Christmas came early

Merry Christmas everyone! We celebrated Christmas early this year because we are headed to West Virginia on Christmas eve to be with family. Celebrating Christmas should really be happening the entire season shouldn't it? The actual day of Christmas- December 25- is just another day! It becomes more sacred because that's when people have time off of work and it's the declared national holiday, but really December 25 is just another day! I've had to have this attitude each year that I've been asked to work on Christmas eve or Christmas day. Such as this year when I have to work on Christmas eve. Since I've been a nurse, nearly 8 years, I think there has only been a couple of years that I didn't have to work on this holiday. It's the one that everyone wants off, but never gets. And if you aren't working on the holiday, you have to be there the day before or the day after. It's just the nature of this particular beast. I always think it's worse for the patients to have to be there and be sick on Christmas than it is for me to be working. At least I get to go be home with my family at the end of the shift.

Anyway, because of these factors, I've gotten used to the idea that Christmas can actually be celebrated at any time during the season. Our tradition is to open gifts in the morning, so whenever we choose and plan to celebrate Christmas we create the same excited spirit for opening gifts and being together in the morning. This year was no different. Last Friday night Eric and I stayed up after the kids were in bed and wrapped their presents while watching A Christmas Story--which we agreed as we do every year that few other movies are as classic and funny as this one. It was so fun!

Once the gifts were all placed under the tree, we went to bed in as much anticipation as the kids. There wasn't one surprise that awaited us under the tree. This year, we shopped for eachother together. But the pure joy that comes from watching the kids get so excited about their gifts is absolutely priceless! And it was!!!!

One of the greatest moments was when Anna opened her "big" gift--an 18 in. singing Disney Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). She hugged the box that it was securely packaged in and came over to me and said, "Mommy, Jesus brought me this." I knew right away that she was refering to the discussion we had had as a family the night before when we read the story of Christ's birth out the Bible and discussed the important difference between celebrating Christmas with presents and celebrating Jesus, without whom many of the blessings and things that we have would not be possible. It was so special and so sweet!

Much to our pleasant surprise, each child was so well behaved and genuinely excited for the others as they opened their gifts. Even Alissa at nearly 3 years old, new when to ask, "Is it my turn to open another one?" What a delightful Christmas we had! For the time we've had our family in full (nearly 3 years), this goes down as the best Christmas yet!

I am so thankful for my unbelievably loving and generous husband and my three joyful and energetic kids! Merry Christmas to you all, whenever you choose to celebrate!

SNOW!

Two days ago, we got about 3 inches of snow. It had really started snowing Tuesday before I left work (3:30 pm) and never let up until Wednesday on my way to work (3am). We got a nice ground covering of the fluffy white stuff making driving a bit trecherous, but so pretty and fun to think about playing in. Each winter I think I would be really sad if ever we moved someplace that had no snow. Though it's true that each February I'm more than happy to see the very last snow. I am always ready for Spring to follow a snowy winter, but would be disappointed if I had to endure an entire winter without the snow.

Yesterday afternoon Andrew begged to go outside and play in the snow after we got home from preschool, but was instead promised a morning playdate in the snow with me, Anna and Alissa. And so after breakfast this morning and a temperature reading of approximately 25 degrees, we bundled up with our pants tucked into our socks, layers of long sleeves and hooded sweatshirts, boots, snowpants, hats, scarves, gloves and coats and out we went.

The first thing on the outdoor playdate agenda was snow angels while I pulled our sled out from the top shelf in the garage. The sled we have is one that we got from grandma and grandpa Melby a couple years ago. It's one that has the slick plastic bottom and the hard foam top with 2 sets of handles. My mother-in-law had seen it laying in the road outside her house and picked it up with the tags and everything on it. It had apparently fallen out of someone's truck. She propped it on the lightpost outside her house in case anyone came looking for it, but when it was still there after a couple days, she brought it in and then gave it us. It has been great for our first couple years of being able to play in the snow with the kids.

