The Laundry Pile Goes Out To Eat

We went out to eat yesterday. Driving through the parking lot and realizing that IHOP was completely packed, we decided to head next door to Bonanza. None of our kids had ever been there before. We introduced them to the culinary genius that is buffet.

I quickly realized that although most of them complain about school lunch, this was no more than commercial grade food under heat lamps. Somehow they were wowed by the selection and took the cafeteria style meal on full force. They were convinced they were in heaven, if heaven includes unlimited soft serve ice cream covered in gummi worms. Here are some samples of their plates, the diverse eaters that they are. It just cracks me up. Especially the last one.

Oh Dear! I Mean OH DEER!

I officially have my very own, personal, almost-die-story as of this morning. Let me share.

This morning at 0'dark-thirty, I drug myself to the garage with my running shoes and water bottle in hand, heading to the gym. I pulled out of the driveway and out on to the highway. I was about 3/4 of a mile away from my house and then deer/explosion/panic.

That's the short version.

The long version is that suddenly, like it materialized from thin air, there was the face of a deer immediately to the right of my hood. I can still see it. Then within a split second, before I could understand what was happening, the noise like a loud explosion. It turns out that was my rear passenger window shattering. My heart leaped into my brain as I tried to process what had just happened. I looked back and the rear passenger window was gone. I looked into the back seat just to make sure the deer wasn't IN the back seat, ready to kick me in the head. No deer.

I pulled into a nearby parking lot and tried to catch my breath. First thought? "Should I keep going to the gym?" Uhhh, no. No window and you almost just died. Second thought? "Is the deer laying dead in the road?" I looked over in that direction and I saw the silhouette of legs and hooves twitching. Third thought? "Do I need to call the police?" No, you don't have your phone with you, dummy. So I turned around and started driving home. By the time I got to the spot where I had hit the deer, it was standing beside the road. Uninjured, I thought but in the daylight, the road tells another story. Ew.

The crying came on slowly. I started whimpering, processing what had just happened. I realized that if it would have hit a second earlier, the front passenger window would have blown out instead, all over me. By the time I got in my driveway I was crying out loud. I'm so glad the neighborhood was still asleep. Hey, I'm a cryer, and I'm not apologizing for it. Just say the word, and I will cry. I walked around in the dark and tried to assess the damage. It was then that I saw the deer hair everywhere, inside the backseat with the shattered glass. Something had flown across the back seat with enough force to shatter the glass on the other side of the car. If it would have been the front seat, my head would have been in the path of whatever that was.

I went into the house, sobbing by now (again with the crying) and woke up poor Nate. He was trying to figure out what in the world was going on and why his wife so upset. Was she attacked? No, but kind of...by a rogue deer. He threw on some clothes and we went out with a flashlight to check out the XB. Here are some pics of the damage:


The poor little Black Lego is in the shop, waiting to find out the extent of the damage and I am not crying any more, so that's good. And also, I'm alive. That's good too.

I'm Packin' Heat

Did you know that the cell phone pocket in a purse is just the right size for a Twinkie?
Just a coincidence? I think not.

In unrelated news, I have come to the conclusion that there are some items that are completely doomed with no chance of survival in our house. Here is a short list, by no means exhaustive:

• Board game boxes
• Remote control battery covers
• DVD's
• Child Safety Gates
• Scotch Tape
• The little plastic shoes box organizer thingys. WHY DO THEY INSIST ON FLIPPING THEM OVER AND STANDING ON THEM?

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Please tell me I'm not the only one who is raising destruct-o-bots.

Can't Hide The Fact That Kids Live Here

Yesterday it started snowing out of the blue. Huge chunks of fluff floated down from the sky. It didn't take long for the yard to turn white so the kids headed out to play.

Our neighbor's yard:

Our yard:

Geez Louise.

And Now, Back to the Superficial

This is the kind of stuff I'm up against:

• Kids filling squirt guns... straight from the toilet.
• Goodnight Moon, dying a waterlogged death in the tub
• And this:

Quotes, Lots and Lots of Quotes. And Deep Thoughts Too.

I don't think it's a secret that I've been listening to some podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts. I've been just soaking them up. God using them to do some huge things in my life right now and I just can't get enough. The main podcast I've been listening to is Matt Chandler from The Village Church in Texas.

