Baking and Basketball

I have assumed my nightly position in the rocker with my soon-to-be-too-big-to-fit-in-my-lap toddler (I can still refer to her as a toddler, right?  Or have we passed that point?).  And so it seems a fine time to update based on whatever random sampling of photos I might have in my iphone from the weekend. This is a perfect time to do it because I need a good reason to stop looking at Pinterest. If I had to keep count of the calories I have pinned in the past 24 hours, I believe we would be approaching the amount of the national deficit. And it would be one thing if I didn't actually formulate plans in my mind to make the recipes i have pinned--- but I have every intention of baking/making/AND eating every last one of them. And that, my friends, is why i will likely always have a weight problem. It is all Pinterest's fault. And has not a single thing to do with some faulty will power on my part. No siree. 

We had a great weekend this past week.  Jason and I got to go out for our Valentine's Day date on Friday evening to the Turkey Hill Brewery in Bloomsburg. It ended up being a triple date plus one adorable three month old...which was awesome. I had a chance to put my baby holding, baby swaying and bottom patting skills to good use and snuggled sweet baby Lincoln to sleep while his mama and daddy got to eat a hot meal, and after everyone else had had their turn. After swaying, walking and bottom patting all three of ours, it was like riding a bike. And I adored having a little one snuggled in my arms for just a little while. After a nice supper, we returned home to the house being a complete wreck, and three children who we assumed at least two of which would be asleep, but found none dreaming away in sweet slumber. Instead, Mara was in a meltdown and the others were overtired and over sugared and let's just suffice it to say the effect of our night out was essentially undone before we hung up out coats. Reality is cruel sometimes. 

Saturday morning was a baking morning-- which turned into a baking day. One of the firefighters in Jason's department lost a baby several months ago, and the house decided to do a spaghetti dinner for the charity Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep in the family's honor. And Jason volunteered me to make some desserts for them to serve.  I had decided on carrot cake cupcakes and individual pineapple upside down cakes, so I got to work early Saturday morning.  The picture below was just some of them. By all accounts they were a hit, so I was glad to have helped a little bit. 

 I feel like I should mention that I am uncomfortable with the snowman on the table in this picture. I am not completely certain about appropriate decor for the end of February. I am so entirely over snow and snowmen that I feel as though that's not the right option, but yet the white ground outside makes me feel like it isn't quite time for bunnies and chicks. If anyone knows the rules on this I would love to hear them. 

At some point during the afternoon the girls got onto a hair salon kick and set up their own hair washing stations a la salon in the dining room. I was actually pretty impressed with their creativity. Mara did my hair for no less than 3 hours on Saturday and Sunday. And I believe it looked just as good as when I do it. Which is precisely why the dear ladies at Advanced Skincare will never be out of work. God bless them and their knowledge of what to do with hair that is exceptionally gray for a 36 year old, and that is on the head of the biggest chicken on the planet Earth when it comes to making decisions or having ideas on what to do with my mop. 

Somewhere among all of this we went to Joshua's basketball game and even managed to catch some of Cooper's. Joshua had a pretty decent game, even though his team lost. But I am still loving watching his progress as the season goes on. (I must be truthful and tell you that this picture was from the week prior because all I managed to get this past weekend was a blur that could be any child, male or female, in a reddish blackish basketball uniform.)

Sunday was church and then THON watching as previously reported. And then we spent some time cleaning the playroom and doing laundry (you knew a post wouldn't go by without me mentioning laundry). I had planned for meatloaf and homemade macaroni and cheese for supper (aka my death row last meal request if ever I find myself in need of one), but Jason suggested that we take the kids out to Red Robin instead. And since I am not one to turn down a meal that someone else is going to cook and clean up for me, off we went. Turned into a nice night for us. 

So...now that Mara is asleep, and I have shared every mundane detail of the weekend, I am sure that you are also drifting off just out of the bore of it all. Sweet dreams. 

FTK!

There are a few weekends every year that are special remembrances of my time at Penn State.  And I have loved nothing more than sharing those special times with the kids.  Joshua really loves PSU football (any sports, really) and I can only hope that the girls will develop the same love of it as we do.  But another very special weekend to me every year is THON, or Dance Marathon. 

