Dickens

For book club this month we read Charles Dickens, 'A Christmas Carol'. It was interesting to learn that Dickens strapped for cash, whipped out this short little story just to make ends meet, which, unfortunately for him, it did not pay off right away. What would he think of the impact that it still has over a hundred years later. The many varied adaptations that have been made. The fact that it is the most remade motion picture ever ought to impress him, right after someone tells him what a motion picture is.

My point in bringing this up is this. After discussing the story, an interesting comment was made that caused me to have an epiphany related to the story and I impressed myself with my depth of thought.

The comment was that she actually preferred Thanksgiving during the holiday season because of all the holidays it caused her to pause and reflect on her bounty and prepare as she headed into the holiday season with a reflection of her year so far.

This was my epiphany.

Thanksgiving is our holiday ghost of the past. Time for reflecting on the year.

Christmas, the holiday ghost of the present. Time of busyness and knowing where you stand. With all the bustle associated with the season, there doesn't seem to be as much time for reflection.

New Year's, the holiday ghost of the future. The time to do something about what you reflected on in the past, know and learned of the present and make resolutions for the future.

Now wasn't that good... It works in matters of food too... Thanksgiving is when we begin the feast, Christmas is the desserts and New Year's we consider our new resolves for diets.

Perhaps I should get more sleep?

I need help

I found this little gem in the depths of the hard drive and I can't get over how long ago it seems. A mere five years.

In life we can get ourselves into some tricky situations... but chances are we always had what we needed to get out again if we just think it through. And the satisfaction that comes from knowing that we did it is golden!

Miles, the ever happy go lucky problem solver!

Hang on

Whittaker is always hanging on to someone's finger or shirt. He simply loves to have something in his hand or his hand in his mouth. I loved coming into his room at night and seeing his hand wrapped around the slat of his crib in his sleep.

Clearing up confusions

When I posted a photo much like the above one... people wondered who the children were and if I had included all of mine or not...

Although I'm not above photographing random groups of children at the park... I don't have that much spare time!

The children are all mine.. except three which are only part mine! This is something I've been explaining to people for the last 8 years. In fact when Miles and Mackenzie were born... 12 days apart from each other, I had a c-section and didn't return to church right away... Assumptions of twins formed and it was years before I was able to set everyone straight... especially after I had Duncan and Cooper 6 weeks apart! Moving into our new ward was complicated by the need for an entire pew that first Sunday and only half a pew the following week. Derek was by far the easiest child to have... not being pregnant at all!

In all seriousness I only have 5 children.. yep.. that's all... just 5... but the extra three hangout here so much and so often that in reality I have 8. They have their own beds, a drawer for their clothes, their own toothbrushes, cups and shoe shelf and even have a marker on the behaviour chart!

I could easily have taken a photo of 16 or more... there are always stray children wandering around my home.

As for Grandma not recognizing Duncan... can't explain... he's grown up since you saw him last?

Cowboy Nativity

Each Christmas eve for well over a decade now, the ranch has put on a live nativity. We've spent many Thanksgivings and a few New Year's at the Ranch but this year was the first year we've been around for Christmas since they began the nativity tradition.

Beginning outside Mardy's house near a bonfire the group gathers to await the beginning of the reading of the Christmas story. All are invited from the neighbouring town. This year a frigid eve of only 1 degree with the wind blowing we were gathered with townsfolk and began the pilgrimage from the bonfire down the luminary lit lane toward the ranch house which was for the evening's purposes the inn. After being told there was no room in the inn we followed the couple portraying Joseph and Mary astride the donkey on to the corrals and into the barn.

In the barn we concluded the reading of the Christmas story and the kids, Patrick and I sang 'Picture a Christmas'. Testimony of the birth of the Saviour was born.

Neighbours, friends, and strangers alike all gathered afterward for hot chocolate and cookies and friendship. It was an incredible way to spend Christmas eve. As we began walking from Mardy's toward the 'inn', Duncan commented on Mary riding on the donkey, "It's just like in the story." Indeed it was. The few photos I managed to capture don't show the spirit of the evening. There were a few moments that I wished to take a photo to capture the moment but knew that a flash from the camera would spoil the moment. And then when photos would have been ok, it was sooo cold the camera simply refused to cooperate.

The description and memory of walking down a candle lit lane in the frigid winter evening toward a barn with a star aglow above to reenact the witnessing of the Saviour's birth will long be remembered as a wonderful Christmas memory.

