Holiday Fun

Okay.....so this would have been a good group shot had it not been for the 3 year old with no pants on and squinty eyes and the other 3 year old in abhorridly mismatched clothes of red shorts and a snow camo fleece shirt. Well, ok....and if you'd been able to see Garrett. But minus all of that it had the potential to be a really great snapshot.

Well, this is a few days late in coming since the days have been busy and Grayson spent 3 days with Mother helping her move....thus removing some of my help around here. Computer time has been somewhat limited. And to top the now lacking computer time off Brad and I invested in a treadmill as a sort of messed up, screwed up in the head gift to each other. What couple on earth decides to give each other a treadmill for Christmas????? One that's been married too long. "Here, honey...I love you so much I'm going to give you something to trim your a** down for me." No, not really. But it's a funny thought and it does sound a bit odd when you tell people you got a treadmill for each other. So, computer time now has to be bumped over in order for me to get out there and walk. I have visions of a skinnier me, thus a much more content with myself me. It would be nice to be able to fit back into my wardrobe again. It goes beyond vanity at this point. I just want something different to wear!

The beginning of the ornament process

The middle

Looking like Daddy....he looks like Brad's identical twin born 33 years too late. There's a picture at Nanny's of Brad as a baby and you'd think you're looking at Gavin

My handsome boy with those unchanging, stunning blue eyes

Anyway, about today, it's one of those cold, misty, gray, winter days. The world seems suspended in an icily cold, steel gray mist that holds everything in its grip. In an effort to lighten everyone's heart and make the most out of such a dreary winter day, hearts still heavy from Mother's move, I set to work making tortilla soup that seemed fitting for such a day, while the children worked on their school stuff. What a treasure it is to know that this time last year they were stuck up there in classrooms for most hours of the day and here they are in my arms now and in their own home laying on the couch and reading, writing and doing spelling words. There is nothing like the warmth and comfort of home....or the slavedriver of a schoolteacher that a mom can be on a cold wintery day! Once tummies were filled with warm liquid and everyone was sent off for naps the older ones set to work on the 9 baskets of clothes to be folded. Each basket had 2 loads each.....so, that's like 18 loads I think. It had kind of stacked up over the weekend. While they folded I nursed Gavin and we started the biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. It captivated them and held them in utter suspense as they folded. We took breaks to drink hot chocolate and read yet another chapter before starting in on the next basket while I read on. With afternoon hours waning and a few hours after they'd started in on the clothes they were finally nearing the end. 1 basket was left and clothes needed to be put away and/or hung up. Darkness was fast approaching and still there was no sign of the fog outside lifting. With Brad needing an overtime uniform and me needing to pick up my eczema medicine we loaded everybody up and set off for a foggy nighttime trip into town. It was quite the experience to be so many miles away from anything and out in the heavy, impenetrable fog in the thickest of dear season. We passed herds, not even realizing it until we were already upon them. They just grazed and stared curiously at the one lone car making its way through the night. Rooftops lined with Christmas lights loomed eerily in the shadows, just beyond the edge of real visibility, before being swallowed back up into the inky black haze just as swiftly as they had appeared. Some sat far enough off the road that one began to question if there really was even a dimly lit house sitting in the shadows or if was all a mirage as the haze hung heavily, though still drifting and moving about. As if I expected some miracle to occur upon arriving into town I was surprised to see that once on the loop we were not going to be driving out of it anytime soon. So it was that we joined the 3 other cars that had ventured out into this cold dreary night and made our way to the station. After delivering the needed clothes to Brad and him being interrupted by a call we watched the engine leave the bay....with bunches of little children squealing with delight at the lights flashing, sirens screaming and horn blowing. After watching it fade into the gray night we worked our way to the pharmacy only to have Gavin get hungry half way there. So, with Brad returning to the station so did we so that I could sit and nurse in the station parking lot. He grabbed his radio and came to join us so we sat and just had fun waiting, talking and playingn around while Gavin ate. After having said our 2nd goodbye for the night we once again headed in the direction of the pharmacy and then made our way to the river of lights. The children were thrilled, especially the younger ones that had no recollection of them from last year's many trips to the river. With that completing our late night trip into town we turned back towards home and back to the lonely highway, thanking the Lord for His continual protection from the many deer that lurked out in the darkness, standing on the fringes ready to bolt at any given moment. It was even more slow going on the way home since the gray fog had thickened and seemed to settle over the many dark highways that were already shrouded in cloudy blackness. 4 of the children were already asleep by the time we neared home. I hurriedly carried sleepy little kids out of the freezing rain and into the warmth of home. Quickly dressing them into footed little pj's they were all tucked in and everybody put to bed. Why is it that when it's so cold and dreary outside and you're supposed to want to stay home that it becomes one of the most fun times to get out in it and go see Christmas lights? I suppose we had all gotten our fill of being tucked warmly under blankets with hot chocolate and a good book earlier in the day and were all ready to get out and go see some stuff. The children loved it. You know, sometimes I wonder if one really is predisposed to their own internal body clock or if its what one's parents have done to them. Jackie, Scott and myself are all night owls.....and not by just a little bit. I mean, we're all 3 the kind that could stay up all hours of the night and then sleep til noon. I think that must be the reason I flourished and absolutely loved cleaning dr's offices with Mother. So, I have begun to wonder, have they all inherited the late night gene or is it because of what I'm doing to them as a parent?.......more often than not, keeping them up late and not even going anywhere until 6:30 or 7 at night. The whole nature vs nurture thing.

