A Letter From Santa

Good List Certificate

Brody was delighted to get a letter from Santa!  To him, it's awesome to see and hear that he is on the good list.  There was a kid a year ago who told Brody he was bad, and he would never get a Christmas present.  Oh, how words can break a kid!  So last year when Santa's letter came in, Brody said, "I'm good.  I'm good.  I'm really good!"  The smile on his face as he reads his letter is priceless.  Pops, who is good friends with Santa, has been making sure Brody would get a letter from him for seven Christmas' now.  To a kid, getting mail is great, but there is nothing better than a mail from Santa.  Brody's favorite part of the letter was how proud Santa was of him for scoring a goal in soccer.

Come with me Coffee if you want to live!

"Come with me coffee if you want to live!"

Oh my sweet Brody!  He makes life interesting.  Some days he can be quite challenging, but he can be very humorous as well.  I write this story tonight so that one day when he is grown I can remind him of his love for the coffee pot.

Our coffee pot broke today, and the only thing going into our coffee cups were tears.  We are a family who enjoys drinking coffee...especially Community Coffee.  So when the coffee pot breaks it is a must to go to the store to replace it that day.  Brody and I picked a new one out at Target.  I thought all was well with the world again.  Until it came time to throw the old one away.  I will give the the play by play of what happened next.

Brody, "What are you going to do with the coffee pot?"

Ryan, "We're going to throw it away."

Brody, "Can't we keep it?"

Cristy, "No."

Brody, "PLEASE DON'T THROW IT AWAY!"

Ryan, "We can't keep things that are broken."

Brody, "Can we just keep it in the attic?"

Ryan, "No, we are not hoarders."

Brody, "BUT PLEASE!"  ***This is when tears begin to flow.

Cristy, "NO!"

Brody, "BUT IT MADE THE BEST COFFEE EVER!"

Ryan & Cristy, "Brody, we cannot keep it."

Brody then grabs the coffee pot as if saving it and says, "COME WITH ME COFFEE IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"  He runs with all his might while crying to his room. 

I go to his room and explain once again why we do not need to keep the coffee pot.  Brody is sobbing over the coffee pot.  Brody says, "He made the best coffee ever so I'm keeping him forever."

"I'm not letting go!  I'll stay up all night and protect it!"

I would like to tell you fine readers that I had great wisdom and convinced Brody to throw away the coffee pot, but I didn't have anything to say that made sense to him.  He has so kind of emotional attachment to it, and sometimes there are not any words to comfort the heart.  And his heart was broken! The coffee pot is now "living" in Brody's room until another day when he is ready to let go of it.  As with many things in life, it just doesn't make any sense. But you know what?  It's ok that I don't understand it all.  It's fine to smile and laugh. There is no step by step guide to parenting.  Sometimes kids get stressed out by things.  At the end of the day, does it really matter if an old coffee pots "lives" in his room for a few days...or weeks?  It's a battle that I'm fine with him winning.  Cause' hey, I like coffee too. 

Of course one day when I tell him this story, he will then owe me a cup of coffee!  I have earned it!  I will in return buy him one too because I love him for making our lives never have dull moment.  Brody seizes the day everyday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree.  In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.  ~Larry Wilde

It's starting to look like Christmas at the Brice house.  I had some great help decorating from Brody and Nanny.  They both love Christmas, and they make decorating one good holly jolly time.  I've got some sneak peaks of what our home looks like this time of year.

Our front door

Dining room

The red and green tree

Nanny's fun creation

Brody's gingerbread man

Living room tree

Book shelf

Kitchen

My favorite Manger scene from Africa.

The Ladybug Massacre of 2012

Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs.  Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger.  If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.  ~Dale Carnegie

It's Monday morning, and I am having to take a quick break to rest.  So I'll blog for just a few minutes.  My friends know I do not go anywhere, or walk, or do anything outside of my house on Monday mornings.  Why?  Because the house gets a good cleaning today!  

There are a lot of seemingly small jobs that I will do that no one will notice.  Like suck up all the  Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles or Ladybugs as I like to call them.  It took an hour to get rid of all of them, but I know that our house is ladybug free now.  They will not be making their winter home here. HA! HA!  I know no one will walk in our home and say, "My, my, your home is so clean and ladybug free!" It's still important to do the small chores that need to be done.  If not, our home will be a welcome a center for unwanted guests...the ladybug and dust bunny.  

Sometimes life has to be about doing things that need to be done.  Jobs do not always get a "thank you."  Sometimes no one will even notice what you did.  Jobs can have no fun to them.  Some jobs may not be changing the world.  BUT ALL JOBS ARE IMPORTANT!  So no matter what kind of job you must do today, do it to the best of your ability.  Take pride in yourself for a job well done.  I patted myself on the back for the Ladybug Massacre of 2012.

I'm seizing the day with a vacuum cleaner!

Brody gets a trophy

Brody has asked for a trophy for two years now.  We explained over and over that trophies have to be worked for.  We talked him into to playing soccer because he would get a trophy at the end.  So Brody committed to soccer, and he had a fun season.  He even scored a goal one game!  It was a great experience for him, and we were blessed with an awesome coach who made it a great experience.  Thought you might like to see pictures of Brody in action. 