No nuts!

After a week of nut exposure, and being kept on benedryl, Duncan has finally recovered. It was a strange roller coaster week of wondering how he was getting exposed. We were careful about what we let him eat, but apparently he was susceptible to what others were eating or where they were eating, or preparing them. Even playing Uno attack with Uncle James ended up being dangerous, since the cards were on the table where nuts had been chopped previously and the oils were all it took to swell his eyes! His wheezing breathing reminds him that he doesn't want anything with nuts so I don't worry too much about him trying a nut just to know what it tastes like.... but I do worry about how to keep him away from the exposure of the nuts! It's nutty I know!
I think he's actually more appreciative than others when I find him a nut free treat alternative! He drank a lot of juice boxes last week, and he reminded me that candy canes are a nut free treat!

Christmas 2009

Christmas morning at the ranch, before....

the mayhem of 16 people opening gifts in one house erupted! There was so much happening at once that I saw more when I was packing everything into the suitcases later that day, than I did that morning. Also when we unpacked the suitcases Monday morning, I heard more than once the exclamation of, "oh yeah, I forgot I got that, it's cool."Some great Christmas morning moments....
The Duncan engine from Thomas the Train. His favourite gifts of the day, his backhoe digger for the sandbox and metal bucket!! oh, and getting snacks in his stocking.

Assisting Whittaker with his stocking... ooooo... rice cereal and a spoon!

Miles on his second perusal of the loot. His favourite gifts of the day, cookbooks, remote control race car, a light up spinning top and arts and crafts. oh and definitely the marshmallow shoooter!

Caleb casually being cool as he sports his new watch and spinning CTR ring. His favourite gifts of the day, his new bamboo socks, his chess timer and his BYU hoodie and Muggle t-shirt, oh and the wii Madden Football game.

Sarah found a quiet spot out of the way to open and study each of her gifts. (I think she might have been tired, it's not cold, she's just still wearing her jacket from whelping puppies the night before.) Her favourite gifts of the day, puppies!! oh.. the fashion studio, the jewelry, photography books, her own pocket knife, and peacock puzzle. It must have been meant to be that Daddy gave her the sound track for My Turn on Earth, Mummy the book and Sparky and Valerie sent the family the musical dvd!

Clairee in her new hat and her own baby doll!

The boys have loved being outside in their sandbox and now I may never convince them to come in. Forever more on their backhoe diggers. When we returned home, Uncle Jim had a surprise for them also... 'a new four wheel drive car!' 4 steering wheels that is. I sure don't regret creating a fifteen foot diameter sandbox in the backyard... and now it appears it can be played in all year long.

Marshmallow Fungus

I always seem to come away from the ranch with a great new recipe or two. This trip was no exception. Incredible homemade cream of mushroom soup.

Since we arrived home Saturday night to an empty fridge I sent Patrick to the grocery store with a shopping list which included the ingredients I would need to recreate this incredible soup for Sunday dinner.

Although my first attempt wasn't as good as the ranch, I was still willing to slurp down three bowls. There were 8 children to please though. Knowing the opinion of some of the children when it comes to mushrooms and onions I took the chance while they were eating to ask what they thought of the soup. Unanimous positive feedback!! So I asked what they thought was in it. Cooper was the only one willing to wager a guess.

C- "I know that there are melted marshmallows, but I'm not sure what the yummy brown things are."

Me- "Do you like mushrooms?"

C- "yuck" (with a scrunched up face)

Me - "I thought so. The recipe said put in mushrooms but I only used fungus."

C- "So it's marshmallow fungus soup. I never knew I liked that. It's pretty good."

A visit to Santa Claus

Once again a generous soul in our neighbourhood opened her home and invited both Santa and the neighbourhood children. We had a tough decision to make since Mackenzie's choir concert was the same night. Caleb, Sarah and I opted to go to the concert and let Daddy take the three little boys (Derek too) to see Santa.

Things don't always go as planned... Patrick was delayed coming home from work and we weren't sure we could get away in time to make it to her concert. Whittaker was fussing and needed to be fed... We rushed and were going to make it at the very last minute. As we took off for the concert, leaving Patrick who had just walked in to clean up from dinner and take the overly excited children to Santa, we realized we had no idea where the concert was. We tried to no avail to contact Channa for directions. Now the decision to return home to see Santa wasn't as exciting knowing how disappointed Kenzie would be not to see us. We learned her disappointment wasn't so great about not seeing us but instead it was great because she had missed getting to see Santa!

