Fetch! (the laugh's on me)

Winter waltzed right in. I witnessed its unrelenting force wreak havoc as child's play. It loosened the shingles on a nearby neighbor's home so effectively that the next minute they danced a rippled rhythm, as a banner high on a pole. So naturally, I sent hubs out to knock on said neighbor's door.
"In this weather?"
"Honey! You would want someone to tell you if your roof was coming off, right?"
I smiled and waved dutifully as he spotted me watching from the sliding glass window, while he pressed against the gale forces to make his way to the neighbor's front door. And in fact, the poor guy didn't know. His storm door had already been unhinged and now the roof. I felt awful for him as we too have been hit with large, unexpected expenses for three Christmases now. But you know, my house is warm and cozy, my kids are still bickering happy and healthy, and we have what truly matters most, faith in Jesus Christ and one another. Glass half full.

It eventually turned out to be a wonderful day. I consider us richly blessed to sit down to dinner together as a family just about every evening, a beautiful blessing indeed. After a good meal(coconut butternut squash pasta), we brought out all the boxes from storage and decorated for Christmas. How I love the yearly transformation. I'll share a bit of that in photos with you, but first a flashback from the earlier part of my day.

You might know we have a new dog, a Yellow Lab named Chance. Goodness, we all love that furry boy and he totally knows it. There are a few behaviors we're working on modifying, but overall he's just a big ol' yellow bunch of love. However, having rescued him from a shelter, we have been dealing with whipworms. Now I'm not one to shy away from the reality that having animals can create some gross situations, probably because I grew up with cats, dogs, rabbits, turtles, ducks, hamsters, and fish. I'm pretty darn used to the various scenarios that can play out when you own a pet. And, well, we've been dealing with an ongoing loose bowel issue since Chance joined us a month ago. Some days it's better, others much worse. He's been successfully dewormed but still the bowel trouble continues. :(

So today, we had to take another specimen to the Vet to be checked for worms. Now, I don't know if you're a pet owner or not. But if you are, you know how "lovely" it is when you're asked to bring in a "specimen." Uh yeah, you have to fetch a biscuit and I'm not talking bread.

Did I mention we had gale force winds?

So I waited until my dog launched the eagle had landed, then grabbed a sweat jacket, tennis shoes, and a baggie and off I went to get it. This dirty job couldn't wait. I needed to get it over with before the poo lay buried under snow or froze to the point of impossibility. The driving snow stung my squinting eyeballs as I stammered through to the end of the yard.

Am I reeeeally having to do this?
Where is hubs when I need him?
How to pick up a steamer with just a little baggie? (no, I'm not asking you; rather, I was asking me as I stood there in the cold being tossled like a wind chime.)

By the time I had answered my own "how to" question, I looked like the rusty tin man of Oz, my wind-chilled fingers frozen and uncooperative. The baggie suddenly got away from me and I nearly twisted my ankle attempting to make a sudden dash to retrieve it. Thankfully, it lodged into the fence posts where I snatched it back right quick and returned to the nasty task at hand.

I inverted the bag, grabbed, and sealed it tight.
Where to put it such a naaaasty little package?
As the whipping wind was quickly lowering my core temperature, I hastily settled on tossing it under the patio furniture. I figured it would be protected from the elements by the canvas coverings that donned each piece. It made good sense.

That is, until a humongous gust of wind kicked up and sent our furniture flying into the yard. That's when I thought I heard, "Cleared for take-off," and saw the steamer go fly-high-ing past our back windows.
Seriously, we had lift-off.
My kids were cracking up. "Look at mommy chasing a fly-away poo bag. Ha hah ha."
They're easily amused (grrr!)

But I'm happy to say I won. I vigorously chased and recaptured that bogus little baggie as it rode on the breeze like the tail of a kite.
SNAP! GOTCHA!!!

Now knowing that's how my day started, I'm sure you'll understand how much more I love how it ended, with decorating our home for the holidays.
Stay warm wherever you are.
On with the photo montage.....


Aw, go on and admit it. He's as cute as can be. He is!


Hubs bought these beauties for me after Thanksgiving, to ackowledge my hard work in preparing the meal for our family.


This cute little tree was created in honor of Hubs' mom after she died of colon cancer in 1995. Is that mini tree skirt and nativity scene the most adorable or what?


I love to line up photos of Christmas past on the stairs. My mom made the snowman.


I am crazy about our fireplace. Our faux cardboard fireplace with its faux flames. Kinda got a deer theme going on the mantle this year (the red one is at least 45 years old.)


HA! That's Cierah with a towel on her head. Why, you ask? Because we're playing a game called Back To Bethlehem and she was instructed to wear a towel on her head as a shepherd. This game gives great cause for laughs, as well as getting the kids to think about deeper things like, "What do you think Christmas morning is like for a homeless person?" Love it. You can find it online at Todd Wilson's website.


This is Hubs when he got home from work today. His company is flying some children to Dallas who lost a parent in service to our nation. There was face painting going on and a little girl asked Hubs if he wanted his nose "painted like Rudolph." He didn't, but said, "How do you say no to a little girl who lost her mom or dad in service to us?" Ten minutes later, he looked like this. :)


I absolutely love my nativity. My aunt found it on sale after Christmas many years ago and I thought it was the most beautiful I'd ever seen. The jewel tone colors are brilliant in person and the pieces are well detailed.

Toni

MESSAGES!

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year! Can't you just hear Andy Williams flexing the golden pipes? Oh yeah! And to date, indeed it has been a wonderful holiday season. My parents came in from Ohio for Thanksgiving, Mom's first year in decades where she was not the primary cook. And in fact, she was such a good teacher that I had very little for her to help with while here. She did make us some awesome gravy, but more importantly, she and my Dad poured lots of love into our active bunch. Nothing measures up to that (even if I did make a good turkey.)

