Getting Ready

Christmas Reads

Good morning all! I'm just sitting here in my kitchen drinking my coffee and waiting for it to snow. The forecast is calling for snow flurries and I can't wait!

I haven't been at my computer as much as usual. We were having some computer issues so the laptop was plugged in down in the basement. It took a little more effort to get down there and I kind of liked that. I haven't been reading all of my usual blogs either - in fact, as of this morning, I had 206 unread blog posts in my reader. I still have 186 - but I've limited my reading to people I know or people that I would like to know. I didn't do this intentionally, it just kind of happened. And actually, it's very unusual for me - I'm the type of person that can't have unread e-mails sitting in my inbox. I like to open the microwave door on a 5 second increment - I'm a little OCD about things like that sometimes.

Anyhow, I usually read a lot of crafty and home dec blogs - I started to read some this morning and my brain started in just as I thought it would. Wondering about all the Christmas crafts and decorating that I might be doing. It's just better if I don't read them for now - especially since I'm feeling extremely relaxed and joyful this Christmas season. I think I'll keep it that way.

I'll tell you what I have been reading though - lots and lots of winter and Christmas picture books with my kids. We have a basket full that I reserve for this time of year. We've also checked a bunch out from the library. I thought I'd share a few titles with you this morning.

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies


And it's spin-off book
Merry Christmas Mouse


Maisy's Christmas Day


The Snowy Day


Winter On the Farm

Whew! This is going to take a long time if I post every picture. I love a lot of books! I'll just do a list with the link to Amazon.

Christmas in the Big Woods I love all these Little House picture books

When It Starts to Snow

Winter Poems My mom bought this book of poems for the kids one Christmas and they love it.

The Night Before Christmas I love the vintage looking illustrations in this particular version.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever I have such fond memories of my mom reading this to me as a child

The Biggest Best Snowman

Wee Sing for Christmas

The Hat

The Mitten

Snowmen At Night

Thanksgiving Day at Our House (obviously for Thanksgiving - we love this one. We recited poems from it for our Thanksgiving service at church)

Frosty the Snowman I like this Little Golden version

Christmas Day in the Morning This one is new to us and it made me cry - I think I'm going to buy a copy for Justin's grandparents for Christmas. They were dairy farmers and it made me think of them.

Gingerbread Baby

How the Grinch Stole Christmas Of course! Steele has it memorized... it may be next year's Halloween costume theme.

Who Would Like a Christmas Tree?

The Donkey's Christmas Song

The Little Lost Robin

The Little Fir Tree This is one of my favorite books of all time. One day, I WILL have a copy of one with Barbara Cooney illustrations. I don't know why it ever would have gone out of print! (The one pictured here is not the Barbara Cooney one)

Stranger in the Woods

Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening I'm going to get my own copy of this VERY soon!

Toot and Puddle I'll Be Home for Christmas These little Toot and Puddle books are very endearing to me for some reason.

Last year, Soulemama posted a great list of winter reading. I think I'll go back to it and check out some of them again.


I eat up book lists and have been known to go on to my library's web site and reserve a bazillion books at a time on one theme. Recently, a woman at my church recommended Chinaberry to me. They have some wonderful book recommendations and to my surprise, some unique gifts as well. I've been leafing through their catalog and will be reserving many of them soon.

Happy Winter Reading!

Leaving Home

Today I'm going with my grandma, aunt, mom and little sister down to see White Christmas. A friend of mine posted something about it on facebook a few weeks ago - and since I love theatre and this particular show, and since I haven't been to see a show in forever, I thought it would be such a fun way to kick off the Christmas season. I called everybody up and booked us tickets as fast as I could.

My grandma loves having her picture taken.

It all sounded like great fun a few weeks ago. Dress up a bit, drive down to Seattle, have a good dinner somewhere, have a little girl time. Yah!! Wahoo!! It'll be a blast!

Until today.....

Today I'm feeling that sickening, anxiety feeling that I get every time I leave my family for an extended period of time. (I can probably count on one hand, or a few fingers, the number of times that I've done it before)

How can I leave these sweet cheeks?

It's not that I worry, or that I don't think Justin is capable - he pretty much rocks and honestly, I don't think the thought has ever crossed my mind to wonder if he wants to or is able to care for the children. Even when they were babies.

*Short story here: One day Justin took Steele to Home Depot with him (Adia might have been along too) and the cashier checking him out said to him, "Oh... Dad's babysitting for the day, huh?" I have rarely seen Justin get so worked up! I think he said something along the lines of, "Nope. I'm their father. You don't 'babysit' your own kids." Love that man.

