Twenty-Five Years!

pic courtesy of Google

On tv the other night Dairy Queen was advertising the 25th birthday of the blizzard! Twenty-five years! I had to stop and think if it was actually twenty-five years since my first blizzard. Sure enough, it was. I was in high school at the time.

My Dad and I used to love going to DQ for a blizzard. Back then they wanted you to know how thick they actually were, so they always handed them to you upside down. Does anyone else remember that? Even now, once every year or two we still sneak off to Dairy Queen for a treat. Fun, fun memories. I just can't believe that it is twenty-five years worth of memories!

Now I take the Princess and Trucker to Dairy Queen every spring the first time it hits 70*. I wonder if when they are out of school and all grown up they will still want to go to Dairy Queen with me for a blizzard. I don't think it would be quite the same going by myself. Who am I kidding? Of course it is more fun to go with someone, but I have been known to sneak a treat by myself every now and then, too!

Random Thoughts

Random Thought #1: The King’s parents are doing a thorough cleaning of their spare bedroom. She saved this bowl for me. It had been her Mom’s. It is a small (you can tell how small by looking at the coffee maker in the background), crock bowl. I have no idea what Grandma Hahn used this bowl for, maybe beating a few eggs? That is probably what I will use it for. Another neat thing to have and use that we know belonged to and was used by someone in our family many years ago. Carol forgot she even had it, she doesn’t know how long she had it for, so who knows how old the bowl is!

Random Thought #2: The King and I have been watching the Olympics quite a bit the last several days. There is talk that one of our local boys might have a chance at competing in the 2014 winter Olympics as a snowboarder. That had me thinking ahead to 2014. When we are watching those Olympics, we may be empty nesters! Our little tykes will be nineteen and twenty then! Enough on that random thought.

Random Thought #3: The other night I was getting ready for bed and was planning on spending some time in the Word. I didn’t quite know if I was hungry or not. Does that happen to anyone else? I guess if I was truly hungry, there would be no wondering about it, I would know! I probably just wanted to go eat something yummy that my hips don’t need at all. I told myself forget it, just get your jammies on and get in bed and start reading. I opened my devotional book and I needed to read 1Kings 19:5 which says …”Get up and eat!” God does have a sense of humor!

Toaster Trouble

I moved out on my own twenty-one years ago. In those twenty-one years, I have gone through three toasters. Is that normal? Or am I hard on toasters? Maybe the first toaster I had I worked pretty hard. The King worked on the road at that time, so I was home alone. I ate lots of toast, yogurt, mac and cheese, baked potatoes, rice and cereal. I don't know if that was the healthiest diet in the world, but I was a lot skinnier back then! I do not remember how long the first toaster lasted, but I know it made it several years because I did not need another until both kids were born. Then I went for the extra wide four slot toaster. That toaster made it four or five years, then I needed to buy another toaster, which is the one I have now. The current toaster works if you put the bread in the last two slots, the first two don't work. If you want your toast extra crunchy and toasted looking, you need to re-toast your bread a few times. I guess it is time for another toaster. I will go for another extra wide (for bagels) four slot one. I asked about my harshness on toasters because Grandma and Grandpa have the same toaster oven now that they had when I was a little tot. I tried to google a picture of one that looked just like hers, but I could not find one. There were over twenty pages of toaster ovens, and I didn't feel like looking at every page, but I did look through several pages. I think her oven is way too old! Maybe they didn't have cameras around back then to take a picture of her toaster.

We bought our house in 1989. The previous owners had the owners manual to the stove along with some other paper work. They bought the stove in 1976, and it was still working! We used it until 2007! The stove was still working at that time, but the oven didn't cook very evenly any more. If you were cooking pies, cookies, bars or cakes, you had to turn the pan half way through of they would burn on one side and be doughy on the other side. I was hoping that the door was leaking hot air and we could put new stripping around it, but the guy at the appliance store laughed at me when I told him how old the stove was. He informed me they don't even make that kind of rubber stripping around the oven doors any more. Even though that old oven was an ugly color, I think they called it golden harvest, it made a lot of meals for me! I would've been happy to keep it around another twenty years, but it was getting to be a pain to use.

My Mom is still using the stove that came with their house when they bought it. Her sister-in-law figures her stove is from the 1930's. That stove is neat to look at, but it is different to cook with. I wonder why they don't make appliances (large or small) to last forever any more?

