The True Meaning of Christmas

So every year I try and find this story about the true meaning of Christmas, and I never can. I FINALLY (After MANY long hours of looking) found it. So I'm posting it so I can just find it online next year when I want it. Hopefully you'll enjoy it too.

The True Meaning of Christmas

I had a visitor last night and this is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise downstairs. I opened the door and to my surprise, Santa Claus stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.

I started to ask Santa what he was doing when I noticed tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager soul we all know.

Then he answered me with a simple statement, "Teach the children," he said. I was puzzled - What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement, he brought forth a toy bag from behind the Christmas tree. As I stood bewildered, Santa said again, "Teach the children - teach them the old meaning of Christmas, the meaning that Christmas nowadays has forgotten."

I started to say, "How can I?" when Santa reached into his toy bag and brought out a SHINY STAR.

"Teach the Children that the star was the Heavenly sign of promise long ages ago. God himself provided a Savior for the world and the star was a sign of the fulfillment of that promise. The countless shining stars at night, one for each man, now show the burning hope of all mankind."

Santa quietly hug the star on the tree and drew from his bag a glittering RED CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT. "Teach the children that Red is the first color of Christmas. It was used by faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all the people by the Savior. Christ gave his life and shed his blood that every man might have God's gift of Eternal Life. Red is deep, intense, vivid, it is the greatest color of all. It is a symbol of the gift of God."

Santa hung the red ornament on the Christmas tree.

The deep green of the FIR TREE was a perfect background for the ornament. Here was the second color of Christmas.

"Teach the children that the pure green color of the fir tree remains green all year round," he said. This depicts the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is the youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature. All the needles point Heavenward, symbol of man's returning thoughts toward heaven. The great green tree has been man's best friend. It has sheltered him, warmed him, made beauty for him."

Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound..."Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the BELL, it should ring for man to return to the fold - it means guidance and return. It further signifies that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord."

As the soft tinkling of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle. He placed it on the table and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast a glow about the room. "Teach the children," Santa whispered, "That the candle shows man's thanks for the star of long ago. Its small light is the mirror of starlight. At first, candles were placed on the trees. They were like many glowing stars shining against the dark green. The colored lights have now taken over in remembrance."

Santa then drew out a gift. He pointed to the large BOW and said, "A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the spirit of brotherhood. We should remember that the bow is tied as men should be tied, all of us, together, with the bonds of good will towards each other. Good will forever is the message of the bow."

Santa drew from his toy bag a CANDY CANE and said, "Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show at Christmas time. The candy cane symbolizes that we are our brother's keeper."

As Santa looked around the room, he had a good feeling and he knew that I had learned many things tonight.

Last, but not least, Santa reached into his bag and brought out a HOLLY WREATH.

He said, "Please teach the children that the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love and never ceases, stops, or ends. It should remind us of all the things of Christmas."

The last thing Santa said as he opened the door to leave was, "PLEASE TEACH THE CHILDREN THE OLD MEANING OF CHRISTMAS."

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Bart's family this year. Here are some pictures of the event:

The lovely table courtesy of Bart's sister Rebecca.

Mommy and Hannah anxiously awaiting dinner.

I absolutely love this picture of Hannah. She looks so delicate. Her eyes are so blue and her lips are so pink. I just love it.For how excited Addison looks to eat, she sure didn't eat much.Daddy carving the Turkey.Hannah really enjoyed her spoon.And in case you were wondering, this is how Addison eats rolls.Every year Bart's family does a white elephant gift exchange. This was by far the best gift:

I just know Levi has been trying and trying to get pregnant. Hopefully this ovulation predictor will help him out with that.

Turkey Bowl

Today I begin my Thanksgiving posts with the turkey bowl. The boys played football with some other families in the community at the lovely Grand County Highschool field. I don't know that a Turkey Bowl has ever been played at a more beautiful location.Addison was quite excited.Until she realized Dad would be playing with other people and not her.Ahhh...way to make it all better daddy.And back to the game....catch it Jacob! Catch it!Way to block Sam!Op! Don't hit the kid.And it's a breakaway.We girls were naturally entrhalled with the game and gave full attention to it, not to socializing and talking amongst ourselves. Nope, no socializing at all...The little girls, on the other hand, appear to actually be watching the game...go figure. :o)

Say What?

So last night in bed Bart was reading an art education journal for his class. Suddenly he exclaims, "I have NO idea what this article is about." I haughtily think, "Silly boy, doesn't understand a simple art education journal abstract. I have my masters in accounting, I'm sure I can understand it." So I tell him, "Read it to me." Here it is:

"This article explores prosthesis as a metaphor of embodiment in art-based research to challenge the utopian myth of wholeness and normality in art and the human body. Bearing in mind the correspondences between amputated bodies and the cultural dislocations of art, I propose prosthetic epistemology and prosthetic ontology as embodied knowing and being in the world to challenge the disabling, oppressive prosthetics of mass mediation, and to enable the creative and political agency of fragmented, limbless bodies. I discuss the historical origins of "prosthesis," its use as a rhetorical augmentation of language and technological augmentation of amputated bodies, to suggest that the visual language of art disrupts and extends beyond the dialectical closure of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis through the divergent interconnectivity of prosthesis. Within the context of art education, prosthetic pedagogy is characterized as performances of subjectivity that intersect, critique and extend beyond academic, institutional, and corporate assumptions to enable the creation of new and diverse understandings through art practice."

Yeah, I was lost after the first sentence...in the middle of the first sentence actually. Apparently knowledge in accounting doesn't transfer over to art education.

Is it just us, or is this paragraph rather difficult to decipher? If I had $50, I'd give it to whoever could explain this to me. Since I don't, if you can explain it, you'll have the reward of feeling really smart.

P.S. Janae, what is that website that rates what level of education your blog is? I'm pretty sure mine just went up a few grades.

P.S.S. Bart really wanted this post to just be, "This is the type of stuff my husband reads before he goes to bed..."

My Daughter was NOT supposed to do this!

She has been playing with scissors since she was like 18 months old without incident. Then today, she's playing with a play dough set thing that has a monkey that grows hair. She asks, "Mom, can I have the scissors so I can cut my monkey's hair." I foolishly see no harm in this and get her her little kid scissors. The next thing I know she has cut not only the monkey's hair, but her own as well.If you look closely at this one, you'll see that she cut the hair going into her little pony tail. Not the pony tail itself...well, part of that too, but the hair GOING FROM THE HEAD TO THE RUBBER BAND!!! It was seriously like less than half an inch long!Three years of growth. I was going to cry...I still feel like crying!And to make matters WORSE, we haven't gotten our family pictures for our Christmas cards yet. I think I might just find a family picture from Hannah's blessing and use that.

Anyway, so I called my friend Candace, who cuts hair, and between my sobs, begged her to help. She did a pretty good job.Now the real problem is that I genuinely believe that only a professional can tame this girl's hair. There is no way I can get it to look like that again. This is what it will look like from now on:Crazy.And in case you were wondering what Hannah was doing while all this was going on:

She was trying to escape from her baby bouncer.

Sigh. It's been a long day. Today I am NOT grateful for scissors...but I am grateful for Candace. :o)