Making Your House a Home

Christmas was wonderful in many ways. But before I bombard you with all the stories, memories and photos of happy, tired and sugared-up children, I wanted to honor my mom for how her hospitality (with much much help from my dad) made our Christmas so special. From all the food & treats she prepared to how she decorated her home...she once again, out did herself. She has truly made her house a home...(and has given me many good ideas for mine). Here are some photos of the little things in my parents home that make it so special for me & my family. Thanks mom and dad, for putting up with our family of 5 for 5 days. All the little things you did, did not go unnoticed! And for Jonathan. I know you will also enjoy these photos. We missed you this Christmas...stay safe little brother!

And I cannot forget my angel...yes. If there ever was an ugly angel...it would be this one. I made it when I was little and the fact that it still hangs on my mom & dads tree after all these years shows they must really love me!

Merry Christmas 2009!

I'm signing off for the holiday & wanted to wish everyone a very joyful and merry Christmas! Christmas has so much more meaning to me now...knowing that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, my Savior, the light of my life, the source of my joy and the giver of my peace. I cannot wait to wake up next to my love and whisper "merry Christmas" to each other followed by a kiss. I cannot wait to view the excitement & sparkle in my children's eyes on Christmas morning...hearing them scream with delight as they open their gifts. May your memories be sweet and cause you to reflect on God's unmistakeable love this Christmas!! And to my brother in Iraq...we will miss you so much this Christmas. You will be on our hearts and minds all through the holiday. We pray you will be in good company and we thank you for the sacrafice you are making to guard and protect our country...so that me, my family and all of us can enjoy this special holy-day.
With much love....The 5 Happy Roths

SNOW!!

I think they say we got 15 inches. It made me feel like I was back home on Grand Island. The kids went outside when the storm began but were back inside in 20 minutes..."Too Cooold!" they said. We spent all day Saturday inside watching tv and reading books. It wasn't so bad except I was freeeeezin inside and had a bad cold...and the kids were quite antsy and making me...CRAAAZY!!! Thanks to my honey for shoveling us out the next morning. He enjoyed his snow thrower as he slid down the driveway holding on tight to it. Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas with the Roths at Nana & Poppy's home in Lancaster. They will be driving to Florida tomorrow. The food was amazing & the kids enjoyed all of their gifts. Here's a shot of them sledding in the backyard. Thanks again to Nana & Poppy for having us all over...for the great meal & all the gifts!

Santa...or No Santa?

Is this little guy the cutest santa you've ever seen or what! It made me think of what our stance is on including Santa in Christmas.
Everyone has different opinions and many are even quite passionate about this topic. Positions range from trying to keep the kids believing in Santa as long as they can possibly pull it off by writing the kids letters and leaving santa's footprints as evidence around the house... to never mentioning Santa's name and even scorning the jolly ol' elf, considering him evil. I would hold neither of those positions. My point in writing this is not to offend anyone or judge anyone in their "Santa position"...but only to share my thoughts on what our family does.
I grew up believing until my best friend Julie told me I was foolish for believing. I remember seeing Rudolf's red nose in the sky while driving home from Grandma & Papa's Christmas Eve. I remember leaving cookies & milk on the fireplace for santa & even carrots for the reindeer (since mom is such an animal-lover). I remember wonderful Christmas mornings, running down the stairs to find every single gift I wanted for Christmas. I have many wonderful memories & I am grateful to my mom & dad for making those memories for us.
When I first became a Christian (and before kids) I remember thinking that we would certainly not include santa in our Christmas traditions. But as Madison started to get older we were forced to figure out how it would work for our family in a way that the kids would enjoy sweet Christmas memories but never shove off the true meaning of Christmas for false beliefs. Our friends Andy & Paula helped us by sharing what they do for Christmas. They never did or said things to make up stories about Santa but for example when their kids would ask a question like, "How does Santa get into our home since we don't have a chimney?" They would simply ask the child, "Well what do you think?" So through the years our kids are quite aware of the real meaning of Christmas but also enjoy the fun stories about Santa they see on TV. Here was the conversation at our home the other day:
Adrienne: "Matthew, you are going to be put on the naughty list."
Matthew:  "There is no such thing as a naughty list."
Me: "Does God have a naughty list?" ..."If He did, we would ALL be on it. Thankfully Jesus died to remove us from the naughty list."
Our desire is that the joy & excitement they feel for Christmas would not only be from seeing family, getting presents, eating cookies, but also from knowing the truth of Christmas...the amazing truth that God came to earth as a helpless baby, humbling himself to come near to all of us...because this very truth is the ONLY thing that can bring lasting peace & joy. So Santa for us...yeah, a little. We have started to created our own memories the past few Christmases. Like cutting our own tree at Linvilla, going to the Christmas concert and Christmas Eve Service at our church, followed by going to Dunkin Donuts in our jammies and driving around looking at all the lights and ending the night by reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke to the kids. I am getting excited just typing it! I'll end with a letter to Santa...
Dear Santa,
We love seeing you at Christmas time. You are happy, jolly and plump. But the 5 happy Roths are sorry. We will not make you the center of our Christmas holiday nor the reason for our joy. For there is One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He holds our devotion...not you. So you can continue to make your fun TV shows and movies & we will enjoy them. Thanks for all the memories, but Jesus is the reason for the season!!
Your friends,
The Five Happy Roths

