Merry Christmas

By:  Ally (age 5)

Generosity

I have spent the better part of this morning trying to find a book, or rather, a certain paragraph in a book.  I was not successful.  But SOMEWHERE I remember reading a good illustration about generosity, so I'm going to have to paraphrase it for you here.  Now, maybe it means a little bit more to me because I lived in Israel for several years.  As a kid, I floated in the Dead Sea and swam in the Sea of Galilee.  (How cool is that?!)  But I think that you'll still get the point.

"There are two lakes in Israel and there are two kinds of people in the world." 

The Dead Sea in the south has an inlet, but no outlet.  It receives but it never gives.  The land around it is arid and lifeless.  Although its water is rich in minerals it is not suitable for drinking or sustaining life.

The Sea of Galilee in the north has both and inlet and outlet.  The landscape around it is green and refreshing.  Animals and humans alike benefit from its supply of fresh water.

And so it is with people.  There are those who always receive and yet are like a parched wasteland.  They never give and therefore the landscape around them dries up.  And then there are those who have a constant outlet for their blessings.  They give and give and give, yet they never run dry.  They are refreshed and they bless those around them.

My sister is one of those people.  She never comes over to our house without some kind of blessing - usually a cute item of clothing for the girls that she picked up at the Other Mother's 25 cent sale or a super-duper couponing bargain item for my pantry.  In fact, she has a whole closet in her house called "the gift closet."  It is full of baby items, clearance clothing, toys, lotions, etc.  If you looked up "generosity" in the dictionary, her picture would be there!  For sure.

I mention this because lately our family has received one blessing after another.  I posted about the beautiful Christmas tree that someone delivered, but I haven't told you about the card that someone left in our church mailbox yesterday.  $100 cash - no signature.  Or, how about the large Scrip gift donations through the families at Marc's school?  One blessing after another.  It's been so encouraging and so humbling.  I just hope that we never end up like the Dead Sea.

My Flammy

I love these people - plain and simple.

I love that we enjoy being together. I love our dumb family jokes. I love that my kids beg to spend time with their aunts and uncles. I love that my girls don't know whether to call my dad Grandpa or Pastor. I love getting to hear Dad's teaching every Sunday! I love that Sierra and Ally are taking piano lessons from Grandma Phyllis. I love the vicious love-hate relationship that Valerie and Riley have right now. I love to watch Annie and Ally become completely engrossed in the Polly Pocket world. I love my mom's Bible study lessons. I love that we play board games together - even if Benjy usually wins. I love that we get to spend these years together in Idaho. Who would ever have imagined that all of us would be living within 20 miles of each other?! We've been spread across the country and across the world for a long time. This is a very blessed time.

PS - Happy Birthday to Missy and Susie this week!

Thank You!!!

Someone rang our doorbell after church this evening. They didn't stick around to see our reaction when we opened the door and found this:

So, "Secret Santa" - in case you read this blog - here's a glimpse of the excitement that you brought to our home with your special gift.

We already have our beautiful tree all set up and decorated. Thank you for your thoughtful and generous gift. We appreciate it so, so much.

P.S. It smells WONDERFUL!!!!

May this Christmas season be filled with...

It just gets better...

Are you tired of reading posts about the good times we have up at the cabin? TOO BAD! Cuz' here comes another one. That place just gets better and better! I can't decide which I love more: the long, warm summer days by the river or the short, cozy winter days by the fireplace. I guess it's ultimately not really about the place itself - just the people that we love to spend time with while we're there.

We kicked off our week-long Thanksgiving break with two days at the cabin. From the minute we got there - which was LATE on Sunday night - Valerie started doing the happy dance. Tradition dictates that we must do certain things while at the cabin, so we popped some corn and watched "the sillies" (Funniest Home Videos) before collapsing into bed that night.

Tradition number 2 is eating Grandpa's pancakes for breakfast.

Then there's the trip to town in Grandpa's truck.

Next, in a traditional cabin day comes pizza making with Grandma. Valerie's creation was beautiful, but I had to scoop up a whole dustpan full of flour off of the floor by the time she was done.

The rest of our time was filled with coloring, games, fort building, puzzles, books and movies.

Oh! And the girls made their first two snowmen of the season. It was getting dark by the time they finished it, so I don't have any good pictures of the final product.

Unfortunately, I also don't have pictures of: early morning story time on Grandpa's lap, sledding down Thunderbolt Road with Grandma, the 7 mule deer that walked right in front of our dining room window, or my three sleeping beauties all snuggled under down comforters for a winter nap. But, I'm sure that you get the picture...

One night while we were all up in the loft for a movie, Valerie turned to Grandpa and blurted out, "You best my friend." Her syntax may be a little off, but I love the sentiment that even a two year old can express. And I am so very, very thankful for the wonderful memories that the girls will have of this happy place.

Eleven on 11-11-11

Somewhere between home schooling and my general mommy duties, blogging has slipped a few notches in the degree of priorities. But - since today is a special day (11-11-11) I have decided to choose 11 pictures from the last few weeks to bring you up to date with our goings-on.


1. Cursive penmanship practice is much more manageable when you're allowed to hold a special friend.

2. Miss Val-Val likes to chime in during calendar time and wants us to name the days of the week for her.

3. Ally was able to take two months of ballet/tap classes again this fall and loved every minute of it!

4. Because I didn't have quite enough on my plate, I decided it was time to tackle potty-training too!

5. We enjoyed an evening of fun at Linder Farms in mid-October. Annie and Ally loved the bumpy hay ride!

6. Sierra looked long and hard for the perfect pumpkin!

7. Valerie liked all the "baby punkies."

8. We had some help with the carving! Ally didn't have to get her hands too dirty with Ben around.

9. Is this girl 7 or 17?!?!

10. Uncle Chuck usually leaves Family Nights dripping with sweat and with some rather sore muscles. He's always the center of attention with the kids.

