while you were out

The three oldest kids went to spend time with their cousins and we did all we could to get this ready for the two oldest girls:

This is a picture of what once was our master bedroom. It is now the two oldest girls' room (#1 and #3). Oh, how I wish it would stay as beautifully clean as it is now.

When we got home from picking them up from their little three day get-away, they knew nothing of it. We had managed to keep it a surprise. We all went upstairs. Things at the top of the steps were still cluttered. "You'll have to go around through our room," I said. They entered their new room.
Number 3 was shocked and cautiously loved it.
Number 1 was snippy, yet stoic, and cried a little. Quietly. The air was a little thick with tension. Nervousness on our part, hoping she'd like it, and for her, the source of tension was probably pressure to like it when she really just wanted to scream.
I told both of the girls that it was ok for them to take as long as they needed to get used to the idea. "You won't hurt my feelings if you don't like it right away," I reassured the oldest girl. "It's not that I hate it, I just miss my old room".
"Yeah, I know," I said, "me too."
But y'know what I found out? I don't miss my room. I think this room (the biggest of all the bedrooms) is so much better as their room than it ever was as our room. It is calm. It is clean. It sparkles and shines. The new rug feels so soft. The beds are quite comfy. It has fun hideaway storage places.
Best of all, there are two girls in there, right this very moment, snoozing. They will soon find that they have more in common than they had ever thought. They will discover that they can become really great friends. They will develop a stronger bond than if we left things the way they were. They will make memories that they will laugh about over coffee in 20 or 30 years. These sisters. Roommates. Friends forever.

happy butday

Happy birthday (or butday as number 2 used to call it) to my favorite sister.
I love you.
ps- watch out for nine-eyed dogs

talk about your bella lunas

Tonight's moon is absolutely breathtaking. It is huge and clear and beautiful. There is a bright celestial orb just underneath, which I am thinking is Venus. In any case, it's no wonder there are so many poetic tributes to such a gorgeous creation.

ah, Christmas vacation

I must say, as nice as it is to have a routine, it is also nice to not have one. This morning the kids wanted to play Scattergories. In order to avoid arguments which stem from an overly competitive first-born, I reminded them that they needed to concentrate on the fun rather than on who wins. And for the most part, the game was relatively quarrel-free.

On a separate note, I am working on completing a small list of things that I have been putting off for awhile, one of which is to put pictures in albums. Ten years ago, the film would have been promptly developed, the dates written on the backs of the photos and they would have been stuck into photo albums right away. Now that I have five children, I am roughly 9 months behind. Not too bad, really, I suppose.

King and I have a little "While You Were Out" surprise for my daughters when they go to visit their cousins for a couple of days at the end of the week. I'll have to blog about it later, as number 1 is trying to peek over my shoulder.

Just in case I don't get back to the computer in the next little while, I just want to wish you and your family a beautiful Christmas season. So many people I hear about are so looking forward to Christmas afternoon when they DE-decorate their lives of all Christmas decorations. I want to grab a megaphone and say "People, people, people, this is the FIRST day of Christmas. Relax. You've got 11 more days to bask in the glow of Christmas. Wait until Epiphany to put all those things away."

Ennyhoo, I am off to plot and plan my secret for my girls and to play board games and to have lots of pajama time. xoxo :o) mg

it's beginning to look a lot like....

Christmas!

Over the past couple of years I have discovered that I am a lover of "simple" and "understated". Therefore, I prefer no ornaments on the tree. I know, I am an oddball. But, when the kids are all tucked into bed, King and I love to sit up in the living room and stare at our beautiful Christmas tree (pre-lit Lowe's special) and chat. The fact that my view is not obstructed by old, tired ornaments calms my frazzled nerves. Not to mention the fact that I don't have to shoo any toddlers roaming about away from said tree during the daytime hours is a very good thing as well.

King is just the opposite. He prefers colored lights (even the big bulb kind) and tons of ornaments. He scoffs at my need for simplicity in the tree department. (And from the looks of my dining room table - Christmas gift central - I can understand the paradoxical nature of my logic.) He has mentioned several times that we need to decorate the tree. He even wrote it down on our "to-do" list. I had firmly held a "no ornament" stance on the downstairs tree until I looked in the two bags he brought down tonight.

Then, well..........my resistance weakened.

Now we have a few things on it (which does honor my desire for simplicity), a smattering of ornaments which commemorate the past year. At the very top is the tiara that Bia gave me when I turned 40. There are two silly-faced glittered snowmen that make me giggle when I think about the people who think that the human race is in control of the weather. The two little American flags that make me remember that we wanted to go camping over July 4th, but decided not to because of the wee ones (campfire + toddlers = disaster). The Moravian stars we got at Old Salem as well as the blown glass ornaments we got at the One Eared Cow studio make me remember the great trips we took with the kids this summer.

This is nice. Both of us are pleased. Tonight we snuggle up with a big, steaming cup of compromise.

new version of an old favorite

Christmas is coming and I am getting fat.
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.
Please to put a penny in the old man's hat.

I don't know if it is stress, trying to stay awake, because the little ones around me are eating all the time, the fact that we are smack dab in between two yummy holidays, a combination of them all, or just what, but I am feeling the need to munch non-stop.
Then the fact that I feel guilty about it makes me want to eat too. What the heck?!?!
Maybe Santa needs to put a therapist in my stocking.

this wouldn't happen to a Proverbs 31 woman

I was asked to host a group of Christian women today at a Christmas luncheon. It started at 11:30. It is now 11:40. NO one is here.
I have prepared a talk on the Proverbs 31 woman and how we can try to incorporate her characteristics into our lives. NO one is here.
My house is clean, table linens are set out on three tables. NO one is here.
I have made 20 bracelets ..... a gift for each of the Proverbs 31 women. They are made of 24 pearlized beads each representing a characteristic and a teardrop ruby in the center to remind each of us to be willing to God's will in our lives as we strive to be the woman in the scripture. NO one is here.

No one except me.

Do you suppose God is trying to tell me something? Or maybe He is my lunch date. I would have started cleaning earlier had I known.


update: After sitting, and watching the street to see if anyone pulled up for 30 minutes, one lady showed up, then after another 30 minutes another couple of ladies arrived together. Even though I prayed that the Holy Spirit would give me the words to say what needed to be said to whomever He needed to hear the message, I am still convinced that today was a lesson for me.