tebow love.

my sister told me about this.
made me laugh.

(even though i don't think tim needs to take it down a notch- he's great.)
keep in mind, it isn't church-- it is saturday night live.
AND, the best part is the end!?!!
it IS all true.

giving the BEST gifts!

i listened to this talk tonight as i worked on one of my gifts of love.
it was perfect.
perfect.
i love giving gifts.
i am grateful for all i have been given.
i am thankful for a Savior who gives me much.

want to listen while you work?
try this link...
http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=821&tid=7
i'm having issues making the link work-- try clicking this link, then scroll till you see MP3 and click download.  Click on the big blue box that says MP3.
It will give you audio to listen to while you work.  hopefully.  :)

want to READ an AMAZING talk on gift giving...
try this link...
http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6756&x=56&y=3

get funky!

did you miss me?
oh, how i enjoyed my sabatical.  :)

i've had such an interesting week.
for a long time i've been really happy.
busy but happy.
this month started out and i just got into a funk.
same life, just felt heavier.
things that should be joyful felt like burdens.
kids that made me laugh days before caused me to cry at night thinking i had failed...
not a big, horrific bout of depression... but enough of a difference that i was not sure how to zap myself back.

here are some things that i learned.
#1--  Attitude is EVERYTHING.
I watched my friend put her kids to bed... she acted like it was no big deal, just bedtime.
She helped them into their jammies, prayed, brushed teeth, tucked them in, tucked them in again when they got out, and life was good, calm, happy.
Something happens at my house before bedtime.
I get into survival mode.  I hunker down.  Todd and I cast lots-- You do bed, I'll finish up the kitchen.  No, I'll do the kitchen, you do the kids.
You can feel us preparing for war before we even do the FIRST call for evening prayer.
I'm trying not to shift my attitude for bedtime.
I'm trying to make it more an extension of our day.
I expect that my kids will behave, instead of prepare for war.
And, it works.
Bedtime isn't that bad-- if I don't have a tantrum.
I'm trying to be MERRY and BRIGHT.
it feels so good.

#2--  Actions are EVERYTHING.
I was feeling down about Christmas.
I was reminded by the Spirit that the true joy of Christmas is GIVING and SERVING.
I increased my Christmas Giving and decreased my Christmas worry.
I feel JOY.
At the grocery store the other day i saw a woman put back celery because she didn't have enough money.
I had a generous thought.
I talked myself out of it and continued on my way.
In a split second decision, I left my cart in the doorway and ran back to ACT.
Joy filled my soul.
We are blessed when we serve.

#3-- Perspective is EVERYTHING.
I have a child that is a bit sneaky and a bit dishonest.
This is new for me.
My two girls are getting a bit older and seem pretty Sassy.
It scares me.
A friend reminded me about Jakob, a couple years ago.
He was a BEAST every, single Sunday.
He never wanted to go to Church.
He even kicked a hole in our wall once.
I had COMPLETELY forgotten that.
Really, to me, he is just a pretty darn amazing kid that I never worry about.

And, i have HOPE that my two girls are also pretty darn amazing kids.
I do need to teach them (not to sneak their 5 inch high-healed DRESS UP black boots to church, hide my dangling earrings in their backpacks, wear eyeshadow or eat 5 lunch treats while hiding in the bathroom).
Teach them, YES.  Worry that they are going to get pregnant by age 13.  Not yet.
My kids see themselves through my eyes.
My perspective is so important.
I am continually teaching principles.
I am raising imperfect, completely normal, AMAZING kids.
Perspective is EVERYTHING.

#4--  Remembering is EVERYTHING.
I was reminded again, that it is not my job to keep my house in order, raise my children, serve at Church, care for my extended family members, encourage my husband, etc., etc. 
It's not my job.
It's God's.
My job is to LISTEN to what He wants me to do and DO it.
I LOVE this quote from Elder Neal A. Maxwell... he is telling reasons why we become weary...
"First, we forget that while we work with others, we are working for Him!  Working for "them" can be very wearying.  Our naive insistence on seeing rapid results is intensified when we work for "them"; our expectations become unrealistic and, therefore, are not fulfilled.  This weariness is of our own making, real as it is.  But when we truly work for Him rather than for others, we will be less cluttered, less frantic-- and more effective.  We will also actually be more helpful to "them".  

don't you love that? i love it.
The Lord is my shephard.
He is my King, my deliverer, my ALL.

one more great quote from Elder Maxwell...
"True exhilieration, the incomparable antidote to weariness, comes from knowing and from conforming to our true identity and our true purposes on this planet.  Purposelessness, however, brings a terrible weariness."

