Delay tactics

Bedtime.

1. Mommy, I have to go potty.
2. Mommy, I need a drink of water.
3. Mommy, I have to tell you something. You need to go to bed. (If only I could, Kid. I would.)
4. Mommy, I fell out of bed.
5. Mommy, I need Josh (Groban that is).

Threat reemerges. "If you get out of bed again. I will take your football."
AJ, "Mommy, if I come in here again, you will take my lovie."
"No, your football."
AJ, "But Mommy, if I come in here again, I have to go potty."
I just cannot punish a kid when he has to go potty. Unfortunately, he can go on demand.

(Yes, I am delaying working on my grant, so they must come by it honestly. Delay with pictures is because my camera and computer don't want to communicate.)

The road we traveled.

What a different a year makes! What a difference 2 years makes! Less than 2 years ago we drove to Ohio with the kids and hated nearly every minute of it. Andrew screamed and we cried (well, at least Samantha and I did) because we couldn't take it anymore and because I got the my first ever speeding ticket (which was later removed from the records :)). This trip--- literally 2 minutes of crying!! And that was right before he fell asleep. The kids hardly fought! They did watch a few videos, but only short ones and they read (looked at) books for more than half the trip. Thank you grandma for all the new ones!! It will be interesting to read the books for the first time and see how different they are from the story telling that was going on in the back seat on the ride home. The kids were narrating the stories by looking at the pictures. It was GREAT!!


The kids love my parent's dog and most of the time he didn't mind the extra snuggles :).

Below we are working on our blessings tree. First, finding the best tree 'stick'.

Then, filling out our thankful leaves and hanging them.

This was the first time I felt like the kids were old enough (and the weather good enough) to go walking in the woods and down the stream. It was fun to show the kids where my siblings and I used to spend hours in imaginative play.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. Andrew still needs to relax a little, and was a little clingy especially at meal time and especially with me, but he'll get there. He finally warmed up to Uncle Joe (again), only to act like he was scared of him again the next day. Somewhat unpredictable, that one! He was surrounded by 6 girls all week. One night he came in and said, "one of my family hit me in the mouth!". I am not sure if he was just tired or couldn't keep his cousins straight. Samantha had a ball. She didn't want to leave. The last night she cried, "I don't ever want to go back to Tennessee". I told her we had a trip to Mississippi to look forward to and she said she wanted to go to Mississippi next and then back to Ohio, but never back to Tennessee. I love that she loves her grandparents so much (probably because they spoil her!!).

I am thrilled to report that grandma seems to be recovering from her surgery quite well. I am hoping we didn't do any damage being there for nearly 7 days. I know we made her laugh so hard on Thanksgiving that she had to leave the room because it was hurting. We felt terrible, but she was being hilarious and when the girls (my sister, grandma and I) get going -- watch out!

The kids and David jumped in on an old tradition we used to do every year...the christmas tree display for Children's Hospital. While I miss it being at Quaker Square, it was lovely nonetheless. The kids really enjoyed seeing the 50+ trees that are decorated and sold for the charity. Of course Andrew's favorite was the OSU tree because it had footballs on it, and Samantha's was a tie between the "Pretty in Pink" tree and the American Girl tree (I am sure it had some cute title, but I cannot remember it). We may have created a new tradition going to "Samantha's Restaurant" on the way out of town. It was great food and Samantha had fun finding her name all over the menu. I would recommend it for breakfast to anyone in N. Canton, Green, Akron area.

We're home in a house at 55 degrees. I have a grant to get together in the next 9 days- luckily its a short one, but I better get busy!!

Advent prayer list

"Watch and pray always." Luke 21:36

"Pray without ceasing" 1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication make your request known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippines 4:6-7

You are our friends and family. We pray for you and we will continue to as we move through this season of Nativity Lent! We ask that you pray for us too. With special intention this Advent we pray:

For the health of my children's grandparents (especially my mother who will have surgery tomorrow morning).
For the health of a friend fighting cancer.
For the health of pregnant mothers (Amanda, Darcy, Rebecca, Shannon) and their unborn children.
For the health of a newborn child (Baby Goettel) in the NICU and her family.
For a family going through the adoption process (The Millers).
For a young girl (Crystal) who has been making miraculous progress recovering from a brain injury and drug intoxication.

Anticipation

Anticipation....

