Three Dog Night

Cullen enjoyed opening presents on Christmas evening after landing in St. Louis. (For those keeping count: With a quick trip to Illinois added to the mix, Cullen has now been to seven states!)

He received three dog gifts for Christmas, which are all a whole lot of fun. Here's Cullen enjoying these gifts while his mom and Smarty (who is present via T-shirt logo) look over his shoulder.




And here's Cullen with his Nana, and a toy he loves from Uncle Jeff and Hilary.


I think Cullen understands that toy in a way that I do not...

Speaking of Cullen understanding things I do not, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Norm (of Michigan fame) sent Cullen some books that we brought on our trip. They were perfect for him!



You can tell he's following this plot line very carefully:



Sigh... all good things must come to an end.

Christmas Traditions

I, for one, am a fan of Christmas. The primary religious holidays help us concentrate our attention helpfully on the storyline of the gospel: God's gift of his Son for our salvation (Christmas), his death for our sins (Good Friday), and his resurrection (Easter).

Trying to scrub these holidays clean of any religious significance contradicts their original intent and also leaves them gaudy and goofy and trite. But on the other hand, the family aspects of these holidays, especially as we find our deepest bond in God's grace to us, is an antidote to other aspects of secular life... our busy-ness, failure to make meaningful time with one another, etc.

All that being said, here are some Christmas pictures. We celebrated on Christmas Eve because of our travel plans. (Speaking of which, we may not be able to post again until the new year -- we'll be visiting family and friends in St. Louis!)

Our tradition is that the men make breakfast:



I helped with the bacon, but Cullen did pretty well with the waffle iron. Mom was pleased, if only to know that Cullen really does appreciate all that she does for him:



We opened presents, grateful for gifts that arrived by mail or were given by friends at the church!



We were also glad for all the cards and pictures that have arrived.... I'm a big fan of friends.



And of course, one of our most important traditions is to laugh out loud at least once on Christmas morning. Thanks to Scoche's gift to Smarty, this goal was accomplished! (Kinda fits Lucy's Christmas card, Anne!)

Santa's Helper Helps Himself

We discovered a little elf in our living room last night, trying to open some Christmas presents ahead of schedule....


Thankfully we found him before it was too late!!!

Cullen at 4 months

Christmas in Everywhere

Hey. Would you mind sending me a current picture of your house or neighborhood? I thought it would be interesting to show what Christmastime looks like around the country at my friends' and family's places.

Just email me a picture... Thanks!

Here's what Christmastime looks like around here, as the sun sets. Somewhat bare...


But there are still leaves on some trees, and folks are bagging up or burning the last of their leaves...


The sunsets have been nice, likewise the sunrises. Here's a picture from my visit to the beach with Smarty early Saturday morning:


Your turn!

Taking It All In

Cullen has a very big job. Namely, learning everything there is to know, one duck at a time...


Yes, as you can see, Mr. Lion is still part of Cullen's circle of friends (he's on Cullen's blogring and on our speed dial). But Cullen has also made friends with this freakish duck creature. Well, what's a parent to do?

Of course, there's an elephant in the room too. Scoche and the elephant are growing older together gracefully.


But what does Cullen like to look at most of all?

Hint:


If you guessed "Mommy" you were right!

The Little Professor

And the winner of the Cullen Caption Contest is...

"Notice that I call the line, the line of despair. Above this line we find men living with their romantic notions of absolutes (though with no sufficient logical basis)..."

* * *

The Blue Ribbon Panel notes that those familiar with Francis Schaeffer and in particular his "line of despair" discussion will find this most amusing. However, the Panel hopes others will see in little Cullen a bright future in academia. Congrats to Jeff Tell for this entry.

The Panel furthermore notes just how doggone funny all the entries were! Congratulations to everyone for your creativity. Although there could only be one first place winner, the Panel is allowing us to keep a variety of runner ups on file should anything else open up in the near future.

And may we note also that we very much appreciated the acknowledgement of the King of Kings: "We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him!" He deserves our worship this Christmas Season!

Cullen Captivated

The variety of responses to the Cullen Caption Contest has been enjoyable for the whole family. When we're not laughing , we're worshiping (see Leslie's entry). This has made choosing a winner very difficult. Nevertheless, a winner will be announced within 26 hours!

So while we await the decision of our blue ribbon panel, more pictures...

We have been surprised at how quickly Cullen takes to that flashy attention-grabber called the TV. In fact, we have had to shut it off to avoid any further damage. But we wisely snapped some photos first!

Cullen watching the morning news:

Cullen enjoying, a little too much his mom would say, a good football game...



Dad thinks that's the one exception we can make to the ban!

Cullen Caption Contest

Clearly Cullen has something to say here, but what is it? Post your idea in the comments you'll have a chance to win the grand prize!



One lucky person will be deemed the winner and receive both official and unofficial recognition.

Good luck!