Coffee, even with cream and sugar, wasn't enough, so he ate the gingerbread house that was out as decoration. He got most of it eaten before he realized something was amiss.

The icing wasn't actually icing, it was a mixture of toxic glues and paints, so Ramone, sadly, poisoned himself.

Ramone warmed up, then realized he was starving from three hours of exercise in the cold, so he helped himself to some of the free coffee in the lobby.

Christmas Crafts 2017

I don't know what has gotten into me, but I have been in the mood to make Christmas crafts with the littles this year. I usually hate crafts, naturally, because I hate messes.

But we went all out this year. And by all out, I mean that we used the most basic supplies to form every possible variation of the same ornament, basically.  

So now our fake Christmas tree is covered in tiny sticks, cardboard, and dry grasses, various forms of kindling, and it could probably go up in flames as well as any real tree.

Behold! the ornaments we made:

After three hours out in the snow, Ramone was suffering from the first stages of hypothermia. So it was necessary for him to take some time to warm up in front of the fireplace in the lobby.

I made a nativity scene with items I found in my yard this morning. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are quartz of various shapes and sizes that my daughters had already collected. I have an abundance of mosses, so I used some as a bed for the baby, and another bit for the roof over the family's head. I used a piece of our firewood for the backdrop/building. 

It's just a simple representation that I put together as an act of worship to God. As I worked on this, I contemplated the mystery and wonder of the Incarnation and how it changes everything. 

Not only our souls, but all matter has been redeemed, and even the rocks and plants take on a new glory, now that God has condescended be a human and make and keep for Himself a physical body, so He could be with us, Immanuel.

Then I found a quote that I feel fits this particular nativity scene really well. 

“For, indeed, everything about is glorious, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.” 

-Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation

Ramone took his snowboard to work. 

This made his thirty minute commute take a full three hours. So Ramone would have been better off just waiting on the next train.

But he's a bit juvenile and he just wanted any excuse to ride his snowboard. 

Late for the train,