Random Info

pic courtesy of Mom

I saw these questions on another lady's blog. I thought I would would give my own answers and share them with you! Feel free to share your answers with us!

The phone rings. Who will it be?

Grampy

When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?

Yes

In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener?

I think it changes. Sometimes a talker, sometimes a listener. It must depend on the people I am with or my mood.

Do you take compliments well?

I think so.

Do you play Sudoku?

Enough times to know I don’t really care to play it!

If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?

A few days, then my King better come rescue me and we will live happily ever after!

Did you ever go to camp as a kid?

Nope

What was your favorite game as a kid?

Uncle Wiggily. I would set my dolls and stuffed animals up around the board, and we would all take turns. Of course, I always made sure I beat them!

Use three words to describe yourself

family, fun, food

Do any songs make you cry?

No

Are you continuing your education?

I have taken a few classes at our vocational school over the years, but nothing on a regular basis.

Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?

I think I did once years ago.

How often do you read books?

All the time. Probably more often than I should, like when I should be cooking supper or cleaning something!

Do you think more about the past, present or future?

present

What is your favorite children’s book?

I always wanted to read Curious George books to my kids, the Princess always wanted me to read The Velveteen Rabbit and Trucker always wanted me to read truck books. When I was little I always liked the Princess and the Pea. There was another book I really liked as a little kid, too, I think it was called Peter Wolf or something like that. Maybe Mom remembers what it was called.

What color are your eyes?

Hazel

Where is your dream house located?

Northern Wisconsin in the center of many acres.

If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?

my hound doggers

When was the last time you were at Olive Garden?

The Friday after Thanksgiving with Carol and the Princess. We have done that for several years, I love it.

Where was the farthest place you traveled today?

I have not left the house yet, but Trucker and I are going shopping to Fleet Farm and Dunham Sports, which is an hour and a half from our home.

Do you like mustard?

Take it or leave it.

Do you look like your mom or dad?

I have been told I look like my Dad a few times, been told I look like my Mom only once or twice, but I am always told that I look like my Mom’s sister! Hard to believe there are two of us that good looking in the world!!!

How long does it take you in the shower?

Fifteen minutes, maybe, I don’t know, I never timed myself!

Can you do the splits?

No, close, but not close enough to be called the splits.

What movie do you want to see right now?

I’m not a big movie person.

What did you do for New Year’s?

Spent the evening visiting with Mom and Marv.

Do you own a camera phone?

Yes, very seldom use it, but I do have one!

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Around seven.

What do you buy at the movies?

Nothing.

Do you wear your seat belt?

Always.

How many meals do you eat a day?

Two or three

Do you like funny or serious people better?

I enjoy both.

Ever been to L.A.?

Nope, no desire to go either.

Did you eat a cookie today?

No

Do you hate chocolate?

I don’t hate it, but I don’t crave it like many people do. I’m more of a butterscotch person.

Are you a gullible person?

Not really.

Are you easy to get along with?

I think so. Maybe a few of you should answer this question about me!

Sympathizing With Others

picture courtesy of Mom

Saturday we spent the day with the King’s family, celebrating Christmas. Once a year we all get together and it is always a blast. This year we had a new baby to hold so that added to the fun!

When we all meet at the King’s Mom’s house, one of the “must do” activities is sliding. Their driveway is on a hill, with a curve towards the bottom. That curve is in the perfect spot, you pick up some pretty good speed by the time you get there. Then you have to hope you can make the corner, if you don’t, you will be hitting the snow bank! I speak from experience! Several times I made the corner, a few times I didn’t! I have the cut chin and bruises to remind myself of the times I didn’t make the corner!

While we were sledding, I got to thinking of other people. One time the Princess and I went down the hill together, I don’t know what happened, but we wiped out. I flew out of the sled and hit the packed down snow and icy driveway. That made me think of Brett Favre (quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings)! He and I are within a few months of each other in age. How does he keep hitting that cold, hard ground that doesn’t give much and then get back up and do it again? I felt the hardness of the unforgiving ground, and I didn’t have any 300 pound players pummeling me at the same time!

