Black Black Friday

Every good holiday has an "eve" and often, that is when most of the celebrating is done. Consider: All Saint's Eve (a la Halloween) /All Saint's Day; Christmas Eve / Christmas, New Year's Eve / New Year's Day, Memorial Day Weekend /Memorial Day (same for Labor Day) and, of course, Thanksgiving /Black Friday. I wasn't so sure I wanted to celebrate Black Friday this year, but now that it's over, I'm glad I did. I must admit, I shopped online last night to secure some items from a store that is typically quite crazed.

5:09 - Alarm Rings. I accidentally turn it off.
5:19 - wake up in panic.
5:23 - head downstairs dressed & ready to do
5:25 - head downstairs again after tucking in Thing One (He was crying for me to say "good night" but did say "sank you for bankets momma". How sweet!)
5:31 - pull out of garage with chocolate chip bagel, banana and Diet Coke
5:55 - in line at discount store with familia already in line
6:15 - checked out! Thought that would take a lot longer!
6:30 - leave headquarters (mom and dad's house)
7:00 - in line at warehouse store
8:05 - in warehouse store
8:35 - leave warehouse store with only 33% of desired items : (
9:00 - enjoying traditional Black Friday breakfast with family
10:00 - regroup at HQ2 (our house)
12:22 pm - back home from 4 other locations with success! Well, we did walk out of one store because the checkout lines were too long for our piddly little items.

Hope you had a fun day! The Christmas Tree awaits us!

P.S. The Cran-Apple pie turned out fabulous so says all the female relatives. It's a little scary bringing your first pie to a meal hosted by the best family cooks. I'll share my super easy, do-ahead, super secret recipe if you ask nicely and share a favorite Thanksgiving recipe with me!

Free Parking

No longer do I wonder where the rest of the toy cars went. I found them today in the "parking lot" which appears to have collapsed. Pardon me while I curl up on the cushion lying on the floor...

Since toys are now cleaned up, I can move on to the rest of my to-do list:

1. Bake Cran-Apple Pie (gulp! - have never baked apple pie before).
2. Make Black Friday shopping list. *sigh* "Four a.m. is soooo early." (Said in tired-sounding mommy-martyr voice.)

Or... maybe I'll just go watch Ironman with the hubby. Pie tastes better fresh, anyway.

Generations

Taking a cue from my highly-organized, family-minded cousin, Marcie, I scheduled a photo session at a local mall studio. Lucky for me, I got to practice my winter driving as the snow hit about 15 minutes before we left the house. As I felt my blood pressure and pulse rise, I found myself praying in the car. And then I felt guilty for doing so. The prayer I was praying went along the lines of... "God keep us safe. Just get us there." And you know, it's been a while since I've had good communication with God. But in my time of 'need', I go running off, trying to get God to save me from myself.

While I don't think it's theologically correct to assume that God automatically casts aside all "save me" prayers, I think it is safe to assume that God wants more from us than that. With a shift of attitude, we traveled safely, lowered the blood pressure (mine was 102 / 66 last week) and glorified God all the more. My attitude shift came in the form of Veggie Tales Sunday Morning Sing-A-Long which Thing One insisted on listening to. Fine, fine. I wasn't about to try to change CDs with the roads so slippery. My shift in attitude came in genuinely singing along with the Sing-A-Long and giving God praise for who he is and thanks for what he's done.

So back to the photo session. My grandma, her first daughter (my mom), myself (first daughter) and my daughter (a first) had our family history, our generations, our legacy recorded. It was fun. We got some great pictures. I also walked out of the mall with a deep sense of purpose. Somehow looking at the pictures made me realize that 'it all' is worth it. Combining this experience with the previous paragraph, I can't put what I feel into words that make sense. Coming into this Thanksgiving week, I was struggling with what I thought I was thankful for, physical things aside. Today I know.

What are you thanking God for this week?

Monthly Summary

Every month, per government regulations and desire for increased revenue from our administration, most of my co-workers spend way too much time and agony over their Medicare monthly summaries. In honor of them, I bring you this special post of random happening at our house.

First, I'd like to offer [The] Still Life [of Canned Pears] [and unpictured Applesauce]:

Between Oct. 26 and Nov. 8 I canned 21 quarts of pears and 4 batches of spiced pear jam on my own as well as 20 quarts of applesauce with my mom and grandpa. I also froze 4 quarts + 8 oz of pears, 1 batch of spiced pear jam and made 1 freezer cran-apple pie, 1 fresh dish of hot applesauce and 1 fresh pan of apple brownies. I finally finished removing the sticky newspaper from my kitchen counter yesterday. Hurray!

Second I give you "The Jumping Bean":

Upon mention of a "big boy bed" our 2 1/2 year old was so excited to go to bed that there will be no more night time crib sleeping at home. The whole family "helped" daddy put the bed together. No photo documentation exists as proof that indeed, we all helped and it was chaotic. So far, so good! These developmental milestones make a mommy a little nervous. Did I teach him how to sleep well? Will he stay put? What happens if he wakes up at 5:30 am? Last night was flawlessly executed and serves as a reminder that our job as parents is crucial in teaching children the skills they need to be functional adults. Next up.. the ever helpful potty training....

