"Our" Ornament

With Sethie starting preschool this year and Biz becoming a kindergartener, we thought it would be appropriate to find a school themed ornament this year to be "our" ornament.  I had envisioned a chalkboard or something with an apple on it, but what we found instead was perfect...for us. 

Eric and I both really love geography and maps.  Give me a good map and I am set for hours.  Yes, I know that sounds a little geeky, but I think Eric finds that attractive, so it is all good.

I have really had a heart for showing the boys just how big our world is and that there is a lot out there beyond ourselves. Biz got his first US map puzzle when he was two, but I don't think he has had a real awareness of a world beyond our country until recently.  We have been talking a lot about geography, continents, and flying across the oceans lately.  Biz has been interested in finding places on the map that he hears about or we read about in the Bible.  Sethie loves to point out Africa on the map, since he knows Maggie is in Kenya and Tante and Uncle Tim recently visited there.  Any time someone says they are going on a trip, he thinks they are going to Africa. 

We hung both a US map and a world map in the playroom recently and did a fun activity with the boys where we used diffrent colored stars for each family member to indicate which states and countries he/she had visited.  The boys really enjoyed it.  Of course, Eric and I did, too.  We also bought the boys an inflatable globe, which for now, has served more as a kicking object for Sethie.

So, it has been a year of geography and learning about places beyond our borders.  When we walked into Bed, Bath, and Beyond, we were not looking for "our" ornament, but when we passed by the ornaments, there it was.  Just hanging there.  And we instantly knew it was "our" ornament for 2010.