Well after days of hype about the “huge nor’easter” that was supposed to “slam our area with feet of snow and ice” and all that stuff… we ended up with a light sprinkling of crunchy snow to add to the 6 or so inches already on the ground. Huh. (And I thought Missouri weather was unpredictable!) But it’s ok; we’ve got enough for a white Christmas, and there are still plenty of months left for snowstorms!

We did have a wonderful (if too short!) visit with Dan’s parents and brother. They left early for DC (thanks to the “storm”) but we really enjoyed the almost-24 hours they were here!

I am excited to have my brothers and sister home from work and school. It’s gonna be a great Christmas break!!!

I have 98 out of 105 Christmas cards o-u-t the door! I’m still waiting on those few more addresses, but hey, I am just happy to be where I am! I always do a card and a letter and a picture, so it’s quite the project. (I do enjoy it though.)

The other night I went to the sports dome and subbed for a co-ed soccer team. It was such a BLAST– I haven’t played in… 2? 3? years, and it was just so fun!  After the game, I stopped by Target and ran into two recently-married old friends, whom I haven’t seen in years. And then I saw another good friend as well! It was a fun night.

Our church does a live, outdoor nativity drama production every year, and it is all happening this weekend. Three of my sisters are in it, (Dan and Will had to drop out– Will just couldn’t handle the cold!) and my brother (plus 9 friends) and my sister are coming home from college tomorrow. My in-laws and brother in law are also coming in for a visit tomorrow, and my dad is due home from Nicaragua on Saturday… all this to say that this is a very busy weekend, and there is supposed  to be a blizzard hitting here on Sat. night!  I heard yesterday that we are supposed to get “1 to 4 feet” of snow. (Some error margin, huh?) Anyway, I’m excited. It’ll be fun to have everyone home, and if we do get a lot of snow, the skiing and snowboarding will be killer, plus Dan will be off work to boot!

I Am:

Thankful for winter fruits from far-off lands. Pears, clementines and pomegranates accompany nearly every meal, and comprise many yummy mid-day snacks for the kids (and me!)

Loving this Christmas season. With our tree up and decorated, the presents beneath, and twinkle lights sprinkled generously about the house (inside and out!), the snow that continues to fall outside just completes the fairy-tale picture. Our big new fireplace has a hot fire glowing continuously, keeping us all warm and snug inside, while the snow drifts up and around and all about us. I started a new Christmas tradition with the kids, and I am loving it I think as much as they are!

Cherishing moments with my older two, as they grow and mature a bit more all the time. This morning during Tristan’s nap, we cut out cookies—trees, stars, etc.—and the kids (along with lil’ bro Nathan) decorated them with colored sugar and candies to their hearts’ content. After they cooled, each child had a plate full of sparkly cookies to proudly show off when Grandad came to fetch Nate. They were just too adorable!

Content. In this season of rushing, shopping, cooking and cleaning, I am content to be home. To sit and play with my kids; to rock a crabby Tristan by the blazing warm fire; to start another pot of butternut squash soup simmering while I help Hallie peel yet another clementine. Will considers it his personal responsibility to change the pattern of the twinkling colored lights every morning, and I watch as Tristan follows him, laughing, until he is distracted by a ball and heads off in another direction. Kids that can walk, talk, play, laugh. What a blessing!

I am full to the brim with grateful feelings towards my gracious Lord this season. He has seen fit to bless me so abundantly, and I am ever so thankful.

I started working for my dad three days a week (just a few hours a day) in his office. I really enjoy the work (and the company) and my cousin Sarah has agreed to watch the kids for me at our place. They love her, and are not sorry at all to see me go in the mornings. I can’t help feeling bad though: I know from experience that she works a lot harder than I do, and with less compensation! But she really loves the kids, so… I don’t know. It just feels strange. I’m not used to being the one leaving and going out. But rest assured, I will jump right back into mommyville this afternoon, (and probably be a lot less fun than Sarah, as I have loads of chores awaiting me.) Speaking of chores, I found this chore-organizer chart thing (for moms) here. I think (hope!) that it’s really going to work for me. I could really use some help in being more consistent with what chores get done when and all that good stuff.

Dan and I got snowboards earlier this year, and since we now have enough snow to make it worthwhile, we are going to try to get sometime soon. I cannot wait.

And………. my wireless card for my laptop arrived yesterday. So we will now have internet access at the house. Can you say HAPPY!?!? Yay!

where, exactly? We returned yesterday from a fabulously fun week in Missouri. I flew through Philly with all three kids by myself.  (*Pats self on back and smiles.*) Besides an awesome time with Dan’s family over Thanksgiving and the following days, I got to see and spend time with a few cherished friends, which was absolutely priceless. Today I furiously did laundry and cleaning/ organizing/ unpacking (and mentally did a “what do I have left to do for Christmas” rundown)… mostly preparing for our 4.5 hour trip tomorrow to see Dan’s brother Jon in DC. Dan’s other brother, Joel, and his wife and three kids, are flying in to DC as well, and it’s looking to be a fun time for everyone. The only downside to this whole thing (and other moms can sympathize with me on this!), is that Hallie has a cold… the runny-eyes-runny-nose kind that needs continual attention. And since we are all sharing a hotel room, any nighttime awakenings by her will be shared by the whole family. (Well, maybe not Will. He’s a really sound sleeper. But Tristan for sure will be up.) I just hope the love doesn’t spread.