Get that ball!

Those legs are running hard!

Brody kicking a goal!

High Five!

Doing a "I scored a goal dance!"

"I did, Dad!"  

Celebrating with his dad!

Brody's awesome team (who never lost a game).

Brody getting his trophy.  He was so proud!

Brody's 1st Soccer Game

 We get a kick out of soccer!

This morning was Brody's first soccer game, and he had so much fun.  It was such a confidence booster for him.  "I can play soccer," he said.  He has an awesome coach who made out a schedule for all the players to be constantly rotating in the game and learning to play different positions.  The parents were all great encouraging and cheering on the team.  We are proud of our Stars Team!  It was a good experience, and I'm already looking forward to next Saturday.  I found myself over and over thanking God this morning for how far He has brought Brody.  Praise Jesus Brody is able to play and be a part of a team!  I know there are some "Brody fans" who would have loved to see him play so here is a short video and a few pictures. 

Warming up

Families praying before the game

Game about to start and he was a little nervous.

Brody's awesome coach

Go Brody!

Being the goalie 

"Come here ball!"

First Tastes of Fall

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

Fall started in the stores weeks ago with candy corn, candy apples, and candies of all sort filling the shelves (Bottle Caps are my favorite this time of year).  But the past week I've noticed several of the trees are beginning to change color.   The Red Maple trees are so beautiful in our town.  North Carolina is a great place to be during Autumn.  After seeing some of the leaves fall, I was ready to taste fall.

Brody has been wanting to taste some of the fall goodness he has been seeing in the stores.  So today I got him his first candy apple.   I know he is six years old and has never eaten one before.  I would just rather give him an apple instead of candy, but today was a special occasion.  And of course, he asked so sweetly for one!

I enjoyed watching Brody process how he was going to eat it.

He got a little mad at it because it was too hard.

I sliced it up for him, and he loved it!

"It's good!"

On Sunday, he ate pumpkin muffins...another Fall favorite.

I cannot wait to make my Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle.  Here's the recipe if you want to try it.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle

1 box gingerbread cake mix or spice cake mix

2 cups cold milk

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) instant vanilla pudding mix

1 can(15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cool Whip

Follow cake instructions and bake as directed.  Set cake to the side.  In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon; stir into pudding.  

Set aside ¼ cup gingerbread cubes.  In a 4 qt. trifle bowl or glass serving bowl, layer a third or the remaining gingerbread cubes; top with a third of the pumpkin mixture and cool whip.  Repeat layers twice.  Crumble reserved gingerbread; sprinkle over top.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. 

Abundant Life

I'm so thankful for Brody and Maggie!  My kids are such blessings to me.

They have such cute faces!!!

Yep, I'm one proud mama!

Part of living an abundant life is being thankful for what God has given you.  I just want to shout it out to the world how glad I am to have Brody and Maggie.  I hear too many parents now days complaining about their children.  What's even worse is when they complain right in front of their children.  Children desperately want to hear good stuff about them!  So today, I told Brody how wonderful he is, and I gave Maggie an extra dog treat (food is her love language).  They hear how I love them all the time, but can you ever say "I love you" too much?  There are not even enough minutes in a day to express my love.  What is really awesome is how God loves Brody even more than me!  Jesus came so that Brody could have life and live it more abundantly!  You know what?  He also came to this world so that you could have life and have it more abundantly too! That's something to be glad about!

First Grade

Yeah for First Grade!

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.  ~Clay P. Bedford

Our sweet Brody started First Grade yesterday!   Strange how I can be proud, excited, and sad all at the same time (that's talent folks).  
Proud- Just look at how far he has come!  Two years ago the kid could barely talk, and now he is an excellent reader.
Excited- I'm glad he is making new friends, and he will learn so many new things this year!
Sad- I do not like the quiet house while Brody is at school all day.  He makes our house fun, and it is boring without him.  It's also sad because I want another baby so bad, and I cannot wait to hear little feet running around our home again.  Lord, please multiply our family!

I have been praying and praying.  Praying for Brody and a new school year.  Praying God will let me have more children to love.  Praying to have good friends.
      And as always, God takes care of us!  Brody is blessed with a great teacher, and he had a good 1st day.  He has good old and new friends in his class.  Yesterday, God even sent me a friend when I needed one too.  I was invited to go walking with a friend from church.  Instead of having to come home to an empty house, I had a friend to walk and talk with...and both felt good.  While I do not have a baby of my own, I have family and friends who keep having more children for me to love.  All these new babies that have come lately or will come in the next few months, whether adopted or biological, are such blessings to me.  Love comes in all kinds of ways!  

Brody sitting at the table in his new class.

 Life is good when you are looking for it to be good, and you are making it good!

Just look at this happy kid!  He was so proud of his new backpack.  

I have no idea what this year holds for our family?

 But I do know I'm planning on lots of good stuff to happen, and whatever comes our way we will still be praising God!  

So as Brody said yesterday, "Yeah for First Grade!"