What Is a Boy?
By Alan Beck (penned in 1949)
Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find a delightful creature called a boy. Boys come in assorted sizes, weights and colors, but all boys have the same creed: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to protest with noise (their only weapon) when their last minute is finished and the adult males pack them off to bed at night.
Boys are found everywhere—on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
When you are busy a boy is an inconsiderate, bothersome, intruding jangle of noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a savage, sadistic, jungle creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.
A boy is a composite—he has the appetite of a horse, the digestion of a sword swallower, the energy of a pocket-size atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the lungs of a dictator, the imagination of a Paul Bunyan, the shyness of a violet, the audacity of a steel trap, the enthusiasm of a fire cracker, and when he makes something he has five thumbs on each hand.
He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, the boy across the street, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings and fire engines.
He is not much for Sunday school, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.
Nobody else is so early to rise or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs and breezes. Nobody else can cram into one pocket-a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, three feet of string, an empty Bull Durham sack, two gum drops, six cents, a sling shot, a chunk of unknown substance and a genuine supersonic code ring with a secret compartment.
A boy is a magical creature—you can lock him out of your workshop, but you can’t lock him out of your heart. You can get him out of your study, but you can’t get him out of your mind.
Might as well give up—he is your captor, your jailer, your boss and your master–a freckled-faced, pint-sized, cat-chasing, bundle of noise.
But when you come home at night with only the shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams—he can mend them like new with the two magic words—”Hi Dad!
Yeah! We had Christmas after all...thanks to mom and dad. :)
Computer wiz.
Liam sporting his Christmas outfit from Aunt Rebecca, and tasting his yummy fingers.
Liam doing his new trick...trying to pucker for a kiss. :) 
Getting stronger every day. 
This is a crawling kick-ball type of game.
We had a game of charades...
...and extreme spoons.
This is some kind of rope game... 
After staying up all night for the first time in his life, William faithfully studied the Word, before...
...crashing for twenty-one hours of catch-up sleep. 
In the meantime, Liam and I worked on putting our Christmas decorations away.
Liam was great company.
Liam and I listened to what Christmas is really all about from our Charlie Brown Christmas tree ornament for the last time (from Luke 2)
One of the families in our church gave us this bouncer/swing. Here Liam is trying it out for the first time.
I think he likes it!
Last night William took me out for Japanese food. It was yummy! 
Liam got to go too! (of course :)) 
Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, and this year we were so thankful to celebrate it with our son Liam.
We were able to get a large tree for half the price of a smaller Californian Christmas tree. Yeah!
The finished product! Thanks mom for donating most of our ornaments over the years!
The tree at night. :)
I made a few efforts at decorating our home.
Liam's first stocking.
I was so excited to think of something creative to do with the extra branches from our tree!
William was able to help lead the singing for our Christmas service.
He loved it, and he sounded great too!
Pastor Bob and his wife Becky had William and Jon over for Christmas Eve dinner. I had a head cold, so Liam and I stayed home. 
What a wonderful time they had!
Liam saw his cousin for the first time...
He tried to say hello.
Here, Liam is listening to Grandpa talk on the phone.
Liam loves the antlers he got from the Christmas festival. 
Liam is taking his Christmas day portraits.
He was a good sport.
Hanging out with his gingerbread man. :)
He looked so cute in his Christmas PJs. 
What a jolly little man! 
Toy playing is a must on Christmas. 
awww...
Liam loves his thumb. :) 
Liam loves to play with his antlers. They have little bells on them, so it works a little like a rattle.
Wearing them is not as much fun... 
...as handling them. 
Gifts from Uncle Jason.
Christmas hug.
Becky also put on a lovely Holiday Tea for some of the young ladies. She did a fabulous job! 
She had a beautiful Christmas tree decorated in gold and red.
While we were there, it started snowing huge snowflakes!
It was beautiful! 
Lindsay by the fire...how picturest! 
When we got home, it was a winter wonderland. 
