Christmas Day

The beauty of having older kids is not having to get up so early.  This is important because before I get to Christmas 2015, let me revisit the weeks prior to Christmas 2015.

As a teacher I get the beauty of having two weeks off, but I paid for that the last week before the break.  When I left work 40 minutes later than I should have on Friday, I was one of the last parents to pick my kids up in carpool.  I arrived at home with zero energy.  I sat for hours unable to move.  It was not as if there was nothing to do.  There is always, always something to be cleaned around here.  My Christmas shopping was barely started, but I was whipped.  

Saturday started the marathon toward Christmas.  I can't even remember what I did that day but know little of it involved shopping.  

Now let me express how it usually goes.  It is not unusual for me to come into Christmas break with little shopping completed.  Andy and I steal the evenings and shop together to get it done.  However, this year was very different.  This year I was married to Santa Claus.  Andy's job requires him to make sure the rest of the world gets a good Christmas and forget about his family.  He left for work every night this week at 5:30p.m. and arrived home at 7:00a.m.  The only day he had off was Christmas Eve.  As I type this, it is 9:00p.m. on Christmas day, and he left for work about 45 minutes ago.

As you can imagine, for both of us this holiday became more about exhaustion than enjoyment.  Christmas is always simple here.  The kids get two gifts from us, one gift and a stuffed stocking from Santa, and we shop for each other.  The kids, except for Wyatt, shop for each other, but with two drivers that does not impact us so much any more. So, it's not as if there is a ton of shopping to do, and I had less this year than usual.

I imagine the first Christmas was not a beautiful, Norman Rockwell celebration.  Heavy with pregnancy, young and probably a bit anxious, Mary travelled with her husband only to find they would have to rest in a stinky cave full of animals.  By the time they headed home, they were entrusted with an infant, and while there was much to ponder and marvel - shepherds and wise men showing up to see this miracle, they were barely used to parenting before they had to flee to Egypt to save this new son.

The 23rd and 24th were nonstop for me.  I had intended to shop in the evening on the 22nd, but I couldn't say no when some of Wyatt's friends asked to stay later vetoing that plan.  (A side note on this, you can totally wrap gifts when your kids are occupied with friends). As it turned out, it was probably just as well.  Zach's car broke down this week and still is not fixed because the mechanics could not get to it for two days and when they did, we felt the price was too high.  We are still deciding if we will have it towed to another location and fixed elsewhere, but there will definitely be more discussion about the cost which is at least $200 more than the most generous estimates for this type of repair.  Zach, therefore, took my van, and he and Julia went shopping.  They even tried to help me out making a stop for an item I still needed to get, but they were uncomfortable making the final decision, so I still had to make that stop myself.

I left my house at around 11a.m. on the 23rd and returned twice for meals and finally for the day at 10:30 p.m.  This day demonstrated why it is better for Andy to shop with me.  I was so indecisive.  I visited three malls and made one purchase that I questioned until today when it was well received. 

Even with this marathon shopping, I was grateful for help.  I mentioned to Andy that I was concerned that the gift I intended for my brother had not arrived.  Just over a week ago I put several items in Andy's Amazon cart, and he claimed he ordered them.  Everything else had arrived.  It turns out that Andy mistook that item for something we had decided against for Wyatt and had saved it for later.  Savannah drove to an area of town where I hate driving because of the traffic and purchased that gift for us.  Whew!

 I was having the hardest time shopping for Savannah.  While she is very content and never asks for much, she's also picky and finding the items on her list proved harder than expected.

I caught a sort of lucky break when she went with me for a few last stops on the 23rd and we happened upon a store where she loved several things.  This is where I really got crazy.  Zach had been itching to visit the mall but opted to stay home from this particular trip because it was storming.  The storm blew over, and I went home to get Zach thinking the mall would not be happening as I was returning to get the stuff Savannah had just picked out.  Of course Savannah opted to go with us, so I took them to the mall walked in like I was going to shop there, told them when and where to meet me, and raced twenty minutes down the road to buy the items.  Zach knew what was up, so that helped.  Unfortunately, they had sold out of the sweaters she wanted.  Ugh!  However, I still got a few other items, and needless to say she was very surprised this morning when she opened that gift.

