Chism Christmas

Chism family Christmas

We had our Christmas with Kevin's family this past weekend. All 6 of the kids and a couple of the adults had some sort of virus--runny noses, coughs, etc. But, for the most part everyone felt okay. We managed to get a few pics of all the kids. We also got to meet baby Isaac for the first time. He is quite the cutie!! We all had a good time! And thanks to Granny Franny we had a great meal, too.

By the way, it snowed that night!! It was so pretty! Notice how my flash caught the snowflakes in one of the pics.

Funny boy

Oh, sweet little Aaron. Always has a face for me. He is so full of expression! He had a rough day yesterday with a virus that really attacked his airways. But today he is much better. We were in the car driving home from the chiropractor and Aaron spotted a manger scene. He got so excited and shouted "MOM! There's Mary and Joseph and Jesus!!! And there's lots of those other guys, too, you know the Sheparmints!" I tried hard not too laugh, cause he does not like for anyone to laugh at him, But, how cute is that, "Sheparmints"? Just thought I would share!

Catching up

Okay, these latest pics are of Thanksgiving and Alexis' School Christmas concert. The concert was wonderful! The upper grade Choir and orchestra did the Hallelujah Chorus and it brought tears to my eyes and so much joy to my heart. I can't believe a small school could pull of what they did. God really blessed the talents of all involved. Our Thanksgiving was great. We spent it at Bill and Fran's and Mike and Melissa came down for it. Their stay with us was a blessing. We had fun. So some of these pics will be of my sweet nephew Ryder. I have to share a quick funny story that took place today. I put Eli down for his morning nap and Aaron had to go to the potty right next door to Eli's room. Eli was fussing a little and I suddenly heard his fussing get louder. The door was obviously opened and I heard Aaron talking to Eli. So, I called him out of there and got onto him a little bit about not going in the room when Eli has to take a nap. He kept repeating over and over "but Eli was fussing!" I explained how he does that sometimes before he falls asleep. Well he got this pout on his face and kind of let out this unhappy grunt and walked away. I told him again "Aaron, don't go in that room." To which he replied, "I'M NOT. I am going to go sit in the time out chair!" I said "why, I didn't send you there?" To my delightful suprise he says, "because I really don't want to obey right now." Sure enough I walked around the corner to see him with arms folded sitting in the time out chair. You never think you are getting through, until one day a moment like this happens and all you can say is "Praise God!" (by the way, Lexi is holding a bell that they used when singing "O holy Night")

Alexis had a Pilgrim's Picnic at school the other day. Her class recited Psalm 100, and the Lord's Prayer. Then they did a sweet little Tee-Pee song that we all enjoyed. We then ate lunch brought in baskets, just like the Pilgrims. We had finger foods like dried and fresh fruit, cheese, and rolls. Alexis was told a week before that they would need to bring "Indian" food, and she stressed about it all week long!! After it was over, she found that the "Indian" food was not so bad! Oh the stresses of Kindergarten! Uncle Ryan and Grandmommy came to visit this past weekend and Alexis announced to all that she was in love (this is her 4th boyfriend this year)! A boy named Shepherd (hmm? not a bad name for a boy, whom your daughter loves, to have) made her laugh last week, and that seems to be the token trait to win her heart. We just smile and change the subject quickly. Aaron is loving having Alexis home this week. He gets pretty lonely when she is gone to school every day. Aaron has become obsessed with the cross lately. He finds them everywhere, telephone polls, games of dominos, etc. He'll say "Mom, look, it's a 'Jesus died on the cross'!" His favorite thing is to drive by St. John's hospital at night to see the lighted cross on top of the building. He just stares until it is out of sight. One day he was looking through a picture bible and he stopped at the page with Jesus on the cross. He was quiet and seemed troubled. I asked him if it was his favorite page, and he said sweetly, "no, mommy, I don't like when Jesus dies on the Cross." Neither do I buddy, neither do I. I pray that his obsession with the Cross will never end.

Here are some more pictures taken in the last couple of weeks. Eli was a puppy for halloween and the kids wanted him to wear the costume about everday from the time we bought it. One of these pics is of Aaron after he fell asleep in Daddy's chair reading his little Bible. He might never forgive me for taking a picture of him in his skibbies, but then again he is reading the Bible! I love the one of Kevin and the kids. They love their daddy and if he is in his chair you better believe their will be at least 2 in his lap at any given time.

Why a blog?

I have not been very good at emailing pictures or writing emails lately, hmm? So, I thought I would create this site so our friends and family, such as yourselves, could look in on how fast our kids are growing, etc. My family is much too far stretched across this country, and I miss them. I have some friends with blog sites that I check in on from time to time, and it allows me to feel like I am not missing out on so much. Some of you may not even know that we are back in Springfield, MO and we have added little Eli to our family. We are now a family of 5, and it is wonderfully crazy. Alexis is in Kindergarten at Grace Classical Academy, Aaron is 3 and home with me right now, and Eli just turned 5 months old and taken on the role of "entertainer". Funny how the babies of families figure out so early how to make people laugh! I will post pictures as frequently as possible and keep the "blogging" to a minimum! Just an occasional update, maybe. We just got back from Harding's homecoming, and realized how much life changes so quickly. It was good to see the friends who have affected our lives so positively in one way or another. We never thought we would go back as often as we do, but with PaPa Bill Chism on the board, my little brother Ryan kicking on the football team (next year is his last year, unbelievable), and generations of Harding Alumni on both sides of the family, we just keep going back. It was good to see everyone. Here are some of the latest pics of the kids. We love you all!