The other people I thought about were the people of Haiti. While I was on top of the hill, waiting my turn, I could hear people laughing and screaming on their way down the hill, I could hear people at the bottom of the hill laughing at the ones on their way down. The ones of us at the top of the hill were laughing at the King’s sister, because we all recognized her scream on her way down. As I was standing there with my husband, children, nieces, nephews, great-nephews, brother-in-law, sister-in-law and father-in-law, I thought about how blessed we all were. We could all see and hear each other. We all knew the rest of the family was safe and enjoying themselves. I can’t imagine what the people of Haiti are going through. What is it like to be standing on one side of town and not know how your children, spouse, parents or extended family are doing on the other side of town, not even knowing if they are alive or dead. You might not even be able to walk to the other side of town because of injuries you sustained. Or, maybe you are fine, but because of all the rubble in the streets, you cannot get through. That would be a horrible thing to experience. Thinking of those people made my sledding with the whole family more fun and special than it usually is.

Skippin' Out!

Shirley and the Princess.

Did you ever skip out of school? Or play hookey? Or blow off a day of school? Or whatever it was called when you were in school? I did once in a while, usually with Grampy’s consent, though. There was that one time I skipped out without telling him, he found out, I got in trouble. I let the Princess and Trucker blow off two days a year, if they are maintaining an A or B average. If your not getting all A’s or B’s, then you can’t afford to skip out a day. I figure when they are adults, out there in the real world, they will hopefully have a job that will provide them with some personal days or vacation days, so I let them practice using them now!!

All of that to say I am skipping out right now. I should be in Bible study. I love Bible study, but tonight the house is very quiet with no one around but me, two dogs and a cat. And I was enjoying a good book. I don’t even feel guilty about skipping out, well, not guilty enough to go.

Trucker always uses his two “free days” for hunting. His days are already used up for this school year. This year he used them both in November for deer hunting. Some years he uses them for deer hunting and other years he has used them for turkey hunting. I personally think skipping out of school to go sledding with a bunch of friends, shopping or spending the day with the King made better use of a day then hunting, but we all are entitled to our own opinions. Some how I can’t picture Trucker skipping out of school to go shopping for a whole day!

The Princess always uses ½ day to go to Green Bay for Districts. That is a Christian youth conference that lasts the whole weekend, from Friday evening until Sunday noon. The adults that go along as chaperones usually go home feeling quite whooped after Districts. Those teenagers have a lot more energy than we do and can go on a lot less sleep, along with a real varied diet. Diets consisting of soda, smoothies, skittles, chips, cookies, crackers, maybe an orange or some pizza thrown in to make it sound good when you talk to Mom and Dad!

Last weekend was Districts ’10. Our youth pastor, his wife, and two other adults from our church loaded up two vans and took down several students for the weekend. I love these people. I love the fact that they are willing to give up their own weekend to spend it with our daughter and several other teens. I love the fact that they are reinforcing the morals and values that we try to teach our children at home. Rob, Shirley, Dan and Dennise; thank you so much for giving up your weekend to serve God and help thousands of young people learn about living for Christ, also. Thank you for the example that you always set for them. May God bless you!

2010 Starting Off With a Bang!

By the time I finished blogging yesterday, Toad had made himself comfy! Maybe he thinks the afghan is his and he just lets the Princess use it!

2010 is going to be a busy year. Our niece went in today to give birth to her first child. Mama and baby have to go through a c-section. I just tried calling the baby’s great-Grandma and great-Aunt to see how things went, but did not get an answer.

I already know of four weddings we will be attending this year; none of them in our area. Three of the weddings we will be able to stay with family, the other one will require a visit to a motel!

2010 will also be the beginning of the Princess’s last year of high school. I’m sure her senior year will bring a roller coaster ride of emotions!

Only God knows what else 2010 will bring. The few things I already know about is enough to let me know I will be busy making some quilts or afghans! I better get busy!

By the way, do we say two thousand ten or do we say twenty ten?

Full Circle

The King and Toad; relaxed and reading Louis L'amour over Christmas vacation. And he tells me he never lets the dog on the furniture!

Trucker with a can of duct tape spray. Everybody needs a can of that! That's my Mom sitting next to him, wishing she had a can of duct tape spray!