When I was a sophomore in college, a very dear friend of mine from high school who also happened to be at PSU (we remained friends, and even sang together in University Choir) was selected as a dancer in THON.  I remember distinctly how I felt when I went to the White Building (a tiny little gym in the middle of campus) to cheer him on.  I ended up standing at the fence with him for hours on end.  And then couldn't do anything other than be there with him to watch him finish out the 48 hour marathon on his feet.  And I was hooked.  THON had touched my heart, and I only dreamed to be a part of it someday.

 

THON, at that time, was a 48 hour dance marathon where 2 dancers per organization on campus were selected to represent their groups on the floor of the event where they would collect money to benefit the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity that provides emotional and financial support to families whose children are fighting all forms of pediatric cancer.  And somehow, those 48 hours of struggle and exhaustion give us just the tiniest little bit of perspective to help understand what those moms and dad and sweet kiddos are going through as they fight the battle for their lives.  You stand up at 7 pm on Friday evening, and don't sit down again until 7 pm on Sunday evening. 

 

I was lucky enough to be selected as a dancer for University Choir in the fall of my junior year.  So on a very special weekend in February of 1999, I packed my duffle bags and headed for Rec Hall (the brand new location for THON after the event had grown so large that the White Building couldn't hold it.)  Several special friends were also dancing with me-- for other organizations-- but we were determined to be there for each other.  This whole event was a real stretch for me.  Never had I pulled an "all nighter".  Never had I exerted myself physically to this extent.  Never had I pushed myself emotionally to this degree.  My parents were not happy that I was about to embark on this journey, and shared their concerns with me--- frankly, all of which were things that I was terrified about as well, not that I would tell them that.  But I knew that the opportunity to be a part of something like this was going to be the chance of a lifetime.  And I wasn't going to miss it.

Each organization is paired up with a Four Diamonds family, and ours was the Warfields.  A group of us from U Choir had travelled to their home in Harrisburg and spent an evening with them one night- we shared dinner, learned of their son, Logan's, story with a cancerous tumor behind his eye, and all of the experiences they had with his treatment.  He was currently in remission, and THON weekend was his favorite weekend of the year.  More than Christmas.  And if that doesn't tell you something about how much THON means, I don't know what does.  The families are on the floor with their dancers as much as they want to be, and we always had a great time when Logan and his little brother, Dylan, were on the floor with us.  Logan loved piggy back rides.  And Dylan was always carrying a squirt gun, and wasn't a bit hesitant to use it.

Friends and family took lots of turns coming to support us and keep us energized.  The stands at Rec Hall were constantly full--- especially building toward the end of the weekend when the emotional Family Hour took place and leading up to the conclusion of the event.  We had a harder and harder time as the weekend drew on--- hallucinating, needing foot massages, getting delirious, etc.  At one point, I was crying more than I was doing anything else.  But we pressed on.

When the weekend was over, and we got a chance to sit down, I have never felt relief like that in my life.  As the totals were revealed, we learned that our collective efforts--- and by that I mean the entire Penn State campus--- had raised over $5 million dollars to help fight pediatric cancer and support the families who were dealing with this horrendous disease.  I had never been so proud to be a part of something in my entire life.  And I still am.

 

And so, on Sunday afternoon, the kids and I watched the live Web Cast from the Bryce Jordan Center (because THON has once again outgrown its home) and we watched the last several hours of the magic as it happened with those 700+ dancers who had been on their feet since Friday afternoon.  We cried as Family Hour took place, and parents talked about the impact that THON had on their kids, their courage to fight, their victories over cancer, and for some, the gaining of their angel wings.  I sobbed as they played "Angels Among Us" and it had the same effect as it did on me when I stood with Doug as he danced in 1998.  We watched as the Nittany Lion (who, by the way, completed this year's THON IN FULL COSTUME) fell to the floor when the countdown was over.  And we cried as we watched the total be revealed--- $13,000,000 for the kids...or FTK, in THON speak. 

And again, I've never been prouder to share with my children what I had a chance to be such a small little part of during my time at Penn State.  And I secretly hope that they will also want to be a part of something so special one day...no matter where their college careers take them.  And you can bet I'll be there the whole time supporting them.

 

 

The loss of Wednesdays.

It is Wednesday. And I just put a post up on Monday. I know you're shocked. Truth be told, I am as well. It just seems that as I prioritize the days and all of the things that require my doing, blogging doesn't seem to be making it to the head of the class. I so wish it was because I have so much joy when I write. And I know that I will never regret capturing my heart on even the mundane days that seem like there isn't anything of consequence to write down.  And so, as I sit at Lauren's dance class watching her pink tutu'ed self twirl and stretch out of the corner of my left eye, while also watching Mara entertain herself with some crayons, Purple Baby and a bag of chex mix out of my right eye, I will make a few notes about today. 