Third, I'd like to present what happens when I try to photograph the children on my own, before church, in our 15 minute cushion (see previous post regarding what happens when I get off schedule):
Note: female child with toy cell phone in hand; 100% of children looking at camera; 0% of children smiling; 50% of children attempting escape

Note: female child holding empty smoothie bottle; 50% of children missing from picture; new backdropNote: female child holding recently procured object; 0% of children looking at camera; 50% of children smiling Note: Success!; 100% of children saying 'cheese'; 50% of children looking at camera. Rejoice! Give Thanks and Sing!

I need shoes!

Todd was out of town this past weekend, as he often is in the late fall. The kids and I had a great weekend and I rented a Gravely to clear up the little people, cars, plastic lids, kitchen utensils, stuffed animals, assorted baking pans, shoes, socks, books and blocks that made their way onto the floor in 24 hours. Actually, I was exhausted from two long days with the kids and Todd suggested renting the Gravley because all the above mentioned items were still on the floor when he got home. Oops. Bad wife. When Todd is gone, I frequently pray for those I know who are single parents - for their energy and stamina, patience, creativity and support of family and friends.

Going to church solo, however, is something I feel I have down to a science. My friend Rachel says her mom (a pastor's wife) always though the Devil was hardest at work on Sunday morning. I'm inclined to agree, which is why we have a strict schedule that has been tweaked for optimum performance.

Somehow, between trying to brush my teeth, apply lipstick and procure my shoes, we got about 7 minutes behind schedule. No problem, I think, think is why we build 15 minutes of "free time" into the schedule. Somehow the extra 8 minutes we should have had turned into -3 minutes and we were late! It is a major pet peeve of mine to be late for church. Major. Major pet peeve.

So in a flurry, I coat-ed X2, hat-ed X2, packed extra diapers and a pair of pants, prepared milk with an ice pack. hat-ed again, let the dog out, hat-ed again, put the dog in his cage, stuffed Thing Two, a purse and a diaper bag into the car and called for Thing One to come and climb into the car. He stood in the door way and I urgently and in frustration called him again to come and obey momma immediately. Then he says, "I need shoes on." Honestly, if I had a nickel every time that child tried to get outside without shoes on, I would go down to 6 hours of work per week! All I could do was laugh. After apologizing profusely and telling him he was a smart boy for remembering shoes, I did actually remember to put the shoes on him. I would have been terribly embarrassed to show up with a stocking-foot boy. God loves it when we laugh and rejoice in him and I thank Him for showing me why he's so much better at being in control.

Sometimes you just have to

I had to go to Meijer on Halloween and they had all their costumes on clearance. Sometimes you just have to splurge (within the budget, of course!). She was the cutest Elmo I have ever seen. But that's not the correct Elmo.

Here is the correct Elmo:

My sweet little baby Elmo. Too bad it can't be Halloween more often. And too bad kids grow out of their adorable things. So, we have a nice, gently used Elmo costume size 18 months if anyone wants to borrow it next year. I'll reserve it for the first "dibs". This was a fun "sometimes you just have to".

We also have those things that as Mama, I just dread. And haircuts is one of them. I've been putting this hair cut off for... months now, actually. My former hairdresser moved to Texas. She used to meet us at my mom's and cut One's hair while he watched Elmo. My mom trimmed his bangs and the back but the back was growing out like a cute girl's bob. This would not do. With much prompting from the Tantes, we went to Great Clips with my coupon to get 'er done.

The several months of maturity seems to have helped. Or was it the mirror with mousse to play in? Or the promise of a sucker? The planets aligned and we had a wonderful haircutting experience filled with cooperative behavior, some uncertaintly, no tears, and "can I have a sucker?" every 3 minutes. Oh, and it can't hurt that the stylist had a wonderful, relaxed manor and made sure One was comfortable with each step in the process. Thanks Judith!

What a handsome little boy. Whose still a little itchy. (Yup, that's the purple sucker in hand.)

The Change We Need?

Yesterday was a pretty big deal here in Kent County. And apparently in most of the country. Todd took the kids with him when he voted yesterday. Thing One just about melted down because he really wanted to vote, too. I made him a ballot and he voted for everyone. ahhh.. to be 2 again. I personally walked right in & back out of the voting precinct at about 11:20 am. I stayed up until 10:30pm to watch results come in.

But really, one of the reasons I think it's such a big deal is because change is always hard. Regardless of who you vote for, why you vote for them and what the rest of the nation does, we hang in limbo for the day (and that doesn't count the previous 21 days of campaigning). Uncertainty is always ... uncertain. I agree with what financial counselor Dave Ramsey said today about the election: "I'm glad it's over. Now we can go back to working on what's important." Yes, the decisions our leaders do affect us but they are typically not life-altering. But it's what I do, how I live my life, how I follow God's plan for my life that is life-changing. God is so much bigger than our important elections. And what matters to God is how we as Christians respond to his call in our lives.