Weekly List -- Birthday Gifts

I am always on the look out for nice, moderately priced birthday gifts to give to my friends.   I have been stuck in a rut for a long time of only giving candles and lotion.  Don't get me wrong, I love receiving candles and lotion, but I've been attempting to branch out and find something more creative -- even if it's just a little something different to spice up the usual gift.  So here's my list for the week:

5 Gifts I've Recently Bought or Received

1.  Head Trip Messager -- You can not even believe the tingly pleasure of this little contraption. (O.K. -- is it just me or did that sound a little dirty?)  Seriously though -- you've got to try it. :)

2. Chat Pack  -- Fun little item to throw in a gift bag to spark conversation anywhere!

3. Bananagrams  -- My new favorite game.  But beware, Cal and I can get pretty competitive -- the dictionary will come out!

4. Throw Blankets  -- With the stinkin' cold temperatures around here you can't go wrong with a gift to keep you warm!  I really like the Home Cherapa Blanket at Target -- so soft and warm.    However, on-line they only had this in country blue (perhaps my favorite color in the 80's -- not so much anymore).  I thought this Faux Fur Cheetah Throw was pretty fun too.

5.  Juice Glasses -- These are just so cute and definitely not something you buy yourself everyday!

So that's my list, but if you prefer to fall back on the standard candle gift, I love the Tyler Candle Company. (Hippie Chick and High Maintenance scents).  And for lotion -- Crabtree & Evelyn LaSource body lotion smells so good and the 60 Second Fix for hands is amazing!

And I can't forget the Birthday card -- Naugthy Betty cards often make me LOL. (Disclaimer -- some are just plain naughty, but others are hilarious).  This one hit home with me:

For something more dignified I like Quotable Cards.  They are often simple yet poignant. 

Well, now I've ruined the surprise for the next person I will be giving a gift to -- but I managed a list 3 weeks in a row. Woo Hoo!

It happened again!

I really didn't realize at the start of this school year just how many times I would be struck by the feeling of "I will never experience that again with my kids."  It's usually just a fleeting instant, a passing thought that makes me melancholy for a moment.

This past week it happened at swimming lessons. 

Taryn has now graduated to the school-aged section of swimming lessons.  She is no longer in the shallow waters of the pool where mom could reach and rescue her in a moments notice.  She is big and hanging onto the side of the pool in the deep end.

I seriously feel like I should still be controlling a curious toddler on the side of the pool who wants to join big sis or bro in the water.  But in reality, I'm a mother of school-aged kids.  I'm that mom who can sit quietly by the side of the pool and read her book!

O.K.  I get it. I think that look says "I have it under control mom!  I'm a big girl!"

Well good.  My moment of melancholy passed.  Aided quickly by the 3-year-old girl who screamed her bloody head off calling for her mama the entire 1/2 hour lesson!  I've been there before...wanting to give in and grab your crying baby while at the same time, not wanting to lose the power struggle, not fun!  But now it wasn't my struggle.  My only challenge was tuning out the shrieking while I tried to read my book.

What's the Message?

Taryn is a talker.  In fact, she rarely stops talking.  When we drive around in the car, there is a constant stream of words coming from her mouth.  I will admit...sometimes I tune her out.  But I try to listen in on her ramblings, and sometimes they make me stop and think.

The other night we were driving home from somewhere and she was going on and on about the wise man and the foolish man.

"And the wiseman, he built his house on the rock and the rock is like Jesus.  And the foolish man, he built his house on the sand and he had lots of friends and was having a big party and the wise he didn't have any friends and was alone on the rock."

I think -- well that's interesting...so I ask her, "Why do you say that the wiseman didn't have any friends?"

"That's what the pictures in the book show. The foolish man had lots of friends at his house."

So I say, "I bet the wise man who built his life on Jesus had lots of friends too."

To which she says, "Yeah, maybe he was best friends with the foolish man."

Well, I'm not sure about that, but she starts in on something else. So I let it go.

But it made me think about what message our kids get -- not from the words of the parable of the wise and foolish builders, but from the pictures that are in children's books.  We also have a book about Noah -- and it demonstrates the terrible evil in the world with a picture of people all together, eating grapes and drinking, while Noah is over by his ark hammering away.

Do these pictures send the message to children that Christians really shouldn't have any fun or any friends?  That only the bad people are the ones who have parties?

I hope not.  I think Jesus loves it when His children have just plain old good fun!  I am sure Jesus had times of fun on earth -- moments spent laughing and enjoying the company of His disciples.  His first miracle occured at a wedding party.  Fellowship and community are wonderful gifts from God.

Or, on the flip side, maybe these picture books send the message that Christians are to live lives that are different, set apart.  Lives that don't conform to the world and aren't measured by what man thinks but by what God thinks.

That's a really good message to...but I'm afraid our little 5-year-old social butterfly might miss that point. 

In the end, however, both Noah and the wise man are saved from floods.  Hopefully, that's the message she'll walk away with -- "Build your life on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!"   Not who was having a party!

The Weekly List -- Winter Wonderland

Here I am, continuing in my quest to provide a weekly list!  Two weeks in a row!

