Deck the halls...

Our normal tradition is to decorate the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Sometimes I will set the tree up and put on the lights a day early because that takes so long.  This year, however, we had to change our normal routine because I work an eight hour shift tomorrow starting at 2:00 p.m.  That's retail for you. 

We enjoyed Thanksgiving, ate too much and loved the time with family, but we missed Pam, Mike, Page, and Mitchell :(.  Today, I worked this morning, napped and then took Savannah out for a couple of hours of shopping.  We finished the evening with trimming the tree.  Another difference this year is that we moved the tree from our usual location to the family room.  Shiloh has only limited and highly supervised access to this room, and since she is a destructive pooch, we thought this a better solution than our normal location where she has mostly unlimited access.  It also allows our tree to be visible from the road which I think is way cool.  Julia does have concerns about how Santa will manage stockings hanging from the chimney in one room and a tree in another. When I told her that Santa has been here before, and he will manage, she responded with, "he doesn't live here, you know."  Well....

 This is Zach's idea of helping. 

We will go to bed tonight without finishing putting the ornaments on the tree, but it is getting there.  Another break in tradition is the fact that Andy was not sent out to buy more lights.  All the lights from last year worked, and he had already stocked four boxes just in case....hmmm, it is our eighteenth year of marriage, and I can't remember another year where this happened.

Thanksgiving Thursday

In continuing my November pattern of Thankful Thursdays, I once again list 7 things for which I am currently thankful (not necessarily in this order).

1.  finding my favorite laundry detergent at 1/2 off yesterday....I bought three bottles and cleaned out all that the store had left.
2.  I am off work tomorrow.  At least I sincerely hope that when my assistant manager read me the schedule, she read it correctly.  I work very early Saturday morning, but being off tomorrow allows us to celebrate at my parent's house today and then at Andy's mom's house tomorrow.  It has been years since we have celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family.
3.  For two days in a row, I have slept as late as I wanted.  11 hours Tuesday night...quite needed at this point.
4.  The whole family is here at my parent's house right now.  I am full but not stuffed  --- I do not like feeling full and certainly not stuffed.  The food was so yummy.  I did not think I would be able to stop eating.
5. Mom feels good today and has an appetite.  The downside is that she is recovering from the flu, so she cannot hold Regan :(
6.  I am thankful for photography, probably my favorite hobby.  I love that I can flip through old pictures and add new ones all the time.  My memory can be so bad at times that I am not sure I could remember what my kids looked like as babies if not for all the pictures.
7.  As Allie wisely posted on Facebook, I am thankful that I am not spending this holiday grieving.  This is enough for which to be incredibly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!  All thanks today goes to the one who created all and is above all.

Thankful Thursday, er Friday

This week I am thankful for the following:

1. Andy is on vacation, and when Andy is on vacation, things get done. On the first day, he fixed a broken toilet, replaced a bad light fixture, cooked a nice pot of vegetable soup, and ran a few errands.  If only, he could fix the dome light in the van (kidding).
2. I am thankful for people like Katie http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/  Katie is young and wise beyond her years and has journeyed away from her family to do the hard work of God.  She is in great emotional pain right now.  Please pray for her.  She is doing amazing work and has sacrificed much. Visit her blog.  Katie writes eloquently about her experiences and makes you long for more Katies, or better yet that you could willingly serve as she does.
3.  I am thankful for Bring Me Hope http://www.bringmehope.org/  They are a group of young people making a difference for the orphans and destitute in China. 
4.  I am thankful for my purple Bible study pen.  This one sounds silly, but it writes really well.  The color reminds me that I am royalty, and it makes my workbook look pretty in spite of my bad handwriting.
5.  I am thankful for a working vehicle.  As Andy and I are not mechanics, it is nice to have something reliable even though I am questioning the reliability of my vehicle after two trips to the mechanic in the last week, it is still getting me around town.
6.  I am thankful for Facebook.  It is a fun way to connect with old friends.
7.  I am thankful for new jeans...the first two pairs I tried on...amazing, huh?

Rocks, Minerals, Gems, and Wyattisms

Every once in a while, someone will still ask me how Wyatt is doing with his English.  In the same vein, I get looks of impressed surprise when people hear him speak and realize that he is fully fluent.  Wyatt is not unusual in this regard.  We were told that he would understand 90% of what we said within six months, and we would understand 90% of what he said within twelve months.  I believe he was slightly behind that schedule, but two years later he is fully fluent. In fact, I am convinced that he does not remember any of his first language.  I had hoped to put him in Mandarin classes. Imagine the possibilities for missions and careers if he was fluent in both.  However, for many reasons: the schedule, the price, and Wyatt's initial reluctance to embrace anything Chinese, we did not pursue that course, so he is fully fluent, and some of his expressions are worth remembering.

For several months Wyatt's exclamation of excitement over many things was "Sweet!"  This evolved right into "Yeah, Baby!" which was particularly funny when "baby" became a term that he used to address people including his mom.

One of my favorites is "boyly" as in "that is girly, but I want something boyly."

