Christmas break

Wow. Thank goodness for Christmas break. Mine has consisted of:

-belting out Christmas carols as often as possible
-decorating the tree, hanging lights, and wreaths everywhere (can I keep the Christmas tree in my room up until...March? Is that okay?)
-making and decorating cookies
-watching White Christmas way more than once
-seeing Bourne Ultimatum for the first time with Katie and Savannah (that's intense stuff right there)
-wrapping presents
-laughing around a game of Balderdash with the family + Savannah
-waking up Christmas morning to a "spider web" (a.k.a, colored yarn wrapped all through the house)
-having our annual brunch with the Moellers and the Robbins
-playing Catchphrase with all the kids
-trying to make some progress on an impossible puzzle
-reading Mansfield Park (I'm still not finished. But I'm getting there!)
-dominating Kelley and Jonathan in a game of Monopoly
-catching up on the scrapbooking I've neglected

(This was the only remotely good picture of all the kids)

P.S. Can you believe we're only about a day away from 2010? 2010...wow, that looks so strange.

Is it just me or this incredibly beautiful?

Glory to the newborn King

It's so easy to get caught up in all the busyness and excitement of Christmas. But it's also for us easy to carelessly say, "Jesus is the reason for the season" and "Keep Christ in Christmas" just because it's the right thing to say as "conservative Christians". But to really and truly say that He is the cause for all of our joy, not only at this time of year, but always, and to mean it and live upon it is a bit more difficult. But doesn't Christ deserve all of our joy, every thought, every action? Doesn't it become so much easier when we choose to do so out of love for Him who first loved us?

"For unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given"; it's because of Christ's humble birth and His death on the cross that we can come before a holy and righteous God, for we are clothed in Christ's spotless righteousness, and say with joy, "I am His and He is mine." I hope that we might never forget the Reason - our "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace", Jesus Christ - and that we all might be able to sing with joy of the coming of our Savior:

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as Man with men to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Isaiah 45

²² “ Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

This is awesome.

Sufjan Stevens and a victory dance

So Gileskirk ate my life. And then it gave it back to me! Please excuse my exuberance... Oh yes!!!!! The awful-and-ridiculously-abominable-Gileskirk exam is over, and I have successfully passed through the treacherous gauntlet, so to speak. No more school...until January!

After we finished the test, we did what all classically educated homeschoolers would do. Played Nintendo 64. And to top it all off we played Apples to Apples. After Aaron (yeah, the cheat - didn't take the test and still got to have fun) dominated us all in Apples to Apples, we headed over to Malco and saw The Blind Side. (Michael is such a sweetie. And Sandra Bullock actually did a really good job with her role.) And, it was ugly sweater day! But apparently only Luke and I are cool enough to participate in such awesome yuletide celebrations. His sweater was really, really...ugly. Uglier than mine. Yep, he beat me. I tried, but it just wasn't ugly enough! Oh well. Don't worry though, it was still quite grotesque. Trust me.

P.S. Isn't Sufjan Stevens amazing?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Good thing too. I love Christmas.

21

I can't begin to tell you how much I love this girl or how wonderful she really is. She's been a wondrous example of the love of Christ to me, shown me, taught me so much, and I've had the privilege of sharing so many amazing memories with her. She's one of the best sisters I could ever ask for. I've seen her made anew and grow so much in her walk with God and her love for Christ. And, as of today, December the 8th, she is officially twenty-one years of age (which is sort of a significant year, yikes). Katie, I love you and I pray that you would continue to persevere and that you would grow to love Christ more and more every day.

P.S. Don't forget us when you run off to Italy. And don't have too much fun without me. But you must have some fun, of course. Oh, and don't marry any Italian man. I hear they're quite immature.

P.P.S. Two posts in one day. This is a record. Don't I get some kind of award or something?

Recitals are unconstitutional: cruel and unusual punishment. I'll let you know if I make it out alive.

Thanksgiving...the most original title this world has ever laid eyes on

How many times have you been asked around Thanksgiving what you're thankful for? And how many times have you said, "My family" or "My house" or the oh-so-original, "My friends". Well, I don't know about you, but I've lost count. Yes, we ought to be thankful for all those things. God has given us so much. He has given us countless blessings. But He has provided so much more than mere physical needs. He has given us His Son, Jesus Christ! What more could we ask for? How often do we forget Our Savior? And we ought to remember always what a Gift has been bestowed upon us - poor, wretched, undeserving sinners as we are. We must not only remember and be thankful at Thanksgiving, but always.

Okay, here's where I get boring and tell you about my Thanksgiving week.