I do plan to continue blogging about many other things as well. If only I had the time...I have so many thoughts and moments to capture that are rolling around in my head.  One of these days I might work myself up to blogging more consistently.

Anywho...Here is my list of this week:

My 5 Favorite Photos of our Winter Wonderland

A week ago, I was commenting on what a beautiful winter it has been....piles of white snow, frosted trees every morning...it really has been breathtaking. 

However, now, a week later, my mood is a bit different.  The sun has seemingly disappeared...hiding it's face for over a week.  Giving me moments where I think I am living in Narnia during the reign of the White Witch.

So in my attempt to endure this weather, I will remind myself of the beauty of it with the following 5 photos:

 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

As an added bonus, I have included two additional shots to demonstrate just exactly  how much snow we have had.

I have great appreciation for the warmth of my home!

Weekly List

I am a lover of lists.  I keep lists at work, lists at home, lists for future projects, lists for people to pray for, lists of favorite Bible verses, lists of books I need to read, movies I need to see, songs I need to download....

I also love the end-of-year lists that come out at at the close of every year -- Top 10 movies of 2009, top 10 most embarrassing TV moments, Top 10 sports plays of the year.

And I realized that MANY of my blog entries are lists -- things I'm thankful for, things I try to do for the environment, things I bought, ways I'm losing it.

I think lists are my attempt to have some organization to the spaghetti noodles of my brain. 

So I decided that every week I am going to blog about any random list that is in my brain. I have no idea if I will be successful at doing this more than today -- but maybe I will surprise myself!

Here is this week's featured list --

5 Things Chalrie (the dog) ate in the last Month

1. Lindor Chocolates -- I bought Lindor chocolates to put in the kids' stockings and I hid them on the floor of my closet.  Charlie sniffed them out...mananged to tear open the package and eat 10 chocolates before we found him.  We know it was 10 because somehow he managed to unwrap them -- Cal said "It's like he has opposable thumbs."
2. Taryn's Gingerbread House -- Don't ask me how he did it --We placed the house in the middle of the dinning room table, but he still managed to get a corner and yank it down and start feasting.
3. Computer Cartridge Box -- In his defense, we left him alone from 3pm to 8pm and held off feeding him.  Poor thing was hungry. The only thing he could reach while we were gone was a Wal-Mart bag on the table -- He attempted to attack the shaving cream that was in there, but settled for a box.  We found the computer cartridge in his bed -- but the box it came in was nowhere to be found.  I figure he ate the whole thing.
4. A roll of Toilet Paper -- This is not unusual.  Toilet paper does seem to be Charlie's delicacy of choice.  I have picked up more TP poop in my yard than you can imagine!  Usually we catch him in the act because he pulls a long strand from the bathroom to his doggie bed.  So every time we leave the house we are sure to shut our bathroom door.  However, the one time we forget-- the entire roll was pretty much gone.
5. Steak Bones -- Again -- had we shut the pantry door where our garbage is stored when we left the house we could have avoided this issue.  Unfortuneately, we came home to the garbage tipped over and spread across the kitchen floor.  Not surprisingly -- the steakbones we had thrown away after supper were missing.

How his digestive system manages to process these items is a mystery to me, but he doesn't seem to learn.

And how can I stay mad with a face like that!

Typical

Well, there is nothing typical about this much snow.  I haven't seen this much snow in years and I don't know if my kids ever have.

As we were playing in the snow on Christmas day, enjoying one of the best and biggest snowstorms in years, I thought....I should write a blog about ALL of the snow we got and about how much fun we had in it and then include a photo of the kids in our winter wonderland. So that is what I set out to do.  And as far as the fun and the snow, it's all true.  

However, as I looked over my photos, I had to laugh because I realized that as I attempted to take one beautiful staged photo of our kids in the winter wonderland, I actually captured a series of pictures that tell a much bigger story.  The following photos exemplify exactly how things typically go in our household.

Let me elaborate...

It starts with me making a simple request of the kids.

"Can you all please look at me for just a second so I can get a picture?"

But I am ignored.

Rather, Carter, the typical instigator of trouble, smears Paige's face with a handful of snow.

I ask again, "Hey, kids, stop a minute.  Just one smile."

Still no one seems to hear me.  Instead, Paige retaliates.

And as usual, her retaliation includes far more volume and furry than the original attack. Typically causing her to be the one to get reprimanded, even though Carter often starts it (which we don't learn til later).  This time she all-out tackles him.

(You got to love Taryn's face in this picture.  As usual she is mixed up in the middle of things.  Thankfully, this time she's laughing and not crying.)

I'm getting a little louder ...."HELLO, can anyone hear me? I just want one nice picture."

Not quite yet.  I haven't asked 4 times and that's usually what it takes.  Besides, Carter still looks a little dazed from Paige's assault.

"LOOK AT ME."

There!  We did it!  They looked and smiled!

So yes, it usally takes at least 4 times for me to ask before they give me the response I'm looking for. 

And I'm sure there is a parenting magazine out there somewhere that would tell me to just ask them once and then either walk away or have some sort of consequence that I would need to follow through on and then eventually, I wouldn't need to nag.  I believe it's probably really good advice because most of the time the fact that I am completely ignored until I raise my voice makes me crazy.