I called a friend today who celebrated her 81st birthday yesterday. Yesterday I blogged about time going faster as you get older and how slow it seems to go sometimes when you are young. As most other things, this must go in a full circle. Glady said that time isn’t moving to fast for her the last few days. She lost her husband last month. She just spent her first Christmas without him; she was alone on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Her husband was quite ill the last ten years of his life, so she did not have much time for any thing other than caring for him. Now that he is gone, she says she has lots she should be doing, but not the energy. I told her that is understandable; for one thing because she is 81 years old and for another thing she is missing her husband. I cannot imagine moving on in life after losing your best friend of fifty some years. Time would stand still.

I asked her how Christmas went for her, and she had the sweetest story. A young man, 24 years old, used to live a few houses away from her. In the past, they would make cookies together once in a while. Now this same young man is not her neighbor any more. He has purchased a home out in the country, but has not forgot about her. He called her Christmas day to see what she was doing. When he found out she was sitting home alone, he went to the store, bought a tube of cookie dough, some popcorn and rented a movie. He then spent the whole afternoon with her; they made cookies, popped popcorn and watched a movie. As soon as we were done talking I prayed that my Princess and Trucker will be that thoughtful when they are young adults. I also prayed that I would bless other people in that same way. I have never met this young man, but he and his parents should get a big pat on the back for a job well done!

While talking to her about Christmas; it reminded me of a Christmas several years ago. When the Princess and Trucker were pre-schoolers, my Dad called his Grandma on Christmas to see how she was spending the day. She was sitting in her apartment alone, waiting for her daughter to come and pick her up. Her daughter was going to take Grandma to their house for Christmas dinner. Dad told her that our kids were up at the crack of dawn to open presents, play a new game they had got on Christmas Eve and read a few new books. He also told her that I was on my second round of dishes and we hadn’t even had dinner yet. She told him to tell me to enjoy doing all of those dishes, cleaning up the wrapping paper, reading the new books and doing a ton of cooking because the day would come when I would be sitting in a chair by myself thinking of past Christmases and wondering where the time went. Now my great-Grandma celebrates Christmas with Jesus, her husband and a daughter that died as a young girl, but I remember her words of wisdom every year.

Thinking about Glady and Grandma made me remember to take care of each day as it comes. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Enjoy each day as it comes. "That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life – whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?" Matthew7:25-27 nlt

2010?!

The Princess said this was her favorite gift this year.

Trucker can't wait to use his new hammer drill!

Wow…I have not posted in a long time! I have lots of catching up to do on here. Christmas was great. We spent an evening with Grampy and Miss Joy, and then Mom and Marv were here to visit for a week. We ate way too many cookies and poppy seed bread, but that is okay. We didn’t make church on Christmas Eve, due to the weather, but still let Jesus know I was thinking of Him.

I can’t believe 2010 is here now. It seems like two or three years ago everyone was all nerved up about Y2K.

When I was in high school, I was whining one day because summer was almost over and it was time to go back to school. My Uncle Rick agreed with me that the summer went by fast, but he also told me that the older you get the faster the time goes. It didn’t really make much sense to me at the time, there are twenty-four hours in a day, always have been and always will be. That fact still remains the same. But, Rick was right in the fact that the time seems to go by faster.

Why do you suppose time seems to go faster to us as we age? The only thing I could come up with is that when you are young, you are always waiting for something. When you are younger and always anxiously awaiting the next big event, time seems to drag. You can’t wait for Christmas, your next birthday, summer vacation or school to start back up again so you can see your friends. You can’t wait to turn ten (double digits, baby!), you can’t wait for your sixteenth birthday, your first dance, homecoming, prom, eighteenth birthday, your driver’s license or graduation. Once you have been an adult for a while and living in the big world with your own responsibilities, I don’t think you look to the future with as much anticipation as often. Obviously, we have a few things, we can’t wait to get married, buy a house, have children, watch children grow up and have grandchildren. We look forward to those activities over a few decades, though. The first twenty years of our lives are spent looking forward to more events in a shorter period of time. Does any of this make sense to anyone else, or just me?!!

Ornament Stories

I accidently put this picture in here twice, and now blogger won't let me get rid of it! Notice the front of a truck to the right of the penguin? We have lots of truck ornaments and heavy equipment ornaments on our tree. Trucker has had an interest in big trucks ever since he was a wee one.

The tree picture didn't turn out very nice, but it is a pretty tree in person.