We have SUCH purpose as mothers in Zion.
We have SUCH purpose this month!
How can we bring the Celebration of Christ to those we love?!!
How can we teach?  How can we serve?  How can we feel that joy?
I know it is possible.
Even amidst life's funk.
Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

for some reason i'm not liking my blog these days.

it's driving me crazy.

and so, i'm taking a little break.

till January.

i might change my mind-- but for now i just need to turn off the computer and enjoy my life.

i hope you all have a very merry christmas.

i'm posting my new address on facebook for anyone who wants to send me a Christmas Card-- just friend me.

i love Christmas cards.

and, send me your address, i'd love to add you to our list of loved ones.

(wait till i show you the dumb picture i had printed on all my Christmas cards.)

hah!

tis the season.

hello again.

oh hello!
my life is bright again.
i read the BEST thoughts last Sunday on being of good cheer and unwearingness.
i learned so many great things that i'm excited to share with you.

then, we went yesterday to IKEA and bought us some WHITE COUCHES for my basement.
it is looking so cute down there!

i brought a camera with me last night as i did bedtime.
oh, the beauty of my life (when i CHOOSE to see it).
i have so much i want to share with you...

but alas, my home is SCREAMING for me.
it turns out that when i'm a bit poopy for a week, my whole house goes to pot.  pun intended.
(and, i lent out MANY of my storage containers for our stake nativity and so things that are usually quietly contained are now spilled in piles all around my house.)
it's bad folks.
(my containers were returned last night.)
time to become a CLEANING MACHINE!!

today, i am grateful for blue's clues online and Netflix Christmas specials.
life is good, again.

Merry Christmas!!!

the handmaid of the Lord.

i love this.
we are so blessed.

today.

drew plays trumpet... often.  with gusto!

boy.  i had a hard beginning to this week and i'm having a difficult time pulling myself out of it.

90% of the heartache in my life is hurting for other people, who i love, who make choices that don't bring them happiness.

it is hard.

in just a few days, my life has started to blow me over.

it's AMAZING what a difference a happy heart makes to a mother.

jakob plays drew's trumpet in jazz band-- before school tue and thur morning.

nothing in my life has changed, but i feel heavier.

a bit sad, a bit lonely.
Christmas feels heavier (even though I'm just about done with all the hard stuff).
humph.

jakob seems tiny to me with all those big kids.

this morning i got out my hymn book and sang for my morning devotional time.

it was good for my soul.
i went shopping with a sweet friend and my three kiddos.
that was good for my soul, too.
my husband cooked dinner and i went ALONE to the middle school band concert.
i love band.
i love seeing my sweet boys blowing their instruments with gusto and tapping their foot and being surrounded by other cute kids that i love.

drew is so cute with his trumpet playing friends... they all play trumpet with GUSTO!  i love it.

band was good for my soul.

jakob plays the french horn with his good friend, jared.

i'm going to bed, early.

sleep with be good for my soul.

i'm going to spend a long time on my knees tonight.

prayer is good for my soul.i love this season.

i want to feel the joy of this season.

i want my family to feel the Christmas joy.

even if we are without extended family.

life is good.

we are blessed.

Christmas is good for my soul. 

if you are hurting or lonely or sad or overwhelmed this season... know that my thoughts are with you.

it is hard being sad during the holidays.

i hope that somehow, the Spirit of Christ can conquer all of our sadness and help us be Merry and Bright.

I know He can.

(I'll pray for you and yours, you pray for me and mine-- Ok?)

Did you read my pumpkin edit yesterday?

i know all of you rushed into your dumpsters and rescued your pumpkins after that moving post...

canning pumpkin (without pressurizing it) is dangerous.

most sources don't even recommend canning it with pressure.

freezing still works.

oh, i hate it when my grand plans are not so grand after all... 



love these boys.

maybe tomorrow will be a better day...

