Christmas

I feel good today.  Often on the evening of Christmas some sort of depression sets in.  But today has been full of family, music and tenderness.  I enjoyed being at church today.  To reflect on feelings of the past couple of months... of gratitude for a good husband, children that are growing and trying to make sense of all that's around them, of peace that comes when I think on the Lord and his goodness, of compassion and understanding for those that I see struggling, of patience for my own inadequacies and of knowledge that the Lord knows me and wants me to find joy.

Happy Christmas

Living Nativity

Had a fun night out with the family last night. 

Earlier in the week the kids asked if they could please, please go the Living Nativity  that's put on by the Seventh Day Adventist church every year.  We alwaysmean to go, but last year was the first time we actually made it.  And the kids remembered it.  And it was an even better experience this year.

First of all, Clive the Camel showed up this year (I guess last year he was sick).  So that was fun.  But the whole event is great.  The Romans welcome you (and give you a booklet to hold the stickers you get at each station) and then you go to the Census station to be numbered.  All the volunteers are in character and will ask the kids things like, 'So how did you come this evening?  By horse, or donkey, or perhaps a chariot?'.  To which Thomas replied, 'No.  We came by car (like, duh!)'.  Then to the 'Temple' building holding a replica of the ark, a veil, unleavened bread, etc.  A man gave an nice explanation of the symbolism within with the kids actually really listened to.  There's the inn, the manger (all with real animals for petting) and posted correlated scriptures you could read to the kids at each place.  The carpenter is actually making little wooden crosses to hand out, the fish market has actual smoked fish going.  Then the indoor market is just as fun and informative to give you a feel of the times when Jesus lived on Earth.  Ends with warm treats and a band performing Christmas hymns you can sing along with.  Quite a production. I enjoy having opportunities throughout to answer my kids questions and be in a positive environment.  The kids individually would get excited about something they saw here or there and call a sibling over to share it with.   There were good moments like the ones you always envision before doing things together (but that as often as not don't go as smoothly as planned with kids teasing and bickering and such).  At the end we were all finishing up our hot chocolate and were standing between an outdoor fire getting warm and the camel.  Slowly, Clive's head came craning around our direction and I say, 'Hey kids look!  Clive is checking us out!'.  And then in the blink of an eye his large muzzle darted directly at me- or rather at the cup of Hot chocolate I was holding.  He came within an inch of the cup when the rope on him caught.  Took me by surprise!

Finished up the evening with some traditional Friday night pizza.

Thanksgiving

Ah....little ones enjoying Saturday morning cartoon, Papa and Milla off to Tri-cities for a temple trip and I get a few minutes to sit and think over the last couple weeks.  It's been a nice time with family.  Because of budget cuts, my kids got the entire Thanksgiving Week off of school.  And we took advantage of the time to be together.  Saturday was official 'Fix the oven that we just realized was taking an hour to preheat' day.  After doing a little internet research and dissecting our oven we figured out the culprit was the igniter.  Brandon called every place he could think of to find the part, but to no avail.  So we went oven shopping (knowing we didn't have time to order the part before Wednesday pie baking).  But at one locally owned store we mentioned we really just needed an igniter and the owner replied...I think I might have one of those out in my van!  We watched hopefully out the window as he began sorting through an impressive mound of boxes.  Only took about 5 minutes for him to emerge victorious.  2 snipped wires and 15 screws later we had ourselves a working oven! So much fun.  I love home repairs when it actually works.  I was ready to tackle anything  after that.

Part of our Thankful Wall we had up for all of November

'There's only one place I like to be at Thanksgiving'  'Hawaii' (by Rin)

'Are you OK Bob?'  sign:bob  by Rin

  Monday the kids made and put up Thanksgiving decorations and Sean began his week of subbing in for a friend on his paper route.  He has always enjoyed wandering around the neighborhood so I don't think this ended up being too much of a chore.  I went with him a few times (as did Grandpa) and enjoyed the time to chat. 

by Milla

Turkey:'to the South'  Hunter: 'Wait a minute..???' by Sean

A recycle of Sean's birthday Dr. Who decor.  Now a couple pilgrims and a turkey. 'Pie or Turkey?'

 On Tuesday morning we got to visit the dentist!  The kids went back two at a time and emerged an hour or so later, mouths brighter and mama's pocket book (much, much) lighter.   Nana and Grandpa Dave showed up right on time Tuesday evening.  Wednesday we baked, and baked and baked.  We only had 6 pies on the menu but somehow ended up with 8.   No one was complaining.  Thanksgiving was lovely.  Nana had brought a fresh turkey and, cooked breast side down as Nana insisted, the flavor was divine.  Everything came out on schedule except the rolls, but they made it to the table only 5 minutes after we began eating so we survived.  My favorite part was that the men did most of the clean-up (Grandpa Dave was a power washer the whole week) giving Nana and I a chance to sing around the piano.