Our Wednesday routine has gotten a little out of hand in recent weeks. I will be honest and tell you that I am a little stingy with the hours between 5:00 and 8:00 every night. I made a promise to myself that we wouldn't sacrifice family dinners in exchange for all manner of activities.  But I met my match on Wednesdays when Lauren's 4:45 dance class in Lewisburg intersects with Joshua's 6:00 basketball practice in Milton and Jason's firefighter training class in Montgomery...in case you wonder, that is exactly 30 minutes drive time from either of the other two locations. And so, I find myself alone in the running department on Wednesday nights. I bring Josh home from school at 3:00 and trade him for the girls. We then head to the office for just a few minutes (but it somehow makes me feel better).  At 4:20 we head off for downtown for dance class which ends at 5:45. Then we have to feed the girls somewhere and head to the church to catch the end of Joshua's basketball practice. By this time you can imagine Mara's delight in sitting to watch someone else do something after waiting at Lauren's dance. It is lovely. At 7:00 or so we head home to do all of the normal jobs we normally have to do between 5-7 on a non crazy night- pack lunches, sign all of the books/papers/etc from school, practice math facts and Joshua's Bible verse, empty a dishwasher, wash/dry/fold/put away some clothes, showers/tubs, stories and finally bed. Honestly.  In some ways I am grateful that it all hits one night right now. But it wears me out.  

I know my days are numbered- that soon I will be chasing all three of them and nights that aren't like this will be the rarity. But for now, I am grateful for the opportunity to watch the kids do something they like to do, and to be there to cheer them on. 

Weekend Fun

Another weekend has come and gone.  And goodness were we busy again this weekend.  After I picked up Joshua at school on Friday, I quickly unloaded groceries so that we could pack up and head to State College for a fun night of PSU Hockey.  Ever since they built the new hockey arena on campus, I've been saying to Jason that I wanted to go to a game there.  Apparently he had heard me whining about it long enough and decided to get tickets for us to go.  Originally we had planned for a babysitter and were going to leave the girls behind, thinking they would have little interest in watching a hockey puck bouncing from end to end on the ice.  But I'm glad we opted to bring them along.  First of all, Mara was adorable sitting in the back of the car when she fell asleep on the way to the game.  Sometimes I feel like she is growing so fast that I can almost see it from the beginning of the day to the end of it, but then there are times like this that I just look back, and she still looks like a baby to me.  I should add that our battle with the blasted bink continues.  She is mostly over it during the day, but when she gets into the car or gets really tired, we're on the road to a major meltdown if she doesn't have it.  And so, I cave.  But anyway...

 

We won parents of the year for our focus on nutritious meals for the kids, and let them eat a Happy Meal in the car on the way to State College.  They thought it was great.  I will also confess that this was their second Happy Meal of the week because of our new crazy Wednesday night routine.  That'll make for another blog post, maybe on Wednesday, although I wouldn't hold your breath because last week I didn't eat dinner or even pee until after 9 pm on Wednesday.

The hockey game was so much fun.  The kids did well, aside from the fact that the girls and I spilled two containers of popcorn onto the floor, and Mara lost her beloved bink when she got excited and spit it out and it went at least 5 rows down.  I have done a lot of crazy Mama things, but I was not about to go down and crawl on the floor below a bunch of people's seats to find this missing thing that I am trying desperately to get rid of anyway.  The kids enjoyed the skating, the fast pace of the game, the little mini Blue Band and the antics of the student section.

 

We arrived home around 10:00 on Friday night and all promptly fell into bed.

 

Saturday morning I had the nerve to screw up our whole day's schedule by sleeping in until...wait for it...6:30.  I now declare that it isn't even worth it to sleep extra because we were so fouled up all day with me missing the time that I usually spend getting things going in the house.  And so, we'll be back to 5:00 am wakeups from now on.

 

By noon we were all lined up for Joshua's Upward game, the third of the season.  I absolutely love watching Josh playing basketball.  He absolutely loves it, and whether he's good or bad doesn't even really matter to any of us.  He just exudes happiness while he's playing.  He does a pretty good job on the team, and has made significant progress over the past two seasons.  His team absolutely got obliterated this past week, though.  I believe the score was 21-1 at the half.  The other coach told his kids to ease up in the second half and that's when we got within striking distance.  We still ended up losing the game, but most of the kids left with their hearts in tact after the gracious behavior of that other coach.

