Away in a Manger...

Luke made this ADORABLE! nativity scene in WEE School and I thought it was soooo cute that I'm posting it on this blog.  He told me that he painted the bodies and drew the faces himself, but that Ms. Libby glued the head on :).  I see this being something I give to his wife someday for their home - hopefully she'll think it's as cute as I do...  

I especially love the HUGE smiles on Mary and Joseph's faces.   I'm trying to put myself in her position and wonder if I would be smiling...   Let's see - Gave birth in a stable; no doctors, just animals watching; no crib, so put the baby in a straw manger; no blanket, so I'll use some cloth I found in the stable; it's cold; my mom's not around; I'm an unwed, teenager; I'm helping the creator of the world fulfill His ultimate plan by sending His only son into the world to save all of mankind!  I guess I would be smiling too... scared to death, but smiling.   

Happy Birthday Gwen!

I love this time of year.  Not only do we get to celebrate the birth of our savior, but also the birth of our first born.  It seems like yesterday Gwen was born.  This time of year always brings back waves of exhaustingly, wonderful memories!  

God chose to give us Gwen on December 2, 1999 and what a gift she has been.  She came a day late and since they wouldn't let me work after my due date, I got a whole day to myself.  Boy did the nesting kick in!  I grocery shopped, did laundry, baked cookies and decorated our little condo with the few Christmas decorations we had - all in one day...  The Christmas decorations turned out to be the best part.  I think God gave me that day for that very reason because there is no way I would have had time to put up Christmas decorations once she came home!  Each night when she would wake up to eat throughout those first few weeks, we would go downstairs and turn on the Christmas lights and she and I would spend then next 30 minutes or so just dreaming.  She of milk and sleep and me of her future and how our future as a family would unfold.  To this day when the Christmas season approaches and I begin to see those white lights pop up around town my mind immediately goes back to those early December mornings back in 1999.

Now, 9 years later, we have reached the top of the hill, so to speak.  More than likely the next 9 years will be a whirlwind of activity as she finishes up elementary school and moves on to junior high and high school and slowly begins to move on to a life away from our home.   I can't believe how blessed we have been and how quickly this time has gone.  She has been a model daughter and has brought so much joy to us!  We are so excited about what God will do in her life and what he has already done.  Hmm... I guess everyone was right - The days ARE sometimes long, but the years have gone by so fast!  I love you baby girl and could not have asked for a more perfect gift that Christmas 9 years ago.

Polar Express

Last Saturday, we took a ride on the Polar Express!  We had read the book, seen the movie and decided it might be fun to take our own ride.  We also decided that since it was a 3 1/2 hour drive that we would make a weekend out of it and spend the night in Asheville.  I think the kids were most excited about staying in a hotel :).  

We left Saturday morning and checked into our hotel in Asheville before driving the last hour to Bryson City, NC.  What a beautiful drive into the mountains!!  We even got to see a little snow on the side of the road while we drove - the kids were psyched!  Once we arrived in Bryson City we got our tickets.  As part of the experience we also got to tour the model train museum that was right next to the train depot.  The boys especially enjoyed this - and I don't mean just Jack and Luke ;).  We spent about 30 minutes there before the kids changed into pajamas and we got ready to board the train.  We were greeted by "Merry" Christmas our server and her assistant Christmas "Carol".  Once the train started the ladies served us hot chocolate, just like in the movie, and then the story was read over the speakers.  At one point on the beautiful ride we drove past "Santa's home" and the "Hot chocolate factory".  On the way back to the depot we had a surprise visit from Santa and he gave each child on the train a bell, "the first gift of Christmas".  We sang several Christmas Carols, which everyone got into, before finally stopping back at the depot in Bryson City. 

Once we departed, the kids couldn't stop "chatting".  They loved every part of it and it was so fun to see them so excited!  We headed back to the hotel and had a pizza party before heading to bed.  We had such a great time and made some fabulous memories!

Fun Week!

What a fabulous week we had!  I'm a little behind on this blog, so I'll try to catch you all up!  We were fortunate again last week to have a house guest.  Mr. Joe came on Sunday and stayed with us through Friday.  He is in search of a job in Charlotte and we enjoy being his base camp :).  