We got the tree up Sunday afternoon. Once the tree is up, then it is easy to feel festive and want to get ready for Christmas. I love taking the lid off of the box of ornaments every year; so many memories come flooding up out of the box. There are memories from my growing up years, memories of people who are no longer with us, memories from when Trucker and the Princess were little tykes.

The King’s Aunt used to make us a homemade ornament every year. Here is one of them. Isn’t he the cutest little guy?

These two ornaments always go towards the top of the tree and off to the side. My great-Grandpa gave me the purple one when I was a little girl. I used to spend the night at his house every now and then. Shortly after my great-Grandma died, Grandpa told me I could have something that had been hers; I should pick some thing out. I didn’t know what to take. I was around eight or nine at the time, so her dishes, jewelry or knick-knacks all seemed old fashioned to me. He offered me her hair brush, that totally grossed me out! He had a tiny fake Christmas tree decorated at the back of the living room sitting on something, I think it was a dehumidifier, but don’t remember for sure. Any way, this purple glass ornament hung on there and I thought it was the prettiest thing. I didn’t know for sure if I should ask him for that or not, but finally I did. He said yes, and now it goes on our tree every year.

The gold one hanging next to it is a hand painted ornament that the King’s Mom gave me one of my first Christmases that I was living on my own.

Notice the grader to the left of the snow person.

The Princess made this snowman for our tree last year. Actually she made us a whole snow family; Mama, Dad, son, daughter, snowdog and snowcat! Toad got jealous of the snowdog last year and ate him. The snowboy was the next target. He is missing an eye and his bow tie sits crooked. Maybe some year we will fix him up, and maybe we won’t. The rest of the family is still doing well; hopefully Toad is over taking his aggression out on innocent, helpless snow people!

The Weather Outside is Frightful

The temp. is 0* outside right now, with the wind chill at -17*. That is chilly, but not as cold as tomorrow morning is going to be. Depending on which forecast you check out, we are going to be any where from -11* to -18* tonight! Burrr! These kinds of days I pray for my King lots, as he is outside working all day long.

Speaking of the King, here is my King when he was still a Prince. His Mom gave me this picture several years ago. That year I put it out with the Christmas decorations, but he didn’t want it displayed. I put the picture in between two books on the book shelf so it would not get bent, and that is where it has stayed the last ten years. This year the Princess and I pulled it out and used it as part of our decorations again. So far he has not said any thing about it. When Carol gave me the picture, I could not believe how much Trucker looks like his Dad. In height, Trucker has passed his Dad up, but many other ways he still looks like his Dad. They also share a lot of the same mannerisms (or lack of manners sometimes!).

On another note, I received a phone call last night from a young man who used to be quite involved in our youth group and church. Mike left the area after graduation, went onto college to be a youth pastor. Now he is finished with college and is working as a youth pastor. The best news he shared with me last night is that he is engaged! It was fun watching so many of those students grow up during their middle school and high school years. I miss many of them now, but really enjoy it when they stop in for a visit or phone us. I consider it a blessing when they still want to keep us informed of what they are up to and want us to come to their weddings or let us know when they are having babies. Even if it does make me feel a bit old!

Time To Get Going!

What? Christmas is less than two weeks away? I still have stuff I want to get done before then. Last week got me behind schedule on what I wanted to bake and when. The Princess was sick last Monday night and Tuesday, then, being the loving daughter that she is – she shared it with me. I got sick Thursday. Yuck, no fun. Then the King was sick on Saturday. Saturday we had to go to a memorial service in Wausau.

While none of us enjoy funerals or memorial services, this one was pleasant. Three pastors conducted the service. All of them knew Gene very well and had many stories to share about his life. Several people got up and shared memories that they shared with Gene. You could not leave there thinking about the huge impact he had on other people’s lives. We heard hunting stories, fishing stories, skiing stories and stories about his faith and courage. Knowing that he is spending his eternity with Christ made for fewer tears at his service. We shared a ride there with Chuck. Thanks for the laughs and great conversation, Chuck. Trucker commented on what fun stories you tell!

Now I am hoping that everyone is back to being healthy. I have lots I want to get done this week. Lots of baking, wrapping presents, pick up a few stocking stuffers yet and spruce up the house! The maraschino cherries are in the fridge, draining, waiting for me to make chocolate covered cherries. Those will be done on Friday. I have chopped pecans waiting on the counter to be made into pecan tassies. I have several other cookie recipes marked I want to bake, too. We will see how it goes.