In other (terrific!) news, today I ordered a wireless data card for my computer. So I will once again be connected with the wonderful online world that I have missed so much! Yay yay yay.

I will be sure to update again when I get back. I have so many great pictures and videos from Thanksgiving and so many great ideas for projects to do with the kids for Christmas… ahhhhhh…

Life is good.

I am reading this superb book called Mudhouse Sabbath: An Invitation to a Life of Spiritual Discipline. And I love this, even though I am not currently sad about anything:

Even in the pit, even in depression and loss and nonsense, still we respond to God with praise.
This is not to say that the mourner should not feel what he feels– anger, disbelief, hatred. He can
feel those things (and shout them out to God; God can take it). You do not have to feel praise in
the intense moments of mourning, but the praise is still true, and insisting upon it over and over,
twice a day every day, ensures that eventually you will come to remember the truth of those praises.

Isn’t that just good? I love this author.

And, off topic, I am challenging myself to have a title for every post from now till the new year. Usually, I can’t think of one, so I just skip ahead and write without one, but having a title (I think) looks more organized and…  just right. Even if it’s an inane title like this one.

Since we moved (almost 2 months ago!), we’ve been living in my parents’ guest house, which was originally my dad’s parents’ vacation home. It was built around 1970, and it is made mostly of Plexiglas. The downstairs has three walls that are made entirely of glass, and half the roof is as well. It’s a very neat house, but it does not hold heat at all, meaning the (electric) heat runs pretty much non-stop, (meaning big bills for us!) So my dad and Dan decided to replace the original fireplace with a woodburning insert, which (we hope!) will be able to heat the house all winter much more economically. The guys tearing out the old fireplace and installing the new one are taking a long time and making a big mess. The entire downstairs, (kitchen, living room, play area, etc.) is covered in fine, powder-like dust. (They put up plastic way too late.) Anyway, since my family is in Fla. till the weekend, I have moved the kids to my parents’ place for the time being. It’s pouring rain, and it’s just easier to be here than in an extremely dirty house, where we couldn’t even go outside to play if we wanted to. (Plus there is hi-speed here. ) I am realllllly hoping that the fireplace will be done by the weekend so we can move back home. The new insert should be really nice!!

My birthday was two days ago, and Dan and my parents got me a new laptop. I am so happy with it!! As I posted a bit back, my old lappy was 4 years old, and in need of a new battery, charger and a bigger hard drive. My new computer is very nice and very new. I love it so much that I’m going to call the local cable co. and see how much they would charge to run cable back to the house. Dan misses tv, and I (especially now!) really miss the internet. I can’t wait to finish the stuff I have to do around here so I can mess around with my new toy and try out all the sweet new features.

Yesterday I left the kids with a friend for about 45 min. while I went to vote. On our way back home, Will excitedly related to me–with great expression– the details of the movie he had been watching while I was gone, (the original Charlotte’s Web.)

Now a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I am picky about what my kids watch, even among the kids stuff. I just think there is way too much junk out there. And why do little kids need to be exposed to all this stuff anyway? I am a great believer in letting little kids be little while they can. They’ll lose their innocence all too soon, anyway; let them believe there are no bad guys in the world while they still can.

So anyway, as Will was telling me about the movie, in his animated voice and with hands and arms describing the scene, (“Charlotte, the spider, she  can write things–words!– in her web!”), the magic that I once knew and loved so well came washing back over me. As I remembered reading (and watching, too, but mostly reading) all those kids’ classics: Charlotte’s Web, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Trumpet of the Swan, My Side of the Mountain, Stuart Little, The Sound of Music and so many more, the magic just was suddenly so real again; how real and relatable the characters were, and how intensely I followed the plot lines, rooting for Wilbur or Sam or whoever the hero might be.

Watching Will get swept up in the retelling of the movie made me wistful for the days when I was a little less busy and a little less organized; when I would flop on my beanbag pillow and lose myself in a book for hours. But it also made me so grateful– grateful that I have a chance to pass this magic on to my kids. To show them the very real joy and plain ol’ satisfaction that can be found in books (and yes, movies, too.) 

I feel like every entry I post on here is so random. Has being a mommy fried my sense of paragraph structure? Geez, I hope not. So anyway, here we go:

:: I went shopping again today, but this time I had Tristan with me. I had just gotten him asleep in the stroller (no small task!) when some lady’s dumb cell phone went off right next to me and woke him up. So that was basically the end of that shopping trip. *sigh*

:: I made a loaf of delicious pumpkin bread the other day, and what remained I had wrapped in cellophane, and left on the counter. Well, this morning, there was a small tear on the top of the wrap and a very neat half-golf-ball sized “bite” missing from the top of the loaf. Yes, we have mice. GAH! I am squeamish anyway (or I can be with some things, I guess) and the thought of mice running around on my countertops and eating my bread about sent me over the edge. So now I have to get mousetraps, but the thought of actually finding a mouse in one is almost worse than the problem. Almost. *deep sigh* I can do this. Or maybe… I can convince Dan to.