The reoccurring theme for me right now is community. Authentic relationships. Letting other people deep into your life, good, bad, and ugly to help to spur you on. But it's so easy to pull away and be fake. To put on a happy face and not let anyone in. Here is a quote the jumped out of my ear buds at me.

"The most common illustration given to what we’re in is a body. If you cut off a finger and throw it aside, it doesn’t keep growing or moving or playing its part; it shrivels up and dies. You cannot remove yourself. The more you isolate yourself from deep, authentic, real Christian community, the more damage you do to your own joy."

While I eluded to the fact that the last few months have been difficult and that I was struggling in my early pregnancy and feeling like crap and wrestling with God, I don't think that's how it should be the majority of the time. He was pulling me away from the "people supports" I had but just for a short time. He showed me how to rely on Him alone for that season but I don't think that's what He has in mind for the everyday, every week, every month of life. He gave us each other. He wants us to be real and open and honest with each other.

Here is another one to chew on. (Del was a mentor of his who had passed away earlier that week.)

"See how shallow our relationships are. See how hollow they are that no one’s willing to engage us at that level when everyone in this room knows that we’ve got areas that we’re blind in, that we’ve got issues in, that we’ve got trouble in. No one loves enough to go, “How are you really doing with your relationship with Christ?” I mean, this isn’t some game. Hey, you’re going to die. Are you tracking with that? Del’s time was Wednesday. We’re all an hour closer. This isn’t a game. Eternity hangs in the balance, joy hangs in the balance, and it seems like we talk about the same lame junk as everyone else. “Hurray, the Cowboys got what they needed in the 1st round!” That’s not a bad point of conversation, but it’s got to go farther than that for us. It’s got to go
farther than that. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy because most people don’t want to get there. They want to hide, they want to protect themselves. I call it “fine-itis.” “How are you doing?” “Fine.” We all want to look a certain part, despite the fact that that we’re not.

Dude. This is kicking my butt on so many levels. It's scary to let people in that closely. What if? What if they see who I really am and they reject me? What if they see my junk and tell everyone else? I'm not saying we should be broadcasting our issues out there for the whole world to see, this is about deep relationships. It's about letting some people in closer than we are necessarily comfortable with. For our own good. For their own good. For the good of the Church as a whole.

I've been challenged to let myself be known a little more to those in my life who I have deep relationship with. To take some of my surface level relationships to a little bit deeper level, a level past talking about changing diapers and what the weather is like. I want to grow closer to the people God has put into my life so that we can encourage each other to change, to grow, to be who He wants us to be. I don't think it's going to be easy. Actually it could get quite messy, but I'm willing to go there if it's going to result in true joy and maturity. Growth hurts sometimes.

How about you? How much do you put yourself out there? Do you suffer from "fine-itis?" Do you have people in your life who can ask the hard questions of you?

Escape From Alcatraz

Yesterday the sun was out and the temps peaked at 50 degrees. Eager for spring to arrive, we donned our rubber boots and pretended it wasn't February 25th. I was hoping a little sunshine and fresh air would solve my end of winter eye twitch.

Within 30 seconds of leaving the front door, Toby was sitting in a puddle, completely waterlogged. Back into the house, new boots, new socks, new pants. Off to the park.


When you aren't even two years old yet, walking in rubber boots up to your hips can be a bit of a problem. It didn't take long to see that it wasn't going to work so little buddy ended up running down the street in his wet socks. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Infact I might as well make it my life's motto. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

A little fresh air. A lot of mud. A warm bath. No more eye twitch. Life is good.

Grocery Day

Putting groceries away is a lot more "interesting" with help.

Follow Up

You can't imagine what a sense of relief yesterday's post brought. It seems like when there is something huge, whether good or bad, going on in my life and I'm not at liberty to talk about it, I just don't say anything at all. Thus the blog silence for the past little while.

So we found out just a couple days after Christmas that number eight was on it's way. I'm not kidding when I say that the second I laid eyes on the pink line, I gained ten pounds. Not kidding one bit. A lot of people have said, "I thought you had that special glow." That special glow is called extra weight. There's just no way to sugar coat it. And I'm not complaining about it. It's all part of the master plan to grow a baby.