(todd and i ended the night by sneaking away with drew to a bakery in town that is open till 9pm. 

i am so blessed and i really, really love the boys in my life.)

sacred pumpkin- EDITED.

i feel sorry for pumpkins.
they are a good squash, that has gotten materialized.
today, so many use pumpkins just as decoration- then throw them away.
(they are a symbol of Halloween and thanksgiving- not of Christmas.)
i have done this for years.
to me, the pumpkin is a symbol of WASTE in America.
a country that has so much, we use food as decoration and then trash them by the thousands.
we throw away thousands, if not hundreds of thousands... and yet COMPLAIN when we can't even BUY canned pumpkin at Wal-Mart.
what is wrong with this picture?
(hah!  some people are passionate about health care-- i am passionate about pumpkins!  not pumpkins really, WASTE.  i feel the gluttony of our American waste.  The things we throw away makes me sad.)

my husband is working with people in 3rd world countries.
people who would be grateful for a pumpkin to eat.

i've kept my perfectly healthy, happy, round pumpkins on my fireplace, because i felt guilty throwing them away.
yesterday i gutted them.
i had my little girls help me pick out the seeds (much more fun than watching Diego, again).
i roasted the seeds with a little salt in the oven at 170* for the afternoon.
they taste great.

i BUY pumpkin seeds every month to put in my granola... and yet i throw away my Halloween pumpkins?!

seriously.

i stuck my halved pumpkins on a cookie sheet and roasted them in my other oven at 350* while i did laundry and straightened up. 

they cooked for about an hour, until my house started to smell like pumpkin pie.

i scraped the pulp and put it in the fridge.

this morning i blended it in the blender, got some jars out and scooped the guts inside.

i'm steaming them in the canner as i type.

(frozen pumpkin works great for pies and bread and is currently the most recommended form of pumpkin storage.)

i like mine for baby food-- and so i'm canning it in smaller jelly jars.

i keep thinking.

we throw these away-- and then we pay $1 for a half a cup of baby food squash.

we are a weird people.

and, as i de-gutted my pumpkin i looked at it like a killed deer.

i felt that the food we are given is sacred.

that i can be a better steward.

i thought of the pilgrims and the Indians, and i vowed to be more grateful.
we have so much.

today, i found holiness in a pumpkin.

EDIT--
We got a text from my SUPER-CANNING husband's cousin's wife...
she informed me that pumpkin needs to be canned with a pressure canner-- which i didn't do.
so, if i don't want my baby to die from botulism, i better freeze it or re-can it.
can you even do that?
anyway... like most of my GOOD INTENTIONS... this may end up down the drain after all.
dumb pumpkin.

one of those days...

love this.

be kind.

this morning i read the first part of this talk to my kids.
The Savior is Counting on You, by Joe J. Christensen.
it was so good.
thought i'd pass it on.
today, i hope they are a little more kind to each other.

The scriptures teach us that whenever we are abusive, thoughtless, or unkind to others, “the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice” (3 Ne. 9:2); also, that “the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen [or the end] to the priesthood or the authority of that man” (D&C 121:37).
Maybe you have thought that doing these little kindnesses doesn’t make much difference, but as Alma said, “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6). We also read: “Be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. [You are a great work in progress.] And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33).

parenting 505.

i love this talk-- What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye To Be? by Elder Lynn G. Robbins
A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and opportunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed, and refined? Could it be possible that you need this child as much as this child needs you?

i was contemplating this post... about a child that is continually difficult and yet completely enthralling to me.
i was going to say that i have one child that has taken much to parent, patience to the nth degree.
she's feisty and smart and continuous.  part rotten and part charming.

and then, i thought, oh yeah-- and that child.

pesky and funny and quirky and sleeps in a sleeping bag in the hallway because he has some serious sound sensitivity (sleeps with ear plugs and a fan on high and still can't stand hearing his brother breathe deeply at night)

and then that child came to mind and her particular oddities.
her creative, messy, emotional, sneaky, drama self.

and then i thought of my other two perfectionist children who are really, really good... as long as proper balance is maintained.
but, tip them over a little bit and you open up a damn of emotions that must be carefully coaxed back into place.

and then, the baby.
she is happy and joyful and SO fun... and active all day.
she's crawling and into everything.
honestly, i've never had a baby like her- she's going to be a piece of work.
and, she is NOT a good sleeper.  i really am up many times with her in the night-- she knows just what she wants (to nurse) and she is SCREAMING mad if it doesn't come fast enough or if i try to give her a pacifier.
she's more stubborn than me.
but, she is so delightfully charming all the other times of her life i just feel like i can't complain.
i'll take her-- rotten sleeper and all.

