A Joyful Noise!

Well, here it is. Our 2009 Christmas video. I wasn't even planning on finishing this thing today, but everything just kinda fell in my lap and it all felt right, so I went with it. Hope you like it.

Merry Christmas!

"And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men."
Luke 2:12-14


From the Mattia Family to yours, Merry Christmas!

A Journey To Bethlehem

Friday night, we made a "Journey to Bethlehem". Well, Angola actually, but you get the idea. Conley's "Living Nativity" is something we try to go to every year. If you want to learn, or maybe just need a refresher, on the true meaning of Christmas, this is a must see. The kids really love it. A shephard/tour guide leads your small group of about 10 to 12 through the journey. You stop at several different scenes and actors tell you a story and how it relates to the birth of Jesus. From the threshing floor of Bethlehem, to the visit of Gabriel to Mary, to the wise men and King Herod, to the birth in a manger. It's all there and very well done. They even have Roman soldiers, who occupied Bethlehem at the time, collecting taxes and swearing their allegiance to King Herod. I'm glad we went Friday and didn't wait until Saturday to go. We wouldn't have made it with all the ice and snow. I've included some pictures of the manger scene and the three crosses. I've also included a picture of the other "angels" that visited Bethlehem. As you can tell from the picture, the Bethlehem Wawa has a thriving business this time of year. I'm pretty sure I saw the three wise men in line in front of me. Gold, incense, and pumpkin spice cappuccino. God IS good.

Football Banquet

On Friday night, we attended the Cape Sharks Pop Warner Football banquet dinner. It was a really good time. Outback Steakhouse provided all the food, and just like last year, it was excellent. When the server at the buffet asked me "steak or chicken?" I said "yes, thank you". It was great! There was Caesar salad, baked potato, rolls, drinks, dessert. Oh, yeah, and there was also awards for football, or something, whatever. But seriously, the Mattia boys were all over it! They both received a trophy for playing. Collin was one of the players called up on stage to be recognized as a candidate for Scholastic All-American. (maintaining a 96 GPA) We go to Philadelphia in May to find out if he was selected to 1st team, 2nd team, or honorable mention. Matthew received the Carl Walls Award for maintaining a 93 GPA. That is his second year in a row for that one. He was not eligible for the Scholastic All-American because he is only in the fourth grade. You have to be in at least 5th grade to qualify. And to top it all off, they both got their names drawn for door prizes. Collin got a Cape Sharks jersey signed by Raleigh Makenzie and Reggie Branch. For those of you who were not Redskins fans in the eighties, they were both Superbowl winning players. (back when the Redskins didn't suck, but I already discussed that in a previous post) Matthew won the best prize of all, in my estimation. He received 25, count em', 25 Wawa gift certificates good for 16 oz. hot beverages! Matthew has taken a liking to the pumpkin spice cappuccino. He also hasn't slept since Saturday. The only bad side, if there has to be one, is that they expire on December 31st. That's a lot of cappuccino in a short amount of time. My guess is that Santa will not come to our house this year because nobody will be sleeping for a while! In fact, as I'm writing this, the boys are bugging me to make a Wawa run. Well, gotta go! It's going to be a long night.

Christmas Parade

Matthew and Collin, with their football teams, marched in the Lewes Christmas Parade on Sunday and the Rehoboth Christmas Parade on Monday. I've attached some pictures. We had a great time at both. We are really blessed to be living in an area where some old fashioned values and traditions are still on full display. Both parades were very well done. They included various marching bands, local fire departments, local businesses, and several "Little Miss ( fill in the blank)" riding on convertibles, waving to the crowd. They even had several (are you sitting down?) mobile nativity scenes. That's right. Christ in Christmas! What a concept. And the Cape Vikings High School Marching Band was actually playing "Hark!, The Herald Angels Sing". Everyone was smiling and wishing "Merry Christmas". No "Happy Holidays" here. The true meaning of Christmas
is alive and well in lower, slower, Delaware! Merry Christmas, Y'all!