We drove 7 hours to Pioneer, Tennessee (which is pretty much the middle of nowhere) to Crampton Farm and visited my family. It was a lot of fun; we played countless card games, hiked (once even in the snow! But Katie would tell you I'm exaggerating and it was just a few flakes. Even so, there was snow), played a few very long games of Risk (one in which I actually dominated, thank you very much), some frisbee (a new Crampton tradition), ate a ridiculous amount of Aunt Carla's should-be-world-famous-cookies, stayed up late, lost a lot of sleep, and went home with very sore arms...and legs...and whatever else can be sore.

Then, we had a wonderfully non-eventful car ride home.

Not really. We're the Cramptons, remember?

Our trip home was more like a Griswold trip. 15 minutes down the road, we broke down. Luckily, we had two cars and at least one than was running properly. So, we decided to try to make it to the city (if you can call it that) and find a car repair shop. I knew it would be a long trip. Little did I know. We found an Advance Auto Parts shop and we got an employee to look at the car. He said it was just a battery problem and replaced it. After a that little detour, we drove on. After a while, we decided to split up. The car I was in planned to take a quick stop at York's home and burial ground (since we're homeschoolers and all) while Mom's car went home. I didn't really care to go explore the world that was Alvin C. York, but was too drained to switch cars. So off I went to the home of General Alvin York. (By the way, any detour remotely educational will not be "quick" with this family.) We finally leave and after an hours or so of driving we get a call from my mom. She's at the mall and we decide we'll have dinner at the food court. Notice anything? Yeah, I got to go explore the house of one called Alvin (hmm, future son-o'-mine's name? I think so!) and the girls got to go to the mall. Lucky me. But at least I'm not bitter or anything. After dinner, we set out for home. After only a little while on the road, guess what? We got home really quickly? Guess again. We stopped for ice cream? No. The newly replaced car battery was dead. So we searched for another Advance Auto Parts shop (a place we got to know well), finally found one and stopped. We got there just 10 minutes before they closed, hired an employee after closing time so he'd be free to work with us. It wasn't a battery problem after all, it was...some other car term that I can't remember right now. Anyway, the important part is he fixed it.

God was at work even then. It wasn't chance that we happened to break down as soon as we got back into the city. It wasn't chance that we were near an Advance Auto Parts shop when the battery died. It wasn't chance that we drove up to the shop exactly 10 minutes before no one would have been able to help us. It wasn't chance that after the store closed, the man could help us and that he would find the problem and fix it.

So, yes, I'm thankful for a whole lot. Especially handy-dandy-Advance-Auto-Parts-employees.

You know you're a homeschooler when...

You attend at least one Thanksgiving Feast dressed up. And especially so when you enjoy it.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

This is just about the cutest movie.
Ever. Period.

It's also super sweet.

Seriously. Now go watch it.

Little Joys

This is where I get to be really random, which I have a talent of being... (too bad this talent gets me absolutely nowhere)

1. There are only 11 more days until we get out of school for Thanksgiving break! You have no idea how happy this makes me. This means no school, no homework, no Dr. G, a week at Crampton Farm with my family, and time to enjoy some much-wanted reading. :)

2. This song makes me happy...as does this one. (You just can't go wrong with Chris Thile + the Beatles!)

3. In case you didn't know, this is the proper way to use ski poles.

4. School consumes most of my time, so I guess it gets its own numbered paragraph (but this does not mean it's a little joy). I finished reading The Scarlet Letter today and it was...eh. Don't get me wrong, Hawthorne's portrayal of the Puritans is very, very erroneous (yep, that's my word of the day), but viewed simply as a fictional novel, it's so-so. I felt like the ending was nothing to get excited over, but I was glad when Arthur Dim-wit finally (after 7 years!) acknowledged his sin and took the consequences like a man.

And...I think I do enjoy reading Poe. Meaning, I like what I've read so far. Sure he's a little creepy, but he's really intriguing.

5. This is one of the many reasons why I love Catherine Snyder.

6. A happy life is full of little joys: "A happy life is not built up of tours abroad and pleasant holidays, but of little clumps of violets by the roadside, hidden away almost, so that only those can see them who have God's peace and love in their hearts; in one long and continuous chain of little joys; little whispers from the spiritual world; little gleams of sunshine on our daily work." -Wilson of the Antarctic (don't ask me who that is, cause I have no idea - Amy Carmichael quoted him in Ploughed Under, that's all I know).

7. In just a few short months, Katie will be in Italy (if everything works out smoothly, that is...which is a big if). It is true that you don't really know what you've got 'till it's gone (or almost gone, in this case). Katie's the best sister I could ever ask for, as well as a wonderful example of Christ to me. I love her so, so much. And I don't know what I'll do without her. She'll be in Florence until June (or maybe longer) - goodness gracious that seems like an awfully long time!

Sisters :) ...and Chris Thile

8. Aside from the book, The Last of the Mohicans is a really great movie.

9. I have a new affinity for puzzles. It runs in the family.

10. For those of you who still think that cars, or buses, or trains, or bikes is the only way to get around, this is for you.

