Christmas break is the time to...

re-organize to the point of forgetting the new "homes" for things. I think I am a perpetual "nester".

pray about and reflect on the previous school semester and tweak our routine.

clean exotic, rarely visited places like the top of the fridge.

have the pre-semester mini panic attack b/c I know how disciplined I'll have to be every single day in order for life to run smoothly around here.

put pictures in picture frames! Third child still hasn't made it in a picture frame past her one year birthday.



clear out the garden now that I'm pretty sure all the wasps and snakes have gone to sleep for the winter. I don't know this guy, but this is the kind of nest I always imagine is lurking just yonder of the compost bin.

fuss over The Chicken Project. Nesting boxes are the next project.

color many pictures with the girls with their fancy Melissa and Doug colored pencils and coloring books.



stay up and watch the lunar eclipse with the oldest child. We were so tired...but it was pretty neat!

teach Paige to write her name. Again.



do seemingly endless fun Christmas projects and crafts (cookies, gingerbread men, gingerbread houses, chocolate covered pretzels, making ornaments, and more cookies).



(and this is the most important of all) be purposeful about celebrating the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift ever given. Christmas is a great time for reflection and soul searching. I always get very emotional when I think of the humble surroundings of the birth of our Savior. The movie "The Nativity Story" brings me to tears every time I see it. How merciful of our Lord that Mary and Joseph did not know what that precious little baby would endure as a man. What a beautiful story that God has written!

December Highlights

Right now our family is recovering from what will be referred to as "The Christmas Flu". It was a nasty stomach virus that ended up taking the entire clan down. God was merciful though--the night that three kids came down the virus within three hours of each other and spent the night repeatedly throwing up was not the night that Jason was out of town this week. Also, Jason and I did not get sick until after the kids were doing better and as soon as I was somewhat back on my feet, Jason fell ill. And...if there was a week to be down with the barf bug, this was the best week for us. My mom had left last week, Jason's sister had moved out a few days before, and Christmas is next week! So, things could have been a lot worse! Praise the Lord (in all things!!)!



As I said, my mom was here for a visit. We had such a nice time. She didn't feel well but she was quite a trooper. Our house isn't the quietest place but Mom didn't seem to mind. The girls were sweet and helped "take care" of her. And it was nice for our schedule to slow waaaaay down. The only bump in the road was that our water heater went out so we had to make trips to accommodating friends' houses to shower.

My mom got some troubling news from her oncologist the other day. She has been experiencing some terrible pain and her doctor is concerned that the cancer may have spread or that the lining of her lung has filled with cancerous fluid. She has a scan on Dec 29th to see what the story is. One of the things that The Lord has taught me through my mom's cancer battle has been not to be consumed with worry and despair over what might happen. My mom wasn't supposed to live six months even with treatment and here we are 14 months later. When she came out here in May, I was convinced that I would never see her again. So much that I was consumed with sadness when she left. And yet, God gave her enough time and strength to make it to our house six months later. So, I'm not going to get depressed over what this lastest issue could mean. He has helped me replace sadness and worry with joy and thanksgiving.



Chicken news: over the Thanksgiving week Jason and I came up with our great chicken coop idea. We looked at the cost and time of building a coop and were a little surprised at how complicated and expensive it was going to be. Not to mention that neither of us is really all that handy. I joked about just fencing in the bottom of the kids' play scape--wow, what a ghetto idea, right?! My husband recognized a life preserver when he saw one. So, a few days later we had a chicken coop at a minimal cost and managed to avoid any trips to the emergency room!



Lastly, Penny turned 18 months old at the end of November. My biggest wish for Christmas is that time would slow down because I love this season of life.