 

 

We spent Saturday evening at home-- ate a nice supper together and just spent the evening relaxing at home.  It was a welcome change of pace.  And helped me gear up for Sunday.

 

We were up and rolling early on Sunday morning-- off to church and then to stay for a puppet lunch with Emily and the kids afterwards.  I think we haven't talked for more than 25 seconds in a row in quite some time, and I was so grateful for the time together.  Even with all of the kids.  (Listen, we'll take what we can get these days!)  The kids liked the puppets, and it made it so that we didn't have to rush home to cook lunch for anyone.  So we'll call that a win.

 

 

I rushed home around 2:00 to drop the kids back off with Jason, and then headed back to the church for a special celebration for a friend from church.  She is battling a horrible diagnosis with cancer affecting many different parts of her body, but her faith is stronger than ever.  She said that she wanted to have a big party to celebrate her life, and no less than 500+ people gathered to do just that yesterday afternoon.  There was 2 hours of time of a huge line of people waiting to share special memories that they cherish about her.  I believe I cried 4 bucket fulls of tears in the course of the afternoon-- but the overwhelming feeling that I have after sharing that afternoon with so many people who know her from many different walks of life is that I felt so blessed to be in a room with that much love in it.  It was impossible to leave there feeling anything other than grateful for being one of the many people who have been influenced in a positive way by Cheryl's life and love and her love for God.

 

I walked into the house at supper time, mascara still smudged from the leaking that I was doing during the service.  And the house smelled heavenly!  I had made shepherd's pie to have for supper, and Jason had made a fresh loaf of homemade bread for us to enjoy with it.  I believe the kids were mostly interested in eating the bread, and not so much the shepherd's pie (seeing as how they don't like potatoes in any variety, I'm not sure what I expected).  Jason brought home a bread machine last weekend, and we have really been enjoying it.  I can't say it's doing anything good for my diet, but it surely has tasted delicious.

I fell in bed again last night- literally exhausted.  I had secretly hoped for a snow day today (having Mondays at home the past two weeks to catch up on laundry and the other things that the weekends haven't left much time for has been a real treat), but when the winter weather fizzled a bit, I headed to work happy to begin another week.  I have so much to be grateful for-- not the least of which are weekends like this one, where I got to spend time with the people I love the most.

At least we had the party on time.

 

 

You may not believe me, but on my list of things to do since January 5th has been to download these pictures and do a blog post about Mara's 3rd birthday party.  Not kidding.  Every single day, my beloved Erin Condren planner has said, "Mara's post".  And every day there have been other things that have required my attention before this.  Thankfully, with an early afternoon home due to snow, I'm catching up a bit.  And so...I give you a very belated post about our sweet baby and how we celebrated her entrance into being three.

 

If you've spent more than 5 minutes with Mara, you know that this is a little girl who LOVES babies.  Real babies, pretend babies, it doesn't seem to matter.  She likes to hold them, feed them, dress them, walk them in her stroller, sing to them, put them to sleep and wake them back up again.  She has her most favorite "purple baby", and about a hundred other babies that she plays with daily.  I even try to take some of the less favored ones to the basement from time to time, but she realizes they are missing and ends up going to look for them.  Every time this happens, I pretend to have no idea how they got down there.  So far, she believes me. 

 

So we decided that it would be fun to have a baby themed birthday party for her.  All of the kids were encouraged to bring their babies with them, and they all seemed to have a wonderful time playing with them.  There were lots of American Girls on the scene, and everyone from age 11 all the way down to 2 seemed to love playing dolls together.  Quite frankly, if I had my beloved doll, Victoria, I would have jumped right in with her.

We had lots of yummy snacks, because, let's face it, I need very little in the way of a good excuse to cook things to eat.  And a house full of people certainly qualifies, so I worked on coming up with a menu that would reflect our party theme.  We had "little" smokies, "mini" meatballs, and a lot of the other normal party favorites.  It was a bit of a dip-a-palooza because I went a little wild on dips of all different varieties-- banana pudding dip with "mini" Nilla wafers, caramel dip for apple slices, Neen's yummy salsa dip with nothing mini or baby related, but just for the simple fact that the bowl is always licked clean at every party we have.  We had mini cups of fruit salad and veggie shooters.  And all of the kids ate their goodies using little cocktail sized spoons and  forks (baby sized).  It was pretty cute...if I do say so myself.  And even more critical than cute was that it was yummy.