This year was especially fun cause all three kids could actually get on the sled and hang on all the way down the small hill we have in our back yard. The amount of snow on the ground is the perfect amount for sledding. Any more and the sled tends to get stuck in the snow instead of sliding smoothly down the hill. Any less and, well you're just on cold grass!

We had about an hour of pure fun sledding and playing in the snow. The kids figured out that eating snow is fun too (don't worry I warned them about yellow snow)! Everyone had their fill of whipping down the hill to see who could make their mark the furthest. My hope is that by next year, they might actually be able to carry their own sled UP the hill too!

Disney Experience

When the lights dimmed and the curtains opened onto the big ice stage with Cinderella's castle as the backdrop and Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Chip and Dale skated out to begin the show, I'm not kidding you, my eyes welled up. I felt like a little kid as I squeezed my girls on either side of me. It was so exciting to watch their little faces in amazment, but knowing exactly how they felt cause I was actually feeling it too.

It was so terrific to see all the classic Disney characters that Eric and I grew up knowing, but added in were the more modern characters like Nemo, Mulan and The Incredibles. When asked their favorite parts, Andrew said The Incredibles, Anna, of course loved the Princesses and Alissa loved Nemo.
It was a spectacular event and we wound up with pretty terrific seats. In true fashion, Alissa made it only about three quarters of the way through and then was escorted out to the hall by her loving daddy. By the end, we were all ready to go. A perfect 2 hours...and we were done!
Disney captured our hearts again!

Sassy Anna

First day of snow 2008

Silly girls with new jammies

Broken

All of us have prayers that we've prayed for years...these are the kind of prayers that we don't necessarily pray for every day, but the ones that in our greatest moments of reflection and meditation are quick to come to mind. Here's a story;
As a kid, I was a faithful church camp goer. Each summer I looked forward to few things more than going to camp. There were friends that I only saw one week out of the year at camp and friends that I went with every year from my own church. It was this one week every year that set my spirit for the rest of the year. Mountain top experiences were commonplace at church camp. The campfires, the meditation, the worship, the fellowship, the invitations, the commitments...there was nothing like it. Each summer, I would have at least one moment when my spirit would break and I would cry out of fear that my earthly father would not spend eternity with me in Heaven. I would pray for my dad so often as a kid, but to no avail.

When I became an adult and took ownership of my faith, church camp days were over and mountain top experiences I had to find on my own, I continued to commit my dad's salvation to God. I knew in my heart that God was bigger than my doubt, but still I doubted that he would ever know Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. I would attempt to engage him and draw him in, but I always met immediate resistance. My other realization as an adult Christ follower, was that my brother, who always fought going to church, was also not a commited believer. I wanted to believe that my brother was a believer who was just not commited, but when it came to saving grace, I knew he had not received it. And so I prayed for my lost dad and my lost brother. It was a prayer that in my greatest moments of communion, I believed in my heart would be answered someday, but on average, ordinary days, I often felt hopeless.

Many of you know that just a few months ago, I had the priviledge to be present at my dad's baptism. An incredible day of rejoicing! I saw this process of a prideful man's spirit being broken in a way that is only possible by the Holy Spirit. I had conversations that I never dreamed I would have with my dad. I bought my dad the books, "More than a Carpenter" and "Case for Christ" immediately when he showed an interest. I'm telling you God proved to me that he is bigger than my doubt on the day of my dad's public confession of his faith!

Likewise, just last week, I witnessed another man's pride shed from his being. My brother, who has much to be proud of, was a broken man on several occasions last week. He and I talked on the phone several days in a row as he poured out his heart and let me in on the fact that his life had changed and his heart was surrendered to God Almighty.

Difficult circumstances drove both of these proud men to their knees before their maker. It is simply amazing that the brokenness and imperfection of the most important relationships we have on earth can drive us to the most important, divine relationship we will ever have. And so it is with my dad and brother, when it seemed like everything of value to them on this earth was about to be stripped away, there was only ONE left to lean on. And so they did.