Recently, he met another boy named Wyatt at Taekwondo, and stated, "my name is Wyatt as well."  I racked my brain coming up with where he picked that up and then realized that I say it.  I also noticed that Wyatt said it on a few more occasions.

Raising boys challenges me more than raising girls.  Others have claimed that this is not their experience, and I may eat these words when my girls reach those mid-teenage girls, but to this point, my boys have been harder.  That said, some things fascinate me about boys.  They naturally tend to make the noises that go along with whatever they are playing even as toddlers.  They also seem to fall into couple of camps, interested in science, interested in animals and creatures, consumed by sports, superheroes, cars or electronics.  Boys tend to pick one or two areas that fascinate them, and then they pursue them.  For my boys they have collected the objects of their fascination.  Zach loved cheetahs and reptiles, and through his fascination, the entire family fell in love with Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter.

We expected Wyatt to be different from Zachary in his interests.  The information we received from China indicated an interest in cars, trains and planes.  We learned almost immediately after we met him that he also loved superheroes.  Now two things vie for attention in Wyatt's mind; Bey Blades, and anything having to do with rocks, minerals, and gems.  We spent the latter part of the summer and most of the fall futilely trying to get Wyatt's eyes off the ground as he searched for cool rocks. Along the way he scored a $10 bill and a really nice ring. He now loves to look at jewelry and loves the stones in their polished settings.  For two weeks now, his library books have been about gems and minerals with one book thrown in about volcanoes. As his birthday and Christmas quickly approaches, I have been on a hunt for affordable and really cool geodes that he can break open to see the crystals inside (I think I have scored on this one).   Savannah has worked on experiments with Wyatt showing him how to use the kit he received at a recent book fair to distinguish minerals from rocks.  Another thing that fascinates me about boys is the way they gravitate to non-fiction books. Savannah taught Wyatt how to classify his rocks by examining their properties, and together, the two of them made a chart depicting their findings.  This is super to me as Savannah was the one family member who Wyatt rejected outright when he joined the family. 

 I have no idea what started this fascination, but Wyatt has definitely been supported in his pursuit.  We let him visit a cave and "mine" for rocks on a family outing built around him.  Andy brought a bag full of polished and colorful rocks home from a business trip. After talking over this fascination with a friend, she brought Wyatt rocks that she has collected over the years and pointed out that some of them have raw emerald running through them.  Of course Wyatt has also collected an array of gravel and landscaping rocks :)  Yes, boys are interesting indeed.



Thankful Thursday

This has been a most discouraging week, so I came into today thinking that I could not possibly come up with more than one or two things for which I am grateful. It all started with a major repair on the van that took place on Tuesday.  I dropped three of the kids off for activities Monday night and ran home to pick up an item only to find that the key would not release from the ignition.  My brother came to try and help me with this strange dilemma, and I finally called AAA, but no one could get the key to release.  I found myself at the dealership (a place that I do not trust, but I will save that for another post) for half of my workday on Tuesday.  By the time I left, I was $632 in the hole and had a list of $2500 worth of supposedly necessary repairs for my van.  Maybe it was not the right Christian thing to do, but when the service manager went over the list with me, I stated, "If you are telling me the truth about this, then this van is a piece of crap.  Your business has sold me a piece of crap."  I made it abundantly clear that I was not at all happy, and as soon as I can, I will draft a letter to the dealership and forward copies to the attorney general, the corporate offices and the Better Business Bureau. Yep, I am fired up about this one.

Did I mention that Andy has been out of town all week?  Can I add that a much-loved and fairly new toy belonging to Wyatt broke, and I listened to two days of grief over it including his repeated admonitions that I need to work seven days a week, so that we can have more money for Bey Blades.  The dog peed in the living room, and Julia had a tantrum every single morning.  I never went to bed at a reasonable time, and I am beyond tired now.  So that brings me to this place where I want to find something for which I can be grateful, and I have:

1. I signed Savannah up for a conference on Monday night.  I did this purposely (okay, actually Andy did it) before learning the price of the repair on the van.  I knew for a fact that I would not register her if I knew what I was facing financially on the van repair. As I have stated before, Savannah rarely asks for anything and I cannot think of a time that she has complained about not getting something.  She mentioned wanting to attend a camp this past summer.  I did not register her because money was tight, and she never mentioned it again - whether it was just not that important or she did not want to ask again, I do not know.  Mom stepped in on this and covered the cost of the conference. I initially wanted to turn her down, but I know from experience that it is more blessed to give than recieve, and I do not want to deny my mom of that blessing. Thanks, Mom!
2. God's mercies are new every morning. This was my thought when I got out of bed this morning after an ugly argument with Zach last night and frustration over the fact that on a few fronts, I am giving up hope for my future.  I needed new mercies this morning.
3.  I found this statement in my Bible study yesterday: "His power is greater than the most aggressive cell of cancer and the most daunting financial crisis."  Wow! Did I ever need to hear that!
4.  Zach's Bible teacher e-mailed to say that Zach asked his class to pray for me because I am working two jobs and stressed out.
5. I found this in Wyatt's backpack:

It reads: I am so thankful for Bey Blade and for my faimnly (family)  and rocks and my house and my toys and my Biroday (birthday) and the world arud (around) us.
6. chocolate chip pumpkin bread - I just finished baking my fourth batch of the season.  yummy!  It trumps pumpkin pie in my book
7. I spoke with a really neat young mom while awaiting the van repair.