lily is the only one left.  and she really is darling.  she whines and is particular about who can help her out of the car or who sits by her.  she won't tell people her name (she's embarrassed that she says "Willy"), and she still sucks her thumb (is that bad for age 3?)  but overall, she's easy for me to parent.
honestly, i think God sent me my kids in pairs, an easier with a harder...
is that bad for me to say?

all of my kids are completely AMAZING... partly rotten... unique... very, very smart... overall very well-behaved.
i have shiny kids.
kids who aren't afraid to try new things.
kids who think and interact well with others.
my kids are not always obedient, they are not always neat, they are not always respectful, they are not always kind to each other.  some times they are just plain rotten.  and then, two minutes later they are saintly.
i just remembered one of my nephews who used to say often, "I WANT TO LISTEN TO SATAN!!"  :)

(leah and lily just came up from their bedroom again to tell me that they are still awake.  lily said, "Mom, we have some BAD NEWS.  We have BAD NEWS mom."  How can i laugh inside at them, know they are darling and normal, and at the same time be so mad that they are out of bed?  ugh.)

but, oh heaven... i have learned much from parenting the lot of them.
half the time i have no idea what i'm doing.
half the time i want to write a book about all that i've learned.
half the time i'm amazed when i see their goodness.
half the time i'm praying that heaven will teach me how to teach them.
half the time i'm thanking God for my life.
half the time i'm wondering how the heck i got myself into such a mess.

i was sitting by lily at lunch today and she said to leah "ha ha, mom is sitting by me."
leah asked, "are you sitting my me too, mom?"
i said, "yup, see?  i can reach you."
lily said, "oh, you're sitting by both of us."
(my kids are always fine as long as i am close enough to touch them.)
leah said, "you have long arms, don't you mom.  and Jesus has the longest arms, right mom?  He can always touch all of us."
seriously?  i LOVE that kid.
and, i love Jesus with his LONGEST arms.

leah is into sending telepathic messages.
i think it comes from teaching about the Holy Ghost, but i'm not sure.
she was quiet for a minute and said, "Did you hear that message mom?  Did you hear what I was thinking?"
i said, "Yup."
she asked, "What did i say?"
i told her, "You said you loved me.  Did you hear my message back?"
she said, "Yup.  You said you loved me too.  A whole bunch."
then she said, "Did you hear that message?"
i said "Yup."
she said, "So, can I mom?"
i said, "Nope."
she said, "Dang it, I knew it."
so funny.

we went to a friend's house for dinner and a devotional tonight.
my kids weren't very well-behaved, especially when it was time to leave.
i'm afraid i over-reacted putting them to bed, because i'm exhausted.
leah was especially rotten.
i yelled as i was coaxing them into jammies and tooth brushing and bed time.
leah said, "Guys, I'm sorry about this.  Mom's just cranky because I really made wrong choices tonight.  Didn't I mom?"
i agreed, she really was a little stink tonight.
she asked, "Can I say the family prayer?"
in her prayer she said, "please bless Mom that she will feel happiness and joy.  and please bless us that we can be a little bit better so we can help her feel more happiness and joy."
isn't that cute?

what a gift she is to me in my life.
a sweet, precious gift.
they all are.
every minute i thank God for sending me these children.
life is hard-- for everyone.
we are all learning and growing and becoming.
me, i just get to learn from 7 of my most favorite people ever.

i was straightening up last night, after a very late night shopping trip and a fun-filled Saturday at home.
i cleaned up bins of play-doh and odd shoes and unpacked groceries full of teething biscuits and stuff for secret santa-ing.  and i thought again, "This is IT.  This is my FAVORITE stage of life.  I am going to miss these days when they are gone.  I LOVE IT RIGHT HERE, right now, with these guys."

did you hear that?

yup.
i love them.
a lot.
and today, i'm so grateful for the lessons i learn EVERY DAY in my parenting 505 class.
i would choose this life again, if i could start over.
life is good.

The Greatest Challenge in the World-- Good Parenting.  by Elder James E. Faust,  Oct 1990
In my opinion, the teaching, rearing, and training of children requires more intelligence, intuitive understanding, humility, strength, wisdom, spirituality, perseverance, and hard work than any other challenge we might have in life.


To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.

