We had our little family Christmas this morning. I wanted the kids to have one whole day to enjoy their gifts and the company of Mommy and Daddy. They were so excited this morning, and were both up taking a bath by 6:30. (Which was the earliest I let them get up. They weren't allowed to come get Mommy until 7, but I couldn't sleep either. I'm a kid at heart, I guess.)

I can't find my camera. I remember having it with me on Monday at the assisted living center where Betty lives, but I don't remember it after that, so I'm worried about its whereabouts. I hope someone stumbles across it very soon, because it is the wrong time of year to misplace your only good camera!

Luckily, Art was a sweetheart and bought me an ipod to replace the one Zaya dropped in the toilet last week. It has a camera, so I used that for our pictures this morning. They aren't great, but at least they exist!



Here's Zaya with his Penicillin. We're trying to build up the "good guys" section of his plush microbe collection since he's about to get a few more "bad guys" from Grandma Lilibeth.



Mim is playing with her DS. We got each kid one, and they were both ecstatic. This ended up being a fairly hefty Christmas bill, but the hope is that the next few years will be less in comparison. (We'll see how that goes.)

Art also bought me a lovely set of silver, Celtic rings. I'm so excited, and I'm trying to be very good and not lose them. So far it's been almost 12 hours. While that isn't a record, it's certainly an accomplishment for me.



Here's Art putting together Mim's fort. As per usual, she drug it out, and we had to put it together. Oh well. That's what being a parent is all about, I suppose. Well, you know, that and all the the training and loving stuff.

Recovering

The first spelling bee is officially over. Zaya's class of three little boys joined the first graders at the C campus, so there were about 18 children competing. Zaya didn't win, but he did well. He made it to the final round, anyway. He went out on the word "crawl". He started with C-R-A-L then said, "wait, wait! It's A-W-L!" but of course, she had to take his first response. Oh well. He didn't cry or pout. (Probably because Mrs. P gave candy canes and a hug to each kid as they misspelled their word. She's an excellent and very experienced teacher.) (In the picture, Zaya is spelling his word in the practice round. The lady in the green sweater is his teacher, Mrs. D)

And that may be the only spelling bee we'll ever participate in. This week has made me thankful that we'll be home-schooling next year. All the stress is ridiculous. I love Christmas, but with all the school and church commitments, it's become almost unbearable at moments. Oddly enough, Mim has been the stable one this week. She's usually the one who is fearful and worried, but I think God knew that I needed someone to keep track of me, so He's given Mim an especially sweet temper and a helpful spirit lately.



I just have to keep reminding myself that God's incredible blessings come with responsibilities. I'm so glad that I have my two children. They're healthy, bright, active, obedient children, and they make me happy. They are able to attend a small school where they are loved and surrounded by good, Christian teachers and friends, which is also a blessing. Worrying about a spelling bee is so far down on the list of things a mother could conceivably worry about that I'm ashamed of how much it has been bothering me.

Our families and friends are amazing. I can turn to so many people, and know that they will help me out of my own stupid predicaments. For that, too, I am thankful.
And I'm especially thankful for my husband, who has the patience of Job and wisdom of Solomon. Or close enough, anyway.

God forgive me for my whining, and help me live in this moment. Breathing in grace, and breathing out peace. What's done, is done, and what is yet to come will pass too quickly.

Too Much

This has not been my day. Sure, it could've been much worse, but still. For one thing, I'm just too busy. There were too many demands on my time, energy, money and patience today. This evening, between 5 and 9, I had four different events/practices to make, all of which overlapped with the next event/practice. It was hectic.

This afternoon, I tried to check out at Wal-mart only to discover that I didn't have my debit card. I had to call Aaron to come from work and pay for my items. (I had purchased some things for a church group that I had to bring tonight.) (I found the debit card later. Apparently I had left it at Walgreens yesterday.) And to just really set the evening rolling right, Zaya dropped my iPod touch in the toilet right before we left the house for the first event at 4:50. Yes, that's right, in the toilet. It's toast. Kaput. Dead.

He's heartbroken and very remorseful, so his daddy and I are trying to keep a stiff upper lip about the whole thing, but it's hard.

