Merry Christmas!

The Friendly Beasts

Jesus our brother kind and good
Was humbly born in a stable of wood
And the friendly beasts around him stood
Jesus our brother kind and good

"I" said the donkey shaggy and brown
I carried his mother up hill and down
I carried him safely to Bethlehem town
"I" said the donkey shaggy and brown

And "I" said the cow all white and red
I gave him my manger for a bed
I gave him my hay for to pillow his head
"I" said the cow all white and red

"I" said the sheep with a curly horn
I have him my wool for his blanket warm
And he wore my coat on that Christmas morn
"I" said the sheep with a curly horn

"I" said the dove from the rafters high
Cooed him to sleep that he should not cry
We cooed him to sleep my love and I
"I" said the dove from the rafters high

And "I" said the camel all yellow and black
Over the desert upon my back
I brought him a gift in the wise men's pack
"I" said the camel all yellow and black

Thus every beast remembering it well
In the stable dark was so proud to tell
Of the gifts that they gave Emmanuel

The gifts that they gave Emmanuel

Found

I was transferring some pictures off of a camera and found pictures that I forgot I had taken. Thought I'd just post some recent pictures of the boys.
Harris is extremely excited about the holidays. He is constantly asking when we are getting the tree (this weekend) and when we can put up the decorations. I think he asks at least three times a day.
He is not able to keep a secret. At all. Jackson told him about a gift he had gotten for Jason, and Harris spilled the beans as soon as he saw Jason. Do not tell him anything you don't want the world to know!
He is obsessed with the FurReal Friends walking dog. He saw it at WalMart over the summer and has talked about it ever since. He is desperately hoping he gets it for Christmas!
Jackson is diggin' his scooter right now. He will spend hours on it if we let him and loves doing "missions"... scooting somewhere I tell him to go in the neighborhood. I'm not sure if the cold weather will dampen his enthusiasm for the scooter, but it hasn't so far.
There was a holiday bazaar at his school last week, and he came home with Christmas gifts for me, Jason, Harris, Nana, and two for himself. His favorite? His new tye-dye socks. He has worn them for the past two days straight... tonight I have hidden them at the bottom of the laundry basket.
I love this picture of him. He has wanted to make snow angels for years, and the poor kids has to do sand angels instead. We are going to Ohio over the holidays... I pray (probably for the first time in my life!) for snow. He deserves to make a true snow angel.
Such fun these boys are! Every day it is something new, something to make me laugh, some super-cute smile, a huge hug, or an unexpected gesture of kindness. So much sweetness from them! I'm glad I found these unexpected treasures on my camera tonight!

Botany Bay

On Saturday morning, we joined the Eglestons for a family adventure day at Botany Bay, a South Carolina DNR wildlife management area near Edisto Beach. It was a chilly fall day, but a perfect one for exploring the plantation and beach.Jason finds a tree to climb everywhere we go. This amazing magnolia was only the first of the many climbing trees we found.

These little boys ran and ran and ran...

and ran and ran and ran...

and ran some more. I'm not sure they walked anywhere all day!

I love this picture of the boys, Harris, DuBose, Jackson, and Mills.
Everything about the plantation was amazing, and I think we were all in awe of the beauty as we walked.
The trees made the perfect playground... perfect for climbing, bouncing, swinging, and jumping off. What a big group of monkeys we were!
Since the plantation is a wildlife management area, nothing could be removed, which means no shell collecting on the beach. There were millions of shells. Harris found a huge conch shell and added it to this palmetto, decorated by previous shell hunters... he was quite proud to have been a part of it!
It was such a beautiful place, and we left so much more to explore. Thanks, Eglestons, for including us... we are looking forward to many more trips!