To North Park, to North Park to Look at the Trains

Well...almost. We took one look at the line for the trains and opted out. Maybe next year. And, maybe before the last few days until Christmas.

I have to be honest. After spending a day with the kids in the car on Sunday to see my grandmother two hours away, I wasn't looking forward to a ride down to North Park and a trek through the last minute shoppers with two small children. Alas, I woke up this morning to Audrey (in the other room) excitedly asking Reid if he was looking forward to seeing the trains, Santa and Scrooge. Though we didn't get to see the trains nor Santa, we did get to hang out with some great friends, play in the fountain, watch some ducks swim around in their indoor pool and listen to Scrooge single out Reid amongst the many to give him a hard time.


At the beginning...everyone's in a good mood. Yay :) What you can't see behind me is Luna de Noche. On our way out I grabbed some chips and salsa to go. Green salsa. So tasty.






Isn't he a cutie?










See Scrooge in the house?


See Reid standing there (in the orange & white striped shirt)? Scrooge called him out and had him stand up. He asked Reid all kinds of questions and gave him a hard time about everything. Audrey stood up to help Reid and Scrooge asked, "is that your wife??" Pretty funny even if Reid didn't quite get it. After all the heckling, Scrooge gave Reid an autographed picture of himself. It's sitting on Matt's desk.

Maury Hundley...

...is the beautiful photographer who took our Christmas card pictures (one side of which is featured in the header above). Not only is she a talented photographer, she is also a loving, caring, godly mentor and friend. I have had the humbling privilege of sitting under her honest example for two years. I can remember being a college student in Abilene longing for someone like her to wrap her arms around me and walk with me through life, helping me see my insufficiency and Christ's ultimate sufficiency. I am blessed to finally walk in a relationship like that. Thank you, Maury.

Since I don't have everyone's addresses in blogland, I thought I'd send a virtual Christmas card to you all (including some of whom I actually do have your addresses but ran out of cards! So sorry!).

Merry Christmas!

(here are a few of the other pictures from "side B" of our card)

Do you know who my Daddy is??

Cute story that I just had to share about Audrey. Let me preface it with this: we had no idea Audrey really "gets" who her Daddy is outside of him being her Daddy who works and preaches at our church.

Audrey is sitting in class. One of her classmates' dad is eating lunch with them. She and the dad casually strike up a conversation. Once Audrey becomes more comfortable chatting with him she says...

A: Do you know who Matt Chandler is?

Dad: Yes. In fact, we go to your church.

A (beaming proudly): He's my daddy.

Them Chandlers' Christmas Tour of Home(s)

Okay. So. I wanted to upload my pictures for Boo Mama's Christmas Tour of Homes but that didn't happen. I didn't realize there was a DATE. I'm thinking maybe some dateS for the Tour...have you seen how huge the Tour actually is??? Like 800 people! Who could possibly tour 800 homes on only December 15, 2008? I could be totally wrong and that's just the START date. But whatever...here's Them Chandlers' Christmas Tour of Home(s). If anyone wants to join me, please do!


The dining room...pretty much like last year.


The entry...I heart poinsettias. They're cascading down the railing. They're blooming from the Christmas tree. They're pouring out from underneath the candelabra.


The mantle. I'm missing one large candle votive. I bought them from Hobby Lobby last year. One didn't make it to this year. And, of course, Hobby Lobby didn't have them this year :( I left them up there anyway!


The tree. It's pre-lit and the top portion went out...boo!


An ornament Reid made this year.


One of my new additions to the tree this year...Christmas-y cardinals in their nests.


The view from our couch...one of my favorite vistas.


My attempt to display our Christmas cards in an orderly, decorative fashion.

Thanks for coming! If you decide to do something similar, leave me a comment so I can stop by!

My Christmas Mix

I made a little "Christmas Mix" for my friend, Maury. She and I share the same love for, as she calls them, "teary Christmas songs." So here's a sample:

Teary Christmas Playlist...
"A Baby Changes Everything" sung by Faith Hill (from her new Christmas album)
"Angel's Lullaby" by Christy Nockels from "Ring the Bells"
"God Is With Us" live version sung by Christy Nockels from "Gloria"
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" sung by C. Nockels from "Gloria"
"Follow That Star" by Cindy Morgan from "Gloria"
"Prepare a Place" sung by Michael W. Smith & Christine Dente from "Gloria"
"Welcome to Our World" by Chris Rice

Tip: the Gloria album is great but not easy to find with Christy's live version of "God is With Us". I found it online at Wal-Mart.com. Just click on the song above.

Photos and the Lack Thereof

My poor little Bianca (pet name for my Mac) is about as full as I was Thursday night. Stuffed with too many photos, songs and other files, she refuses to accept another byte (I am SO clever). This is why my "blahg" is so blah (there I go again...on a roll, baby). I might try to steal an hour or so to update picture-wise on Matt's laptop. We've got some great pictures of Halloween that have already been circulating on Facebook thanks to my sister-in-law. Not one picture of Thanksgiving though. Darn.

Some noteworthy events in the Chandler home:

I am officially 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Yay :)
The Christmas tree is already up (and has been for a week).
Audrey is reading!
Reid is riding his bike.
I had a random dream about a well-known blogger (at least in my circles) and now I feel like I know her. So strange! Has this ever happened to anyone??
Our family had Thanksgiving dinner with 2,000 people from our church and the Denton area. Spectacular.
Depending on the BCS, coach's, and other polls, I might only have to endure the Sooners' fight song a few more times. Seriously, I'm over it.
I've just started reading Piper's This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence. You can download it for free here.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thoughts on Thankfulness (and Unthankfulness)

John Piper on why God would start with himself as king of Israel and then bring human kingship into Israel's history later through a spectacular sin (Israel's rebellious request for a human king):

"We should learn from this how stiff-necked and rebellious and unthankful we are...Each time they forgot God and went after other things. That is not just the story of Israel. It's the story of humanity. It's the story of my life and your life. Even as Christians, we are not steadfast in our affections for God. We have thankful days and unthankful days. And even our thankful days are not as thankful as they should be.

Just think of how joyful and thankful you would be if your heart responded to God himself and his ten thousand gifts with the admiration and gratitude of which he is worthy." (from Spectacular Sins)

As Thanksgiving is only two days away, I am especially struck by the truth of this text in my life. I am an unthankful person. Like Israel, I so often forget God and live as if He is an afterthought or bit-part in the story of my life. I forget how He's provided, rescued, saved, sustained and redeemed.

Lord, forgive me for so easily forgetting You. Help me to have a thankful heart always, not just at Thanksgiving. Thank you for Thanksgiving and other reminders of Your providence. Help me impart a spirit of thankfulness to Audrey, Reid, and, according to Your pleasing will, this baby growing inside me. Thank you for each day I carry this little miracle. Thank you for the grace, righteousness and perfect thankfulness imputed to me by Your Son. For that, I am forever thankful.