Monday night Luke's WEE school class performed during "Family Night" at school.  This was our family's 7th annual "Family Night" performance, so we felt like pros, but it was a little bittersweet.  With the possibility of Kindergarten looming for Luke, both Rich & I realized this was quite possibly our last family night performance.  We didn't dwell on this, but it did hit us each differently.  Frankly, Rich seemed a little giddy.  I on the other hand was a little sad...  Ironically, I'm the one who couldn't wait to put the crib away or stop nursing, but this particular milestone hit me a little harder.  No tears, but I did come close.  These major milestones seem to be coming in a more sweeping fashion lately, maybe that's why I want it to slow down a little.  

We dropped Luke off in his room, the 4 of us took our seats and sat back to enjoy the performance.  You really never know what to expect from these little ones, so it's always entertaining.  Luke's class was 10th - yes 10th!  So we sat through 9 other classes and then finally Ms. Kaila & Ms. Libby's 3 day 4's were up, all eighteen of them!!  They asked each of the kids in his class to dress in their pajamas, so we had no idea what they were going to be singing.  They all lined up so nicely and Ms. Kaila passed out little plastic mugs and they proceeded to sing an adorable song about wanting hot cocoa.  It was all going to well, until Luke wanted to do "cheers" with the 2 girls on either side of him...  Yes, in the middle of the song he looked over at one of the girls and clanged his plastic mug to hers and then turned and clanged his mug to the other little girls.  I'm not sure anyone but the 4 of us noticed, but it was really funny to watch the little girls faces.  They wanted no part of it, so he turned back to his teachers and continued with the song.  We were so proud.

On Friday, the older two had their performances.  They were part of the lower school musical and it was just beautiful.  Since moving to a new school in September we have continued to be impressed with almost every aspect of Carmel Christian and Friday was no exception.  All of the kids did a fantastic job and the musical "Life School Musical" was such a tremendous testimony to Christ.  Both of the kids did great and we were very proud of them.

Aunt Sue Comes to visit!!

One of our favorite things as a family is to have guests stay in our home!  God has blessed us with fabulous family and friends, so it is always a treat!  This week we got a visit from Aunt Sue!!!  Although she calls Alaska home, she loves to travel and we were her latest stop.  We had a lot of fun picking apples, playing ball and I even hit the golf course.  Yeah, it wasn't pretty, but we had a lot of fun!!  

I have only golfed a handful of times, so needless to say golfing with my athletically gifted aunt seemed a daunting task.  The bad news... 8 was the highest the automatic score card would allow and on the first 5 holes I maxed it out.  The good news... I finally beat her on the last hole (number 9 since I wouldn't let myself be humiliated any further than 1/2 the course).  Well I'm back on the golf wagon if anybody is up for a little ego boost (believe me you'll feel pretty good about your golf skills after 9 holes with me...)

Later,

Jen

"Peace" in this storm...

Since last May our MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) group has planned to have a light hearted November meeting.  A fun speaker on a light topic with a cool craft.  I hadn't thought much of it until I was preparing for our Steering meeting last Monday.  Something didn't feel right - it could have been that I was listening to talk radio and basically they made it sound like the sky was falling (or in this case the DOW).  Anyway, I turned off the radio and turned on my iPod.  The song that came on was "Mighty to Save" - you might know it, it's one of my favorites! "Savior, He can move the mountains.  Our God is mighty to save..." etc.  Anyway, it stuck in my head!  The rest of the afternoon, there it was.  Driving to the meeting, still there - in fact it was in the back of my mind throughout the meeting.  I had to leave the meeting a little early and had a sort of unfinished feeling.  I justified that with "Oh well, it always works out - we'll come up with something..."  Well at 3:17 am I woke up - I remember the time because I was so awake I looked at the clock thinking it must be about 6:00 - nope!  Immediately I started thinking about MOPS again.  You know how things always explode in your mind in the middle of the night...  For the next 2 hours I was awake.  Doing everything in my own power to will myself back to sleep.  Finally at around 5:00 it dawned on me that I needed to pray - so I did.  Nothing really came to me regarding MOPS, but I immediately fell asleep.  There is just something very calming about handing everything over to my Heavenly Father.  I don't know why it took me 2 hours to figure that one out - but I digress...