Rin and Sean made some games for later in the afternoon.  Fill the cornucopia Relay, Feed the turkey, and Dunk the turkey all made the cut.

Friday Nana and Grandpa were kind enough to watch the kids while Brandon and I took a day trip to Tri-cities to go the the temple and do some Christmas shopping.  Despite being on snowpack for the first 45 min of the drive through the pass, we arrived safely and quickly.  We didn't make it back until 7:30, but the family walked over to La Grande's 'Light the Downtown' parade that evening.

Dress up time. After this Dad told me the story of taking Shannon into Misawa and how everyone wanted to pat her little blonde head.

Saturday Nana and Grandpa headed home :(  We finished off the week with a matinee to see the Muppet Movie and have been enjoying hearing the kids fit quotes from it into conversation ever since.

Chrismas suprises

Brandon got me a Christmas cactus a few years back.  This is a plant for the soul.  When everything else is slowing, hunkering down for the months (and months-- in our case) of cold winter weather, this plant suddenly emerges with delicate blossoms.  A little bright spot for my day.  And the funny thing is, that every year come October I look at my little plant and think, 'it looks so weary!  I'm not sure I'll get any blossoms this year'.  And then not a month later those little buds appear, sometimes 2, on every single stem.

 One of God's little gifts to make me smile.

Another little bright spot in my day. Rin is always doing a craft, building shadow box, etc using whatever she can scrap together...here is this weeks creation 'Reindeer Dog'

Marshmallow roasting

 We finally got a firepit for the patio I put in last summer!  We got our first marshmallow roast (burn) in just before the first snowfall.  Really nice to be outside and actually USE our backyard.  Nala, our neighbors new hound puppy was going wild not being able to share in our feast, but we thought we probably shouldn't share (Henry did, however, get one marshmallow away from me when I wasn't looking).  We decided to go with the jumbo sized marshmallows that are advertised as being for roasting...not the best idea.  It takes forever to get the center soft before burning the outside (or before I lose patience), and there is no way to get a bite out of

one without smearing it all over every thing.  You can see my attempt  to the left there.  Not pretty.  Not pretty at all.  Not having graham crackers but having a leftover hershey's bar from Halloween, Catherine made chocolate sandwiches with hers...ah, well, everything is more fun when you are covered in sugar, right?

Thomas was more intrigued by the fire than the marshmallows

Sean doing a much better job than I was

Sticky hands!

november odds and ends

 Just thought I'd post some random things my kids have been up to.
 1.  Harp:  Milla has been taking harp for 2 1/2 years now (if my memory serves me right) and is coming along beautifully.  She first told me she wanted to play the harp when she was 3.  Although we went through a few rough patches, as most children do, when she really didn't want to practice, she now seems to genuinely being enjoying it.  The best thing for mom is that the harp sounds beautiful from day one.  Even when you don't know what you are doing.  And I get to sit outside her room or on her bed and listen in sometimes as she plays and just close my eyes and

relax.  It's lovely.  Catherine has been telling me for at least the last year that SHE wants to play the harp as well.  I don't know if it's for the love of the instrument or the love of her big sister.  She's going to begin piano in January and I told her after 2 years of that if she still wants to play harp she can give it a try.

2. Henry:  The kids are always asking me to take pictures of them with Henry.  Especially Catherine.  So I posted a couple.  Catherine with a genuine smile and Sean always wanting to make us laugh.

 3. Indoor baseball:  This game began while I was otherwise occupied.  I sort of winced when I came out and saw Thomas winding up, but the kids seemed to be having so much fun I didn't have the heart to stop them.  I'm always encouraging the kids to come up with non-media fun, so here you have it.  No tears, no fighting (yeah, we get a little of that at our house...), everyone taking turns.  And at the end of it, not one piece of the crystal chandelier above Catherine's head there was down on the carpet!

origami

So, I've been without my husband, Milla and Sean since Thursday night.  Not able to go to sleep without my honey, I was scanning netflix for something to distract me.  Came across a documentary on Origami, which was advertised as a 'provocative odyssey into the mesmerizing world of modern origami'.   I've always enjoyed my short experiences with origami, but never thought of it as 'provocative' or 'mesmerizing'.  So I decided to give it a go.  An hour has never gone so quickly.  It was fascinating and motivating and everyone doing it just seemed so happy! I guess like anyone with a great passion...but I was just awed!   Towards the end of the documentary it was talking about origami relating to mathmatical theories as well as practical applications.  I turned off the TV and immediately got a piece of paper and attempted to replicate one of the simpler things the math guys were showing. So basically just paper folded into 4 triangles and then concentric rectangles from the center out...two sides of the rectangle folded identically, the other 2 reverse folded and so on.  Shows how the paper naturally shapes into a pringle like curve...or it seems one of those ways they say the universe might be shaped or something.  Anyhow.  I was just excited my poorly creased paper actually began to take on the intended shape.   Now what to do next?