Holiday Thoughts

Well.  Tonight the living room is in a state of disarray once again.  I had it all cleaned up from the new-Christmas-toy/clothing/random item madness but am now in the process of putting all the Christmas decorations away.  Pretty much everything is down and packed away except the tree itself.  But the boxes and wrapping stuff are still scattered in the living room.  Sitting here, I keep thinking how pretty the tree is with just lights.  Some years I think I would like it like that, no ornaments or anything.  So plain, so simple, so pretty.

Even before the Exhausting Sickness of 2013 hit our household, I was already vowing that next year I was going to make some changes to the season.  At one point I said to Shane (I think it was on Christmas Eve afternoon), "I mean, when am I going to sit and reflect upon Christ?  He is the reason we are doing this after all!"  And Shane calmly replied, "The rest of the year?"

I love him.  So level-headed in the wake of my manic.

I have a cousin who writes a great blog here.  One thing she always says is, "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be great!"  I thought that hundreds of times this season.  Thanks, Missy.  I needed a voice of reason.

Honestly, there were a lot of sweet moments talking about the Christ child this season.  And several things we did this year are things I will continue:

1.  Opening a book each evening starting on December 1st.  The children love this.  We only bring these books out for December so it is exciting each day to see what book is being opened.  The kids also love just getting to unwrap something.  Some books are about Christ, some winter-y, some silly, some Santa...all give chances to talk about the season.  I already have "First book" and "Last book" marked in the pile and tucked in a box with all the other books for next year.  I was so glad I stuck those labels on last year.  They each really do make good first and last books.

2.  Our advent calendar.  Again, to count down to Christmas, but it forms a nativity scene so gives plenty of opportunity to talk about Christ's birth.

3.  Crafts.  My children love these.  We did several at home and as long as my friend Natalie will keep up the tradition, we will do one with friends.  Craft day with Miss Natalie was a highlight for my kids this year.  They have showed almost everyone who comes over the ornaments they made there.  These, however, are ones we made at home...

4.  Catechism.  This is a simple one.  I do a weekly catechism with our kids (don't think too highly of me for it...it is super simple, I got the idea from someone else, and we are going through it veeerrrry slowly).  But I read online (see, I get almost all my ideas from others!) a few catechism questions to add about giving/getting/Jesus.  It was a spontaneous addition this season but was so good to solidify a couple things for our kids and to give another opportunity for conversation.

5.  Let the kids help pick out a gift for someone else.  This year we gave a gift to a child about Silas' age who probably wasn't going to get much for Christmas.  We've done Operation Christmas Child in the past or something similar through our church.  I like getting the kids involved (although I have to keep my expectations low, they do get distracted thinking about themselves when looking for others; it's a process).

6.  Thank you notes.  I am doing these this year for the first time.  It is a great way to remind our kids how much someone thought about them when they picked something out.  Just trying to breed some gratefulness around here!

(Oh, sorry for the spoiler to those who haven't gotten their notes, we're still working on them!)

7.  Spending time with as much family as we can.  I know others try to cut back on this at times and maybe someday we will have to also.  But with my family living far away, being with family is super important to us.  So we will do all we can to see everyone that we can, even if it means lots of celebrations in a little amount of time.  And even if it means we feel like this when it is all over...

Now here are some things I am planning for next year:

1.  Simplify the Christmas card issue.  I already have "Christmas picture" on the calendar for September.  If we don't have a decent picture then, we will have one taken RIGHT AWAY.  And I have a plan to make it easier to still write a Christmas letter, which I love doing, but not have to print out 80+ of them.  Hallelujah.  Next year is going to be awesome.

2.  Have each child pick out a toy he/she no longer plays with to give away during December.  Again, to foster gratitude and an understanding that we don't need everything we have.

3.  Let the children exchange names and give a gift to one another.  We've never had our kids give each other things but I think they would be so excited to help pick out something one of the other's want.  It's that whole idea that there really is a lot of joy in giving.  I think they will get a kick out of actually handing a gift to another that they helped pick themselves.

It feels like it's been a long holiday season this year.  But even with all it's imperfections, it's been a very, very good one.  And now I have my list all written out so I am ready for next year...ha!

Worstest Day Ever

At about 1:30 on Christmas afternoon, Silas declared it the Worstest Day Ever.  I didn't really disagree with him.

Our three big kids woke in the middle of the night Christmas Eve, sick as can be.  I was in with Lieren when Silas came in sick.  Shane joined us to help and it wasn't long before Simeon was awake, sick too.  So we had an unplanned and unenjoyable slumber party in Sim and Lieren's room the rest of the night, all on the floor, sleeping and waking, as one or another got sick.

