write a new ending to one of Mo Willems’ pigeon books or write a new pigeon story. Once the writing was complete the student needed to illustrate the story with Legos.  Bubba wrote a story called The Funky Pigeon and the title slide of the Powerpoint presentation looked like this:Awesome, right? The pigeon and the goomba under a disco ball – seriously! The story got pretty silly, if I am honest, but I was proud of him for doing the work and finishing the project. This might be one of my favorite things he has done at school since we got here.

The other thing the kids do at school is a major part of the curriculum called Paragon. You can read about it here. If I understand it correctly, this is the social studies curriculum and I’m going to give you an eye full of what I think about it. The kids love it . . . the lessons are interspersed with singing, dancing, drama, art – what’s not to love. I just don’t believe the things they are learning are the right things.

Everyone in the school is learning in the same time period of history but focusing on different parts of the globe. This past month KB’s grade looked at ancient Greece and Bubba’s grade looked at China during the same years. A month is spent focusing on each time period and then there is a program in the evening where the kids do a presentation for the parents and demonstrate what they have learned. Below you see KB dressed for her play as an ancient Greek and Bubs is dressed in red for China.The first month KB learned about cavemen and Bubba learned about the early culture of India; this lead to so many crazy and amazing conversations about our world view – you wouldn’t believe it. I grieved the loss of our precious KDS and the Biblical Worldview my kids were receiving there, at the same time I was taking my kiddos to the scripture to read what we know to be true as it compares with what they were being told. It was challenging mentally and emotionally.

The second month KB learned about Hercules and the Greek gods. Yep.  In the play she presented she was Hercules earthly mother (for Pete’s Sake!!!!!). Bubba learned about the early years of China and the teachings of Confucius. Great. This month KB is learning about the middle ages. I have heard about The Plague and Robin Hood. Bubba is learning about the silk road/silk route.

So, our second full month in Colorado was a full one. KB’s birthday and Halloween took up the last week and added a lot more excitement.  I’ll write about them next, but for now I will let you catch your breath. I’ll leave you with this thought as I close. . .