I believe this is a REAL Iowa snow storm.

Today, like my sister in law mentioned to me in an email, is Iowa snow like I remember as a kid. I remember drifts that towered so high I thought I might get lost. I remember gazing out the picture window of our house thinking how amazing the white blanket of snow looked. I remember wearing a hot pink snowmobile suit and dreading walking out onto the playground in it. (It even had fake sheep like fur on the hood! Gag!) I remember tunneling through snow forts with my neighbors until my cheeks felt like they were bleeding. Iowa winters as I remember were fantastic!

Yup, today brought back some great memories!

First a few indoor shots of my snow angel (try to look past the streaming boogers. I thought about editing them out with Photoshop and then thought…nah…that’s what the bitter cold does to one’s olfactory organs. Let’s keep the story real here.)

P.S. It’s now 8:30pm and Josh has been outside with the neighbor’s snow blower for an hour and a half. Praise God for neighbors who are willing to share the goods!! Corner lots aren’t the cat’s meow on days like today! Thank you Donovans!!!!

I believe the preparation is 1/2 the fun.

Preparing for CHRISTmas. We’ve been busy and there are still 22 days left! Check out what we’ve been up to…

• Making our first Advent tree….a wee bit trickier than I thought. I’m realizing I’m not a seamstress We’ve loved the book so far though (Family Celebrations at Christmas, Ann Hibbard)

• Drinking hot chocolate. After all, how are we to maintain our strength?

• Putting up our tree. Our massive, almost Griswold-eque (in size) tree. (Note: tree limbs protruding from living room to opening into kitchen) For great trees check out: www.clarkschristmasconifers.com These trees have been loved up by a wonderful family and we’ve had the pleasure of of having one for two years straight. (Thanks Clarks!!)
• With putting up a tree comes battling a child’s version of decorating. This year I decided I’d let the kids hang the ornaments where they wanted to and I’d “adjust” things later. Well, it turned out I could only allow this for about 1/2 of the decorating process for fear our poor tree would’ve bit the dust.

This is Bob the Builder skydiving from a tree limb.

Mary, Joseph and Jesus weighing down a branch. Now you see why I had to intervene.

• Putting up the Nativity. Aiden snuck in a little play session before the Nativity made it to the mantle.

• Putting up other various decorations…and their Star Wars accessories?

• And taking the forced “picture in front of the tree” pose. Does anyone else threaten life and limb while trying to take a joyous Christmas picture?

• And a winner…well, kind of.

But, beyond the decorations, hot chocolate, shopping and overall chaos, I pray you are taking time to prepare your heart for a season of celebrating the One who came as a baby many years ago. Merry JESUSmas!

Luke 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus

¹In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ²(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³And everyone went to his own town to register.

⁴So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

I believe I’m thankful for the small things.

Tonight, I was the lucky recipient of a few genuinely sweet comments from my sons. I often get “token” I love you’s when I ask for them but tonight two of my boys said things to me that made my heart melt.

Ethan, “Mom, you’re the best mommy in the world.” This was said after Josh just spent a good half hour wrestling the boys on the bed. Not sure why he felt the “love” after being body slammed by daddy but I’ll take it. He even held my face in his tiny little hands while he said it.

Caleb, “Mom, I hope I get to marry someone like you someday.” This was said when I was tucking Caleb in bed tonight. Tears well up as I type this. Wow, what a compliment!

I often give myself a pity party when I think about the things I haven’t done in my life. I haven’t achieved anything noteworthy. I haven’t made any grand accomplishments. I haven’t been recognized for anything special. But, when I get these small gifts from my kids, these comments that are often few and far between, I realize I’ve committed myself to a worthwhile task. It’s a job without a salary, a wardrobe allowance or flex spending account, but I pray my benefits package will last for generations to come.

I believe we’ve added a new food group.

Hopefully, this is a one-time seasonal addition.

I believe this boy needs his daddy.

All three of our boys love their daddy. They ask multiple times every evening, “When will daddy be home?” I love that.

Tonight, Aiden was especially excited for daddy to come home. Josh has been waiting for his birthday package to arrive in the mail for about a week. Well, today it came. It’s some device he can hook up to his guitar so he can record himself on our computer. He can also record voices which is why Aiden is super pumped. Aiden can’t wait to record his own CD. I can’t wait to share his voice with you when that time comes. That boy can REALLY sing!

Here’s a picture of Aiden waiting ever so patiently for his daddy. (Note the nice bean bag he’s sitting on…oh wait, that’s a sack of GARBAGE! Oops.)

 

I believe these are the results.

Of the pole, that I took, the other day, about which blogs you follow/read:

I’m curious…what do you think this means? I’ll be back to check your thoughts after I scrub approximately 4 inches of grime off my kitchen floor. Ta ta!

I believe I tried.

I tried and tried and tried and this is all I got. The sun came out after we arrived at our picture destination. Mid afternoon sun and a photo shoot aren’t a good mix. Three boys and a park nearby aren’t a good mix either. Sigh.

I believe I hit the boiling point.

Is that possible? Could a human really hit an actual boiling point where one’s internal organs/blood boil? If it’s possible, it think I was pretty close yesterday.

It had nothing to do with my internal state of emotional stability. No, I’m really talking about temperature. I know I was waaaaay above 98.6.

Here’s some background:

I have the pleasure of partaking in a kid swap. A friend of mine also has a daugher in Aiden’s preschool class. From day one, we decided we’d take turns every other Wednesday watching eachother’s 3 year olds. She’d take mine one week, I’d take hers the next and we’d possibly have two Wednesdays a month, for two hours, without kids. Are you following this?