You see, yesterday I spent the day cleaning the house and prepping for company, so Savannah knew I  did not shop.  I made one trip to the store with Julia when she insisted that we must have the makings for a barbecue chicken pizza.  We never made that pizza, so that trip was a waste of time.  Once company arrived I put one pizza after another in the oven.  Note to self - when feeding three teenage boys, 10 pizzas for the group are not enough.

I finally went to bed at 2:00a.m. --very late for me.

That brings me back to where I started: having older kids is nice if you want to sleep in on Christmas morning.  I slept until 9:00a.m., and it was close to 11:00a.m. before we gathered to celebrate because  as usual we had to wake up Zach.

As best I can tell, nothing needs to be returned.  Everyone seemed happy.

Andy may have worked lots of long, crazy hours this week, but I was the one who spent the bulk of the day sleeping in the recliner.  He cooked our traditional meal, and I know he left for work tired tonight.   It won't be much better next week as far as his schedule goes.  We did not have a full week off together in 2015 because he could not take a vacation this summer, so I am really hoping that we will have some time off together in 2016.  We are on opposite schedules and see so little of each other that this has been hard on us.

It's been a mostly peaceful day.  I have one child who has been pouting for a few hours over a discipline issue, but all should be well on that front after a good night's sleep.  While I know we really need rest in this house, we also really need to paint Savannah's bedroom, so I am hoping to get that done next week, and maybe one day I will just sit and enjoy the tree for a few minutes.

We gathered around the table today with all of our kids. We had plenty to eat, and we have steady jobs.  With Zach's future plans, there may be a Christmas in the not too distant future when we can't get all the kids together on Christmas day- hanging on to every moment!  We are blessed!

God bless us every one!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve at our house...

We tried to keep it simple, so we gathered the crew and munched on homemade pizzas.  It was festive and fun.

starting early

This girl came in the door announcing her first lost tooth.  She was so excited!

On January 11th this girl becomes a big sister.  I am anxious to meet Kallie!

Her shirt says "Raised by Elves" - offended, I am

I love this picture - my favorite from the night.

Our traditional birthday cake got a make-over this year.  Savannah made homemade cake and frosting this year, and we have new evergreens and a new angel.

The cake is chocolate to represent our dark sin.  

It is covered in white to represent Christ's purity that covers our sin.

The red candles represent the blood shed to forgive our sins.

The evergreens represent everlasting life.

12 candles and twelve trees represent the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Isaac - boo

We partied late this year and never made it to the Christmas Eve service.  I knew going into it that it would be a long shot this year --more on that in my next post.

It's the little things...

My extra smiles came from wrapping paper and stamps this year.  I love the Charlie Brown stamps and would love to see them all year round - maybe I should stock up :)

I buy wrapping paper at SAMs.  It's the best paper -reversible and not so thin that it rips easily when trying to wrap gifts.  However, it lasts for years.  I think it took at least five years to work my way through my first roll, and I am three years into the second one and not even half way through it.  This year I bought three more rolls.  I just wanted some variety, and it made me smile to see the pretty new patterns under the tree even if I will still be using it fifteen years from now.

Yes, I do intend to buy more next year. :)

Wyatt's Birthday with Friends

Today I took Wyatt and four of his friends to see the new Star Wars.  We enjoyed pizza before we left and a DQ cake when we returned. I try to do a simple 13th birthday friend party for the kids.  Instead of gifts I usually ask the guests to write out a funny memory or why this friendship is special to them for a scrapbook.  With Zach and Savannah, I just had their friends bring these but found that sometimes it did not work so well to put in a scrapbook, so I gave Wyatt's friends the option of doing it here.  One boy brought his prewritten, and the rest refused to do it. sigh

I got a better picture of the cake, but my camera memory card is corrupted, and I can't retrieve it.  another sigh

They were loud and had a good time, and I was grateful it wasn't a sleepover.  I was completely on my own hosting this due to Andy's work schedule.  