We've never gone out of our way to see the jolly fella. So it works out only when he comes to see us!
Caleb wasn't too cool this year, but he was too big! Miles went back a second time. Sarah was very matter of fact, thanked him for coming to visit all the little kids cause they really like that he comes each year. Duncan requested his new bucket for the sandbox please so it doesn't break like the plastic ones and could he get a webkins? Derek took it upon himself even in his extremely excited state to mention that Kenzie and Cooper aren't here and they want him to bring things. He then asked for the red binoculars that he'd been mentioning all week that he wanted. Whittaker could have cared less.

When we returned home the excitement continued since I said they could eat the candy canes if they sat at the table... It's great that letting them eat the candy cane someone else gave them gets me credit! They know I don't buy those sticky things!

He misses you...

Whittaker is a great baby. He lays contentedly for long long stretches. He happily will be held by anyone. He sleeps through a fair bit of noise, taking naps on his play mat by the fireplace amidst the football game and the cheering squad in the front room. Sarah, his other mother, was still as concerned about him while visiting at the ranch but.... there were a loto f other exciting things to tempt her time with... like cooking, working with the big kids out on the ranch and caring for the new puppies, playing with the sweet Clairee and all around being so grown up.... so at times she was found to need to offload her little Whittaker. Not wanting to admit by saying.”I don't want to hold him right now.” She instead would approach an unsuspecting person with the comment...

“Whittaker misses you.”

This was not a one time occurrence.
We all began to use the line... Whittaker misses you as way of asking someone to hold him for a bit. It evolved to “Your missing Whittaker”... and Go tell so and so that they're missing Whittaker.

Fortunately he is well loved and no one ever minded having the opportunity to hold him for a bit.

The drive home was quiet. The kids were worn out and fell straight to sleep. Even Whittaker slept for the first 3 1/2 hours of the 4 hour drive. The last half hour however he was fussing a lot. From the back seat I heard, "Whittaker misses the ranch."

Shut the door Harvey!

Closing the door behind oneself when it is 2* F/-17 *C outside, you'd think that it would be a frigid reminder and one would be clamoring to shut the door. Some people have a tougher time remembering than others.
Miles was just such a 'Harvey' this trip to the Ranch.

On one cold morning after being out to assist James with some chores, Miles returned early, not wanting to be out in the cold any longer. And he didn't shut the door. When the line we've become all to familiar with was called out.. "Shut the door Harvey!” Miles burst into tears.... “My name is not Harvey.”

Feed the birds

There is something about a tranquil snow covered morning watching the birds that takes all your cares away. All the cares except your frozen fingers as you try to capture photos of the birds, and your frozen toes since you couldn't be bothered to pop on shoes when you went out to capture the photos of the birds, or your nose, or your backside as you sit on the stump very still so the birds will return from the roof where they flew to when you opened the door! But all the other cares for sure.

Tina had a very important job for the boys each morning at the ranch. She needed them to go out and feed the birds. They enjoyed feeding the birds, creating happy faces with the bird seed and watching them from the window. There was one little woodpecker that had forgotten to fly south for the winter and they provided a fresh stump with ants for him to peck. It became exciting to try to spot the little woodpecker each morning. Even leftover pancakes were torn up into small pieces on Christmas morning for the birds.


I think we'll be more diligent about filling the birdfeeders we have at home. Watching and feeding the birds was a lot of fun.

A Busy Night

Some kids have trouble sleeping on Christmas eve because the anticipation of Santa is so great. Some wake earlier than usual in excitement.

Sarah has been both on Christmas eves past. This year she actually wasn't sure which category she might fall into. She very much wished to be the grown up and get to stay up with me to 'await Santa's arrival'. I, however, sent her to bed so she'd be rested in the morning in case the little boys awoke early as they often tend to do.

Sometimes the best laid plans are not up to us. Just before sending Sarah off to bed, Tina promised to let her know if the very expectant dog 'Mickey' had her puppies. And so it was that after sleeping only just an hour or so, Sarah was called to witness the birth of six Christmas puppies. Sarah and Tina were on hand for over 2 hours to provide support and be excited for each little puppies arrival. A chilly below zero night didn't dampen the excitement any. She just pulled on her coat. A misunderstanding between the mama dog and Sarah reaching to fix her blanket resulted in Sarah having a bruised cheek, but Sarah took it in stride understanding the dog's need to protect her little ones. She provided water to drink and learned a lot at the side of the very experienced Auntie Tina. She did however determine after witnessing the dog eat the afterbirth that she was glad she wasn't a dog!


