Merry 2014 Christmas

This is my absolute favorite time of year, my kids get so excited it's contagious.  This year they all wrote Santa letters by themselves, and Annette's was hilarious.  I LOVE her spelling, and that she wants a present for her bunny. She decorated the envelope with a picture of Santa as a young man and with Paul and I as the elves.  I LOVE that kid!

The Zoo has gotten a bit older while on hiatus

So yes it's been a while, but we gave up regular naps and the zoo master lost her blogging times.  I hope to change that this year, I might even have a guest blogger to help out from tine to time.  The Zoo has some young writers that like to share.  It was a busy summer for us with loads of camping trips, a few weddings, and the rest of life!

Letters to to Mr Claus

Dear Santa,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

How many reindeer do you have, and what are their names?  Are the reindeer are feeling fine?  How is Mrs. Claus?  Is she feeling good, and how are you doing? Please write back!

      For Christmas I would like a Belle doll with her royal horse, a bay hay and feed horse shirt, (my size is women small) a mirror, maple candy,  a candy necklace, twix bar, a gel pen, bubbles, and Cars 2 movie, build your own house Legos.   Thank you Santa.
                                                                                                                                         

Sincerely,

Anya Anunson                                     

  - As dictated to mommy, with a lot of wiggling and some
dancing....                             

Dear Santa,

How are your reindeer, are they well, do they have enough food?  Is Mrs. Claus well, are you having parties with the elves?  I’ve been decorating our house with Christmas decorations.

   Deck the halls with balls of lally, fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! (sung with gusto)
  
I went to the Nutcracker and I saw clara, I have been baking cookies with grandma, I hope you like them. 
   What have you been up to with the elves and Mrs. Clause and what is your favorite color?
   If you are wondering what I want for Christmas, I would like a Snow White doll with her horse, a riding doll with her hat and boots so that my doll Rebecca has a friend to play with.  I would like a set of hair rollers to make my hair curly.

I wish Mrs. Clause, the reindeer, elves, and everyone who lives at the North Pole a very Merry, Jolly, Happy Christmas!

Love, Lila

     ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Dear Santa,

 What is Mrs. Claus doing for your party?   Are you having a party with your reindeer and elves?
 I would like a Winnie the Pooh movie, an Eyore doll, Cinderella with her royal horse, and a new doll for Violet to have a friend.   I like strawberry candy and chocolate.  Do you like chocolate or cookies with frosting and sparkles?  P.S.  My sister wants chocolate covered marshmallows and so do I.

I love you and want you to come here when I’m sleeping.

Annette

                                                                              

The Charge

I wrote this as a devotional for a friends baby shower.  My mother said you should blog this, so I did. 

Deuteronomy 6

I know Stephanie that this baby shower devotion is meant for you.  However, as I was writing this I found that it could easily be for each one of us in this room.  Hilary Rodham Clinton, a modern bastion of the feminist movement, had this to say on raising children; ‘It takes a village”.  This was immediately pounced upon and used to encourage the institutionalization of children to be taught according to humanistic beliefs. 

 However in some way she was correct if the message hadn’t been misused and corrupted.  It does in fact take a village; it was how children were raised since families began.  Back when our great grandparents and in some cases our grandparents were young, families lived together, elders helping raise children and guiding parents.  The community around the child; neighbors, church and schools were also instrumental in teaching the same basic messages. 

Today this is often no longer the case for most families.  We are spread apart; mothers and families are left adrift.  We are told that life outside the home has more importance than the role of mother, saying that motherhood is trivial, and a waste of our skills.   We are said to be moldering at home, and our roles are downplayed.  The fact is there is no greater job you have been given than the charge of a child to raise.  You are the protector, teacher, and comforter.  You are the shield against the world, and the first vision of their future.  When a child is young, an infant’s first vision or impression of God is through the actions of the mother, later it is the father that forms their impressions of the heavenly father.   For many people their beliefs on the character of God are based on these first impressions.  And that makes sense as we are to be the reflection of the Father on earth as we live our lives. 

SO, what is the charge, what is a mother to do, especially as a mother of daughters?  You are not just raising Riley and Gracie, two little girls; but two little mothers, Grandmothers, and Mentors.  Your influence will stretch beyond the temporal boundaries of today and these children will reach into the future teaching what you have taught, to your grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  Teach them to Love God first, serve and glorify God in all that they do, and to pass it on.  Those girls are just the start of your mission.

 It’s a scary thought, so much responsibility; however we just have to take it one diaper at a time, forming, teaching, loving, cuddling, and disciplining.  We don’t have to do it alone, as Christian women we have the greatest resources, God has given us his word to be a lamp unto our feet.  When you are in the sometimes dark tunnels of motherhood with no end in sight and the job seems too hard, (and every mother has been there) there is God’s word to comfort and guide.  I have found that it will come when you least expect in and most need it.  With my own children I have been very literally (and often in front of my children) on my knees crying out for help, and He has been there, sometimes a still small voice saying “I am here,” other times as a verse shooting through a tense spot, often as another dear Christian woman reaching out and teaching me giving me encouragement and advice.  Letting me know she was there, she knew.

 That’s where the village comes in.  We are your village.  Doubtless you have others as well, but we all have a lesson to teach, encouragement to give, a shoulder to bear a burden and love to be given.  We are your sisters, your family.  We love those little girls and share the same goals for them as for our own.  This job you have been given is the most important one in front of you.  It’s time sensitive, precious, and given to you by God.  You are raising the future.

A Ducky Time in Three Parts (Or Our Adventure With Papa on Ride a Duck)

Quack!

Ride a Duck 3