If you can read this, thank a teacher

My week at a glance:
Thursday consisted of loads of homework, errands to Barnes & Noble and Sam's, and a trip with some friends to Birmingham, Alabama to see Chris Thile perform in concert. It (meaning the concert - not homework or errands, of course) was amazing and he was amazing. He plays the mandolin - I know what you thinking; "The mandolin??? Really?" but he makes the mandolin cool, trust me - and he has an amazing voice. Listen to him here.

On Friday, Excelsior was actually kinda fun - we got to paint in art, our lunch wasn't cold, and literature was...interesting, to say the least. Then, after school I got to see friends that I don't usually get to spend much time with. And I started Eudora Welty's short stories. I haven't even finished the story I started and I think I'm already a fan of Eudora. :)

Luke and Eleanor - they're enthralled with Dr. G, I promise

This is what happens when Hugh Morris participates in class discussion. Um, yeah...it was fascinating. And educational.


:)

On Saturday, I had a wonderful time with my wonderful friend, Colleen. Then we headed over to the annual McCoy cookout, where we ate, attempted to play frisbee in the mud pits while it was dark...and cold- very, very cold (My toes are still thawing out.) - sat by the fire, enjoyed all the great things about Fall, and played "kemps" with the over-enthusiastic-card-player-Hugh and friends.

The McCoy/Strevel field.
I can't take credit for this picture - it's Jennifer's. Thanks Jennifer!

Spartan Cookout

After the Race for the Unborn on Saturday, the Johnsons were kind enough to have the whole team over to their house for a cookout. Here are some highlights. (I had to pick only some of the pictures, which is really hard for me. I just want to add them all!)

(Old barns are really great. Especially this one.)











And, everyone must know that today - October the 27th - is my dearest friend, Katie's, birthday. And I wish her the best birthday ever! Love you, Katie! :)

Heaven is our home

How easily do we forget this:
"But this is not our rest. Bless the Lord for a better. Heaven is our home, and we but sojourners here in the wilderness for a while, soon to be away. Let us have our lamps brightly burning, listening for the summons. I plead with Jesus to come with the pale messenger and let me see His face all through the dark valley. I shall know that dear countenance the moment I fix my eyes upon it - its features are engraved upon my heart." -Mary Winslow, Heaven Opened.

The Race for the Unborn 5k

Everyone has to come this Saturday! Here are the details.

Let me impress you with my amazing math skills

Cold weather + an early morning race + an afternoon soccer game = one really tired, really sore, and really cold girl.

And,

Cold weather + fireplace + hot cocoa + a good book = :)

I'm pretty much an incredible mathematician. Pretty much...

Happy Get To Know Your Customers Day!

Some thoughts on this incredibly brilliant holiday:

Okay, seriously, how much rain can we possibly get? I've played one soccer game and the season started weeks ago. All my games have been canceled due to what? Go ahead, just guess. Angry parents? A referee shortage? No. RAIN.

But it does have its pluses. I haven't had to referee a single game yet. That's a big plus. But frisbee was canceled tonight. That's a definite minus.

Dr. Grant, his utterly brilliant lectures, and his enthralling "opportunities" (which is just his own way of saying, test) have continued to brighten my day - day after day, after day, after day...well, you get the point. He and his bow tie never cease to bring a smile to my face. He's taught me all the things I just couldn't live without knowing. Like, did you know that the Star Chamber was instituted in 1627 by Charles I in order to enforce his supposed divine rights? Or that the Presbyterian remonstrance was established in 1634? Or that Jenny Geddes (who knows how to spell her name...she was a milk maid for cryin' out loud!) hurled her milk stool at the archbishop and brought about the demise of both king and archbishop? Yeah, neither did I.

So I finished reading The Last of the Mohicans last night. Oh. My. Word. I still can't get over the ending. You know those great books with the amazingly happy ending that stick with you and just make you feel all warm and happy inside? Yeah, well this wasn't one of them. I don't mean to spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it yet, but, I mean really, what kind of author kills off the two main characters?! I mean did Cooper just one day tell his wife, "I'm gonna a write a book with great characters - better than the world has ever known. Everyone will love them...and then, right at the very end, I'm gonna kill 'em all! I'll show 'em who's boss! Yeah, that's just what I'll do." And that's just what he did. So, I've decided this is how I'm going to imagine the ending. This is how it should have been: Magua is running away with his captive, Cora, and just as he thinks he's won, Uncas jumps out from behind him, kills him, and tells Magua as he's dying, "[Insert something really clever here]". Then he sweeps Cora off her feet, tells her he loves her, and you know what, they live happily ever after! Dreams do come true [in books], I always knew it! Yay!

P.S. - This is a real holiday. I'm just sad I missed National Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School day yesterday. Greatest holiday idea EVER!