The house is decorated, though. The tree is up. The presents are bought or made. As I am thinking of all the things I want to get done yet, I can’t help but think about Mary. Was she scurrying around trying to get ready for the birth of her son? Was she relaxed and taking things day by day? How would she feel and what would she be thinking if she could see all of us now getting ready for the birthday of her son? Would she be happy that we celebrate? Or would she be sad that so much goes into Christmas, but in some homes so little thought goes into the son that she bore and watched die for us? I do enjoy the Christmas season, I pray I never lose focus of why we have a Christmas to celebrate.

Christmas is Coming!

It definitely feels like the Christmas season now. Mom found a recipe for white fudge for me that I tried yesterday. The King said it wasn’t quite the same as Grandma Hahn’s, but it must have tasted good because the whole pan is gone today!

Our Noah Weather Radio went off twice today to warn us of a winter storm that will be here tomorrow. The weathermen are predicting 8”-14” of snow for us. That will certainly make it seem Christmasy. It even has the kids hoping for a snow day already!

To add to the Christmas season, I baked some bread today which will be given away for presents. I just took Christmas Angel cookies out of the oven, which will also be given away.

And to top off today’s fun – I just heard from a friend of ours that he will be visiting us from the 19th – 22nd. We can’t wait to see you Dan the Man! He will leave on the 22nd , we will celebrate Christmas with Grampy and Miss Joy on the 23rd and Mom and Marv will be here on the 24th! I am getting in the Christmas spirit now!

picture courtesy of Mom

What kind of Christmas traditions do you follow? Or do you follow any traditions? Do you serve a traditional meal? What is a traditional Christmas meal? When I was growing up, I think we always had turkey or ham on Christmas. I don’t remember if there were other dishes that were served every Christmas. There were certain cookies I remember always having. Some of my favorites were Grandma Lorry’s rum balls and her fudge. Grandma Lorry is no longer with us so now I have to make the rum balls and fudge. Some years I do and other years I don’t. I guess they are no longer a tradition any more. Another favorite is Grandma Sue’s cut out, frosted, sugar cookies. Sometimes I see her over the Christmas season, some years I don’t get to see her until March or April. Whenever I do finally see her she will pull some sugar cookies out of the freezer for me. Carol always used to make homemade chocolate covered cherries, I absolutely love those. Due to restricted diets, she no longer makes those. I usually do, but there have been a few years that I never got around to making them. They are putzy to make and a huge temptation to keep them in the house. The King is not a huge sweet eater, but he always liked his Grandma Hahn’s white fudge. I will blog about that one day this week, there is quite a story about this white fudge!

Now onto the meal. We do not eat a traditional Christmas meal here. Our tradition is to put everyone’s choice into a hat, draw one out, and that is what we will eat for Christmas dinner. We have had all kinds of things for dinner; lasagna, pork loin, ham, rouladen (don’t know if I spelled that right!), Swedish meatballs and fish. I don’t know yet what we will be having for dinner this year, but I know we will be spending Christmas Day with Mom and Marv. Mom wants pork loin, Marv wants ham and I want lasagna. The King, Princess and Trucker have not decided what they want yet. Our dessert will be decided using the same method. Marv wants banana cream pie; I don’t know any other dessert choices yet. We have time.

I love Christmas. I enjoy going to church Christmas Eve. I enjoy spending the day with my family and all of the eating, the game playing and the laughing. I think I like the preparation of Christmas the best though. When we celebrate Christmas with Grampy and Miss Joy, the Princess is making homemade raviolis (spelling?) for dinner. I am already looking forward to watching her make the dinner. I will be just as excited to hear everyone's Christmas dinner wish as I will be to open the biggest present under the tree!

Things to be Thankful For

A few things I am thinking of to be thankful for during the first half of this week.