I have some Christmas "duties" out of the way and our outside lights are up. Trust me, this is muy early for my procrastinating nature. I mean, lights up before December 1st? Check me for the fever, y'all. But it's true. And it feels GREAT to have it done. A little more Christmas "duty" in the next few days is in order. I'm thrilled with our more timely approach this year (don't even pit me against those "I'm done in June" folks; I'm simply not from that realm, ya know?)

But not everything is going as smooth as butter. Take a few weeks ago in church, for example. I was standing there talking to my dear friend, Sniz, after service. My four kids were on short leashes, chomping at the bit to throw self control to the wind but knowing we expected them to mind us. So, Sniz and I were deep in conversation when what happened next left me momentarily speechless (I assure you, this does not often happen to me.)

Apparently, I had burned up my allotted "mom chat" time (you know, that magical child determined time where a mom can talk without interruption or embarrassment at the mercy of her accomodating little darlings). And to drive the point home, my sweet babes entered into a battle of sorts. A battle over who would claim the coveted seat next to Miss "K", a lovely teen girl whom my kids adore. In their efforts to WIN said coveted seat, a little creativity was in order. I mean, hey, mom's not watchin', right?

So child "A" came up with a plan to trip up child "B".

Yes, literally.

And since Child "B" was up wandering around (instead of remaining seated as we had asked) child "A"s plan met with success and child "B" went flying across the floor. The proof was in the wave of destruction that followed.
A loud "CRASH!" was heard.
Followed by several gasps.
Then several raised eyebrows and concerned expressions.
Because,...well,....okay, yes.

I give up.

It was my sweet little darlings,mine, mind you, who busted the church message board to smithereens. Fragments of what once was a means of communication amongst our members lay scattered about Sniz and I on the floor.
A frame edge here.
A few decorative fall leaves there.
Another frame edge.
And another.
And the other (yes, that's all four framing pieces, but who's counting?)

Sadly true! My little angels made big time wrestling out of church property and all eyes were on us to witness it.
Uuuuh,...I'm ready for my closeup??? (Toni smiles like a nervous Chesire.)
Those who watched SNL back in the day, think Mary Catherine. "Super star!"

Hubs and I did the only thing we could think of. We picked up the remains of the message board and made for the door, promising to fix and return the board later.

Fast forward to the following Saturday night. I had been up late, pressing clothes and getting ready for church again the next day. Hubs was off at "man camp" (a Christian men's retreat). I had bathed 4 kids, showered myself, and was now ready to turn in for the night. Only.....

RATS!

There sat the boogered up board on a chair in the corner of my bedroom. In the business of our week (Thanksgiving grocery shopping, dance and art lessons, picking up a few things for Hubs for man camp, packing him, etc.), we had completely forgotten to fix the board. Knowing it would be needed the next day in church, the task fell soley on me.

At midnight. Swell!

I ran down to the garage and gathered much needed supplies. A heavy duty staple gun. And a hammer and finishing nails "just in case." It took the better part of fifteen minutes for me to figure out how to reframe the corkboard with just one pair of hands. But I finally got the four sides reassembled and thus reached for my staple gun.

P-tink, p-tink!
Oh for crying out loud!

Those staples would NOT pass through the tough particle board frame. And worse yet? I couldn't get them back out. They were stuck reeeeal good. I was afraid to pull, afraid to damage the board even more. I was not at ALL opposed to simply buying a replacement, mind you. It's just that it was after midnight, I was home alone with the kids, and it was too late to implement that plan. Naturally.
Ever so gingerly, I tugged and tugged. A good 20 or so times and FINALLY out came the staple. Sheesh!

Okay then. Hammer and finishing nails it is.
Oh!
No!
It!
Isn't!
I could have bam-bam-bammed 'til the cows came home, but those nails weren't going any deeper than the staples had gone, no matter how hard I pounded.

What to do, what to do???

You crafty types know where I'm going with this. Because fact is, in the crafting world, a girl's gotta have her tools.
Get....me....my....glue gun!
I filled the tracks along each framing piece and I did the only thing I could do.
I glued 'er on reeeeeeal good. Then I stepped back and examined my work. It was holding. I was happy. But at the same time, I was very concerned.
Concerned that the job was fragile.
Concerned that the glue might only work in the short run.
Concerned that I'd carry that baby back to church and gently sit it back on the display tripod, only to find myself stuck in my own version of a scene in the movie A Christmas Story. You know the scene I mean. Where the leg lamp gets "accidentally" broken and the Dad glues all the pieces back together. But when he gently replaces the shade, the whole thing falls apart again. Uh huh, I had visions of that happening as I ever so gently carried the glued message board back into church last Sunday.

Only,....


It ended up being totally unnecessary.
The staples.
The finishing nails.
The hot glue gun.
The worrying about my personal "leg lamp" moment.
It was all unnecessary because, as I approached the tripod, my eyes fixed on a new and beautiful message board.
Whole, sturdy and unflawed.

And isn't that just like our great God and Father? We are so broken before Him. And yet He can pick up any little shard of us and use it to let His light shine through our brokenness. He can make us whole and sturdy and unflawed, if only we allow Him. If only we are willing to be made new in Jesus His Son, who died for all sin for all time. Oh, that He CAN make us whole. That only He can. And that we should discover that for ourselves. Just as I discovered the message board made whole again, not of my own efforts but of another, just as we are redeemed not because of our own efforts, but because of what Jesus did for us. Now that's a message worth sharing. Happy holidays!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Toni