Christmas Eve Eve

For Christmas, the weather reports were citing big storms and blizzard conditions.  We made it a point to go to church and visit Nana (to deliver presents - and also Culver's!) on the eve of Christmas Eve.  Connor was due to be at his Mom's for Christmas, so we were missing his sweet face.

Prayers for the People

 Ramsey was asked to read in church today.  Silly Mom didn't check emails to see the request that had come through the week prior, for said reading.  So... Ramsey was late getting the request, rehearsed once before church with the mic, and is depicted as "Child 2"!!

The video is difficult to understand.  But...

He loved it and is looking forward to the next time he's able to do this.

Vacation Bible School

It was time again for Vacation Bible School at our church.  This year, I was unable to take the time off to assist.   Ramsey was super pumped to be going again!   

This year's theme was "Stellar - Shine Jesus' Light".    Ramsey's troop had seven kids in it, all around his age.  He made new friends... one of Ramsey's favorite things to do!

Each day at the beginning and end of the days, the kids learn and practice their song lyrics and actions in the gym.  

There are multiple stations thereafter.  They learn about the bible verses, have snacks, do crafts, and have outside time.

And, because it's nice and warm, there is always lots of WATER fun during the week!

The kids perform their songs twice for the public/congregation; once on Wednesday evening church and then on Friday, right after the last station/class.  (We missed the Wednesday evening performance.)

Hundreds of kiddos partake in this wonderful event.   There are SO MANY wonderful volunteers and church employees who work hard to make everything run smoothly and be possible.  They have my gratitude!

Ramsey had a great time and is looking forward to it next year already!

Winter Carnival at Church

 Each year, we look forward to the church's winter carnival, where they serve supper, snacks, have bouncy castles, and have all sorts of terrific games and activities for children of all ages.

Ramsey and went this year, as Eric was not feeling well.  

Of course, Ramsey's favorites were the bouncy castles.  He's still addicted to these things!  The one was a jumper only.  The other was a bouncy obstacle course with stairs, slides, and such.

They had games with ring tossing, Plinko, basketball, and bowling...

The free-will offering supper was Sloppy Joes and chips.  Ramsey had never had one of these sandwiches before, so when he tried it (and ate most all of it!), we celebrated!   The kid's quite a carnivore, so it was one more tasty vittle to add to his food repertoire.

The last game we played before leaving was the cake walk (er... cake chairs?).  Ramsey played and played and played, but kept coming up short.   After about the 8th try, he FINALLY won!  (They were calling multiple numbers, so the fact that it took 8 tries was quite astounding.)

He was SOOOO EXCITED!  There were four tables of cookies, bars, cakes, and goodies. 

After serious contemplation, Ramsey finally chose some chocolate chip cookie bars.

Then, we headed home.  We're very thankful to belong to a wonderful church that has so many family activities! 

Holiday Fun, Living Nativity

 I love Christmastime... soooo much!  I love the glistening snowflakes, the warm fuzzies that arise from being at church, the internal bliss we get from giving to others, and being enlightened/reminded of the reason for the season.   This day was a long day, full of great fun, joy and personal fulfillment.

The weather was going to be beautiful; sunny and mild.  The trees and everything were covered in thick sparkly frost.  A nice uplifting bit of scenery, for sure.

Ramsey and I went to church in the morning.  Advent is a very special time.  Last year, we were all SICK for the entire month of December (thank you, COVID), so we are giving extra thanks this year that we're all well. 

After church,  Ramsey and I picked a tag from the church's Angel Tree for Senior Living folks.   The request was for wooden birdhouse kits.

Then, we had a bite to eat and went shopping.  

Once we got to Walmart, we found the Angel Tree for the Salvation Army too.

Ramsey was rather enamored reading the children's tags and seeing what they liked and might want or need for Christmas.   We each chose one from this tree.

Ramsey showed this one to me.  He was laughing his butt off!  I was not impressed that he was laughing at an angel tree tag, but then he pointed to the "Gift Ideas".   That smart little stinker found a funny typo on the little 6-year-old's tag!  I couldn't help but bust out a bit myself!

Ramsey chose a tag for a little boy his age.  I chose a tag for an older child.  

We found the bird house kits, some nice clothes for the older boy, and a fun remote control car for the little guy.   We had fun looking for gifts.  I certainly hope this instills the gift of giving to Ramsey.  It's so important to empathize with others and understand people's struggles in life. 

We left the gifts for Salvation Army at Walmart and placed the bird houses at the church.

At church this afternoon, there were fun crafts to make for others in need and the living nativity.  But first... there were snacks that had blessed meanings and symbolism.

Then, off to play a few fun little games and make little presents for others...

We braided soft material together to make tug ropes for puppies at the Humane Society.

And, we drew homemade Christmas cards with crayons and markers for the elderly.

In the midst of the fun, we found the puzzle collage of the Sunday and Wednesday School kids.

Ramsey thought it was super fun that his name was right next to Jesus!

The Living Nativity would be starting soon.  But, the animals were on display outside for people to see and pet.  Because Ramsey wasn't overly thrilled at the petting zoo at the county fair, I wasn't sure how he would react.

There were the sweetest mini donkeys in pens.

Ramsey did pet them.  He thought they were so cute.

He petted the little baby goats, but wasn't sure about them at first.  He had fun visiting with the owner for quite some time.

He did ask to hold the little sweetie.  

He was in LOVE with the adorable baby kid.  I was too. Aww!!   Eric would have LOVED this part - he's insane for baby goats!

We went in for the living nativity after that.  It was such a wonderful event, with so many people involved to make it happen... to include his past second grade teacher and her family.