Anyway, it' none of that. It's just that, as I sit here even now, with Adia on my lap and her arms around my neck, I would just rather be with them. I would rather be home. I would rather be with my little family than traipsing around the big city feeling small and unknown. Cause that's how I always feel when I go to the city, for some reason.

This makes me smile.

Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine once I'm there. There's no doubt I'll have fun - as I'm sitting there in the darkness of the grand theatre swept up in the music and the acting - I can't even describe to you the feeling I get watching a musical. The orchestra, the lights, the costumes. If I ever had a dream - being in a musical was probably it.

But I sure will be happy to get home. I mean, who wants to miss moments like this:

or this:



or this:



or this:



These moments top any musical theatre production any day. They're scenes in my life's musical. And believe me - I usually always have the lead singing part. Sometimes Adia backs me up. And we're good. Darn good.

Thoughts on Holidays

I had a pleasant day yesterday.

Justin had to work so he had helped me with preparations on Wednesday. I was happy to have it all done with so that yesterday I could relax with the kids and not be rushing around like a crazy woman at the last minute. Ok ok - I am pretty much always rushing around like a crazy woman at the last minute these days - no matter what I have done. Because, well, it takes a looooong time to get three kids and one mama all dressed and ready to go in their holiday finery and a butt-load of food out the door on time. That's just the way it is - especially when two of them are sleeping until 20 minutes before you're supposed to leave.

So we sat around and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade. We listened to Christmas music, I put the kids down for naps, cleaned the living room and brought some Christmas decorations out. It was peaceful.

As I was talking to Justin on the phone last night about the day I shared some things with him regarding my thoughts on Thanksgiving - on holidays in general. (please excuse me, this might be a bit rambly) You see, I kind of have an issue with the hyper-spiritualization of holidays. (is that a word?) For lack of a better term. I suppose you could also call it the inflated expectedness of holidays. Or the super-focusedness of holidays. Whatever you call it - I don't care for it. Now, don't get me wrong - I looooove Christmas. I love the season, the decorations, the activities, the family, the food, the merriness, the traditions, the PRESENTS! I am all about the presents. I love it. I think a problem arises though, when we set too high of expectations on specific days.

As I mentioned, Justin had to work yesterday. More than several times, people asked me if he had to work and when I told them 'yes' they would give me this sad face and say something along the lines of "Oh! I'm sorry. That's a bummer." But I didn't really think it was a bummer. I mean, how could I possibly think it's a bummer considering this:

• He has a job
• He has a job which allows him to be home with us 21 days out of the month
• He has a job which pays well enough for us to live comfortably
  
• He has a job which allows us to eat comfortably
• I have a husband who can go to a job
• I have a husband with a job he loves
• Said husband was going to be eating a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with his buddies

You get my point, the list could go on and on. So what is one day? What is one day when I get so many days with him? What is one day when there are so many other blessings? How could I have any ounce of disappointment? And to make it even better, what is one day when we're going to have a perfectly wonderful post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving with our dear neighbor friends on Sunday? It's no big deal. It only becomes a big deal when we misalign our expectations.

I remember one Thanksgiving when I decided I wanted to read a special 'spiritual' Thanksgiving story to my non-Christian family. I was so excited to make Thankgiving 'meaningful' that year. So I started in and went on... and on.... and on.... People were yawning, getting up from the table and all the while I was deflating inside. I was so disappointed. But, I was disappointed because my expectations were too high. It sounds kind of extreme, but if I had had no expectations - I would have been thankful for the one person who stuck around and at least feigned interest in what I was reading.

And it's the same with Christmas. I hear the common phrases thrown around:

Jesus is the reason for the season
Celebrate the true meaning of Christmas

People make decisions to not give gifts because well, after all, Christmas really isn't about the gifts. Or they won't make mention of Santa, even as a Christmas character, because they think it somehow detracts from Jesus. I get all those things - and I don't fault anyone for making these decisions for their own families. But I think sometimes we try to make Christmas into something that, simply, just can't meet our expectations. After all, the Bible never makes mention of celebrating Christmas, or Thanksgiving for that matter, the way we do today. It is something we thought up ourselves - something, mostly cultural, that we thought up and then sort of tacked God onto. We build these holidays up in our minds and our hearts - we plan to perfection the way we think they should go - and then, we are disappointed when our kids are more excited about the presents than they are about the nativity reading, we are disappointed when nobody is appreciative of our prayers at dinner, we are disappointed when our extended family does not want to join us for church, we are disappointed when our kids misbehave on Christmas day and ruin the mood....