Excitement was in the air as the boys woke only an hour after the 'Vet' in training had returned to sleep. I tried unsuccessfully for the next two hours to contain the two boys upstairs. At the discovery of the new puppies it became next to impossible to keep them from wanting downstairs. The desire to go to the living room was now matched with the desire to see the Christmas puppies.

12 months of Nobles

The 12 months of Nobles

In the first month of 2009, the Nobles all were sick. We had a nasty flu... and Mummy quickly learned that her flu would last 9 months! Along with the flu, Mummy's blogging addiction was taking over our lives! Terms like blogworthy, or a blogging moment, or blogtastic became common everyday words! Our lives are documented now... for all the world to see at www.noblemoments.blogspot.com all the nitty gritty details we may or may not want shared. Mummy has a way with words... a lot of words... and it's not always a good way! Our chickens began laying eggs... green eggs!! We discovered our favourite new computer game at www.clubpenguin.com, we waste a lot of time there!

In the second month of 2009, the Nobles celebrated the 2 week long Chinese New Years. It was a blast coming up with fun activities for each day! We had our first ultrasound and with Duncan attending the visits, we didn't know what we might find in there... first a mouse, then a horse... the drama with ultrasounds began... we didn't even know the gender for sure until July!

In the third month of 2009, the Nobles felt neglected.... Mummy began to write a book. It took her every waking and should have been sleeping moments. It was a book many years in the making. An adventure, a mystery, a tear jerker, a true story being documented. Along with Grandma's investigative skills over the years, we had tracked down the locations of Patrick's biological sisters, parents and even a brother he didn't know he had. We were collaborating and writing up the story of how the search for the siblings had been such an adventure over 15 years!

Caleb had his braces removed after three years of teeth straightening. Miles turned eight. He is a super math whiz, calculating numbers in his head faster than Mummy can write them out. He is a little go getter and shows such excitement in everything he undertakes. He was excited for his Baptism and very excited to be starting Scouts. He earned his Bobcat and Wolf badges along with over 15 belt loops, 10 pins and 10 extra badges in under 6 months in the boy scout program. The momentum is contagious and we're all getting involved in the scout projects with him.

In the fourth month of 2009, the Nobles entertained. Our book about Patrick's biological family was all to prepare for this month. We hosted a reunion of his siblings from Africa, California and Mississippi and then all went to Wyoming to meet with another sibling there. What an emotional and wonderful reunion it was. We learned that Patrick is 'relatively' speaking short with a baby brother who is 6'5”! He has a larger family than even I do. Along with Patrick's siblings we of course had Grandma visiting who was mostly responsible for finding them. After that reunion, Grandpa Ted came for a quick visit as well. The month flew by and all our visitors had to go. All good things must end but we're so glad that it happened and we will remember it forever!

In the fifth month of 2009, the Nobles tackled school. Since once in a lifetime reunion's only happen … once in a lifetime, we had taken the previous 5 weeks off of our regularly scheduled school and now had some intense school catch up to do unless we wanted to work through the whole summer... and the kids definitely did NOT want to do that! With an essay a week, a book review a week, and countless hours of math and language skills worksheets and history and science activities... we went to bed exhausted each night all month. We met our deadline and were ready for a much deserved break in mid June.

A father son camping weekend was anticipated, enjoyed and will be fondly remembered. As will Sarah and mummys' girls night out!

In the sixth month of 2009, the Nobles missed their daddy. Patrick struggled with the assignment to HAVE to go to work in HAWAII for a month. The reports of snorkeling and beach combing, hiking up mountains, tasting sugar canes and eating fresh pineapple didn't make us feel sorry for him though! We on the other hand were plodding along at home while Mummy grew to the size of a beached whale and the kids looked forward to having summer fun.

Sarah turned 10. A whole decade for our little princess. Such a young lady amongst all these gentlemen. She definitely counters all the masculine energy around here with her love of arts and crafts, photography, and essentially all things fashionable! She has really taken off with her piano skills this year and she and Caleb have begun learning some fun duets.

The last weekend in June we picked up Daddy and then entertained Sparky and the girls as they traveled across the country to their new home. We love that they made us a pit stop and savored the moments we had with them.