That next morning I went on with my day and around 2:00 pm I started checking email and was kind of overwhelmed by the number of emails I had from friends or forwards that spoke of "worry" and "stress" at this time in their lives.  Then I opened up an email from our Staff liason that echoed this as well, but in regards to our MOPS group and it seemed to hit both of us at the same time that we need to make some changes for November and bring in someone that can speak to our mom's about "stress" and dealing with it from a Biblical perspectives as both moms and wives.  I tell you all of this to remind you that just when we think we can fix everything on our own and in our own strength He reminds us that He is in control and He is the one that holds the future.  He already knew He didn't want us to stay on our original topic for November - I was just very hard of hearing!

That afternoon, after we made the decision to change the meeting and the wheels were in motion, I went where I should have gone from the start - to scripture.  That song was STILL in my head so I decided to look it up!  I knew it was in Zephaniah, but didn't know the reference so I "googled" it... there is was right on the screen in BIG BLACK LETTERS!  Zephaniah 3:17 - I had seen that number before!  It is amazing how God speaks to His children, if only I would have listened sooner, I would have saved my self from a sleepless night and a little anxiety! 

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save!  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing!"

How wonderful to know that in these troubling times He holds the future!!  The God who can move mountains delights in little old me and just when I think I can't do it any more He quiets me with His love and shows me how much He cares.  Cool!

Knee pits!

My kids are just like everybody else's kids - except they are much more witty, intelligent and sweet than everyone else's (I'm the mom, I can say that!).  That being said I have collected quite a few "kidisms" over the years.  I love to look back at them and remember the circumstances in which they were said or the hidden laughter (by me) when they were overheard.  Some of my favorites usually take place when my kids don't know I am listening.  Like the time I was babysitting one of Luke's friends (both were under age 2 at the time) and Jack was also home.  Jack was in the playroom with the friend while I was changing Luke's diaper.  When Luke returned Jack had an exasperated look on his face and said to Luke, "Play with your guest, I'm tired of him!".  Then there was the time Gwen & Jack (ages 4 & 2 at the time) were discussing bath time, which was coming up soon, and Jack said to her "I don't want to take a 'bass' " she laughed at him and said "No silly it's not 'bass' it's "baff'!".

Well, 2 more occurred today, both from Luke... Luke and I were at home and decided it was time for a "tickle match".  We were tickling and laughing when Luke said to me, "Now tickle my knee pits"!  Apparently, he figured the area behind his knee cap must be the "pit" since that is what the area under his arm is called :).  I was howling!  He didn't think it was all that funny.  

The second one occurred when he told me about 2 of his friends in school.  Usually he refers to them as Conner "T" and Connor "F" (actually he uses their full last names, but I figure I should try to protect the innocent).  Apparently today he got a good look at how each of them spells their first name, both are spelled differently, and came to the conclusion that they should be pronounced differently as well.  Now he refers to them as Conner (traditional pronunciation) and Conn'OR' (with heavy emphasis on the OR).  Again I started laughing and he just looked at me like I was looney, since it all made perfect sense to him!  

Never a dull moment!  Poor Luke, I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of those "my mom is looney" moments for him over the next several years...

Luke's First Goal!!!

This morning was a blistery October morning, ok, so it was 60 and a little windy, but frankly I've become very thin skinned...  This is Luke's first year of organized soccer.  Yeah, I know 4 is a little young, but he is so tired of watching his brother and sister play, that we opted to let him try it out.  The past few weeks he has basically taken his years of "sideline play" and brought it to the field.  Needless to say there is a lot of airplane arms, grass picking and generally running around in circles...  His father hides his frustration VERY well and in fact has found humor in it.  

Today, for the first time, we were so excited to see that possibly he is starting to get it...  There he was out there on the field moving with "the mass" (for those of you that have never seen a bunch of 4 year olds play soccer that is how the game is played - EVERYONE moves with the ball - no offense/defense), when all of sudden he made a break with the ball.  Rich & I were so excited!  He was running and the only people chasing him were the players on his own team!!!  Then we realized why... he was running towards the wrong goal!  Well, we have such a soccer prodigy on our hands, that not only did he score a goal for the other team, when the ball was kicked out of the goal to start the game again, he took it all the way to the other end and scored there too!  We were so proud - so was he :).

Rich and I came to a conclusion a long time ago...  We would have to start saving money for college, because there wasn't much hope of any sort of sports scholarships coming our way.  How blessed we are to have 3 healthy kids who love life and humor their parents, by participating in organized sports.