My point in all of this is that, sure, I love holidays as much as the next person and I will celebrate them with all the gusto I can muster. I will bake to my heart's content, I will shop for a Christmas tree, I will drive through neighborhoods adorned with Christmas lights and giant inflatable Santas and snowmen, I will knit into the wee hours of the morning and buy thoughtful gifts for all my loved ones, I will buy special Christmas outfits for my kids, I will attend Christmas mass on Christmas eve with my grandma because that makes her happy, I will drink a little nog with a dash of rum in it, I might even read the nativity story to my kids and they will probably be more excited about the presents.

BUT!

I will celebrate God's gracious gift of Jesus - for my redemption, reconciliation and salvation - the whole year through until I am face to face with Him in glory. I will give thanks every day for the many and generous blessings God has given me. I will look out my window at the morning sunrise and declare to my children the glory of God - as their sovereign creator. I will talk with my children about God's commandments when I sit at home and when I walk along the road, when I lie down and when I get up. By God's spirit I will show them what it means to love God with all my soul and with all my strength.

So, if Christmas or Thanksgiving don't go off as picturesque as one would hope - if Justin is working, or my uncle lures me into a political debate while passing the stuffing... if Adia has big bloody picked-at scabs on her face in our Christmas pictures or if my turnip gratin doesn't finish baking until everyone is done with the dinner... if some of the activities we do are all about Jesus and some don't have any blatant correlation to Jesus at all.... it's all right. I will enjoy the season for what it is - imperfections and all. And I will not be disappointed because, ultimately, I put my expectations in the One who does not disappoint. Not because of how I celebrate - but because of who He is and because of what He has done.


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

If you didn't quite get what I was talking about,
here's an example of not setting our expectations too high.

They pulled it off, with just a few hitches,
and everyone got a good little chuckle as the watched my
children experience a microphone for the first time.

Local Christmas

I found this blog last year and stumbled across it again this morning while planning our 3rd consecutive Saturday girls' Craft Fair day. Tomorrow, while Justin and Steele head to the mountain, I'll load the girls up and hit a few craft fairs. We'll shop a bit, eat some lunch and nibble a couple of cookies.

Anyway, back to the web site. It's a great site with local Christmas/holiday events, activities, recipes etc. They even have a printable PDF schedule of local holiday bazaars on the side bar. I love stuff like that. So if you're in the area - check it out!

Simplify Christmas

First Day

Much to the delight of my husband, Baker opened last Thursday with one of the best (and earliest) opening weekends they've ever had. We really wanted to go on opening day - the weather was beautiful and sunny - but we had a prior commitment so we got up on Friday instead.

It was so fun to get out everyone's gear the night before, a flurry of preparation. Searching for hats, gloves, long underwear that fits and of course, the dreaded balaclava which was needed for the predicted storm on Friday. We made our way out into the pelting rain a little later than anticipated, made our usual stop for a bathroom break and a bag of Salt and Vinegar chips and by the time I woke up - there was snow. Magical, wonderful, glorious white snow - covering the trees and the road, the plows having made walls of it on either side of our car. Every year I tell Justin that I want to move someplace where there is snow all the time in the winter. I've even searched for fire positions in Vail and Utah. Someplace closer to home and to grandparents - perhaps Cle Elum or Leavenworth - would be better. We've considered it... maybe someday.

Steele had been talking about going skiing all week and he and Justin had decided that Steele would take the first turn. I guess when we arrived though, lunch sounded more appealing to Steele than skiing (not unusual for this growing boy lately) so Adia went first. That girl could not get out of the lodge fast enough - she was waving and saying, "Goodbye Steele! Goodbye! I'm goin' skiin' now! Goodbye! Goodbye!" It was pretty cute and by the time Justin and Adia had made their first run, Steele was calling Justin on the phone to ask when he was going to be picked up. Justin had made a comment to me that he was a little worried that he was the only one truly excited about skiiing and that maybe the kids don't really like it - after seeing how thrilled the kids were to be up there, I don't think there's any need for concern about that.

Xochi and I stayed snug and warm in the lodge all day. Snacking, reading, knitting - chatting with a first time mama next to us. She and her husband were taking turns snowboarding while their 4 month old son slept on the table. They have a cabin near the mountain so I hope to see them more this season.

People often ask me if I ski. I don't. Well, I cross country ski a bit. Inevitably the next statement is always, "You should learn!" It's not that I don't want to, but quite honestly I don't feel the need to right now. I am perfectly content, even overjoyed, to stay at my post handing out sandwiches, pulling on snow pants, pushing on boots, warming up hands, giving excited cheers and high fives at departures and arrivals. It works for us and we all have fun. As long as there's a baby to care for, you'll find me in the lodge. Between you and me, I hope I'm in the lodge for many more years to come.