 

The kids were so excited to get to play with Brooke and Hayden, and the Mowrys. Thank goodness for Cooper to rescue Joshua from all of the girls.

 

These two together just about melt me.  I swear...if they were any cuter together, I wouldn't know what to do.

 

The kids decorated little doll sized t-shirts for their babies.  It was a project that worked a lot  better in my mind than it did in reality.  The fabric markers didn't exactly want to move on the fabric, so I think the girls were a bit frustrated.  But it occupied them for a little while, anyway.

 

We had to remove the cute baby doll from the top of the cake in order not to burn down the house, but Mara loved her cake.  The little baby doll had a small cake just like the big one.  The kids gobbled up the cake just like usual.  And thankfully, almost all of the cake was eaten so that I wasn't tempted to completely wreck my diet with irreparable consequences.  

 

And just look at this crew.  I took about 80 pictures like this, and not one of them has all six of the girls looking in the same direction and smiling.  And so I give you this one.  I never claimed to be a photographer.

 

In the end, we had a very happy little girl, and a great afternoon to spend with our family and friends.  I still can't quite believe that Mara can really be three--- that is, until she has a complete temper tantrum that can ONLY come from a three year old.  But it doesn't seem possible that it has  been three years since she was born.  In some ways, though, I can't remember what life was like before her.  No doubt, she has completed our family in a way that only she could.  She pushes me, stretches me, challenges me in ways the other kids never have.  She frustrates me, frazzles me, and melts my heart at the same time.  I can't explain it any other way than to say that she is everything I never knew I needed--- but is a true and cherished gift from God.  I only pray that we can parent her in the way that she needs to be parented in order to grow into the person she was born to be.

Mara and Katelyn

This weekend, we experienced another parenthood first. It seems that each child gives you different challenges, different struggles, even different joys. I would put this latest development in the category of funny stories that I never want to forget...another reason I love this blog and the way that I can quickly freeze these little moments in time to be able to remember when the kids are bigger and I somehow can't remember all of these little things that, right now it seems impossible that I would forget. 

Sunday afternoon Mara started referring to Katelyn and talking about her in very detailed descriptions. She has been extremely vivid in her imagination lately- even having temper tantrums about not being able to go to school for a tap dancing show she needed to be there for. She even carried her "tap shoes" with us to church in the hopes that I would take her to her school after church. But Katelyn was a new one. She told us she was 4 and had purple hair. She was drawing pictures for her and asking us to take her to deliver them to Katelyn.  We dismissed it as pretty normal imagination type stuff- we are no strangers to the imagination stuff. Remember all of the long hours we sat on the stairs while Joshua recited lines from The Polar Express at this same age?  Or all the days I spent being the Green Goblin from Spiderman?  But this was a new one. 

On Monday when I came home from the office, I was immediately greeted with information about Katelyn. Apparently she was coming for supper. When Grandma opened the garage door to leave for home (happily, by the way since apparently this Katelyn talk had been going on all day long) Katelyn came inside. After that she ate dinner with us (we had to get her her own chair after Lauren caused all manner of calamity by apparently sitting on top of her...quite a risk when no one besides Mara can see her.). She had her own plate too. Of course. She got tubs with the girls and even communicated through Mara that the water temperature was too hot. She decided to stay overnight and shared Mara's pajamas and her bed. In the morning, we learned that she snores. 

I will be honest and tell you that while I am amused. I don't know if this is normal 3 year old behavior or whether we are dealing with some sort of problem, but it seems innocent to me at this point.  So far it is very comical and has had all of us literally laughing out loud in recent days. 

Who knows how long Katelyn might be with us. But hey...welcome to the circus, Katelyn. Make yourself at home. 

Christmas Shoes

Although it is a bit (ok, a big bit) behind schedule, I wanted to share a few pictures of Josh's big night when he had an opportunity to sing with the Christian group, Newsong during their Christmas concert at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport. It really was a night we all will remember for a long time!

Sometime late in November, we got a phone call from a former pastor who also works at a local Christian radio station saying that he was working on a project and wondered if we would be interested in an opportunity for Joshua. He was responsible for finding a little boy between the ages of 6-8 who would be willing to sing with Newsong during their show. He said he had never heard Joshua sing, but had always enjoyed his "character" when he was working at our church, and especially the way he always liked to play Pastor Dave's drums after church. There would be an audition scheduled with all of the radio station people to choose from a few boys that they knew. 