One of the other reasons I was so quiet around the internet and around real life too, is I was miserable. Oh my gosh, the morning sickness and exhaustion totally kicked my butt. Badly. It's a good thing I had the excuse of freezing cold midwestern weather because even if it was sunny and eighty degrees, I wouldn't have been leaving my house. Or my couch. The house was a mess, even more than normal, and I just couldn't get anything done. But it's better now. Much much better. The morning sickness has subsided and I've got some energy back. Now about the messy house....

Another big sign that something was up was that I had no desire for coffee at all. None. I KNOW! I can't believe it either. I didn't brew a single pot of coffee from late December until just a week ago or so. I drank a Starbucks here and there or had a cup at someone else's house, but never made it here. Again, I'm glad that has passed. Bring it on.

The kids had to have known something was up. Either Mom was pregnant or she was losing her mind. And the crying. All the crying. Let's just say that in the first trimester, my emotions are a little...how can I say this...all over the place. Nate might argue that it isn't just the first trimester but whatever.

During these long couple of months God has been doing some heart renovations in me. It seemed like such a lonely time, going it alone, no one to lean on. But He was there. And we worked some stuff out together. I'm not saying I believe in complete solitude and not surrounding yourself with friends and family who can bear your burdens with you. In no way am I saying I believe in Lone Rangerdom. God has given us each other to share our lives with and I whole heartedly believe that. But for this short season, He was showing me some stuff. And it hurt and it was hard, but we got through it.

And now I can share my excitement with the whole internet. YAY! Another little soul to join us in this crazy, crazy life.

I've Been Keeping A Secret

If our life were a tv show, what would it be called?

How about:

Heth and Nate Plus Eight

Yep, exciting news around here. In August the Laundry Pile will expand by one more. We will attempt to answer the question "Is Eight really Enough?"

Flaming Onions

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to a Japanese Hibachi grill for Sunday dinner. The food was delicious but watching the kids was the best part.

Jack, Caedmon....Stay away from the knife drawer and DO NOT try this at home.

First you add the magic mustard...

Can you believe it? Jack ate it.

It was delish.

If You Have A Weak Stomach, Do Not Proceed

Sound asleep in bed at 3:30 am, I awake to a child standing beside my bed. There are two possible sentences this child will utter:

1: "Mom, I think I'm going to barf."

or

2:"Mom, I barfed."

Scenario 1 is a good scenario. I can now steer said child to the toilet and then easily flush away anything...offensive. Scenario 2 is a little more iffy. If the child is old enough, there is glimmer of hope that they made it to the toilet themselves. On the other hand, this one just might not turn out very pretty.

Last night was scenario 2 part B. And to make it even worse, in the child's own words..."Mom, it's BAD." Turns out it was the top bunk of the triple bunk, the loft. The loft that takes me 20 minutes and various contortionist moves just to make the bed. Here we have a middle of the night emergency with three sleeping brothers in the other beds. Happily, I managed to remove the sheets without waking anyone up or spraining my back. Sadly, he was right. It was BAD.

These are the moments that go unrecognized. No one is standing by your bedside applauding you as you return to sleep after a half an hour of cleaning up vomit. No one to thank you for providing middle of the night laundry and sanitizing services. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all you moms everywhere. "GOOD JOB!", "You cleaned that up like a pro!", "If there were medals for this kind of thing, you get a gold.", "That was some amazing use of bleach skills."

There.

Consider yourselves cheered on.

It's The Little Things

I have a neglected journal I keep on top of the microwave. I intended to write down little notes about the kids here are there, the funny things they say, the quirky things they do. That way when I'm old and senile, I can remember life as it was when the kids were little. Not the general overall memories, but the specific day to day memories. It was a good idea, I just need to get back on it.

Here is what I am going to write in it as soon as I'm done here.

This week, Toby went from calling me "MOM!" to sweet, sweet "Mommy." I love it. I noticed the exact day he started doing it. His tiny little voice, the subtle inflection when he says the "ee". I could eat him up.

He also spits out all of his food. Last week I gave him an apple and he ate the whole thing. If you count chewing it. When he was done he was surrounded by a mess of spit out apple pieces. Ew. I think it's because he's getting molars.

Jack cracks me up when he goes to the linen closet, grabs a fitted sheet, and puts the fitted corner over his head like a hood. He wraps himself up and walks around the house looking like a mini monk.