Parental teaching moments need not be big or dramatic or powerful. We learn this from the Master Teacher. Charles Henry Parkhurst said:

“The completed beauty of Christ’s life is only the added beauty of little inconspicuous acts of beauty—talking with the woman at the well; showing the young ruler the stealthy ambition laid away in his heart that kept him out of the Kingdom of Heaven; … teaching a little knot of followers how to pray; kindling a fire and broiling fish that his disciples might have a breakfast waiting for them when they came ashore from a night of fishing, cold, tired, and discouraged. All of these things, you see, let us in so easily into the real quality and tone of [Christ’s] interests, so specific, so narrowed down, so enlisted in what is small, so engrossed with what is minute.” (“Kindness and Love,” in Leaves of Gold, Honesdale, Pa.: Coslet Publishing Co., 1938, p. 177.)

And so it is with being parents. The little things are the big things sewn into the family tapestry by a thousand threads of love, faith, discipline, sacrifice, patience, and work.

order.

found this here.
love it.

random good things.

beautiful oregon.

1.  Volunteering at school.
i have a love/hate relationship with volunteering at school.  i love being in the school with my kids, getting to know the students and staff.  i don't like filing Tuesday folder papers while the teachers sit and talk together.  my time is valuable.  my time is my most sacred commodity.  Today was JUST what i love!!  I went to Ellie's class and for one hour i taught them how to be more descriptive.  We wrote thank you letters to their mothers.  I had copied some calligraphy/fun fonts on a handout for them and on their final draft they used fancy handwriting.  I brought Eve and Lily with me along with a cute home schooled girl from church.  it was perfect.  one hour, in the classroom, really doing what i love to do and leaving my small fingerprint.  Next week we're painting canvas pictures of their mothers... and in January I get to come up with an art project that goes along with the immigration unit.  i love it.

2.  Little House on the Prairie Wisdom.
"Jack's afraid of something," Mary said.
"Jack's not afraid of anything, ever!" Laura contradicted.
"Laura, Laura," Ma said.  "It isn't nice to contradict."
oh, i learn something every day from that saint of a Ma.

3.  Talking about Marriage.
I have a friend who made an off-handed statement to me one day that she and her husband were fighting.  Every time I see them I think they're fighting.  I find myself analyzing their marriage interactions.  Today, I wondered how many times I have made off-handed, casual statements to others about silly disagreements todd and i have? i wonder if weeks after i've said something people look at us and think we have a struggling marriage.  i need to be more careful with my words.

can you find anna?  she's singing at a retirement home.

4.  Fuel or Water.
Drew is a teaser.  Today Anna was having a hard day.  She was the lunch helper and had to leave early for lunch.  She didn't get to finish her worksheet, so she tried to finish it when she got back and missed her teacher explaining the next worksheet.  And then her teacher went on to Math and she was still trying to finish her Social Studies-- which was about Texas, and she saw Lubbock on there.  And, she felt homesick.  So, she put her head on her desk and fake cried.  (She really said that, I can't make this stuff up...)  And then, Leah unplugged her vacuum when she was trying to get her jobs done... and THEN drew grabbed the cord and started teasing her... that was the final straw.  (Oh, it is hard being a 4th grade perfectionist.)  I had a chance to chat with drew.  I explained that sometimes people are smoldering.  Today, it was Anna.  He had the choice to add fuel to the fire or water.  It was an inspired analogy, I learned as I taught.  And, I was grateful.  For a cranky 4th grader, a teasey 6th grader, and an omniscient Father who whispers just what I need to know when I need to know it.  God is good.{He who drinks of these waters shall never thirst...} I want to be like the Water more often.

5.  Surfing Laundry.
i wrote this post about SURFING housework.  My main idea was that sometimes changing housework from a duty to a passion inspires you to enjoy and not dread your work.  This is a true principle.  This week I have experimented with a new approach to laundry.  A friend of mine, who is amazing, told me this is what she does.  I have the kids bring up a basket with their dirty clothes in the morning.  I throw a load or two in quickly before I start my day, and I send them downstairs with a basket of clean clothes after school.  I feel like Superwoman!!  Everything in my house is washed, dried, folded and PUT AWAY...  laundry isn't mountainous, it's simple and neat.  Laundry has become a daily background NOT a focus.  Sometimes I wonder why it has taken me so long to learn these principles.  I think it is because God knew I needed to struggle-- in the struggling to find order in my home I have learned empathy.  I have learned to cherish true principles of order.  When you're drowning, try surfing, you may find that you really, really like it.

Oh, how I'm loving December.
i hope you are too!
thanks for listening to my rambles.
have a great weekend.

o tannenbaum.

2:45 pm. :: wake little girls up from naps.

3:00 pm. :: pick bigger kids up from middle school.

3:30 pm. :: drew- basketball at middle school.