Julia the gymnast

Today Julia competed in her first meet of this season.  She did very well finishing with the following scores:
vault -8.9
beam -9.0 (She was nailing it until she did the jump and lost her balance.  She pulled herself back up on the beam and finished, so we were quite pleased with this score.)
bars - 9.3
floor -9.3 (the bars are typically her best event, so we were also quite pleased with her floor routine)

Thankful Thursday

I recently heard that an "expert" says that one way to lower financial debt is to keep a gratitude journal.  We could certainly use some debt busters in this household, so I thought, "why not?"  Then it occurred to me that I would need a journal.  Well, I already have an online journal, so why not start here? 

My day at work was rough today, but I am thankful for the following:
1. A country where we elect our officials and have a say in our government.  We may feel like we are not heard, but we still vote freely without fear of violence if things do not go well. 
2. Wyatt's look of sheer joy when I peek in the window at his new Tae Kwon Do class.  He looks like he is having the best time ever when he spars with his opponent.
3.  My kids get along pretty well. Zach patiently walked a frustrated and tired Julia through a school project on a spider that took much longer than expected.  Andy had been called in to work unexpectedly, and I was frazzled with getting all the evening stuff done, and there sat my adorable kids working together...if only I had snapped a picture.
4.  Savannah's smiles and sweetness.  I have never encountered a more content person.  When she knows money is tight, she does not ask for things she really wants. 
5.  Andy's commitment to living unselfishly.  He vowed to do this almost nine years ago and does it better than anyone I know.  People always question the Bible's admonition to wives to submit to their husbands.  I remember being at dinner with a group of non-believers when one of them commented that the Bible is bad for women.  "Where do you get that idea?," I asked. It was women who first saw the resurrected Christ.  Esther saved her people.  Women are clearly loved much by God.  She responded with a reference to this verse that women are to submit to their husbands.  I told her that is true, but people ignore the next verse which speaks to the husbands and tells them to die for their wives.  She asked, "do you think Andy would do that?"  My response, "absolutely, he does it everyday.  Andy continually puts me first." She was shocked and stated that he is unusual.  Unfortunately, she is right.
6.  My parents... I remember once when asked in a college class to state what our parents taught us and what our grandparents taught us. Many in the class said their grandparents taught them to laugh and their parents taught them responsibility.  It was definitely my parents who taught me to laugh, and I hope that Andy and I are teaching our children to laugh.  Aside from love, grace, and mercy, I think laughter is God's greatest gift to us.
7.  My job and my boss - I left work on Wednesday morning with my boss's permission to watch Julia's class lead her school in chapel.  Julia really wanted me there, and I could only do that with an understanding boss and coworkers.  My job will not be the same next year as 50% of the staff will leave the building, and I may be part of that 50%, so I am soaking up everything I love about my job during this last year and anticipating that God will indeed work all things to the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).

Of course I have to give thanks where thanks is due, and I owe my loving God the gratitude in all of these things.

Halloween Weekend

Because the kids saw Mom very little during her hospital stay, we decided to visit her on Saturday afternoon.  Tiffany and her family was there because they are on well water, and the drought has dried up the well, so they had to get laundry done and shower.  Jonathan was there as well with Regan.  When we arrived Regan had just finished a bottle given by Grandma (Regan is a champion eater).  We had a great time visiting and playing Tetris on the Wii.  Mom ordered pizzas, so we also had an impromptu pizza party (thanks Mom and Dad).  Mom looked and felt great.  YAY!!

On Sunday Wyatt just about caused me to tear out my hair.  I guess when you spend the first five years of your life with little or no celebration, and you are an active boy anyway, holidays just cause you to be way too excited.  Wyatt must have said 20 times that he could not wait for night before we even got home from church!  My patience was definitely wearing thin by the time 7:00 rolled around, and we started trick-or-treating.

Zach hopes to rack up some extra credit in Latin, a class in which he struggles) because he dressed up as the god of Hades. He had heavy metal music blasting and scared off at least one poor little kid.  Zach!! 

I ran a couple of errands and returned home to find these scary masks on sticks in my yard like there had been some kind of sacrifice.  Let me remind you here that when we started parenting, Halloween was not going to be celebrated in this house.  I gave in when Zach felt left out in preschool, and then our kids were strictly forbidden to wear scary costumes. We were all about fun costumes, but my oldest son loves monsters, creatures, and scary things in general, so we do have some scary masks.  

 This was our second attempt at a costume for Julia.  I did not like the way the first one was made, and it was too small.  Julia insisted it would work but gave up after our trip to the zoo.  GRR!

Julia wanted Andy to hold her like she was flying.

Halloween fell on a beautiful night, and we enjoyed our walk through the neighborhood.  Wyatt could have kept going, but after just over an hour, Julia was tuckered out.

As for Savannah, Halloween was spent finding the best deal on a new Vera Bradley purse.  She chose a mini-hipster and used her winnings from the fair to buy it.