Caedmon has been talking a lot about wanting to visit his cousins in Spensylvania.


This is a habit I really want to get back in the swing of. I already love looking back at some of the things the kids did and said just a couple years ago. Things I wouldn't have otherwise remembered. Yeah, I know a blog fulfills some of the same purposes as the journal does, but there are some things you just don't want to write down for the whole internet to read. If you don't already do this, I challenge you to pick up a cheap spiral note book and set it somewhere you can access it easily. Every so often, pick it up and write down some of the details of your day to day "boring" life. I'm sure in just a couple years you won't find it so boring.

Do They Shove It Through The Cable Lines?

So, it turns out the Internet is a pretty convenient thing. I just did something new. I ordered my pizza online. Extra cheese? Click. Pepperoni, of course (thank you very much children and husband). Click. And so on and so forth until I had created our supper using bandwidth instead of actual ingredients.

I am easily impressed.

And also lazy.

And to make it even MORE appealing than the traditional call-on-the-phone-to-order-a-pizza, I didn't have to talk to a single other human being. One step closer to a completely impersonal society. Just doing my part to thrust us into the cold, cold future.

The best part is I'm sitting here watching the status of my order via the "Pizza Tracker". It appears my pizzas are done being prepped and are now baking in the oven. Or so the screen tells me. I believe the screen.

This will be the mantra for the cold, impersonal, online future:

"Believe the screen."

I leave you with some facts from the pizza Fact-O-Matic that keeps supplying me with pizza facts while I wait. Isn't that nice?

"Americans eat an average of 46 slices of pizza a year."

"Pepperoni is the most popular U.S. pizza topping, then mushrooms, sausage, ham, and green peppers."

"Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or 350 slices per second."

Good to know, good to know.


(Oooh it's so exciting, it's out of the oven and on it's way! I better go!)

January. Brrr.

You see all the bloggers doing the 365 thing, you know, a photo every day for a year? I like the idea, but only in theory. If I participated, most of the pictures from January would be of Jack playing Wii, Gemma climbing over the gate into the kitchen to sneak into food, and Toby still in his jammies long after lunch. It's pretty much the same thing every day around here with me wearing differing versions of warm and comforable clothes. What can you do? It's January in the midwest and it is cooooold.

Today we had a variation on our January theme. Gemma decided that it should be summer and that the couch makes a great swimming pool. I think she's on to something.

Nudity Might Be A Good Idea

The answer to the question: "What are you doing today Heth?"

My Own Goodnight Moon

What is it about the book Goodnight Moon? It's magical, I swear. I just can't figure it out, there isn't really anything special about it. The gaudy green and red illustrations aren't that impressive, but every time I start to read, "In the great green room, there was a telephone..." I suddenly have every one's attention. Weird.

So here is my experiment. What if I change the words? What if I personalize it? Will it still have the same power over my children or will it lose it's magic? Let's try it.

In the tiny green house
There was a salamander
And a possible mouse
And a picture of-

A girl with her future spouse

And there were remotes for the Wii all without batteries

And two triple bunks
And seven kids with spunk

And a big string bass
And not much space

And a desk and a drawer and a broke bi-fold door.

And a mom with a mullet who was scrubbing the floor

Goodnight house

Goodnight spouse

Goodnight girl with her future spouse

Goodnight laundry
And the possible mouse

Goodnight Wii
Goodnight batteries

Goodnight bunks

And goodnight spunk

Goodnight pile of boots
Goodnight all Jack's loot

Goodnight bass
Goodnight space

Goodnight desk
And goodnight drawer

Goodnight everybody

Goodnight door

And goodnight to the mom who was scrubbing the floor

Good night snow

Goodnight cold

Goodnight children who are getting too old

Confession

I still have Christmas decorations up. Don't judge me.

I took down the tree and that was as far as I got, but according to my Christmas Cactus, I've still got time.

I Guess I Really Am 32

Today was my birthday. I still have 35 minutes left. Some highlights:

• A new laptop bag for my The Golden Laptop
• BK french toast sticks and ciniminis for breakfast
  
• It ended up being a good hair day. (You never know with a mullet)
• Tiramisu
• Starbucks
• Wii
• Mom taking the kids for the afternoon and evening
• Dinner out
• Monster cookies (see a theme?)
  
