Advent 2013 - Day 5

Advent 2013 - Day 5

Today's book was The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado.

The boys and I really enjoyed this book.  Instead of just reading the book from start to finish, I stopped every once in awhile to ask the boys if they felt like Joshua the lamb in the story.  Poor Josh felt lonely, was teased by others, and wanted to be someone else who did not have a crippled leg.  He wanted to run and play just like the other lambs.  The boys I talked about how sometimes we all feel like Josh felt.  The story tells how Josh was left behind when the other sheep were taken to a new valley.  He had to stay at the stable because he was too slow. That night a newborn baby was born in that stable.  He was cold so Josh laid down beside Him to keep Him warm.  The boys and I then talked about how if God hadn't made Josh just the way he was then he would not have been at the stable that night to keep Baby Jesus warm.  (Yes, I pointed out this was just a story and probably didn't happen this way.)  We talked about how God made each of us exactly who we are for a reason.  He made Blase the oldest because He knew Blase would be the best oldest brother.  Rex wouldn't have been the best oldest brother or Cormac or Stephen or Brech.  We went down through all the kids, pointing out that they were the best ones for their spots in the family.  Then we talked about how each of us has a job to do just like Josh had.  God wants us to help each other get to heaven.  He put us in our spots because He knew that if we loved Him and followed His laws we would all get to heaven together.  I hope that in the future when the boys read this story they will remember that God put them in our family for a reason.

 Our fun activity for the day was to read the real Christmas story in the Bible.  I wanted to make sure they heard the story as it is, not as someone else imagines it was.

 Blase read the verses from Matthew and I read the verses from Luke.

 This is Stephen and Brech "paying attention" to the story.

Tonight we lined up our shoes (Mom and Dad only get one shoe a piece) and went to bed dreaming of St. Nicholas and what he might bring tomorrow!  Isn't that the cutest line up of shoes you have ever seen?  I love the babies' shoes!  Gianna's sparkly shoes fit her personality so well.  Brech and Cormac have their cowboy boots out.  Rex decided on his church shoes which I think fits his personality of things having to be just right or it isn't worth it.  Stephen put his hikers out.  Being full of fun and energy I wouldn't expect anything different from him.  Blase picked his largest, tallest boots so he could get more things from St. Nicholas.  Does that surprise you?  Me neither.  Did you notice the boots are also the muddiest?  That is one brave boy to bring muddy boots into his mother's house.  

The boys all went outside today for about 20 minutes or so.  They came in looking like icicles with rosy red cheeks.  I wonder if they will be as excited to play outside tomorrow or if they will take a day off and stay warm.  I'm glad they were smart enough to come back in after 20 minutes.  I was going to give them no more than 30 minutes outside if the sun stayed shining.

Both Rex and Gianna are running low-grade fevers tonight.  I have to admit I am liking Gianna's fever.  It slowed her down and she actually cuddled with me.  She hasn't done that in a long time.  I miss cuddling with her (and all the other big kids).  The rest of us have slight runny noses and have for a few days.  I'm hoping this is as bad as it gets.  I've been diffusing some essential oils to clean the air and strengthen our immune systems.