"I telled a LIE!!!"

My sweet little Reese has told a couple lies in the past few weeks. This is a new thing for him. The first time was when I sent him downstairs to get his socks and shoes on for church. I was upstairs still getting ready. After a few minutes I hollered down to him, "Reese! Do you have your socks and shoes on?" To which he quickly replied, "Yeah!" With hurried relief, I went about getting ready. But when I came downstairs, there was Reese, playing video games, with BARE FEET! He had a little grin on his face, like, "I tricked you. That was fun." The little stinker! From then on, I knew I couldn't place all my trust in his responses.

The other night, I sent the boys to brush their teeth before bed. They were awfully silly and playful in the bathroom, so as Reese walked out, I asked him, "Did you brush your teeth?" To which he replied, "Yes." Being skeptical of him lately, I narrowed my eyes and said, "Let me smell your breath." He shyly let me examine, and sure enough, he had NOT brushed his teeth! Another lie! This time, I knew I needed to take action, so he would learn that lying is not a game. I told him, "Reese, you told Mommy a lie. You said you brushed your teeth, but you really didn't. That's a lie. It makes Jesus sad. And it makes Mommy sad." At which point, he burst out into tears. It's like he was heartbroken that he had made Jesus sad and Mommy sad. I wanted to cry with him; he was so sincere about it. Quickly I said, "Reese, let's try again." And I went on to ask him if he had brushed his teeth. This time (thru tears) he told me the truth.

As he entered the bathroom, I overheard him tell his big brother, in a sad, sad voice, "Mark...I telled a LIE!!!" What a sweetie!!!! He melts me. Truly melts me.

I swiped this from a friend's website...so deep!

In times of change, the learners will inherit the world, while the knowers remain well prepared for a world that no longer exists. -Eric Hoffer

1st Loose Tooth!!!

On New Year's Day, Reese lost his very first loose tooth! It began to wiggle only the night before. And that quickly, it fell out! He was a little bit afraid, not understanding what in the world was happening to him, so I calmly explained what was going on. And I reassurred him that everyone else has lost a tooth too! Even little cousin Mikayla has her 2 front teeth missing at the moment, so it was comforting to him to see that he had a toothless companion.

Marina, on the other hand, refuses to believe that she will ever lose a 'toof' because she insists that her 'teef' are already sharp!

Morales Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family, on New Year's Day. Dinner at Jenae & Tony's house. Board games. Gift exchange. And of course, MUSIC!!! There's always a lot of music involved in our gatherings. I don't mean a boom box or an ipod playing. I mean live music! Somebody is always strumming on a guitar or playing a song on Jenae's baby grand piano. And if there is no instrument around, we start a beat by tapping different patterns on our dinner glasses, until every person is involved, creating a percussion set that even Blue Man Group would envy! And if we're simply scrubbing dishes in the kitchen, someone will inevitably sing out a tune, and soon enough we are all harmonizing. We are a very musical family, and I just love how music is such an integral part of our family times! Here are some snapshots from our Christmas gathering.

Bringing in 2009!!!

True to tradition, we started out the evening by meeting Ryan's family at church for communion. We love to group together around Pastor Ron as he prays for each member of our family (from the oldest to youngest) and for blessings in the new year. Then he passes us out communion and we spend a few moments remembering what Christ has done for us. It's an amazing time of reflection...both on the past as well as the future. How blessed we are. And how grateful we feel for the continous way our God showers us with love.

Then, we headed out to Heather's house to join some of our closest friends in a New Year's celebration!

All Dressed Up...

...the kiddies...all dressed up for church in their Christmas outfits...

Christmas Day @ the Brody's

Brody Family
All smiles (except Marina! My word!)











Another Christmas Day, spent with my sweet hubby!

As every year, Christmas Day was spent at Grandma and Papa Brody's house. Extended family joined us as we ate a Christmas meal and exchanged gifts.

Here is Ryan with his grandmother, 'Mom Riefke.' She spends the entire year gathering special gifts to give to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on Christmas Day.