• Packages in the mail
• Facebook birthday wishes
• Another year marked by God's faithfulness

It was perfect.

It's Wednesday.

Is that a profound title or what? So edgy. You'll have to forgive me, we are on our hundred and fifteenth snow day this winter and my right eye is starting to twitch a little bit. The girls just went out to play in the latest round of snow. The very snow that keeps sealing our housebound fate. And just to let you know why I'm not up for mother of the year...it's negative one outside. Negative one. Have fun girls. Happy frostbite to you. Desperate times people, desperate times....

No, they are fine. They have on so many layers they look like marshmallows. They have very specific directions to come back in after three minutes. They also tanked up on hot cocoa before they went out. Preventative measures and all of that. (Side note, do you ever get sick of my not-sentences? Too bad.)

Just a minute, I smell a very ripe diaper that needs to be taken care of immediately.

Ok, I'm back. That was fun.

I never told you about my new Golden Laptop did I? Nate found an amazing deal and hooked me up with my very own laptop. And guess what? No games allowed. I will not allow any games to be installed on this bad boy. No WarCraft. No Enemy Territory. No Star Wars Galaxies. Sorry boys, this one is game free. There has been a bit of controversy as to the color of the laptop. Nate says its mocha. I say gold.

Gold.
No question about it.

In other shocking news, Randall is still alive. I know! I can't believe it either. He's probably unaware as to the wonderful conditions in which he lives compared to what is going on outside right now. Being a salamander harassed by small children is much better than being a frozen salamandercicle. At least I think so. I guess if you ask him, he might welcome death if it means not suffering under the hands of Toby. Toby likes to put things in Randall's aquarium. Poor, poor Randall.

That's all for now. I know. What an exciting post. Hey, it's Wednesday, and a snow day at that. It's all I got.

Let's Meme!

The 2008 meme.

It's been while since I memed. But I might as well, this one looks easy enough and interesting in a reflective kind of way. The deal is that you take the first sentence of the first post of each month in 2008 and see if you notice any pattern or common theme. I saw it over at Joanne's. For added fun, I've thrown in a little commentary. And links, just because.

January: "We celebrated a little early this year, having family over for tacos and cake." (Good old Noelle and her New Year's Day birthday. She gets first post of the year, every year.)

February: "This is what is for dinner tonight."' (When I saw this again, it looked so good. I think I might just have to revisit this on my family soon. *evil laugh*)

March: "What do these words have in common?"

April: "I love watching The Biggest Loser." (Haven't been watching it this year, I kind of miss it.)

May: "People. Don't even try to tell me that this isn't the awesomest thing you have seen all day." (It is. It really, really is. Maybe even the awesomest thing of all time. And so is my sentence structure. People. is not a sentence.)

June: "It begins." (This began four months of running posts. All running, all the time.)

July: "Another reason I love The Great White." (There is Starbucks involved. Of course.)

August: "We are halfway through our marathon training."

September: "What a fun time that was."

October: "As soon as I shut off the video camera yesterday I ran upstairs to the kids' room to asses the damage." (This is the infamous misspelling post. And look, it's even in the first sentence! Way to start a post off right Heth!)

November: "For a couple weeks Nate and I were keeping a secret, we had plane tickets to the East side of the country." (Miss you Ann!)

December: "I just got done sorting socks." (This sure is a thrilling place isn't it?)

So that was fun. Reoccurring theme? Probably food. The majority of those posts have something to do with food. I wonder what the theme of '09 will be?

Go ahead and try it. It's a great way to perfect your cut and paste skills. Oh, and to reflect.

No. Not in the House.

It snowed last night, a fresh blanket of about a inch and a half. The wind drifted it a bit in some places but not in others. I got up early to head to the gym for a run and peeked out the front window, I could see that they hadn't plowed our street yet. Two lines of tire tracks ran straight down the middle of the road. An ambitious dog owner had already walked their dog, leaving big boot marks and frisky dog prints along the curb. The cat that we do not own but that lives in our garage left telling marks as to where he has been sleeping at night.

And then the most disturbing tracks of all.

A tiny perforated line from the garage, straight under our deck. Where it went from there, I can only dread. Dear Lord, not into our house I pray. A mouse. Could it be the same mouse that scared me last summer, hiding in the recycling pile in the corner of our garage? I hope so, and not his brother, cousin, or *shudder* offspring.

