Thoughts at Christmas

Not all my thoughts, but just a couple...

When i think of Christmas, i think of babies.

Babies who grow up to be great kids
Babies who grow up to be Godly young men and women
Babies who grow up to be beautiful brides and humble grooms
But most of all, babies, or i should say, a baby who grows up to be our Savior

I also think of giving.  Not only giving gifts that we wrap and put under the tree, but also...

Giving of our bounty to those less fortunate
Giving of our time and talents
And, most of all, giving of our very lives as sacrifices

On Buying a Christmas Tree

Since this is the first year in a few that we'll be staying home for Christmas, it's also the first year in a few that we've had a Christmas tree up in the house. Kids had asked to go out every weeknight last week, but i decided that we'd wait for a sunny weekend day, which turned out to be this past Sunday.

Turns out that dozens of other folks had the same idea, as we managed to hit the local tree place at quite the rush-time. I found it funny to feel the competitive juices kicking in as we strolled through the rows of trees, looking for the right one, not wanting to get beat out by the other families on the same mission. You'd get these furtive glances back and forth. "You're not checking out MY tree, are you, pal?" And none of us, most likely, able to pick out quality Fraser Firs, anyway.

:raisingarizona: "I think I got the best one"

Settled on one about 7 feet high, so that it doesn't dominate the piano room. TreeDude sawed off the pudding-skin from the trunk-bottom, then wrapped it and strapped it to the Suburban. DadDude carried it in the house, while everybody watched. Locked it into the tree stand, then fed it its quart of water.

A Field Day with Emily

Emily and i enjoyed a pleasant Sunday afternoon recently, taking in the NCAA Championship game in Women's Field Hockey.  The game was in town, on the Wake Forest campus, and pitted my Blue Devils (Duke) against the 2-time defending champions of Wake Forest.

Even though the game turned out to be a dud (if you were a Duke fan), with Wake taking a 3rd straight title with a 3-0 victory, we both had fun.  Emily was quite the wiggle worm, and was naturally more excited about seeing the Duke band and mascot, and the Wake cheerleaders.  And the free pen she got from the NCAA exhibition booth was an unlikely hit.

Still, i think Emily took in enough of the game to understand what she experienced.  She could explain afterwards how the game works (in the most general sense, of course -- you hit a ball with a stick and try to shoot it in the goal), and she knew which team was which.

After the game, we stopped at Burger King for a late lunch / early dinner.  Bought her a Spongebob watch, which i don't think she's worn since, and probably couldn't even locate it in the house.  Grabbed two Burger King crowns on the way out -- one for her, and one for Jackson.