Oh well, for today, if they had listened the first time, we would have missed a lot of fun!  And all I would have is one boring photo of them smiling!

Christmas Greeting 2009

Do you ever still feel it...That child-like excitement over Christmas....That energy-charged feeling that surrounds everything in the season?  Where every little moment is filled with wonderment?

I'll admit I rarely feel it any more.  Every once in a while a phrase of a Christmas carol will bring back that nostalgic feeling -- but only for a moment.  I'm afraid I fall into the majority of people whom I know who feel a bit frazzled and unprepared. 

It certainly didn't help that yesterday, 3 days before Christmas, as I was trying to buy the final 5 gifts on my list, I ran into a bit of car trouble.  I was in a hurry and feeling guilty because my kids were already on Christmas vacation and sitting home by themselves, rather than playing games, making puzzles & eating cookies with dear old mom.

I was leaving the mall parking lot, when I notice this blinking warning on my dash -- "Check Tire Pressure".  I think to myself, "That's interesting, I'll need to ask Cal about that.  I hope it is like the 'Low Fuel' warning that allows me to drive another 40 miles before taking action."  Well, apparently that is not the case. As I pulled onto the road into the crazy, last-minute-Christmas-shopping traffic, I experienced a lurching "th-thump, th-thump".  Not good.  I manuever into the next shopping center parking lot and call Cal's cell...then his work...and then I text him. Where is he when I need him?  I have no idea what I should do.  I'll admit that I pride myself on being a relatively independent girl with an "I can handle anything" kind of attitude, but this was way past my limit.  Me? Change a tire in the slush and snow? I don't think so.  I figured I might as well shop while I wait to hear from Cal.  He called me back shortly to say he was on his way to rescue me.  He bravely faced the elements...changing my tire, while trying to keep his nice work clothes clean.  I sat in his warm car offering words of encouragement through the window and telling him I was paying attention so that I could do it myself next time. :)  An hour and a half later, I was on my way home.

Well -- with that fun adventure behind us and one more day of preparing for the festivities accomplished -- I am now looking forward to a joyous Christmas.  And in an attempt to bring some nostalgia back to our Christmas season-- I thought I would share Christmas through our children's eyes:

Christmas Lights

 Merry Christmas from our Home to yours.  According to our children, the simplicity our lighted wreath and trees is boring.  They would much rather our house looked like the Griswold's.

The Advent Calendar

An early morning ritual.  The anticipation of counting down is essential.

Let it Snow...

The snow is beautiful, but, unfortuneatly, has already ruined a few holiday plans as the biggest snow storm in 7 years is predicted for Christmas Eve.

Cutting down The Tree

Carter was almost "man" enough at 9-years-old to help carry the tree this year. However, in his naturally uninhibited way, he kept yelling "Ouch" and sharing with everyone exactly where the tree was hitting him.  I had to take over.

The Christmas Program

What could be better than little children singing their hearts out about Jesus' birth?

Taryn is still wearing her flower girl dress from this summer. We adapted it with red sweater and red shoes for Christmas. (Thank you Jesse and Emily -- we have gotten our use out of this dress. It was also part of her "Beauty Queen Costume" for Halloween.)

The Creche

Over the years, our kids have all pretended and played with these figures.  We figured it didn't hurt to  let their imaginations flow about baby Jesus in the manger.  However, this year Taryn maybe got a little carried away when she introduced Ken and Barbie to Mary and Joseph and the WiseMen.  I wasn't sure if that was crossing the line.  But perhaps that is just the point of Christmas -- Jesus crossed that line and made his home among us -- Barbies and all.

Sparkling Ornaments

The Santa Hat

This hat comes out every year in December and Carter sleeps with it on most nights -- "And I in my kerchief and ma in her cap" ...

Christmas Carols

 Paige plays a wonderful rendition of "O, Come all you Faithful" on the piano which she was able to share at church.

Christmas Cookies

Aren't our aprons cute? (Thanks Mom!)

I'm glad we looked "cute" when we baked because our finished product certainly did not.  As I was lamenting over our sloppy work, Paige said to me, "At least we had fun. And they taste good. And this way you won't give them away."

Family

As I look over all these pictures, I realize that while I might no longer get that giddy Christmas feeling, and cars will break down and schedules will stay hectic, life is sure good when you carve out a few minutes to do something special for Christmas. 

And upon reflection, while the child-like excitement of Christmas may not last into adulthood, the truth and wonder of Christmas is more real to us than ever.  The thought of God becoming a human baby...the idea that the Almighty creator of the Universe came to earth and cried and cooed, that He teethed and crawled and took first steps...is no longer just a sweet story -- it is an event that we can't even begin to grasp.  We can't fathom the depth of God's love for us that He would come and dwell among us.

So maybe it's just a different kind of feeling now...not a giddy excitement, but an awe-filled humility.   

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel,  which means ‘God is with us.’”  Matthew 1:23

Wishing you a wonder-filled Christmas!

Cal, Jen, Paige, Carter and Taryn