Hush Puppies, Gumbo, and Fried Green Tomatoes: December 2015

Saturday, December 26, 2015

The Science Museum

My boys looooooove "the science museum!" We have a family membership to the Science Museum of Western Virginia, which is downtown. So, this morning, we took the boys! And, for the first time ever, we visited the Butterfly Garden.

This is a picture of Nathan with his absolute favorite gecko, the Leopard Gecko. He has named him "Spotty."

The butterfly garden! So fun! The butterflies were beautiful!

The museum currently has an exhibit called "Pixel Play." There are about fifty arcade games to play. So fun! The boys loved it! Nathan especially loved that he didn't need a stool to play the games!

What a fun way to spend the morning!

Merry Christmas

Well, we had a very merry Christmas this year! For the second year in a row, we stayed put in Roanoke, just the four of us. It was happy and peaceful and wonderful! I feel that--more than ever before--the four of us focused on the true reason for celebrating at Christmas. Every evening this month, we have gathered together and read verses that relate to the birth of Christ. New family tradition! It reiterated what we already tell our children: Christmas is about Jesus. Not presents. Not Santa. Not candy and excitement and Christmas morning. No. It's about Jesus, the greatest gift of all, stepping down from Heaven to rescue us.

And as has apparently become a tradition around here, we made sugar cookies from scratch. So fun! {By the way, the greatest sugar cookie recipe I've ever found is in the Little Rock Junior League's cookbook.}

This was also the first Christmas Eve church service that we've actually all sat through, {mostly!} quietly, and enjoyed. WOW! There are major advantages to have two bigger boys, let me tell ya! Our pastor preached on the meaning behind the carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." So special.