My little Peppermint Baby...complete with attentive sibling mauling him. Actually, together they kind of look like Christmas. Mistletoe and Peppermint.

Going into the oven for an experimental baking process. To everyone's delight they survived this process without falling apart.

Anyway, so that was our cold Christmasy fun today. But this past Wed Grayson, Evye and I set to work on our dough ornaments. I truly am so sick of them whittling down our collectible Christmas ornaments every year that I really did decide this year to make dough ornaments, string popcorn and cranberries and then, of course, create and hang paper chains. So, we set to work on the ornaments. Wow. Let's just say that was no small undertaking. But I suppose if it saved the remaining ornaments from an early demise and, in turn, still accomplished decorating the tree it was worth it....not to mention all of the fun we had doing it. Though I will say the whole salt dough on eczema thing will kill the hands. It was agony.....putting it quite mildly.

My smiley little baby doll




The finished product




After the ornaments were made, with Garrett completing the picture by eating a few, Grayson went on to Mother's to help with the move. As a matter of fact, Garrett ate another one today. He must be needing salt or something in his diet. One thing's for sure.....he got an entire week's worth of sodium in 1 bite out of one of those things. So, all Christmas creations were put on hold until Grayson returned home from helping Mother. With the infinite amount of laundry now caught up and folded and him back home we will continue our endeavors tomorrow by stringing the popcorn. They'll string.......and undoubtedly eat, drink and be merry......while I read on about Laura Ingalls to them.

It ain't over til the fat lady sings

Yet another attempt at a group shot.....the pantless kid is smiling much better but now the other one is being obnoxious....and of course now we have the 20 month old standing up walking away during the shot. Oh well. You get the general idea.