In the seventh month of 2009, the Nobles relaxed and mummy nested. Summer was great. We didn't go anywhere but we relaxed and played games and goofed off. Just a lazy summer of fun. We definitely needed it. Mummy got ready for new baby, and canned, peaches, pears, apricots and tried to do fruit leather unsuccessfully. We fought about baby names and did a lot of Scout projects with Miles. Caleb turned 14. Well into his teenage years he is an incredible young man. All who know him find a moment to mention to Mummy what a responsible and charming young man he is becoming. We of course know him as the master of MarioKart racing, a junior tennis instructor, the faster half of the piano duets around here and the fastest pie eater in the neighbourhood, but we do agree that he forgot to read the manual of terrible teenager stuff and for that we are indeed grateful! Caleb started high school this year. So cliché, but time has flown. He is taller than mummy now and can share shoes with daddy.

In the eighth month of 2009, the Nobles welcomed Whittaker Sterling! Mummy lost 35 lbs, literally overnight but Whittaker was only 6 lbs 11 oz of it! Our new baby boy is doted on constantly and has been enjoyed every moment since his birth.

All the kids are growing up in more ways than just height. Mummy can't believe that the older kids actually fight over whose turn it is to change a diaper or burp the babe. The older kids took over making lunches and we have some great meals to look forward to each day. Miles joined the big kids status by taking an avid interest in cooking as well... but he prefers to make desserts!

Patrick and Nova celebrated their 15^th wedding anniversary, quietly with the kids and some Wendy's take out at home. A good night sleep was all that anyone wanted and baby Whittaker was obliging.

In the ninth month of 2009, the Nobles hung with Grandma. Grandma's visits after each baby is born are always cherished time. We discovered to our delight that Whittaker is a dream baby... well deserved and we were able to enjoy lots of fun moments with Grandma and Whittaker, taking evening strolls, enjoying way too many ice cream treats, harvesting the garden... especially the beets and listening to many stories of Grandma's youth. Duncan turned 6 and 'officially' began Kindergarten. Cut off dates being Sept. 1^st, meant we've had to be unofficial the last 2 years. But he tested into his schooling program and thankfully they sent him the grade 1 and 2 material but they still refer to him as a Kindergarten aged student! He doesn't care and loves to do his History class and Science best! Duncan is a friend to all he meets and an active little boy. He can keep up with the big kids on his bike and acts like he knows what is going on when they're playing a game of chess, pretends that he too can play the piano and his attempts at speaking in French or Spanish are quite amusing. He has great role models and isn't afraid to give things a try!

In the tenth month of 2009, the Nobles played with apples. We literally spent the entire month picking, washing, peeling, coring, chopping and canning apples. Even when the kids friends came by we gave them an apple processing task! 6 apple trees resulted in over 400 quarts of processed apples! The house smelled wonderful though! I was a little surprised the kids didn't end up as some type of apple desert for Halloween. Caleb had the opportunity to sing in a choir for general conference and it just reminded Mummy how grown up he is becoming.

In the eleventh month of 2009, the Nobles recuperated. Apples were well worth the exhaustion. We also experimented with lots of photo shoots with Sarah's new passion for photography... now what will we do with all these thousands of photos?? Caleb attended his first dance and Mummy has to get used to the fact that boys just don't care about details as much as girls do, since he just didn't have much to report when he came home. We loved going to the Ranch in Wyoming for the week of Thanksgiving and enjoyed being the company for a change. Mummy finally turned 26 on her Thanksgiving day birthday and loved her pumpkin pie party!

In the twelfth month of 2009, the Nobles celebrate. And celebrate we do well. Life is a party and we'll celebrate anything around here! Mastering multiplication facts can be a great reason to celebrate sometimes. Five children keep Mummy hopping but they are great kids and a blessing in our lives! We love hanging out together and hope that continues to be the case. We also love to hang out and keep in touch with friends and family and do it whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Merry Christmas to all. We hope the 12 months of 2009 treated you and yours as fabulously as they did the Noble family!

Love the Nobles

Patrick, Nova, Caleb, Sarah, Miles, Duncan and Whittaker

Photography tips

Group HUG

Forget posed photos... it's the moment when you tell them they're finally done that needs to be snapped!

Another good tip... keep them frozen.... nothing says happy picture taking like chattering teeth... brrr

Lost and Found...

Found
one extra chin...
please describe to reclaim

If not reclaimed soon... will continue to smile with it.
Thanks

All I want for Christmas...