As for Star Wars, I won't spoil it if you haven't seen it.  I will only say that if you liked episode IV which was the first one released (and the first movie I remember seeing in the theater), this one is comparable with many parallels to that plot.  I will add that after the prequels were released, and I did not care for them, I had no intention of seeing this one.  However, when I saw that Han Solo was back, that was a game changer for me.  I am glad I saw it and would even consider seeing it again.  We chose not to go 3D this time because Wyatt is not crazy about 3D, and I can't afford to pay for six 3D tickets.  

This is just cool!

A Christmas gift from Savannah's senior picture photographer....

Derrick Dixon Photography

Birthday Boy

Wyatt turns 13 this week.  While I try and wrap my head around that, I will share a bit of our celebration of this momentous occasion.

Per our tradition we celebrated early to put a little distance between this birthday and Christmas.  However, we ran into some unexpected glitches.  Andy got sick at church.  I ran him home between the service and our class and told him to text the group if he was not up to the party so that we could postpone.  Savannah had been feeling under the weather for a few days, so I assumed he had a stomach virus that's going around.  Just a side note on that - I awoke at 6:00a.m. Saturday morning to one sick daughter.  As things do go, she had to take the ACT.  Savannah already has the score she wants, but she is applying to schools that require the writing, and she has not yet done the writing.  She was in bad shape so I suggested she just take those schools off the table as they are not her first choices anyway and skip that test.  In true Savannah fashion, she opted to fight through and take the test.  I bet some of you reading this had no idea that she can be pretty stubborn.

Anyway, back to Andy.  We left church later than usual because we ran into old friends and stopped to chat - rather I stopped to chat - Julia and Wyatt wandered off and patiently waited.  We then had to fight through traffic.  Julia checked on Andy, and he said he felt he could handle the party, but then he. never. got. out. of. bed.  I raced around trying to finish preparations that included going to the grocery store for party food and drinks.  Guests were to arrive at 3:00, and I literally left for the grocery at 2:30.  I was impressed with myself when I had the first pizza in the oven at about 3:20.  

Our guest list was smaller than usual.  Jonathan and Danielle were out of town, and Tiffany and her boys could not make it, but I think Wyatt had an okay time.  Maybe next year Andy will present him with the special speech and gift he delivered for Zach's thirteenth birthday.

Andy's mom drove a couple of hours to be here and was on time.  It was killing her that she could not go and try and nurse Andy back to health.  I must point out here that Andy is not your typical man.  When he is sick, he prefers to be checked on occasionally and mostly left alone.  He does not moan and groan and beg for attention.  So his mom served up the desserts which included her amazing chocolate pie and visited with us.  We enjoyed visiting with her.  When Andy came to say goodbye, she scooted on out the door as it was apparent that he belonged in bed.

The Star Wars Dairy Queen cake looked so much better when the frost melted off and you could tell that the background was black instead of brown.  Unfortunately, we cut it before I could get a good picture.  I love the way Wyatt lets you know he wants something.  He asks a question such as, "you know what my favorite _________is?"  This is how he requested his birthday cake.  He asked, "did you know that ice cream cakes are my favorite cakes?"  To which I asked, "is this your way of asking for a Dairy Queen cake for your birthday?'  His honest response was, "yes."

What can I say about Wyatt on this momentous occasion?

He's our always ready helper.

He's an early riser - mostly because he wants to play Minecraft for as many waking hours as possible.

He's charming and clever.

He still hugs his mom in public - even in front of his friends.

He's forgiving.  We can have a rough day with him, and he will still say we are the best.