P.S. Thanks to everyone for making the maiden voyage of Matthew's Print Shop a huge success! You guys are the best.

Matthew's Print Shop

Matthew has started a new venture. It's his own printing company. His first products available are these handsome, self-stick, and very timely, Christmas tags! He has five to choose from. Two large designs which come ten to a sheet, or three small designs which come 30 to a sheet. Each sheet sells for $1.75. But wait. There's more!! Order now, and he will print YOUR name in the "From" line.(or whatever name you want; Santa, Tiger Woods, you get the idea.) for no additional cost! One satisfied customer was heard saying, "$1.75 for these Christmas tags? What a bargain! That is a bargain for me!" ......You said it, brother! (wink) So pick yours up today! You'll be glad you did. Merry Christmas!

P.S. I fixed the comment board, so have at it.

BULLETIN! BULLETIN!

About a month ago, Collin made a poster for school about soil conservation. The posters were judged in the school, and then the winners for each grade moved to the county, state, and then national level. Collin already knew his poster won for the school. Tonight, while he was supposed to be doing research for another project, he googled his name and a page from the state website came up announcing the winners. Collin's won for Sussex County and he won the state! His poster is now being forwarded to the national level for judging. And the best part is, nobody at the school told him about it. He just found out tonight from the state website! I've included a link to the page he found.

P.S. The poster shown on the page is not Collin's.


http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/News/Pages/2009ConservationPosterContestwinnersannounced.aspx

Let The Madness Begin

Alright. I admit it. I've got the Christmas bug. Christmas Spirit, if you will. We set up our tree today. We usually wait until next weekend, but this year, we said what the heck. It's a little early for us, but everyone's in the mood, so why not. As you can see from the picture, we opted for the skinny tree this year. The big fat one we have took a beating last year. Cats and kids mainly. Half the lights don't work. Several branches are broken. You can also see from the picture, the cats already have their eyes on this tree. I think maybe this year, two of our nieces and nephews are going to get a cat for Christmas. But all kidding aside, I really do love this time of year. It brings out the kid in all of us. This year is going to be Aaron's first big Christmas. He really gets it now. He saw the tree and asked "Are we doing Christmas now?" "No, not right now, buddy. Santa's not ready yet. Be patient", I tell him. Telling a three year old to be patient waiting for Christmas is like telling me "Don't go back for seconds." It's really funny. As I'm writing this, Collin, Matthew , and Aaron are running through the house playing cops and robbers, or something. I just heard Aaron shout, "Freeze, fat boy!" Oh yeah. Christmas Spirit. Nothing like it.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, here we are. Another Thanksgiving dinner in the books. Wow that went by fast. Up at 6 a.m. (actually, Linda was up at 4:30) Turkey in the oven by 6:30. Dinner at 3:00. Now we just sit here bloated, hating life. Until dessert, anyway. Speaking of dessert, Linda made a carrot cheese cake. It's half carrot cake, half cheese cake, with a cream cheese/pineapple icing. Nothing but healthy, low fat stuff here. I'm going to justify it by making the carrots my vegetable serving for the day. Lame, I know, but what the heck. We have a packed house this year. Eleven adults and eight kids. What we lacked in other areas of our life this year, God made up for in an abundance of family, food and Wii. The kids (and adults) played a lot of Wii today. Madden, Guitar Hero, etc. Lots of fun. Well, time to get off this computer and go get some of that cheese cake. Get the defibrillator ready (CLEAR!) Anyway, to all my family who I didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with this year, (Mom, Paul, Dad, Karen, Jerry, Sherri, Mike, Donna) Love you all and can't wait to see you soon! Bye.

P.S. Collin's video commercial (Halftime Ham) was voted best for the entire fifth grade!

Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving all. Today we're preparing for the big feast. Linda told Collin and Matthew last week to pick out cookie recipes and they could make them today, so hense, the following pictures. This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful I have a wife who puts in the time and upholds some traditional family values. There's not nearly enough of that these days. Hope everyone has a safe and happy turkey day and don't forget to take time out to give thanks for your blessings. They're numerous.