:: I made meatball calzones tonight, which Will liked but Hallie did not. I can count the number of meals they will both reliably eat on one hand, and it mostly revolves around cheese. They love anything cheese-related: string cheese, mac n’ cheese, grilled cheese,  cheese and crackers, sliced cheese…you name it. they love it. What is that about, anyway??

:: I am going to be working for my dad a few hours (like 4-6) a week, which I am thrilled about. My cousin will be helping with the kids, so I can help my dad get organized in the office, something he desperately needs! I’m excited about putting my organizational skills to work somewhere that will a. be appreciated, and b. not be undone 5 minutes later by a preschooler!! I haven’t “worked” since my post-Hallie days at the bucket. So yeah. This should be fun.

:: Vicente Fox (ex-pres of Mexico) is in town tonight, speaking at the request of a local university. Dan is down there (working) and he called me tonight, and I could barely hear him over the chanting protesters. They were all about being anti-immigration, anti-Mexico, and anti-Fox… which is fine, but I mean… he is the ex-president. He really can’t do a whole lot now that he’s out of office anyway. I’ve always thought protesting is more about making a statement than about actually changing anything. I dunno.

:: I am reading the first book in the Father Tim series, which is the follow-up to the very excellent Miford series. I am trying to read slow, savoring it and making it last longer. It’s hard. I also saw a book the other day called mudhouse sabbath by Lauren Winner that I really want to get. It’s about taking six (?) principles of Judaism and applying them to Christianity. It looked very interesting. I’ve always wanted to get my hands on a Jewish prayer book. I love the idea of praying the same prayers over and over throughout every day. It’s very… romantic? Something. I also saw those two new books, The Dangerous Book for Boys, and The Daring Book for Girls that look just amazingly sweet. I wish they’d been around when I was a kid!! For real. I also saw (what is it with me and books, anyway?!) a book on how to make your own simple skirts, another on how to make sweet-looking funky shirts from old t-shirts, and another on making….. *sigh*: fairy houses. Which I must get sometime, maybe in the spring, for the kids. We live in the perfect place for building fairy houses! (I’d link all the other books too, but it just takes me forever with my slow dial-up. Sorry.)

:: Wow, this is getting long. I had no idea that so much to say would pop into my head! Tomorrow is election day, and I will be voting as a PA resident for the first time ever. (I left for STL when I was 18, and although I had registered here, I never got the chance to vote.) Anyway, it should be interesting. Local politics always are good for an interesting debate at the least! It’s funny, because I already know I’ll be voting for at least a few Democrats who are running for local positions, though I usually line up more with the GOP on substance. *shrug* I like voting. And I don’t mind voting for whoever I think the best person for the job is, regardless of their party. I think it’s fair. (Though I must say that on a national level, being pro-life is the standard for me. I won’t vote for anyone who is not, seeing as on the national level, you actually have the chance to do something about it, where as locally, you [unfortunately] don’t.)

:: So that’s it. If you actually read this all the way through, congratulations! My laptop (which I’m using now) is 4 years old this month, and is just about to give out. I need to bite the bullet and either get a new one, or pay out and get all the replacement parts and upgrades I need for ol’ faithful here.  Not sure, really, what I’ll do. I hate to “waste” the money on this one, but a new one is certainly a lot more money, so…

Anyway.
That’s it.
Goodnight, y’all.

Last night at dinner I was pretty frustrated at the kids. For probably the hundredth time, I heard (from both kids) “I don’t like this dinner!!” And yes, as they do every other night, they ate their required 5 bites, and then rushed away from the table, seemingly unappreciative of me and my cooking efforts. (And it’s not like I don’t make kid-friendly food… I do. And yes, I know, they’re just kids.) Anyway, after dinner, we finished up a pretty average evening (playtime and bedtime), and then I -out of the blue- made the brilliant decision to go… shopping. Yes, you read that right. I left the house a little after 8 and spent an hour and a half at Target. By myself, no kids. It was totally great. I got a big chunk of the Christmas shopping out of the way, and I also bought myself the new Jan Karon novel! And I replenished our long-empty Band Aid supply (in Elmo and Sponge Bob, naturally) and got new PlayDoh to replace our mud-colored stuff from MO. (It was $1.09 for a 4-pack. Really, how can you beat that??) And I browsed all the kids’ sale racks (haven’t done that in ages!) and I looked at all the new cleaning products that have recently come out. And… well, you get the idea. It was so great. And finally, after the third warning about the store closing, I made my way to the front. (Ten o’clock never felt so early!) Upon later reflection, I think this was the first time since we’ve been here (5 weeks? 6?) that I’ve been shopping alone. I think I should make it a habit; I got wayyy too much enjoyment out of last night.