The Mr. Men Show

The Mr. Men Show:

Does anyone remember the Mr. Men and Little Misses books from the 70's and 80's? I can remember my friend Kendall who had many of the small square books that all looked the same except for the character on the front cover. Characters like Mr. Happy, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Messy, Little Miss Naughty and Little Miss Sunshine. They were great "pass the time" books. The books had long since gone from my memory until last August when we stumbled on the new TV series on the Cartoon Network in which a group of creative and talented people had recreated the Mr. Men and Little Misses. I was floored. We set our DVR to record the first episode we could find and we were instantly hooked. It's our favorite family show now. We have just about the entire 1st season on DVR and several nights a week at bedtime we gather in front of the TV and take turns choosing an episode to watch. Some of our favorites are Science, Fair, Movies, Snow, Sleep...

It didn't take us long to identify each of our family members with a character; Anna, we call Little Miss Chatterbox; Alissa is Little Miss Naughty, Andrew can identify with Mr. Lazy. Dad is most like Mr. Persnickety and Mr. Happy and I am most like Little Miss Sunsine. Don't you love that I give myself the most positive character trait!!!? Though the names indicate negative character traits, the characters themselves are a riot and therefore identifying with them is not derogatory at all. I highly recommend the Mr. Men Show as a great choice for family time (if TV is what you're choosing for family time). After reading the Mr. Men blog, I am looking forward to the second season of all new Mr. Men shows that are due to run in 2009. Woo Hoo!

Off My Game

Today's been an interesting day, I have not been on my mom game like I usually am. I can't really explain it, which makes it so much worse. For example, I am so in tuned to my monthly cycle and I know that when I'm around days 25-28, I am NOT on my game in any part of life. I have to make a concerted effort to be better throughout the day. Or when I've worked a couple days in a row and I'm home, I know I'm going to be tired and I am ready to combat that. But today is unexplainable. I'm right smack dab in the middle of my cycle, I've been off of work for 2 days and things are really going well in all other areas. But man am I irritable today. Either that or the kids are all three particularly moody and mischevious. That must be it!

It's so easy to blame my kids for my own downfalls. I get selfish on my days at home. There are many things I wish to get done, both necessities (i.e. cleaning, cooking, laundry) and desires (i.e. email, blogging, facebook, reading). I often say to myself, "Ugh, why can't I have time to myself?"
The time that I should be taking to myself should be, but most often isn't, time in communion with my God. He is my supply and I am certain, knowing full well from experience, that when this is my priority, my attitude is better all day long. Then, I am better able to be selfless and actually feel good about how I am training my kids throughout the days. Beyond the personal value that my time with God is, it also has immeasurable value for my children to see that He is a priority.
Ah, my flawed self, made perfect only through grace and exceeding amounts of mercy on a daily basis. Thank God!

I'm Back

I do find it baffling that for as often as I tout that writing is my outlet, I do so very little of it...maybe that's why I feel so pent up inside, at least today I do. Which could explain the new blog. Today, I put my old blog aside and start anew. Doesn't it feel good to start over sometimes. I mean it's great when somethings can be drawn to completion and it feels so good when those things happen, but I believe that there is a time for some things to be left and others to begin.
My old blog, some of you may know, was titled "threeunder3" which was appropriately titled when my children were 1, 2, and 3 years old. At that time I had three babes 3 and under. Seeing as in less than 2 months my "babies" will be 3, 4 and 5, I thought it appropriate to leave that blog and begin again. Certainly that isn't the only reason though.
I also have this thing with starting up something that has been left for a period of time. It just doesn't seem right to just pick it up again. It feels like trying to revive something that has been dead for too long. I think of it like calling a code on a patient who has been without a pulse for more than 10 minutes. You can do all you want; chest compressions, medications, shocks...they just aren't coming back. As is the case with my old blog...it lost it's pulse a long time ago and so I begin again...