The house has begun to settle down now from the Christmas frenzy. We are starting now to look for places to stash all our new goodies. My mother essentially bought us a new front room and bathroom (lots of decorations and wall hangings) as the walls of our house are bare. The boys received new bikes and scooters from their grandparents as well as tons of Spiderman/Batman stuff from friends and relations. So now we have set ourselves to the task of re-organizing the house in order to make room. Not an easy job when you’re dealing with a 2 bedroom apartment (I know, I know “Awww poor baby, he has too much stuff “ right?).

Christmas Eve was spent watching “The Two Towers” (one word: Wowwww) for the second but certainly not the last time then we head over to my aunt & uncle’s house for 2 types of tamales, rice, beans a Honeybaked Ham and 4 types of salsa. We had a white elephant gift exchange and my Dad ended up getting his presents “stolen” about 4 different times. He finally ended up with a set of bath towels with ocean life embroidery. Needless to say he spent the rest of the night trying to barter and exchange them. I had a deluxe Hickory Farms gift package (is there really anything better than a slice of beef stick on a Ritz topped with E-Z Cheese? I think not) ripped from my clutches so I chose another gift and got an electronic tire air pressure gauge. Not as sexy as the meat ‘n cheese package but very practical nonetheless.

We finally got home at 1:30 AM and promptly fell asleep only to awake at 8 AM. We went downstairs and watched the boys open presents. Josh strummed his mini-guitar and Caleb jumped on his bike for awhile and then we sat down to a Christmas breakfast of pancakes, eggs, potatoes O’Brien, and bacon. We jumped in the car and went to my parent’s house where bags full of presents were given to the kids. OK I’ll admit it; Karlene and I got a bag as well. Mom is a superb seamstress and she sewed tons of stuff; clothes for the boys, two sets of pajamas for me, including a matching pair of Dodger jammies for the boys and I (everybody now, “Awwwwwwww”) and plenty of Americana home decorations (towels, napkins, placemats) for Karlene. I am continually amazed at her talents and humbled by the time and love she puts into every item.

I also pulled in the following:

CD's
Bob Dylan, “Live 1975” Bootleg Series Vol. 5
U2, “Greatest Hits 1990-2000”
Elvis Presley “30 #1 Hits”

Books
The Kingdom and the Power by Leithart
Jesus and the Victory of God by NT Wright
The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses by Poythress
Face to Face by Wilkins
Given For You by Mathison

Games
Cranium
Lord of the Rings Risk

Not bad at all huh?

We then head over to Karlene’s parents where more gifts were bestowed upon the boys (ahhh, to be a kid again) by loving aunts (to be) and uncles (Karly’s brothers). After the dust settled, Josh and Caleb went upstairs to take a nap in their new sleeping bags from Karlene’s Mom and Dad and Karly and I finally got some peace & quiet as we settled down to a nice lunch of ham and potatoes. I nursed a brandy and Frappachino then settled into my father-in-law’s super soft, massaging barca-lounger for a nap.

It was a wonderful 48 hours. God has blessed me immensely. I do not deserve the gifts He has bestowed upon me, but I know it is His good pleasure to do so. May a life of obedience and submission be my proper response (Rom. 12:1).

"Let's go hunt some Orc"

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

New blogger on the rise! Check out Angel's new blog. Good stuff!

Also I have de-linked Wayne W's blog. I do hope he starts again someday.

Scary Christmas Gifts

OK since I wont have time to write this tomorrow, I figure that this would be a good as time as any to list the top three ummm…interesting presents I have ever received.

3. Jesus and Disciples Watch: Took a lickin’ and stopped tickin’. I’m not sure where this bad boy came from nor do I know where it went. In fact now that I think about it, the only time I ever saw it was when I actually opened it. God must have had mercy on me and raptured the darn thing because it landed in the pile of opened presents laying at my feet and when I went to clean up…it wasn’t there. Anyway, I’m sure that you’ve seen these things. Its your standard watch, with pictures of the 12 disciples in place of the numbers with their names under them just so you know how to tell the time (“Its half past Thomas, almost time for Friends to come on”). Now who was in the middle of the watch? You guessed it…Christ Himself. I’m glad that the watchmakers had enough self-control to keep from making Jesus arms the hands of the clock (imagine the unsettling sight of looking at your watch and seeing that it was 2:50).

2. Thomas Kincade “Painter of Light” book w/ Bible verse window hangers: Merry Christmas to me! I was at a family Christmas party surrounded by people opening sweet gifts. PDA’s to the left of me, state-of-the-art gadgetry to the right, and here I am stuck in the middle with Tom. So I’m looking at these and the Bible stickers painted in pastel colors and decorated with flowers, and I start to wonder if the giver either: a.) knew that the name “Rob” belonged to a man; or b.) knew that I was married to their niece and was in fact “not gay”. Well at any rate, it garnered a sweet $20 credit at the local Barnes & Noble.

1. Squishy Octopus: Since I was approx. 4 years old when I opened this gift, I cannot remember the exact name of this monstrosity, yet the fact that I still remember this thing is a testimony to the intense emotional scarring it left. It was Christmas morning and I had just finished unwrapping all my gifts when my Mom brought me one last present that I had forgot under the tree. Greedy little punk that I was, I snatched it out of my Mom’s hand and tore off the very top of the package reached in and looked down…

NAAAAAAAAH-YAAAAAAAAAAAH, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, AAAAAAAAH

It was a hand, a human hand with its fingers outstretched in gruesome rigor mortis ready to strangle me.

No, actually it was a stretchy toy octopus opened bottom-side-up. The octopus was made out of rubber and was filled with some sort of a thick, silly putty-like gel which made the tentacles, when left unmolested, stick straight up ala fingers.

Of course I found this out a half an hour later when the hysterical sobbing stopped. But it was too late, the damage had been done. The next day, my mother returned the “severed murdering hand” back to the local Toys R Us where it would undoubtedly haunt another child's memories.

Well, those are my stories…how about you? Any “interesting” gift stories that you have to tell?

Not much blogging will be done due to last-minute holiday shopping. So I'll probably continue sometime after Thursday.

Until then enjoy this brilliant little piece by N.T. Wright about the "most dangerous baby" (via Joel G.)

Blessings upon you and yours!