Happy Mother's Day to all animals everywhere

Motherhood, a precious gift.

Brings a tear to your eye seeing just how deeply and tenderly all creatures care for their babies.

Happy Easter!!

This is a great contest if you like these as much as I do! See here for some funny pictures.

A difference between boy and girls..

On the way home from school yesterday, after the obligatory exchange of Valentine's and "healthy" snacks in their individual 5th grade classes, my daughter and her friend quickly began to assess their Valentine cornucopia with much excitement and vigor in the back seat of our truck. Who gave what to whom and why was a big topic of conservation between the two of them. Did any particular Valentine from any specific boy have special "meaning"? How were they signed, neatly? Quickly? Were the cards homemade? Expensive? What kind of treats were given? All could be signals that some cute boy might like you.

The night before these festivities, my daughter had painstakingly chosen and addressed each one of her Valentine's with great care. Reserving the more special ones for kids, more specifically boys, that she liked.

I had no idea it was so complicated.

My son, who is now in high school, never cared about such things. In fact, when he was in elementary school, I had to do his Valentines every year, and force him to sign them. After the parties were over, he would immediately take the candy off any obvious girl card, you know the one's with a barbie or Disney princess on them, and throw the card away, or worse....rip it up in front of them at school. Ugh. Great.

What had I done to raise such a monster? tsk. tsk.

The same thing happened to me in second grade. I was, of course totally in love with a boy in my class, Jeff Rich was his name. Ah, he could sing like an angel and I got much exercise trying to catch him during recess kiss tag. I'd made a special Valentine just for him. The nervousness, the unbridled excitement that filled me when I finally had enough courage to hand it to him was almost overwhelming, and what did he do? He ripped it up in front of me.

Sometimes a heart can be torn as easily as paper. Crushed. Traumatized. Depressed. That's probably why I still remember it.

Was this boy a monster too? Or are boys just different than girls in regards to love and expressions of it?
Who knows, but as I see the differences in my children, and I look at my husband, and the fact that he will probably forget to get me a Valentine's card, I will try to remember that the sexes are different.

Do we females expect too much?

Happy Christmas Eve!! A deep thought....

Did you know?
-Real Christmas trees are biodegradable, which means they can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes.
- Every acre of Christmas trees grown produces the daily oxygen requirement for 18 people.
- Fake Christmas trees were invented by a company who made toilet bowl brushes...

So those of you that have a fake tree, when you see this -

My Charlie Brown real Christmas tree

Try not to think of this -


Happy Holidays
From the National Christmas Tree Association

Christmas Quiz

How much do you really know about Christmas?

1. The name of the mother of Jesus was:
a. Martha
b. Mary
c. Eve
d. Deborah

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2. Jesus was born in what town?
a. Jerusalem
b. Nazareth
c. Bethlehem
d. New York
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3. Joseph was a:
a. Carpenter
b. Doctor
c. Engineer
d. Fisherman

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4. Why didn’t Joseph and Mary stay at the inn?
a. It was too expensive
b. There was no inn
c. There was no room
d. None of the above
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5. How did Joseph and Mary get to Bethlehem?
a. Colt
b. Mary rode a donkey and Joseph walked
c. Wagon
d. Who knows?

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6. After being born, Jesus was placed in a:
a. Basket
b. Manger
c. Pile of hay
d. On the back of a donkey
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7. A manger is a:
a. Stable
b. Feeding trough
c. Wooden table
d. Barn

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8. Which animals does the Bible say were housed in the stable?
a. Cows, donkeys, sheep
b. Lions, tigers and bears
c. Goats, sheep and cows
d. The Bible doesn’t say.
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9. What sign were the shepherds told to look for by the angel?
a. A lion and a sheep together in peace
b. A tree with a star on top
c. A star over Bethlehem
d. None of the above

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10. With what words did the heavenly host of angels praise God?
a. "Joy to the World, the Lord is Come"
b. "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah”
c. “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”
d. "Glory to God in the highest,"
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11. What is frankincense?
a. a form of gold
b. an incense from a tree
c. a jewel
d. none of the above.

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12. What is myrrh?
a. a musical instrument
b. a spice used for burial
c. a valuable wine
d. none of the above
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13. How many wise men came to see Jesus?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. The Bible doesn’t say

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14. What does "wise men" most likely refer to?
a. lawyers
b. star gazers.
c. priests
d. doctors
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15. The wise men met Jesus in a:
a. manger.
b. castle.
c. stable.
d. house.

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16. Who told Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem?
a. an angel
b. Caesar Augustus.
c. Herod
d. No one told them to go.
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17. The child Jesus went to Egypt:
a. to meet pharaoh
b. because Joseph was told in a dream to take him
c. Joseph did not take Jesus to Egypt
d. none of the above

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18. According to the Bible, the little drummer boy met Jesus:
a. when Jesus was in the manger
b. at a house
c. When Jesus was about two years old
d. none of the above
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19. In which books do we find the story of Jesus’ birth
a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

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20. December 25th has been celebrated as Christmas since the Bible was written.
a. True
b. False
==============
ANSWERS:
1. B
2. C
3. A - Matthew 13:55 “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary,…”
4. C
5. D - The Bible doesn't say. Some suppose that she rode something since she was so far along in her pregnancy.
6. B
7. B
8. D
9. D - Luke 2:12 "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."
10. D
11. B
12. B
13. D - Some SUPPOSE that there were three since there were three gifts, but that is just a guess.
14. B
15. D - Matthew 2:11 "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother,..."
16. B
17. B
18. D
19. A & C
20. B

How did you do? I found this quiz at http://www.ebibleteacher.com/christmas/christmasquiz.txt. I was planning my lesson for Primary and I couldn’t find in the Bible where it talked about Mary being on a donkey. I guess I know why now.

Happy Christmas! Day 8

I can't tell who's more frightened in this picture, the kids or Santa.

I bet he's thinking,

"They sure don't pay me enough."

For more gems see Sacred of Santa.