11. I got a kick from reading this list of house rules that had been posted on the easel during a play date with some friends:

(Rules: 1. Do not give Valerie any scissors or markers or glue. 2. Don't wake up Valerie when she is sleeping. 3. Do not go in Sierra's mom or dad's room. 4. Don't feed the fish. 5. Do not run in the house. 6. Do not climb on Sierra's bed. 7. Do not got in the garden. Have fun at the house!)

I LOVE...

...these three sweet girlies!

You Can Have Me

No Greater Fear

Up until last night I had never had to dial 9-1-1. Up until last night I had never been inside an ambulance. Up until last night I had never been wheeled into the ER on a gurney- with a child in my arms! And I hope and pray that I will never have to do it ever, ever, ever again.

We were supposed to be watching Sophie and Ben for the evening while their mom and dad went out for a date. I was tired and low on groceries, so we decided to walk a couple of blocks to the nearest McDonald's for a bite to eat. I was a few steps ahead on the sidewalk with the bigger kids and Valerie was skipping next to Marc. She tripped. Her knee got a little scrape and her mouth and forehead hit the sidewalk. No big deal, she's done that a million times. (What kid hasn't?!) Marc called me back to comfort her. She was trying to cry but didn't take a breath. I remember both Marc and I saying, "Just breathe, Valerie. Just breathe." She's done this breath holding thing before too. But this time it was different. She actually fainted. The next few minutes are a big blur. Valerie didn't just faint and then wake up. Her eyes were open, but she was not responsive. I called the paramedics and they were there within minutes. I'll spare you all the details - but you can imagine what the four other children might have been feeling as they watched the scene unfold. Thankfully, God provided a neighbor and friend from church who just happened to be home on a Friday evening to escort all of them over to her driveway. I got in the ambulance with Valerie and away we went. By the time we got into the ambulance she was beginning to act normally and even answered a few questions for the EMT. Marc met me in the ER after getting the other children settled with my Dad. The nurses checked her vitals and then the doctor ordered a CT scan just to make sure that there wasn't any injury to her brain. During this time Valerie was sleepy, but was acting like herself. She eventually got hungry and told me, "I want go away 'dis place." The staff observed her for a couple of hours and when everything came back clear we were allowed to leave. Just like that. All from one little trip on the sidewalk. But I'll tell you, those were some of the most frightening minutes of my life.

We are so thankful that it wasn't more serious. She has only minor scratches to show for all that drama. Last night she slept soundly next to me. I was supposed to wake her up a couple of times in the night - which I did - but she was so tired! I am to take her to the pediatrician on Monday for a follow up. I'm guessing that there won't be much to say. Will you pray with us that the next time she gets hurt she will cry properly and not hold her breath? At this point, that is really our only concern.

And now for some much needed rest....

No Greater Joy

Thanks to my good friend, Julie, I have pictures to post of a very special event in Sierra's life that happened yesterday evening at church - her baptism! Almost three years ago she asked Jesus to come "clean her heart" and be her savior. She has always had a very sensitive heart and a good grasp of spiritual things. For over a year she has wanted to be baptized. Marc and I made her wait a while so that we could be sure that she understood exactly what she was doing and why. Her testimony last night was very clear and beautiful. (She did get a little nervous when she saw the big audience - but her words were clear.) It was a great joy to watch her from behind the scenes. Having "Pastor Grandpa" perform the baptism was the icing on the cake. When we got home last night Marc gave her a new Bible to read. She has been pouring over it today, finding many of her favorite verses and reading them to me.

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

Sierra share this verse as a part of her testimony. I hope that she will never forget those words of truth and hope! If she can boldly proclaim her faith at the age of 7, I pray that she will be even more courageous at 17, 27, 37, etc. God bless you, sweet girl. We love you very, very much.

Tennis

We are by no means a family gifted with tennis prowess. We do, however, enjoy going over to the local courts to hit the balls around. Most of our time is spent gathering balls from every corner of the complex...which is good exercise in and of itself. Last Saturday we met some friends for some fun on the courts.

Sierra is really developing a pretty good swing ... and she has a nice grunt to go with it! :)

Ally can't grunt because she always has her tongue sticking out of her mouth.

See what I mean?

And then there's Miss Val-Val who can barely lift the racket, but wants equal playing time.

She's dangerous!

I wanna take you to...

Rio! Rio!

My kids (and their friends!) are really into the recent animated kids movie about a couple of blue macaws set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So much so that we not only bought the DVD, but also the soundtrack! I love it because several of the songs are in Portuguese and they have a fun Brazilian beat. So - the other day when the kids were having a play date they were dancing around the living room acting like birds and then got the notion of making bird costumes for themselves. I pulled out the blue construction paper, scissors and glue. They worked SO HARD and I think that the outcome was pretty cool. They had everything from beaks to wings and tail feathers.

"B" says b...b...

...balloons!

What would compel two tired mamas to wake their five slumbering wee ones, skip breakfast and all regular morning routines, buckle them into their car seats and drive to downtown Boise at dawn?! The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic, that's what!

Susie and I were on the highway by 7 o'clock on Friday morning and arrived at Ann Morrison Park just in time to watch about 30 balloons be inflated and then lift off of the ground right in front of us. The sights and sounds were unforgettable! I mean, how many kindergartners get to watch a hot air balloon launch as part of their study of the letter "Bb"? So fun!

They flew right over our heads!

These were some of our favorites...the Coke balloon and The Happiest Balloon on Earth!