What A Guy Wants

Guess who got this for Christmas?

And of course this would not fit inside of this...

So I said...can we buy one of these?

It is ONLY $689?

(about the same price as the TV itself)

                         Ummm...No.

Not if we want to be REALLY poor after Christmas is all over.

So I took another trip to...

And bought a really old, dusty, brown TV stand that was ugly as ugly can get, took out the top drawer to make room for the cable box, painted it white, gave it a new set of knobs...and voila! TV stand which I love, love, love for $30!!!

I  really enjoy these little projects for my home. I was able to make this TV stand exactly the way I wanted it and saved money by not buying a brand new one. The storage underneath will hold all of our DVD's . It is still drying but I am looking forward to putting it in the house just in time for Christmas! So while Bill will be enjoying watching Survivorman in HD on his new TV...I'll be happy looking at my pretty white cabinet underneath...(wearing the brand new fuzzy jammies he bought for me for Christmas..Hint Hint ;)

**PS: Anyone interested in a TV cabinet??

Christmas Play 2009

Here is a little movie I made from the Christmas play footage Bill took last Saturday. The first part is Madison singing as an angel on the end. This was the start of the play so you can see her hands folded nicely in front. Towards the end it was difficult for her to stand still (it would have been difficult for me!) but she did an excellent job. The angels danced next. Madison is in the group on the left, her hair pulled back in a french braid & she has yellow ribbon in her hands. Adrienne was really bummed she wasn't a pretty angel. She is on the left side with a cute pink hat & white sweater. In the end they all were supposed to stay on their backs until the lights went out...but Adrienne really wanted to make sure we all saw her. She was the best pouty shopper out there! I really enjoyed teaching Adriennes group & helping out with the angels. Enjoy the video!

The Christmas Tree

It was a busy weekend! On Friday we went to Linvilla for our annual hayride to cut down our Christmas tree. You'll notice it's alot smaller than the giant "bush" we cut down last year.It was really cold and really crowded...but lots of fun nonetheless.  We brought it home, decorated it and drank hot chocolate, and then Bill sat with the kids when it was all done & played "I Spy" Christmas ornaments. Here are some pics. On Saturday the girls participated in the COMPASS Christmas Play. Madison sang in the chorus and danced as an angel and Adrienne danced as a pouty shopper. I will post the videos soon.

The BEST Bible for Kids

Every morning since September I have read the Jesus Storybook Bible to the kids while they happily slurp down their cereal. It is a great book. The pictures are so colorful and each bible story always ties into the gospel. We finished the final story yesterday. It was from the book of Revelation where the apostle John, while in prison, receives a vision from the Lord. It tells of a new heaven and a new earth...no more pain...no more suffering. The last page paraphrased John 1:12-13.
"For anyone who says yes to Jesus
For anyone who believes what Jesus said
For anyone who will just reach out to take it
Then God will give them this wonderful gift:
To be born into A whole new life
To be who they really are
Who God always made them to be-
Their own true selves-
God's dear child.
Because you see, the most wonderful thing about this story is- it's your story too!"

Adrienne shouted "Read it again!"...and they all clapped and cheered...so did I.
(Here's the link to the book on Amazon.com)