The kids nearly forgot about getting up early to dig in their stockings and unwrap gifts.  We had a late night Christmas Eve after spending the evening with Shane's extended family.  The kids had not gotten to bed till nearly 10:30 so even Blaise, who was not sick at this point, slept in.  He finally woke the rest of us and we slogged out of Sim and Lieren's room close to 9.

It was a sad morning.  The kids didn't feel good enough to enjoy anything.  At about noon, Lieren finally told me she wanted to see what was in her presents.  I opened them for her and instead of her joyfully declaring, "MEOW!" (fyi, meowing is standard for her these days), she just looked at them.

The boys kind of tried to play here and there but really just got through till the afternoon when all the big kids laid down for a 3-hour nap (fyi, not standard for them these days).

Here is the general scene for the day; Sim trying to play, Lieren and Silas lounging, Blaise thinking about eating (Blaise didn't eat much all day, which had me wondering.  Then he got the sickness right before bedtime. Bummer)...

 But even with all the yuck, I was thinking about all I could be thankful for yesterday...

1.  I got to tell Lieren about 30 times in the night that I loved her and wasn't going anywhere.
2.  Blaise slept in.
3.  Time to be home and together with absolutely no schedule.
4.  Everyone has clean sheets!
5.  And all the blankets in the house are clean too.
6.  Shane and I stayed well.
7.  One-on-one time with Blaise while the big kids slept.  He was on a roll!
8.  Hearing Shane teach Sim and Lieren that being sick on Christmas is a great reminder of why we so desperately needed Jesus to come; only He can heal our sin and our sickness.

And tonight I am thankful that smiles are returning...

Ummmmm...no.

I just told Silas I was going upstairs to get ready for our Christmas Eve service at church. He said, "Ok, mom. Can I just wear this?"

 

A Boy and His Snowsuit

I could not get enough of this boy in his snowsuit this morning!

Watching patiently as all the other children went on outside...

Sill patient while Mommy got her coat and boots on...

And finally begging to join the others...

This was the first deep snow Blaise had been in, and the first time he had worn his snowsuit.  I got it earlier this week, just in time for this winter weather!  Blaise was so proud to wear his new outfit, but he wasn't so sure about the deep snow at first.  I could tell he felt pretty unsteady walking.  He always wanted my hand when he was down and trudging about in it.

But he quickly started to have fun...

Blaise tried to help with the snow fort, threw a couple snowballs, and helped pack some snow onto the snowman.  But then he decided he mainly wanted me to hold him.  So we watched the others play and looked at the snow-covered trees...

Little man finally got tired.  It was noon when the two of us came indoors...

Then he watched Daddy and Silas finish the snowman (this is what children learn to do when they have older siblings; climb to places they should not be. Lieren and Simeon had come in by this time and when Blaise turned to me for help to get down, Lieren said, "It's ok, Blaise, you can do it, just jump!")...

We are warm and toasty inside now.  We're making gingerbreads this evening.  And my parents leave tomorrow.  Lots of fun, lots of activity, lots of memories and lots of love.  The lots of good will mean some sad tomorrow.  But this is our last big goodbye so there is also lots of joy.

It Covers

We got some snow today. So pretty, the white covering the ground.

I was upstairs with our three big kids late this afternoon, snuggled under a thick blanket in bed when I thought, I just unpacked all our snow stuff.  We really should go out and play.

When I announced we were getting out of bed and going to play in the snow, it wasn't met with joyous shouts of excitement right off.  We had already had day...church then Party with the Pastors (it was the make-up one for tornado day), and no one except Blaise was napping.  The kids stated they would rather watch Henry Hugglemonster instead.  (Really?)

But the minute we pulled ourselves out of bed, they were ready to go.  We had a quick snack and bundled up then out we went...

Eating snow was a highlight...

Snowball fight!

Snow angels...

And no event would be complete without some kind of wrestling between these two...

Blaisey watched through the window with Nana...

Tonight the snow suits are hanging in the bathroom; boots drying in the laundry room.  What fun moments; what sweet memories we'll always have from today.

But trust me, life with two 3-year olds and a 19-month-old and a 5 year old is just as you might expect it to be.

As we walked back to the house, me holding Lieren's hand and Shane with Sim and Silas on either side of him, I thought, Thank You, Lord, that love covers a multitude of sins...both theirs, and mine.

Sometimes...

...Nutella makes everything better!

 

Not Long Ago, In a Dining Room Not Far Away...

... a whole new Star Wars adventure begins.