Given the fact that during this particular month, Joshua's main pastime was putting on concerts for us using YouTube videos on the iPad and Lauren's working microphone (ie. the best $30 we have ever spent), I figured I knew what he would say, but I told Pastor Dave that I wouls talk to him after school and let him know. I was a bit apprehensive because Joshua had never sung anything in front of other people, and certainly not in front of a crowd like the one that was sure to be at the Arts Center. 

So we practiced the song, "The Christmas Shoes" (which I am pretty shre I sobbed through thr first 300 times he sang it because that song tries to rip your guts out) and he auditioned.  He was really nervous to audition, but had never experienced anything like that before, so I couldn't blame him. But the next day, Pastor Dave called and told us that he had gotten the part. He was thrilled. 

We were told to dress him in raggedy clothes- and this was tough for me. I wanted to find him something nice to wear, but he was supposed to resemble the little boy in the movie that was made about the story in the song. We arrived at the Arts Center a few hours before the concert and were expecting to meet with the band for a little while, and hopefully run through the song. But that never happened. A few minutes before the show started Joshua met with one of the band members and was basically told when to come backstage and what microphone he would use. He did sing through his part for the band member, but only once and without any music (his challenges were tempo and pitch with the music). But that was the extent of our prep. We went out into the audience and enjoyed the show-- Sanctus Real, Danny Gokey (awesome!), Newsong and Josh Wilson (who was amazing on his guitar).  Of course, Christmas Shoes was next to last.

The clip of the movie started and we headed backstage. Josh was nervous but seemed to be handling it all pretty well.  I, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. I was so afraid that he was going to be scared. He stood with the band member we had met earlier, off to the side, singing along with Mr Billy (as he was referred to).  And when it was his turn, he marched out there and sang his heart out. In front of 1000 people.

I cried. And cried. Thank goodness there were a few videos rolling to capture it for us. Libby and Zig had travelled nearly 2 hours to see this little 2 minute piece of history, and Grandma and Aunt Sheri were there as well. Friends of ours were actually in the first few rows and had amazing seats for filming. We were so grateful for their help because our view was really cool- but not good for video or pictures.  Most of the photos I am sharing here were sent to me from the radio station and were taken from the balcony view.

To say we were proud of Joshua was a serious understatement.  He was so brave, and seemed to really enjoy this experience.  We are so grateful for Libby and Zig and Grandma and Aunt Sheri making the trip to support him.  Joshua's teacher, Mrs. Cross, was also in the audience.  Her story really touched my heart.  When she found out that he had been selected for this opportunity, and what the song was, she said that she thought she would go to the concert to see it.  She lost her Mom on Christmas Eve, and with the basis of the song being a little boy who was trying to make his Mama beautiful in case she met Jesus that Christmas Eve, she said that this song has been extremely difficult for her to listen to in the years since her Mom passed.  But since Joshua was going to be singing it, she wanted to hear him.  She told me afterwards that she was really blessed by being there, and we were so glad.

Following the show, apparently the radio station had listeners asking about the little boy who sang the song at the concert, so they asked if he would be willing to come and speak live on the morning show with the DJ's (one of which is Pastor Dave).  He was thrilled to be asked, and seemed to have a good time.  They asked him about singing and how it felt to be up there on the stage, they asked about Christmas and his favorite Christmas song, and his favorite sports teams.  It was really cute.

2015

I love a new beginning.  And so, I think that's what I like most about New Year's Day (aside from getting the tree down and de-cluttering the house because by the time Christmas is over, I cannot take it one more second) - the chance to start fresh, with the proverbial clean slate.  I love writing the first words in my Erin Condren planner and decorating the special days in it that we have events planned. (It is a sickness.)

I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day pondering what I wanted this new year to hold in store. Last year I had vowed to continue my weight loss, insert some exercise and maintain what I had lost in 2013. I was largely successful at that-- not perfect-- but pretty respectable. I fully plan to continue that in 2015 and get rid of the last pesky 25 pounds that will get me to what I think is a maintainable, healthy weight without starving or being grumpy or needing to completely swear off everything that tastes good. And let's be honest, that's just no way to live. 