Evidently I'm not very skilled at taking pictures while I'm sitting in the lodge.

These are all I have. Oh well, there are more days to come!

Wrangling Kids and Chasing Vans in the Rain

Yesterday morning Justin and I decided to throw the kids in the car and head down to the Seattle area. I don't know if I've mentioned before -but Justin likes to have little side jobs. In the spring and summer he does yard maintenance for our neighbor, in the fall he makes rose hip wreathes to sell and in the winter he tunes and waxes skis and snowboards. Justin was hoping to pick up a special grinder for waxing but...well...shortish story really short... he ended up not getting it.

Since we were in the area though, we decided to make full use of our day by visiting some of our favorite places. We hit Taqueria El Rinconcito for lunch. It's like a taco truck but better because you don't have to eat outside. Our kids love tacos. When I lived in Mexico I didn't really get it when I would see people giggling over their kids doing the signature taco head-turn. But now, when I watch my kids do it I giggle too. Pretty cute.

After lunch we went to Bell Square. I used to hate Bell Square. You see, my husband protects Bell Square and when we lived down there - this rural girl felt really out of place in most situations. Our Volvo wagon and my clogs weren't "in" and I didn't like it. After a brief delusion of believing that one actually should always wear heels with jeans, I'm back to my clog-wearing ways. I walk through Bell Square knowing I don't own the place and probably never will and I smile and visit with people and drag my three children through all the heel-wearing DINKS and they all stare at me curiously. They don't really know how to respond when I chat with them and tell them personal stories at the register. They really don't know how to respond when they tell me I "have my hands full" and I look at them with a smile and tell them my heart is even more full. I love it.

Yesterday, while dropping Justin and the kids off in the Kids Cove, I watched as a poor woman attempted to wrangle her very ill-behaved children. And I'm going to be honest, they were very naughty. When I first saw the distraught mother she was screaming/yelling at her son that she was never bringing him back and that she was going to leave without him. Do idle threats like that bother you as much as they bother me? I mean, of course she is going to bring him back and of course she is not going to leave without him. But that's a conversation for another day. Once the woman would get a handle on her 3? year old daughter, the boy (5?) would go running off in another direction. No shoes, no coat, his pants were falling down for some reason. I watched for a moment. And so did everyone else. We all stood in judgment and peeped at her out of the corners of our eyes, no one willing to actually help her. Which is when I decided that I had nothing to lose and she had a lot to gain by me stepping in.

As I bent down to pick up the boy's sweatshirt to help put it on him, the woman breathlessly described to me how she needed to go pick up her other son from school and she was going to be late. "It sure is hard sometimes." I said to her. "Come here and put your sweatshirt on. You need to obey your mama - she's asking you to do something," I said to the boy. He looked ate me and was off again. Up on a chair and over the railing of the play area. I quickly caught Justin's attention and said, "Grab that kid!" Justin looked at me in bewilderment for a moment. I pointed to his mother standing near the elevator and said, "He's running away from his mom, she needs to leave." Justin then stepped toward the boy and said, "Come here." "Do you know me?" he said to Justin. "Nope." And with that Justin picked him up by the shoulders and dropped him back over the railing where his mom grabbed him and they took off down the elevator.

The whole scene was crazy. As I rode down the elevator with her, the woman didn't even make eye contact with me. Nothing more was said and Xochi and I made our way happily over to Williams Sonoma where I bought my mom a Christmas gift and oohed and ahhed over the Peppermint scent, pining away for last holiday's Mrs. Meyer's. (I couldn't resist the pun but I'm actually, quite surprisingly, enjoying the Iowa Pine)

We made it home just in time to put our kids to bed. All in all it was a fun day.

Oh! You're wondering about the "Chasing Down Vans in the Rain" part? I'll just say that it involved Justin dropping me off in front of Target, me forgetting to grab my bag of stuff to return, Justin taking off, me then running to wave him down in the pouring rain and my all-too-focused-on-Costco-gas husband speeding away just as I thought I would catch up with him. I could barely breathe I was laughing so hard. So off I went, laughing and running in the rain (I had also left my cell phone in the van) the probable two or more blocks over to Costco gas where Justin stared in astonishment at my dripping wet self as I burst out, cracking up, "YOU NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND YOU!!!"

We got a good laugh out of it and Justin noted to me:

Several years ago in our marriage you might not have responded so well.

He's right, and I am continually thankful that laughter fills so many of our days.