Sunday School Blooper ~ I was with the 3rd – 5th graders Sunday. We are reading in Joshua 7 about Achan and his sin. The children and I are taking turns reading and one of the girls had a little trouble. Well, she didn’t know she was having trouble; she didn’t realize what she had said. “Go consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in perspiration for tomorrow’!” Perspiration? Too funny! I did not correct her, I was afraid I would bust out laughing and embarrass her, besides the rest of the students did not catch it. The verse should read “Go consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. Joshua 7:13 niv

I mentioned last week that one of our soldiers was returning from Afghanistan. Obviously I am thankful he returned home safely. It was great to see him walk into our church Sunday morning. When this young man was growing up, he spent a lot of time at our home. We had a lot of fun together and many good laughs both in our home and in a boat. I saw him walk into the church and talk to a few people, and then he came over to me and gave me the biggest hug you can imagine. I had to catch my breath for a minute to keep from crying before I could say, “Welcome home.”

Sunday night we had Senior High Bible Study at our house. I am thankful that our church has a youth pastor that pours his love into our teens. Thankful that we could host Bible Study at our house. After study we spent a couple of hours playing Apples to Apples and Yahtzee. Being able to play games with those students was a blast.

Last night two other Moms and their teenage daughters came to our house for supper. Just as we finished eating, two more of their daughters drove in. They just got back in town from college. All eight of us then went to see The Blind Side. The movie is worth seeing. Seeing it with my own Princess plus all the rest of the ladies made it a perfect night.

It is amazing how many things we can find to be thankful for if we stop and look for them. I am also thankful for the obvious; my family, my home and the King’s job. I have been focusing on things out of the ordinary to be thankful for this week.

I will be spending time with family the rest of this week, so will not be blogging any more; although I have not been too good about blogging this week anyway. I will try to improve on that next week!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Yoga

The Princess with some friends.

I started doing yoga three weeks ago. Some of the poses they do don’t work for me; maybe because I am a little too chubby, or maybe because I am not as flexible as I used to be or maybe because those people are freaks with their level of flexibility. Maybe after a few more weeks I will be able to master all of the poses.

I have already noticed some of the benefits, though. When you first wake up and start moving around, you know how you kind of wobble and stagger on those first couple of steps? That does not happen to me any more. The other benefit I noticed was better balance. No more hopping around on one leg while putting on my pants or socks! I guess I should just say I noticed an improvement in my balance.

Today I am rejoicing with some friends. Their husband/son/brother has been serving in Afghanistan for one year. They will get to see their husband/son/brother this afternoon. What a flood of emotions they will all experience today. I think there could be a flood in the room today when all of those soldiers coming home get to see their families. There will be a lot of tears of joy.

Watching the Morning News

Toad

This is what I found in the living room this morning when I turned on the light. The way he has the remote right next to him cracked me up! It also reminded me of a few others who live in this house!

I watch the Today show once or twice a year. I usually turn on a local channel to catch the local news in the morning, and then go to HLN to watch the national news. After I know if there is any thing major going on in the world, I usually turn the tv off. I had to do a few things after watching the local news this morning and when I came back into the living room there was a story on the Today show that got my attention.

They were interviewing the parents of a US Marine who died in Iraq. The soldier kept in touch with his parents while he was in Iraq, but they did not know he was keeping a video diary. After four months over there, he was killed. Some of his Marine buddies brought his video diary home to his parents. When they put the dvd in, they thought they were going to see pictures. He had been filming what he was doing on a regular basis. They got to watch him play with the local children, know where he was at and hear his voice. The Mom said she has not been able to watch the whole thing yet. That would be tough to do. Watching the short snippet this morning was tough, and he was not my son. I think anyone who watched that this morning had to be feeling some emotion when it was over. It made me stop and pray right then and there. I prayed for this particular family, I prayed for the men and women who are currently fighting and I prayed for the families who have lost someone due to the war.

The next news story I watched was much more uplifting. LT, a football player for the San Diego Chargers, had quite a surprise yesterday. When he opened his locker at the stadium before yesterday's game, there was a small box in there from his wife. He said he figured it was going to be a necklace. When he opened the box, he found the results of his wife’s positive pregnancy test! They had been trying to conceive for four years. He must have been excited; he played the best game of his career.

How was that for the news this morning? It went from one end of the spectrum to the other. One story was sad; watching a family deal with the death of a loved one. The other story so fun and upbeat; watching a family learn that they are going to be bringing a loved one into the world.

Next Opportunity?

Our Princess!