Thirteen candles! How can it be?

I just love this picture of Kinsley.

My dad and Joshua slipped out the door before I took their pictures.  Boo

Wyatt's gift was a telescope, so we ventured out to a park to try it out after everyone left.  The cloud cover was too great to see anything, but tonight is clear, so we might try again.

Note that Zach is wearing short sleeves and Savannah is in shorts, and yes, it is December.  We need a good freeze to kill off the bugs and germs, but I could be okay with this weather for the winter. By this time last year, we had at least one snow day behind us - not so this year.  I think I was born to live in a tropical climate.

Happy Birthday,Wyatt! We love you more!

Deck the halls...

Over the past few weeks, we have slowly decorated the house for Christmas.

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We found our tree.

All the kids helped decorate - that hasn't happened in a few years.

ah- the finished product 

If you've visited the blog for past Christmases, you know that this picture pretty much looks the same every year.  I do not mix it up.  We add ornaments each year and may have to start decorating a second tree to accommodate my growing collection, but it would be a small tree.  I don't want to store any more.

On a grocery run, Julia won all three of these prizes from a claw game.  I stand corrected on my admonishments to quit wasting her money on that game.  However, who really needs tons of stuffed animals?

What is Christmas without music?  The dial on my car radio has been set to a station heavy on Christmas music since they started playing it. We still get to enjoy a school band concert for the Christmas season courtesy of Wyatt and Julia. I was not sitting where I could get pictures during the concert, but the school has this gorgeous tree, so I sought a good picture there.  People were waiting while these two goofed off and poked at each other until I was ready to draw blood before we finally got a decent photo.  Then I sat in the parking lot in traffic.  I should have just waited.  

The concert was amazing.  Their school concerts are so good that you just don't want to miss them.

I am slowly finishing the preparations for Christmas.  It's hard to get excited about it when the world is such a mess, but I have had a few things to remind me to anticipate this fun holiday.

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking.  How we need to hear from God.  You've been promised, we've been waiting....  - from the song Welcome to Our World

True more than 2000 years ago and true today. 

and I just love this:

It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself. - Charles Dickens

The neglected blog

I have failed to keep up with the blog over the last several weeks, so this is a recap of what we've been up to.

Julia's quarterly book chats are breaking our budget.  I've been torn between her pursuit of creativity and the cost of the supplies she requests.  I am leaning toward letting her be creative.

Her cheer team entered a competition.  Upon their arrival it was clear that this was beyond their expectations.  They finished a clean routine and finished third.  This is a developing team, and even though they were only one of four teams competing in their division, there is no doubt that they are working hard, and it shows.

This girl turned two, and she will be a big sister before she turns three.  It will be fun to watch sisters grow up together again.  We've not had that in a while.  So Happy Birthday Kinsley, and we are anxious to meet Kallie in January.

Prepping for hosting Thanksgiving dinner meant more than just cooking and cleaning.  We needed some fresh paint on a few doors and some trim, and we needed new blinds.  When the window is above the kitchen sink, it helps to have a small, strong person to take care of screwing in the hardware.

Savannah worked on the last project for her online college art class.  She created some cool photos using her sister as a hand artist and some body paint. Julia didn't want to wash it off.

Wyatt introduced us to robotics when he joined the school's robotics club. We spent a day at a competition.  Much like a swim meet or track meet, you wait for hours for a few minutes of action.  The difference is that the parents know when someone wins a race unless it is close.  Robotics is not a race. We gauged our reaction to the robotics competition by the looks on the faces of the kids. :)

It's been busy, but we've had busier seasons.  I am enjoying my afternoons as I don't have to pick anyone up from school most afternoons this year.  I'm really spoiled and messed it up this week when the kids needed another way home, and I forgot to arrange it.  Yikes!  I will miss this freedom next year, but it is always nice to hear about their day when they are willing to talk which is usually in the car.