We had Christmas with my parents and sister on Thanksgiving morning. All the children got several very special things. But you should have seen Silas when he opened the presents that were his first two Star Wars Legos. He completely freaked out in excitement. It was so fun!

He got the X-wing star fighter and a homing spider droid. Not sure what those are? Me either. But I'm learning. My boys love, so I learn. For those of you who are not Star Wars fanatics, you might at least be interested enough to know the X-wing is Luke Skywalker's ship. I still haven't quite figured out the droid but it is what he was begging for so we went with it.

Silas worked hard the last two days and this evening finally put the last pieces on the X-wing. He had finished the spider droid last night and couldn't wait to get started on the next one. He needed a bit of help twice on the X-wing where he had gotten the spacing off just a bit and also needed help attaching the wings. But otherwise, he did the work himself! He was so proud! It was much more complicated than anything else he's built so far.

And you might notice he is still in his jammies from last night (which are Star Wars) and he has on a new Lego Star Wars watch from Aunt Tara, too!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

The first few hours of Sunday this week were fairly normal; Shane went to the earlier church service and the rest of us followed for the second one. We do this every so often when we have a lunch gathering for people who are interested in our church after the services. We call it Party with the Pastors. Typically our whole family goes to the earlier service together. But this week, as we do once every couple months, the children and I lingered, got ready slower, and actually ended up leaving later than I like to for the later service.

But we got there on time, even a bit early. Shane came and met us in the parking lot. As we walked in, Shane and I commented how warm it was that day after the wintry-temps we had been having. And we both acknowledged the storm brewing in the distance. I was thankful I had moved and parked a bit closer to the building because I anticipated rain when we left after Party.

We chatted with some friends as we walked in and checked our kids into the computer security system. 

Then as a family (which doesn't always get to happen) we walked back into the childcare area. As we did, our phones went off with emergency alerts. Neither Shane or I looked at them right then, though; our hands were full of kids.

But our children's director told us something was up and they were shutting down the area.

Then the power went out.

We quickly went with our kids to an inner classroom, along with classes from the surrounding rooms. We all huddled in the dark, singing and praying and keeping children calm and happy. It was truly amazing how calm the children remained.

I sent my friend Brandi a text right at 11 saying I was holding her little man and that he was fine. She wrote right back thanking me. I had Lieren, Simeon, Blaise, and Grant. Shane had Silas.

I completely lost track of time after that but from what I've seen, about 11:05, the tornado hit. It was the loud whooshing like a freight train and our ears started popping. We huddled down together and it was over as quick as it started.

For the next 45 minutes or so, we hunkered down in a corner with kids under tables, as the tornado warnings continued. The volunteers in our children's ministry were incredible. I was so impressed.

Shane left the room after the tornado went through to help in other areas and assess the situation. We knew pretty early on that no one was hurt and that the tornado had gone through the parking lot, missing the building.

Sometime after noon, when everything was clear, we emerged out of the room. The building was still dark; the power was still off and it was pouring outside.

I took Silas and Blaise with me, leaving Sim and Lieren with one of their favorite babysitters. The rain stopped and we walked with Shane into the parking lot. It was unreal to see the cars that had just earlier been parked for a normal day at church, now looking like, well, like they had been through a tornado. My friend Tammy took this of their van. Such a reminder that God's hand was protecting His people in the storm...

Most cars had windows blown out. The car Shane drove to church was tucked between all these cars that lost multiple windows. But only the windshield on it was cracked.

Our van wasn't really damaged at all. We are so grateful.

Amazingly, the guy still came to deliver food for Party. So many of us stayed and ate together. Most people were waiting for rides home because their vehicles were not drivable.

And as we lunched, we began to get reports of the extent of the storm. Some with us found out their homes were gone. And many of us learned that friends had lost some or all of what they owned. It was unreal. But everyone seemed thankful to be together, to get to talk about it, to process, to pray.

Shane went today to help in Washington, a nearby town where several of our church members live and some lost their homes. I took clothes some friends and I gathered to give to a friend who lost their home. It is really a joy to see God working through His people to love on others.

Our three younger children seem to have walked away from the event with little thought. But Silas has been talking and asking questions. It has been a great way to teach about God and His love and His protection and His sovereignty. And for all of us to remember that He is the God who controls the storm. We are thankful He kept us safe.

I will never sing "You are always with me, Jesus. Where could I go? Where could I hide? You are always with me, Jesus. Where could I go? You'll never leave my side" without thinking of our Sunday. It was what our children were singing right as the tornado hit; a wonderful picture indeed of His hand on us.