And then I thought about some other things I would like to do more of in the new year. More cooking. More time with people who fill me up spiritually and emotionally. More notes sent to friends to make them smile. More encouragement for others. More writing. More cups of hot tea. More connection with my husband. More snuggles with my children. More of the good stuff. 

I also decided that I was going to be intentional about writing. Having lost so many grandparents in recent history, I am thinking more and more about legacy and what people will know of us once we are gone from this earth. I also have been trying diligently to make sure that I am focused on my blessings.  So each day I have decided to write down at least five things that I saw Jesus' hand in my circumstances during the day. I already love it. For me, it is an easier way to journal than to write narrative in a journal- which I have tried and always seem to fizzle out on. This project is akin to the list in One Thousand Gifts...and I am so excited about it. I am finding that most days I have way more than five things that God has blessed me with through the day. It is keeping me focused on the positive- and when I do that I am so much more likely to see even more. It's a win win for sure!

Happy 2015!!

Santa Came!!

We had a nice Christmas Eve at home, and enjoyed going to church after supper.  The kids did relatively well, thanks to being there with the Mowry's!  Mara just loved being able to play in the pew with Kinley. Add in some snacks and some coloring pages, and they were all able to make it through the service with little catastrophe.

 

Christmas morning started with an unfortunate beginning.  Joshua had been into our room no less than 4 times before it was actually time to get awake.  But around 6 am, he came in and made a bee line for the bathroom. And before we knew it, we were dealing with a stomach issue.  He threw up a few times before it miraculously passed and he felt well enough to open presents.  I was really worried that our Christmas plans were all out the window if we had a puker in the house.  Poor buddy was so sad.

 

But by about 8, we were downstairs marveling at the treasures Santa had left for the kids. They couldn't decide how to start.  But don't worry...it didn't take them long to figure it out.

 

Lauren asked for very few things this year.  But her first American Girl doll was the one thing she wanted.  She was thrilled to open up Isabelle!

Joshua's had two big wishes this year.  The first was an iPod.  Santa thought that he might enjoy a basic level tablet a bit more, so that's what he brought.  Josh was thrilled.  His other wish was for a drum set.  I told him that it is illegal for Santa to bring drum sets.

Somehow I missed a picture of Mara opening up her big present- American Girl Bitty Twins.  Our baby doll loving little Mommy adored the babies, and immediately got to work taking care of them.

 Wait.  What?!?!?

 

 

We cleaned up the morning mess and I got to work in the kitchen preparing our goodies for that afternoon and dinner with Jason's family.  Later in the afternoon, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Sheri, Jai and Gage all arrived ready for another round of gift exchanging and dinner.  We all had a great time.

 

We had a great day!  At the end of it all, we cuddled up in our pajamas (some of us matched our baby dolls) and felt very blessed. 

Home for Christmas - Part II

This chapter will be titled..."Christmas with the Sickos".

We returned home from Stacie's on Saturday evening around 9:30.  I would like a special Mother of the Year nomination for forgetting to feed the kids supper.  Richard family Christmas is famous for all day grazing, but I forgot that the kids don't graze nearly as much as the grownups.  So, as we left McVeytown, Mara asked, "Was i already supper time?"  And so, we made a run through the McDonald's drive through for three packages of chicken nuggets for my hungry kids! Jason was still in bed when we got home, and he remained there for the rest of the night and most of Sunday morning.

The kids and I got up and headed to church to hear the Maitland cantata. It was lovely.  And the kids managed to behave themselves relatively well and enjoyed seeing Nana, Pap and Freda up front.  Lauren even sang along with some Christmas carols as they  appeared in the songs.  I would love to be able to join in next year.

After lunch, we were planning to celebrate Christmas with Mom and Dad and Lib and Zig and the kids.  Jason joined the land of the living, and Brooke came up from her sick spot on her couch from the day before.  At this point, Libby was turning a few shades of green but she powered through like a champ.

We packed up and headed for home shortly after the gifts were opened.  The kids all had school on Monday morning, and everyone was feeling pretty crummy.  Poor Lib headed for home almost immediately because she was feeling bad.  It definitely wasn't our most energetic Christmas, but we enjoyed being together all the same.

I love this sweet girl so much!

 Mara was thrilled with her baby crib.  She kept saying, "I got a crib for my babies!"  And she has played with it non stop ever since.

 

 Nana and the kids looking at some pictures from the year.  And Joshua having one last bag of Hartley's chips before we returned home.