I love the fourth Sunday of Advent, when all the candles on the wreath are lit. It gets me even more excited for Christmas and looks so pretty.

Our church went to one service for the holidays, so today we had a later (for us) service. Also, no Sunday School today, which really confused Fuller.

One of the neatest things that happened today was during the service, someone was giving an announcement on an upcoming study of Daniel. He mentioned Israel and Babylon prompting Fuller to say, “He said Israel, just like what we read about yesterday!”

Honestly, it seems Fuller doesn’t really pay attention to our daily Advent Jesse Tree readings. We ask him questions and give him definitions a four year old should understand, but mainly he seems to just enjoy the candy and handing me the slip of paper every day. So, to hear him tell us something he remembers, it makes me happy to know some knowledge is definitely making a place in his heart.

Along these lines, Damon and I have been talking about ways to teach Fuller about giving to others. The dollar bill incident from Friday will become a humorous family anecdote, but it made me feel a little bad about thinking I was actually passing on a lesson in charity when I just thrust a dollar bill in his hand and told him to put it in a bucket. I gave him the same “it’s for the needy” speech beforehand, but it’s become rote.

Also, this is Fuller’s fifth Christmas, and so far it has really been him on the receiving end. We haven’t even helped him to “buy” gifts for Mommy and Daddy.

Next year, we plan on introducing Santa Claus. Kind of.

On St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) we will discuss the history of St. Nick (who Santa Claus is based on) and the good deeds he did for others. Christmas is the season of the birth of the ultimate good deed, but we will use St. Nicholas Day to give Fuller (and his brother when he is older) the opportunity to really understand helping others. This might be in a shopping trip to fulfill Angel Tree needs, or buy some toys for tots.

How do you teach your children about giving to others, especially to those less fortunate than you?

Damon didn’t bother pursuing tickets to the National Championship game today. It has been raining and we have projects to finish, so an evening out just wasn’t what we needed.

So, Damon’s alternative was to set the XBox to play NCAA Football07. You can choose the teams (and even the field) and just tell the XBox to run the game. Fuller was a little confused, since 1) Damon wasn’t using the controls and 2) Auburn wasn’t playing. He did us proud by cheering for the Grizzlies though.

The game is on ESPN360, so we are listening/ watching it for real now, but I think I like the XBox version better. No commercials, way fewer gratuitous shots of cheerleaders, and they never stop the clock to check the chains and see if it actually is a first down.

It is kind of silly family entertainment, but hey, it’s our family entertainment.

Last night we did the Jesse Tree reading talking about the different names for Jesus.. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. As I read “Prince of Peace,” Fuller spoke up and said, “Like on Super Why!”

I looked at Damon, very confused. Super Why hasn’t said anything about God or Jesus in any of their Christmas themed episodes (and if they did, they would probably change the words so instead of stable, Jesus is born in a hotel). Damon recovered quickly saying, “No, not Princess Pea. Prince of PEACE.”

I know I have a slight cold, but I didn’t think my voice was that bad. Damon assured me Fuller was just not listening.

In other Fuller-hilarity, today I had to go to Wal-Mart really quickly. As I drove into the parking lot, I noticed the firetrucks and firemen with buckets collecting money for the Forgotten Child’s Fund. I decided to go ahead and give Fuller a dollar bill to put in the bucket as we went into the door.

I was horrified when we approached the bucket and Fuller tore the dollar bill in half and put one half into the bucket.

I admit my reaction was not too cool and collected. I was embarrassed and totally confused why Fuller would rip a dollar in half. Why would he think that was ok? I fished out the half dollar and found a new bill in my wallet to give to the firemen. Fuller started crying, the Firemen were laughing and telling him it was ok, and I just wanted to sink into the ground.

As we walked into the store, the Firemen told him “Merry Christmas!” and if you have been around Fuller recently, you know how much he loves to tell people “Merry Christmas!” But instead of cheerfully replying, Fuller just looked at the ground and mumbled, “I don’t want to say Merry Christmas.”

We have since had a discussion about how ripping money isn’t a good thing, and I think he understands. I can laugh now, but really, I still have no idea why he did it.

Chattanooga is gearing up for the NCAA Division 1 Football Championship. And for the second year in a row we headed to Finley Stadium for their “open house.” Fuller got to run around on the field (we took a ball for him to kick around) and we were going to see the Golden Knights do their practice jump onto the field. This year it was too foggy and/or cloudy for them to do their practice and if the skies are the same tomorrow, they may not jump before the kickoff tomorrow.

It has been rather warm, so it was a nice evening under the stadium lights. We also got to see crews working on painting the field, which had been delayed due to rains and a wet field.

Right now it isn’t guaranteed that Chattanooga will host the Championship every year, but I like the idea of it being a little tradition of ours to go to the open house.

Last year we just tailgated and walked around pregame, listening to the bands. I don’t think I’ll be able to do the same this year, but Damon and Fuller might head to the game tomorrow, if they can secure tickets.

Fuller got to go with me to my doctor’s appointment this morning. While taking a four year old to the gynecologists office isn’t exactly my idea of fun, my secret weapon is the iPod Touch. Load it up with a an episode or three of The Justice League and Fuller was completely oblivious to the girlie stuff he was surrounded by. And when you add the headphones, any conversation about discharge or pelvic floors is totally unheard by the little one. (TMI? Probably.)