Mini Post Monday

I figured I better be prompt with this week's Mini-Post Monday so that I don't get chastised again! :) (Sorry, Jo! I had to put that in there!)

• I am eating one of my left-over salted chocolate truffles I gave to my friends for Christmas while I type this.  Man, are they good.
• My family takes "hide-and-go-seek" very seriously.  No, really.  Check it out.

Jerry climbed in an empty cabinet and the first one to find him was actually Andrew.  The funny thing was that Andrew thought it was so great that Daddy was in the cabinet, Daddy had to stay there for quite a while while Andrew closed the doors, opened them up, and laughed!

This hiding spot of Ethan's doesn't look too impressive until you see the large picture...

Ethan climbed up in this cubby hole intended for a TV in this exercise/game room!
• We had a white Christmas this year!!!  Now, for those of you who live in places that get snow often, you might not think this worthy of posting.  However, for the DFW area, it was the first white Christmas in 83 years.  It is amazing to me that very few people living in our area were alive to remember the last time it happened. Our kids were thrilled, to say the least.

Our yard, covered in snow.  For Texas, this is a full blanket of snow!

Isn't it impressive??  Too bad we didn't have enough snow in TX for this one.  Jerry and the boys made it in Ohio the week before our white Christmas!
• Not every part of a white Christmas is good.  A dear family in my church had a car accident on Christmas Eve when their car hit a patch of black ice and went into oncoming traffic.  The husband and the wife's mother were killed on impact, and the dear wife, Pat, died later in surgery.  Pat made my wedding cake.  Pat has also been my Bible Study leader since June.  Every Sunday, I have gone to her house for a few hours and studied God's Word with her and a few others.  God used Pat to show me some great freedom that he had waiting for me, but I hadn't yet found.  I will miss Pat greatly. 
• Have you ever heard of the Manhattan Declaration?  My pastor brought this to our attention in church yesterday.  He said that in the last conversation he had with Pat's husband, he was told of this declaration, and thought it was important enough to share with the entire congregation.  I have been thinking for a while that I am not involved enough in politics.  I know that I don't agree with much of what is going on in Washington, and I vote every time I have an opportunity, but I need to be more informed and involved.  I think that I am going to start by signing this document after Jerry reads it and we have a chance to talk about it.
• Ever wonder what the boys thought of their dad getting his Master's degree last week?  Just look at how excited they were for him.

Aaron was practically bursting at the seams!

Ethan could hardly contain his enthusiasm!
• Andrew, on the other hand was happy as a lark as long as he could put water on his rubber ducky.  Needless to say, we left a bit of a wet spot on the table when we left!

In addition to the large water spot, I'm pretty sure there was an entire meal's worth of crumbs...
• Look, Mom!  I'm a Texas Longhorn!  (Should someone tell him that when you are wearing an Ohio State jumpsuit, you shouldn't pretend to be a Texas Longhorn?)

Who needs Christmas presents when you have a plastic hanger?
• Finally, for those of you who watch commercials regularly, perhaps you've seen this commercial from the last Superbowl.  I don't watch live TV, preferring to record the shows I like on my DVR and forward through the commercials instead, so I just saw this commercial yesterday.  I laughed so hard I had to look it up on YouTube right away to see it again.  Enjoy!