MC Invitational

It's all so wonderful; that sick nervous feeling you get in the pit of your stomach the morning of the race (or in some cases, the night before), the sinking feeling when you get to the meet/race and realize it's reality...it's really here, and you're really about to run this race, the loud ear-ringing gunshot that's almost as loud as the sound of your pounding heart the second your legs begin to move, the dry-mouth and aching lungs before you even reach the 1 mile mark, the gut sensation you get when you realize you're not even half-way through the race and you already want to keel over and die, the crushing weight you feel when you glance at the next hill knowing you'll have to find the energy somewhere to make it up that hill, the aching muscles, the hoarse (and harsh) screams of the angry coaches, the inaudible murmurs of the crowd as you pass by them, the huffing and puffing sound of your lungs when you reach the last stretch of the race, the way you have to clutch and grasp for support from anywhere or anyone when you finally cross the finish line and you can't feel your legs, the cold water rushing down your too-dry throat, and the pats on the back after it's all over. And the best part is, I get to do it all over again next week! Yippee. I'm trembling with excitement, honestly.

And, contrary to my strong convictions, I didn't die. God rules over all things, He's in control: before, after and, yes, even during the race.

Well, I don't understand how so many actually enjoy this...but I do feel great after it's all OVER! This weekend at the Mississippi College Invitational, the Spartans girls varsity team took 2nd place in the 1a-3a schools! Julie, Danielle, and Catherine all placed in the top 15!! We even got this awesome plaque.


...We enjoyed it while it lasted, since they're taking it back now and giving it to Corinth, who was 3rd. At least we got our picture with it and were recognized as 2nd. Ah well, life goes on.

And it's always neat when people ask you where you're from and what school you run for and you tell them you're homeschooled. Most of the time, the response is "Oh" and this blank stare and then they don't really say anything else. But then after the race we can say, "Yeah, you just got beat by a homeschooler." But we wouldn't, cause that would be mean. Just for future references, never underestimate homeschoolers. I mean, look at Tim Tebow (who, by the way, I just found out was homeschooled, thanks to Mrs. Mary Jo). I'm sure there are countless others as well...I just can't seem to think of any at the moment. Anyway...

GO SPARTANS!!!

Wow, just wow

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Just a few random thoughts:

1. Singing in the Rain never gets old; Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds - pretty great stuff right there. We watched it tonight and afterwords Kelley, Catherine, and Jonathan were putting on hats, creating their own tap shoes, and inventing choreography.

2. My parents left for Sante Fe, New Mexico Thursday morning, so it's been an interesting couple of days. We've managed fine so far. Jamie, Katie, and I have taken turns at being mom/dad. We turned it into a fun weekend with snacks, movies, and a trip to Smoothie King. None of which are regular occurrences at the Crampton household. This has been a treat. The kids have really enjoyed it...mainly because of the junk food, though. You can tell they don't get much of that around here. I'm still definitely ready for my parents to get home. We all are. But everyone needs some time away...even parents. Especially parents. So we'll just have to put up with it for the time being, at least.

3. I'm loving this weather. Fall is incredible. This is the beginning of my favorite month of my favorite season. Everything about Fall makes me happy; the colors on the leaves changing, the smells, the air, the temperature, the cool nights, hats, scarves, coats, hot cocoa, reading by the fire, hot cider. Ah. :)

4. AND, we're not allowed to run in the Myrtle cross country meet tomorrow. I know I should be sad, but I'm not gonna lie - I'm not. Jamie told me this this afternoon and I was literally jumping up and down when I heard the news. Yes, for the first Saturday in FOREVER I can sleep in, no pressure about chugging water, going to the bathroom a ridiculous amount of times, or pushing myself to my death in the morning!! I can stay up as long as I want (but I should be getting to bed now) and sleep in!! You have no idea how happy this makes me! (Sorry Mrs. Heather - I hope you're not reading this.)

Like I said, random. No, I'm not going to attempt to tie these thoughts together. I leave that skill to Dr. Grant. Goodbye and goodnight.

Top Actor & Actress of All Time

I'd have to say Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant are the best actress and the best actor of all time, by far. Maybe you would disagree, I don't know why though. If I could recommend just one of Audrey Hepburn's movies I'd have to say Sabrina. And all of Cary Grant's are amazing, so just watch all of them.

The runners-up would have to be Katharine Hepburn (the same last name thing was totally unintentional; ironic, isn't it?) and Jimmy Stewart. And yes, they're probably my second favorites because of Philadelphia Story.

I don't know what got me thinking about this...probably Netflix. I've been searching out good classics on 'Watch Instantly'. By the way, Netflix is great.

They're all very talented, very incredible actors. Ah, I love them all. Thus ends my aimless ramblings.

P.S. - formatting photos is quite difficult. It took far too long to insert and organize a few photos, especially for the not-so-technologically savvy (like myself).