Poor Zaya, he's having the same kind of week that I am. He cried quite a bit this evening, each time saying things like, "I just keep doing things wrong." And he has been especially spacey this week. I think we're all just overwhelmed and stressed beyond reason. Oh, and, he has a spelling bee tomorrow morning, (Yes, he's in first grade. It's maybe a bit ridiculous at this age, but whatever) so he's very stressed about that because he's entirely capable of forgetting where he is or what he's supposed to be doing at any given moment. Especially this week and after a late night.

The kids still have school until next Tuesday, then we have Christmas celebrations on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th. It's going to be a wild ride. I'm just glad we have a week off after that to recover from all the fun.

I could use a week right now, or even a day, of quiet, restful peace. It's not going to happen for a while though. Zaya and I will just have to comfort each other.

I Promise, It Was Just Root Beer!

We had a little birthday get-together at my parents' home yesterday. (Art and I have a birthday this next week.) After lunch and opening our presents (thanks, everyone!) we played a game that we've discovered in the last few years called Telestrations. We were first introduced to it by some sunday school leaders, and have since found an actual board game with nifty flip-cards to use instead of paper.

Here's the basic idea. Each person reads a word off of a card, and then tries to draw a picture of that word on the first page of their paper. They pass it to their right. That person looks at the picture, then flips to the second page and writes their guess as to what that picture was supposed to be. Sometimes this is easier than others, as will be made clear to you in a bit. This person then passes it on to the next and in that way it makes it all around the table. If you have eight players, then there will be eight booklets making their way around the table. Here's a great demo from our game yesterday. Further proof that my family is a little bit strange! (As if that were needed.)

This was my word. It was "Airhead". So I drew this.



Art somehow knew what this was. Kudos to him.



My brother, Elijah, then drew his own bizarre idea of an airhead.



And his lovely wife somehow knew what he meant, too. I'm glad we've both married people who can somehow understand us!



Then my sister, Claye, got hold of it. You have to understand that Claye is an artist. Which means her brain works differently from normal people. (Yeah, I love you too, Sis!)



Now, what would you guess if faced with this Dali-on-LSD drawing? My dad decided it was...



Yes, that says, "Chef Boyardee on Mind Blowing drugs", which mom then had to try to draw.



Being a little young for the concept of "mind blowing drugs" (thank goodness), Zaya went for the obvious.



Thus ended my little booklet. I wish I could show you some of the others. There were several classics this time. For instance, my dad had to draw a "flower child", so he drew a stick man with long hair and a head band holding a flower and a long 'cigarette'. Mom somehow pulled "anniversary" out of that. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? (She said she thought the cigarette was a candle.)

Change of Plans

We are officially home on a sick day, again. Mim became sick to her stomach about a block from school this morning, so I decided to keep Zaya home too and we turned around and came back home.

We're having a warm, cozy day instead of the insanely busy, hectic day I had planned. I had to make about 5 phone calls this morning to cancel aforementioned hectic day, but there's a certain freedom in that. Of course, Mim's sick, which makes for stress and occasional misery, but we're trying to look at the bright side. She's watching Casper and drinking rice broth with newly washed hair and clean, warm pjs.

I ought to be using this time to work on the house, but the motivation is so very lacking. I think I'll be doing good to keep up with the laundry. Ooh, and maybe we can all take a nap this afternoon. I think we might be able to salvage this day yet! Just pray with me that the virus is quick and doesn't pass like wildfire.

A Good Kind of Crazy

I think I've purchased all my Christmas presents. I think. Every time I walk into a store, though, I remember something else I was planning to pick up or someone else that I'm supposed to buy a present for.

My bedroom is equally full of laundry and presents. I promise they're separated. Don't worry. No one's present should smell like dirty socks. Probably.

The kids, of course, are about to be spoiled rotten, once again. I'm so thankful that they aren't very materialistic. Yet, anyway. We talk about it quite a bit, and I'm hoping to counter the culture as much as possible. I mean, as much as I can while still showering them with gifts a couple times a year. What can I say? I love giving gifts!

All that to say, I'm a little overwhelmed right now. They kids are in school until Dec. 21st. Which is crazy, in my opinion. We will have our little family celebration on the 22nd, because we will have large, gift-ful family get-togethers on the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th. If everything goes according to the current plan, of course. Things change, I realize. So I have exactly 0 free days of Christmas vacation to clean my house or wrap presents or try to remember who in the world I bought that necklace for.