Please. No.

Quiet

Shhhhh. Do you hear that? Me neither.

The kids have gone back to school. No one is fighting over the Wii. Jack has free reign. Gemma has my full attention and can read her Sandra Boynton books to me uninterrupted. Toby slept in. Of course I miss the crew, but that was the longest Christmas break ever. They got out early in December for bad weather, they stayed here a day later for bad weather.

It was just time.

She's 12

She turned 12 and we took her out, alone. Noelle's birthday was on New Year's day so she kind of gets hosed every year. Usually everyone is dragging after a late New Year's Eve night and her birthday is spent with tired, grouchy people. We celebrated with family that evening and then last night Nate and I took her out for dinner and a movie.

She chose a Japanese Hibachi grill. You know, the kind where you all sit around the grill and the guy with the crazy knife skills lights a flaming onion volcano right in front of your face. Now wouldn't that be fun to see pictures of? I thought so too but apparently the company I was keeping wasn't too excited about me pulling out my camera and drawing attention to ourselves while the people around us were just trying to enjoy their noodles and whatnot. So no pictures. Then we headed to the movies. We had a bit of a wait until the next show so we killed time at Best Buy. Good times. Who do you suppose chose that store? Let me give you a hint.



It appears she takes after him, she hacked into some games on the demo netbook. Good work Welly.



We saw the movie Seven Pounds and then headed home. It was a really fun night with our new twelve year old. Happy Birthday Noelle. And keep up the growing just a little bit more. Only about a half a shoe size more and we can share and that will be a happy birthday present for both of us. Double the shoe choices. Wheee!

14 Years

Then

Now

Happy Anniversary Nate.

Christmas is Over. Wow, That Was Fun.

Here is my Christmas recap, four days later.

We celebrated with Nate's parents a week early. They were the guilty party who bestowed upon us the new love of my life, Guitar Hero World Tour. And also, try not to be jealous but we all got these:

The only thing better than actually going to Treasure City, is reliving that experience everyday by wearing the shirt.

On Christmas Eve morning, we had our own Christmas at our house. Gemma's dreams came true and she donned the makings of a "pink princess". We weren't really sure what that entailed but we were happy that she was pleased with our interpretation. An interpretation that slightly resembles a square-dancer waving a wand.


The girls took their gaming to a whole new level with DS for each that matches their pajamas. Because if we are going to game, we are going to do it with style.


Don't worry, the boys got presents too, and I promise they didn't open lumps of coal. It was tempting though...

That night we continued the family tradition of sleeping over at my parents' along with all of my siblings. There are 18 of us in that house. Let that sink in for a little bit. Actually, despite what you would think, it's really, really fun. We look forward to it all year. On Christmas morning, we all get up early and Dad shares his Christmas letter to us. There are usually lots of tears. Then the chaos begins. So much wrapping paper. I mean, check it out.


Please forgive me for that dark, nasty photo. It was before I got MY NEW LENS. I love, love, love it. Same lighting conditions, different lens:


Notice his sweet hat. My sister Holly knitted it. She may have Lyme's disease, but she is turning lemons into lemonade and using this down time to knit like no other. She even learned mittens and I am sporting some pretty cute ones thanks to her.

Ok, so then we headed down to my Grandparent's house and had one more Christmas there. This is where the annual wrapping paper war happens. Man, that is some serious stuff. Nate even suited up in homemade armor, hoping to survive unharmed.


Since then, we have had fun game nights and snacks. The kids are off until next week and we are spending a whole lot of time with the Wii. I'm really excited about getting this house put back together. It looks like someone opened the front door, threw in a bunch of presents, and then shook the place like a snow globe. It's that bad.

I'll leave you with this picture of the crew. It's a Christmas miracle, no one blinked, everyone is looking at the camera, and no one is crying.

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Hello Guitar Hero

We are a little behind the times. We finally got Guitar Hero. Thanks Jim and Yvonne! That game is genius, genius I tell you. Where has it been all my life? So my Christmas cards are all sitting here in a stack, none addressed or stamped. Guitar Hero is to blame. Even the kids are in love with it.

But we play with our own rules. Style points. None of this standing still, glassy eyed at the screen. And don't you dare sit on the couch and play. You will get zero style points. You had BETTER rock out, and I am not afraid to rock out. Either is Gemma. Or my mom.