Yesterday, I had her daughter. It truly is a joy for me because, as you’re very aware, I have no daughters of my own (click here and here for proof). I’ve been given approximately five hours a month to take care of a princess. It’s so fun! I get to listen to things from a little girl’s perspective and let me tell you, it rarely involves sound effects akin to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center.

So, because I had a very hectic start to my week, I HAD to take these two three-year olds to the store with me. I wasn’t necessarily worried because this little girl is very sweet and obedient and I knew if all else failed I could burry my son under all of the groceries in the cart to keep him quiet.

The temperature issue became very apparent to me about fifteen minutes into our trip. October in Iowa is a tricky wicket. You see, at 7:10am in the morning when I’m rushing my oldest out the door to school it’s generally around 40 degrees. Crisp. Cool. Chilly. THEN, three hours later, all has changed and suddenly it’s 65 degrees outside. Warm. Balmy. Damp. Humid. Armpit challenging. Blech.

I struggle every morning with what to wear. I am often more cold than warm so I generally choose to overdress for the approaching noon temperature. This was my downfall yesterday.

As I meandered my way through the aisles of the grocery store I felt myself gradually becoming uncomfortable. My wrists had a thin layer of sweat building up as did my neckline. Off came the North Face fleece. Phew.

We made it through a few more aisles when I accidently ran over princess toes. Temporary setback. She recovered nicely and we continued on our way. However, due to the increase in my adrenaline from the accident, my internal temperature rose another few degrees. I started to get what I believe to be hot flashes. I could feel my face turn red and then cool off…and then it would repeat again. I’m guessing I was at a 99.3 at this point.

We got to the final few aisles of the grocery store and both kids were DONE shopping. They wanted (and probably needed) a snack at this point and both of them decided their legs were done working as well. So, princess got the seat up front in her chariot (the cart) and prince charming was hoisted up onto my shoulders. Everyone was once again content except for my body temperature. My mercury was rising and I started to feel faint. I think my toes were sweating.

We had reached the checkout and both kids were great about helping me load the groceries onto the belt. Prince charming even tossed a nice heavy frozen chunk of meat on top of my bread. Aren’t three year olds so helpful? I practiced speaking calmly and patiently while my insides were on fi-yah!

I paid my bill and it was at that point I realized…I forgot to pick up the picture I had developed for Josh’s birthday. The photo department is in the back of the store. The checkout was in the front of the store. The hungry and immobile three year olds were with me at the front of the store. Prince charming had the SpongeBob Squarepants Cheez-Its clutched in his fists with a menacing look on his face. This challenge wasn’t going to be easy or temperature friendly.

I asked the cashier if I could leave my cart at the front of the store while we ran to the back of the store to pick up the photo. I hoisted prince charming and his Cheez-Its up again on my sweaty neck. I grabbed princess and lifted her up in front of me. I slung my purse on my shoulder and made a mad dash for the back. It’s kind of like the last 100 meters in a 400 meter dash. You’re so tired from sprinting the first 300 meters but you KNOW you must give it all you’ve got to reach the finish line. I kept reciting, “Feel the burn, feel the burn,” as I bee-lined to the back of the store. And boy did it burn.

We retrieved the picture. I left a puddle of sweat in front of the photo counter. The kids were giddy with excitement from the free human carnival ride, we dashed back to the front of the store and we grabbed the cart and headed to the van.

After loading up the starving munchkins and all of my groceries (internal temperature now reaching the boiling point), I flop into the driver’s seat and melt. The kids get their snack and I drive around the WalMart parking lot a few times with my window completely down looking like this:

I write all of this for a few very simple reasons. First, to remind myself what my days looked like during this time period of my life. Everyone keeps telling me I’ll laugh about this some day. I want to make sure I accurately remember all of the details before buying into that promise.

But, more importantly, to encourage myself when I start to feel down about what I don’t accomplish during the day. Most people don’t have to grocery shop while balancing toddlers on their head.

 

I believe I have a question for you. Yes you!

This question has been on my mind and I’d like YOUR input. Please?! You can select more than one option.

I mean, I’m just wonderin’,

I believe I hate carving pumpkins.

Let’s be honest, carving pumpkins is no fun job. It’s cold outside which means if you choose to carve/gut the pumpkin outside you’re facing a good hour of freezing, slime covered hands and kids who are crying because they have freezing, slime covered hands.

If, however, you choose to carve/gut the pumpkin in the house, you end up with cementkin. Pumpkin cement. When the stuff dries you might as well get out the chisel.

We were fortunate this year in that we were able to do our pumpkin carving outside because the weather was so nice. Bonus.

The kids all had visions of grandeur when it came to the design they wanted. My wrists immediately began pulsating. You know the feeling. Hand cramps, wrist pain, stiff fingers.

All in all, the kids were much more helpful this year than in years past. I didn’t have to do 100% of the work, probably more like 95%. Here are some pictures…

 

And for more enjoyment, a video:

Dear God,

As I carve my pumpkin help me say this prayer:

Open my mind so I can learn about You;
(Cut the top of the pumpkin)

Take away all my sin and forgive me for the wrong things I do.
(Clean out the inside)

Open my eyes so Your love I will see;

I’m so sorry for turning up my nose to all you’ve given me.

Open my ears so your word I will hear.

Open my mouth so I can tell others You’re near

Let Your light shine in all I say and do! Amen.
(Place a candle inside and light it)