And on the other end of things, we have been incredibly, overwhelmingly, unusually blessed this holiday in our finances. We are always provided for in every way but usually it is very much a month to month journey. And with so many things needing to be updated 99% of the money was used for those purposes. Our air conditioner went out in the absolute middle of the TX summer heat while I was 9 months pregnant. After fervently praying about it we went ahead, putting in a new a/c, which is now paid in full. We are very much seriously committed to living entirely debt free in every regard. And in our commitment we have not had any new appliances in years. That includes the standard size washer and dryer we bought when we were married. God was exceedingly abundantly good when our washer died and we were given yet another great standard sz washing machine. We were both ecstatic since He did indeed meet our every need according to His riches in glory. Our dryer has served us well these many years. But as our family grew so did our pile of dirty clothes, as anyone can well imagine. It was very much an ordinary day to separate the 4 categories of clothes into 2 loads each. It was a great, very atypical day to accomplish all 8 loads...most of the time 5 loads were accomplished. There were days I longed for a bigger washer and dryer but for the most part it never really bothered me. Everytime I put a load in I couldn't help but think about, and be entirely grateful, that I am not living in wagon train days scrubbing the clothes of our family of 9 on a washboard in some frozen over creek or in the 110 degree heat. I remained quite content with our faithful washer and dryer. But as we weighed it out and carefully figured and refigured bills and the savings that would be achieved by switching to gas, using a more efficient washer that used less water and a better dryer that had an internal sensor to shut off when clothes were dry we quickly realized we would be saving quite a substantial amount of money if we used our funds wisely in this regard. So, together we shopped and continued to figure and refigure until we arrived at what we wanted. Waiting until they went on sale and also buying from 2 different stores also aided our frugal efforts, since a matching set was not imperative to me...as the salesman put it, I'm not going to be displaying them in my living room as new pieces of furniture.....we were able to save another 600.00. So, here we are with a new mega sz washer and dryer. It is quite a feeling to dump every bit of one category in at one time and have it all come out at the same time and actually have an empty laundry room when I go to bed. We have gone from 8 loads a day to 4. It's an amazing thing to me. Even still I marvel at it when I dump it all in. And we're all quite mesmerized as we watch it churn.


More of the finished product




Aubrey without her glasses






I am so grateful. I am so entirely grateful for a God who honors our commitment to being debt free and continues to provide for us in every way. In all reality I did not need a new washer and dryer. The ones we had still worked fine. But here we are blessed beyond measure.

"Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart be encouraged. Yes, wait for the Lord." Ps. 27:14.
"I wait for the Lord; my soul waits and in His word I put my hope." PS 130:5. He says explicitly that He will provide for every one of our needs and we wait with expectancy and childlike trust and faith that every need will be met. He has met them in in our past and He continues to meet them all now. He has blessed us with these children and He will provide for them in every way. He has called us into this place in life with this income and He will makeup the difference needed to raise this family He has given us.

"But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right-everything. Those who wait around for Him are the blessed ones." Is 30:18




Grayson wearing the shirt proudly......."I'll do anything for a buck".

So it is that we have a new washer and dryer and our treadmill. It is so extremely rare that we can do these things that I am tearfully grateful for what we have been given. In being committed to living according to His principles we have indeed been overwhelmingly blessed. I love the feeling of knowing we have been considered trustworthy with His money and being trusted with yet just a little more to see if we can withstand the test and prove ourselves frugal and wise in every way, acting strictly within what He is instructing us to do with it. I want to be considered entirely trustworthy no matter the amount, whether it be 1.00 or 10 million dollars. I want to be that person He uses because He sees in us what very few others have the ability to do with finances.....listen implicitly, act accordingly, spend wisely and give freely. I want to know that the very beat of His heart is the beat of my heart in every area. To know that He has seen something in us that He can trust. Oh, what it does to my heart to know that He would find us responsible and trustworthy with His provisions....to see that He can use us as a vessel He pours through to bless others.

Other uses for a Bumbo

Note the oversized kid in the Bumbo eating a yogurt in the background

Discovering Christmas

TX winter before the cold front

How incredible it is to be so blessed.....to live the Blessed Life!!!!! And I'm not talking about what has been preached to us all of our lives from concerned parents or pastors. I'm talking about the real life thing that we are living out and knowing it because we see the fruits of it manifest in every way. I want to prove ourselves worthy of His trust with His riches....His most precious of riches, the gift of many children, and then the other gifts of His literal riches...finances. there are times when I wish we could've been a little freer with the money and not have had to buy a new a/c but I know that step by step we are showing ourselves worthy of His trust and commited to truly following His principles even when given the opportunity to stray and satisfy earthly desires.