I am so excited for Advent to start. Just 3 more days on our calendar! This week I met with our godson's mom and talked about some of the preparations we do at home. I thought this morning was a good time to let the kids know Advent is right around the corner and remind them of the focus.

The conversation went something like this,

"Advent starts next week. I'm so excited."

Samantha, "we need to eat ice cream" (Hilarious to me)

"Yes, we'll have some ice cream Saturday before Advent starts. Do you remember what Advent is?"

Samantha, "before Christmas". AJ, "Yes"

"But, what is it?"

Silence.

"It is the time before Christmas when we prepare for celebrating the birthday of Jesus."

Samantha, "Yay." AJ (with excitement), "Really?"

"Do you remember what types of activities we do to prepare and focus on this time?"

Samantha, "Are we going to make cookies for Santa?"

(cringing), "Who is Santa? Is he real?"

Samantha, "Yes."

"Well, do you know which Saint became known as Santa?"

Samantha, "I don't remember"

"St. Nicholas"

Samantha, "Oh, yeah. He gave money and food away."

"Thats right, but we won't only be remembering St. Nicholas, we will be talking about other Saints during Advent with the Advent Calendar. We will also be talking about some of the prophets when we do our Jesse Tree Readings. They were the people that were older than Jesus and did God's will and knew that God would send Jesus to help people and teach us how to serve others."

AJ, "Mommy, the Saints are a football team."

"Yes, the Saints are a football team too, but we are going to be talking and learning about other Saints".

Samantha, "AJ, you're interrupting."

"I also put together a coloring book for the Jesse Tree Readings. I think we will do the Advent Calendar in the morning and in the afternoons we will do the Jesse Tree stories and color. The Jesse Tree stories will be some of your favorites, like Jonah, Noah, and Daniel and the Lions."

AJ, "Mommy, I need to tell you something. I love lions. The lions live in a cave at the football field."

"Really?"

AJ, "Yeah."

"Well, we will also pull out all of our Christmas stories too."

Samantha, "and all our Christmas toys?" (referring to her Playskool Nativity Set).

"Yes, the Nativity Set will come out of your closet"

AJ, "and I am going to get out my Titan's Christmas Football!"

(Apparently, I have a challenge set forth before me!)

Oh God, our Heavenly Father, we pray that Advent may truly and naturally be a time of prepartion for the celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord; that we may be properly prepared, through repentance, for the grace of the season. Help us to stay focused that we many not fall prey to the worldly spirit that the commercial world would encourage at this time. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Focusing on the positives

So as we interact with the 'world' around us, we are faced with so many challenges.

One of my greatest obstacles is to stay positive and to focus on the good stuff when life (people, work, mistakes) is most challenging. My spiritual Father tells me you cannot control all of the bad things that might happen to you, but you can control your reaction. Lord have mercy on me for all the times I have failed to 'control' my reaction or have reacted in a way that was not Christlike!

I used to say sometimes all you can do is cry. Oh, and I do feel still have those days were I just want to cry, but to what end? I've never felt like I've had that 'good cry'. I usually feel drained and exhausted afterwards. I am trying to refocus that negative energy immediately by turning to scripture and focusing on the positive.

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Romans 15:4

I started to have one of those weeks when I start thinking everything going wrong- FEMA denied our late request for help to repair our crawl space from the damage (-$7000!). David was traveling and the kiddos were trying to push buttons I didn't even know I had. And, an example of the craziness or silliness of the world, someone took my clothes out of the bathroom at work (which I had accidentally left there after changing into workout clothes the afternoon before). I admit I started to let myself feel defeated. Lord have mercy!

My kids are healthy and thriving. They are challenging me because they sense the change in routine. My husband is loving and so hardworking and dedicated to helping others. He provides for our family. I am so grateful and blessed that he has a job that he loves and uses his skills to the benefit of others! A house is just a house and while we tend to attach ourselves to our dwelling places, I cannot let myself. I cannot let the $ or the inconveniences associated with repairs distract me from LIFE and spiritual growth. I am trying to laugh about my clothes. On some levels it funny, on others its sad, I will need to let it go.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be albe to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" 2 Cor 1:3-4

Our dancing princess

Samantha's first dance performance. She told me afterwards, "I was a little afraid!" I've never seen her so shy. We aren't thinking she is a natural, but she loves it! We have about 4 songs on video, but I'm having trouble loading them.