4:00 pm. :: anna and ellie- knitting at the church.

4:30 pm. :: mom, eve, lily- drop fake bread off at the Stake Center for their Creche' Exhibit.

(remember last year, miss my sweet friends in Texas)

5:00 pm. :: pick girls up from church... say a prayer that basketball goes a little over, drew hates being picked up late.

5:10 pm. :: pick drew up from basketball... he said he was only waiting for "like 30 seconds" {grateful}.
5:20 pm. :: pull into garage-- coax the professor to come into the car for a Christmas tree adventure.
5:30 pm. :: head to McDounalds to get Drew two double cheeseburgers and two "large" waters.  Cost $3.30.  The Professor is upset.  A McDouble costs only $1 (same as a double cheeseburger with only ONE piece of cheese), and a regular water is FREE.  (who knew?!)  I was NOT about to change my order at the second window.  Donate $1.30 for McDonalds drive through peace.  (Drew shares bites with all the other kids... they are promised frozen ravioli for dinner!)
5:40 pm. :: Found the tree farm on Philomath main street that i had never seen before, but heard about.  (Only had to turn around twice.)
PITCH BLACK outside.
5:41 pm. :: sat in the car while the professor tried to encourage us to go home and get a tree another day...  so glad the owner came out and laughed when I said we were here to cut down a tree...
5:50 pm. :: waited while the owner found us some flash lights.

5:51 pm. :: found the PERFECT tree-- we're not picky... just wanted BIG, not too expensive ($15), and pretty.

6:00 pm. :: cut, dragged, wrapped and loaded our little bunch of Christmas cheer.

6:10 pm. :: dropped drew off at the Church for scouts.

6:20 pm. :: home, fed the baby, started dinner, unloaded the tree.

6:50 pm. :: ate dinner.

7:00 pm. :: the professor and jakob head to youth night.

7:10 pm. :: mom and the girls go pick up drew.

dishes, bed time. 

visions of sugar plums.

morning comes.

the house smells like fresh pine.

another day begins...

life is good.

don't you love her?

our sweet tree...

do you wonder why she isn't in the center of the picture?

well, you can't really have a post about Christmas trees, and include our Thanksgiving pumpkins?!
(tell me i can just throw them away WITHOUT roasting them and making homemade pumpkin pie...)
tis the season!!

healed AGAIN!

my kids are always saying, "mom, i'll pray about you."

followed by a sweet toddler prayer, "please bless mom that she won't be so cranky."

it works.

for lunch the other day, i couldn't open the juice container.

leah said, "i know!  i'll say a prayer for you."

a few seconds later, i popped that juice container open and leah proclaimed,

"See Mom!  It worked! Jesus HEALED you again!!"

i love that girl.

i love the sweet faith of children.

i KNOW Christ does heal us... again and again.

and, i'm grateful.

countdown to christmas.

we made a chain today.

because our goose is getting fat!!

tonight, for family night, we talked about our Christmas Elving.

this year we are doing a homemade Christmas- with the kids.

everyone picks one person and MAKES them a gift.

i'm excited.

and nervous.

for the past many years, we have done dollar store gifts.

we bring each kid with a list of siblings, mom, dad, and grandparents, and we let them loose at the dollar store.

i love that tradition-- the kids get so excited to wrap everything and present their own handpicked gift.

this year, we're vamping things up by having them each choose one sibling, and helping them to MAKE a gift.
(they have the week off before Christmas, so they'll have time to finish things up.)
i'm so excited to see what they make.

i love Christmas.

especially with a house full of little elves.

ps.
we sang "jingle bells" with trumpet accompaniment as our closing song.
and then jolly old st. Nicholas.
and jingle bells again.

if you have never had a child learn to play the trumpet in your home, you are truly missing out.

it is very funny. and AWFUL (at first).
VERY bad and VERY loud.  it really is humerous to listen to.
but, it's only Christmas and it's getting so much better.
it's amazing what they can learn... seriously, my kid can play a trumpet.  sort of.

i LOVE Christmas songs with trumpet.
and, i kinda love the CONSTANT blowing and humming of tight-lipped raspberry noises during scripture time and dinner and breakfast and chore time...

oh, those band teachers are SAINTS.

my kids are already planning our holiday treat drop-offs complete with trumpet caroling.

as we were singing, lily kept saying, "Why are you laughing mom?  Stop laughing."

i LOVE these kids.

life is so good.

really.