So Merry Christmas everyone.

If you need me, I'll be dancing around my living room with a guitar strapped to my shoulder rocking out to "Spiderwebs" until the wee hours of the morning.

One Week Out

My Christmas/Winter observations and ponderings so far:

Number one: Wherever the socks went, the gloves and mittens have joined them. I must be missing something here because even the new gray gloves I just bought for a certain child (that will remain unnamed) didn't even last a week. The remaining lonely glove has now joined the three other right handed mittens without mates in the top drawer of the hat and mitten bins.

Number two: It has become readily apparent that my kids have a different interpretation of the nativity story:


Number three: The lights on the Christmas tree are sticky and covered in finger prints. Look closely. I tired to capture it.


Number four: Last night the kids had their last practice for the Christmas program coming up on Sunday night. I'm hoping that this year none of my kids feel the need to make a performance that stands out. Let me set this up for you. What we have here is last year's video. Initially it appears that the culprit is Caedmon, the squirrely kid in the striped sweater. Not so. Jack strikes again.

Ringing Bell

Last Saturday I had the privilege of doing something I have never done before. I rang the Salvation Army bell. At the last minute, they needed someone to step in and fill an empty slot so I went along with Noelle and one of her friends. We had a two hour time slot outside of Walmart on a fairly warm but windy day. As soon as the sun started to set, my toes started to lose feeling. We kept warm with cocoa purchased at the little cafe right inside the door.

The two hours passed fairly quickly, people coming and going constantly, some with a couple bags, others with carts piled high. Many people stopped and smiled as they put in some change or some bills. We sang for awhile. Well, the girls did. We repeated jingle bells about a hundred thousand times.

There was one moment that I will remember fondly. I watched a family approach from across the parking lot, a mom and her friend and a few kids. When they were about a stone's throw away, one of the boys picked up the pace and practically ran, pulling away from the rest of his family. I'd say he was about 9 years old or so. I thought he was just trying to get inside sooner where it was nice and warm. Nope. He ran straight towards us and our bucket. With a shy smile he reached in his pocket and pulled out a little black wallet. As he opened it I could see four or five bills all in a row. He pulled out a dollar and stuffed it into the bucket and then turned and ran back to his mom as we thanked him and called out Merry Christmas. His mom smiled at me and as they walked into the store I heard her ask him, "Did you use one of the dollars in your wallet? Good job buddy."

It was a sweet moment. A little boy giving out of his own wallet, on his own. No one putting change in his hand, no one coaxing him to the bucket.

Just precious.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

There is a reason I haven't been blogging much. I'm about seven years behind the times on this one.


I discovered podcasts.

I remember a friend talking about podcasts about three years ago and I was like..."whatever, I don't even know what that is." My sister has been telling for a few months now about some amazing messages she has been listening to and I finally succumbed to the peer pressure. And that was it, I was sucked in. Deeply.

I loaded up my iPod with about 50 some podcasts. I can't stop listening to them. I always used to make fun of people who would walk through public places with headphones wedged in their ears. People shopping at Walmart and while listening to their iPod? Really? Can't you just shut it off for a half an hour? I'm on the verge of becoming one of them. I drive through town with my coat collar pulled up to my chin to hide the cords attached to my earbuds. It's a great way to drown out the fighting in the back seat. Turn the volume up on high and ignore your children while listening to a preacher talk about the grace of God. Am I the only one who sees the irony in that?

The two podcasts that I'm subscribed to and working my way through right now are Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. The other is Matt Chandler at The Village somewhere in Texas. Mark Driscoll just finished up a series called The Peasant Princess teaching on the Song of Solomon. Oh my goodness. I was blown away. Loved it.

So if you see me around town and try to talk to me and I don't answer you, it's not that I don't like you or am trying to be rude. Most likely I'm listening to a podcast. Sorry.

Someone Stole the Frankencense

Jack is giving the baby Jesus some shelf supports to celebrate His birth. I'm sure He'll be thrilled, what with His carpentry skills and all.

Everyone Needs a Match

I just got done sorting socks.

I ended up just dumping the sock basket in the middle of the floor and started matching. I am not exaggerating when I say that I ended up with 70 socks that did not have a match.

70.

Not seventeen, seventy.

Good gracious.