Christmas Time

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year.  Yes, we blow things out of proportion, forget the reason for the season, over buy, over do, over eat and whatever else over you can think of.  We rush, we leave things out, and step on others toes without really meaning to.  It can sure bring out the worst in us.  Losses are felt more deeply.  I think it is the contrast.  But it can also bring out the best in us as well.  My oldest just finished a puppet performance for a low income housing project downtown.  There were not many children there.  But the residents that they performed for were thrilled to see them.  These kids have been practicing for this performance since September.  No one else may ever know that.  They got a chance through "play" to explain the reason for the season, and the reason for some of our traditions as well.  What an eye opener for these kids. We got a special family presentation on Tuesday night- the rest of our kids loved it! Especially little princess E, she had all the adults laughing at her laughing at the puppets!

Here are some pics of our house lit up and some of our Christmas trees.  The tradition of the Christmas tree goes back as far as Martin Luther, and even earlier.

Advent tree.  This is a neat tree because what we do is wrap 25 books with a Christmas theme, and each child takes a turn and unwraps a book every night starting December 1st.  Dad (or mom or a big sis) reads the book to the family aloud.  Some books are board books geared towards babies/toddlers, and some are a lot more intensive, like say Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  This is my favorite tree, and is decorated with a fishing/hunting theme. 

This is the main tree (below).  I have decorated with angels since we were first married.  I almost hate to use them now, since I know a lot more about angels than I did, but it is a tradition I suppose.  It is also decorated with fruit, and we talk about Martin Luther and his tree, the reason for the lights, the meaning of the fruit coming from the middle ages and the plays they would have in winter about the creation account and Genesis.

This is just another tree by the fireplace.  I just like the look of all the greenery throughout the house!

The upstairs bathroom tree.  Yes, in the bathroom!

I think my grandma thinks it is fun that we have so many trees.  I sure enjoy them!  The kids enjoy them.  These are our special traditions that are meaningful to us.
Merry Christmas!

Rainbow over Tulsa

Pickin punkins

The kids were enthralled with these tiny table pumpkins.  

They would have taken a bushel home if we had let them!

Pillow sack dress

I finished her dress!

Clutter Conquered!

We have been making a bit of progress over the clutter in and around the house this weekend: the garage, the school room, the backyard and the front room have all been tackled!  YEA! Now if I can just get the laundry room shelves and the upstairs closet done, I will feel really accomplished!

Creamhorns for breakfast

We had cream horns for breakfast this morning as a small tribute to mom; she loved these things.  I never understood it, and have never liked them.  The kids had never had one before, and the reaction was mixed as to whether they liked them or not, but for them it was neat to experience something that was one of her favorites. 
Then for lunch we had quiche with eggs from our chickens- that is always a hit.  Well, we had to have something real to eat after the cream horns- they are like eating sugary fluff!

The Wayward has returned!

After two weeks to the day of being "missing", we finally have our dog back!  I registered her description with the city's animal shelter, and they would email me pics of dogs that sort of matched.  The very first one had a pick of a dog that I just knew was her!  It was, but they wanted over $400 to get her back, so we waited the day or so and just adopted her back for $75 instead.  She was running loose for a week, and then spent a week in the city shelter.  NOT a nice place. So she now has kennel cough, but is otherwise no worse for the wear.  Someone must have picked her up in our neighborhood and tried to take her home, because she was picked up by animal control over 12 miles away from our house, and across the river!  The kids are thrilled, needless to say.  It could have had a much worse outcome for all involved.  We prayed that God would return her, and He did!