Last night I read another verse that I have read several times before, but never thought about it. Luke chapter 4 starts out with Jesus being tempted by the devil three times. Jesus never fell into the temptations. He did not commit one sin His entire life! Luke 4:13 is the verse that got my attention last night. When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left Him until the next opportunity came. Luke 4:13 nlt Jesus lived as a man, so I know he faced the same temptations that we all face today, but I guess I never thought about it much until I read “until the next opportunity came”.

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1Peter 5:8 nlt The devil worked the same in Jesus’ day as he does now. He is waiting for his next opportunity. We need to beware of this. Quite often we can avoid giving him a chance. We all have different areas where we know we are tempted; we need to stay away from those situations.

Sometimes we end up in a sinful way before we even realize what we have gotten into. That is how the devil likes to work. He is a cagey character. He is waiting for his next opportunity. The fact that he waits tells me he is patient. That also tells me we need to be on our toes at all times.

I don’t want to give him an opportunity, but some how he finds his way into my life and takes them, though. Good thing we have a Savior, Jesus, who will not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle! Even when we do fall into the temptation, He still loves us and pursues us. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life…Psalm 23:6a nlt

Veterans Day

Picture courtesy of Google images.

I know several Veterans that need to be remembered and thanked today for their service to our country: my Grandpa, a few uncles, a nephew and some friends. I also have a cousin who made the ultimate sacrifice several years ago in Lebanon. Thank you to all of you.

Last night I got a phone call letting us know that a friend of ours who has been serving in Afghanistan is now back on American soil. We have prayed for his protection spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically since the day he left last year. What good news to hear he will be home in a few days. I cannot imagine the relief his wife, parents, siblings and other relatives must be feeling.

Do you do any thing for Veterans Day? Other than enjoy the day off work if you are employed some where that you get today off? My Uncle, who served during Vietnam, once made the comment to me about how odd it was that I had Veterans Day off because I worked in a bank at that time and he had to work. His point was well made with me. I have not worked at the bank for over sixteen years and I still remember him telling me that! Back to you and Veterans Day – do you take the time out to thank a Vet in some way? It is rather embarrassing to admit, but I don’t do much. I do make sure to find a way to thank at least one Vet every year though. You don’t have to do or say much, just making the effort to say, “Thank you” is good. If you want to take it a step further you could send a card, buy them a candy bar or bake something for them. I do practice what I preach – I made a pan of brownies for the King to take to work for the Veterans he works with! It’s not much, but it does show our appreciation.

It's Getting Close!

This was our front yard a few years ago Christmas Day.
Pic courtesy of Mom


I am starting to get ready for my favorite part of preparing for Christmas…baking! The last two trips to the grocery store I have been buying extra flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, chocolate squares, butter, cream cheese and all kinds of other ingredients. The week after Thanksgiving I will start baking. First I will make cookies that can be placed in the freezer for a few weeks without affecting the taste. The closer to Christmas we get, I will start making cookies that are best eaten right away. I have some cookies that I bake almost every year: frosted sugar cookies, chocolate covered cherries, coconut dreams and mini pecan pies. Every year I also enjoy looking for new recipes I have never made before.

I do some shopping for gifts every year, but not a ton of it. The King does a lot of the wrapping of the gifts, he likes doing that. That works well because I would rather not wrap. The expense of sending Christmas cards got to be too much, so we do not do that any more. The Princess and Trucker decorate the tree. They do some decorating around the house. I guess we all share in the Christmas fun.

The baking has always been my favorite part of Christmas, getting ready for Christmas I should say. When the kids were real young I still did a lot of baking, plus send out cards and decorate the house and tree. Then I read in a book one day that preparing for Christmas should be fun. We should do what we enjoy and make sure we are not neglecting Christ over the season. If we are running ourselves ragged trying to get ready for Christmas and don’t spend any time with Jesus, we miss out on one of God’s greatest gifts to us. I don’t remember what book I read that it in, but the author’s advice was to put Christ first (like we always should) and then choose one or two other Christmas related activities we really enjoy and focus on them.

I thought that was some good advice. It also came at the perfect time for me. The kids were getting big enough to help with some of the other stuff and I had even more time to focus on the baking!

Leave me a comment on your favorite part of preparing for Christmas. Christmas Eve service at church and spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my family are very important to me, but I am talking about the stuff leading up to the big day!