Whew... that's was easy... now to the other kids list!

Voting wars

Oh boy.... well one of our photos made the top ten. We're in the finals!

But now it's a how many people do you know contest? In order to win FREE MILK FOR A YEAR! we have to have the most votes, obviously. So I'm counting on my 15 blog readers and my 30 facebook friends to not let the win be a complete landslide victory for another cooler! Nothing like a contest for free milk to let you know you need more friends... Quality not quantity used to be ok for me!

The contest closes soon but I'm not certain when so vote soon.. only one vote per IP address so feel free to tell your friends to vote... If by some chance we win this thing... milk and cookies for all next year!

Here are the finalists and the voting form. If you feel another entry is better... feel free to vote for them... But remember.. no milk and cookies for you! Ok.. so there'll be milk and cookies for all likely if we win or not... it was a stiff competition!

Got Milk?

Help me win free milk delivery for a year!!

The contest is to decorate your milk delivery cooler and enter a photo.
So after a fun brainstorming session with the kids, who had some rather incredible ideas, we did.
The following photos are what we came up with as our final idea... but now which photo should we use?
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

Our little Santa baby was fascinated with the lights, struggled to stay in position since he can't sit up yet, let alone hold up his head on his own. He kept dropping the reins out of the sleigh. Thankfully the reindeer behaved and stayed in position throughout the photo taking process. I'm sure it's Rudolph's influence.
Now I have to decide if we're putting the milk bottles back in the cooler for pickup on Tuesday morning, with or without their antlers on....

One scripture they left out of the Bible... for good reason!

Christmas is on the brain. The kids adore baby Whittaker. Put the two together and we get the following moment!

Miles had wrapped Whittaker in a white blanket and was showing me that he is wrapped in swaddling clothes... just like Jesus... at this moment Whittaker filled his britches with such great force I'm sure all my blog reader heard him! (he tends to this daily and it's a rush to the changing table after that... but as Paige said.. (TMI - too much info.!))

And Caleb, laughing hysterically, proclaimed, "And Jesus pooped!"

And of course it couldn't end there and not make me cringe with thoughts of 'is this vein of conversation bordering on sacrilegious?', but the conversation continued... debating about whether or not Jesus would have really pooped... to which I confirmed... He was in all physical respects a normal infant.. so. yes.. he would have pooped!

A time for Music

Psalm 150

Praise ye the Lord, Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

I love Christmas music. I have quite a collection of Christmas tunes. Christmas classics, jazz, swing, and country. I love to have the music playing all month long. I can't wait to start playing Christmas music and am sad to put it away at the end of the season. There isn't another time throughout the year that I listen to music as much.

Caleb had an assignment in Seminary to listen to only religious music for one week, including Christmas music. I didn't think it would be so challenging. I found my Christmas CD's and popped some in the car so we'd have something to listen to and had a stack in the house as well. As the day progressed Monday, I learned very quickly that some of my musical selections, while Christmas in genre were not terribly Christ centered. I think we heard a dozen renditions of Let it Snow, Jingle Bells and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Not exactly Praising the Lord kind of music! Thankfully I do have a CD of Handels Messiah. (It's seen a lot of action this week!)

It certainly opened my eyes even if it didn't do anything for the hundred's of seminary students who participated. I wouldn't have thought of myself as quite so secular in my Christmas selections. I guess I know what to put on my Christmas wish list this year....

Christmas Devotionals

Each year for the past few years we've received a little gift from a neighbour. Each year slightly different, but essentially the same. A list of 24 readings, stories, or scriptures to read together as a family leading up to Christmas. In the rush and craziness of the past, we've read them quickly... sometimes falling behind and needing to read 2 or 3 in one evening as one child or more crashes on the floor and then has to be carried off to bed. Not exactly the devotional that was intended or the uplift or discussion starter that it could have been.

This year again I have such a list. I hope that this year I can gain a little something more from them. We're reading them in the morning this time! (See we do learn as we go! We're much more alert in the morning and the kids are happy to discuss anything other than starting their school lessons)

I've really felt like I've gained some perspective after only two days, so perhaps we're finally on to something that works for us! Who knows how long it will last, (I'm doing a no guilt December!) but we'll do our best.

I actually intended to take a blogging hiatus until I felt ready for Christmas but.... best laid plans....

A time for Decorations

Psalm 118:19-29

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:
20 This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter
21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, i beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of teh Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29 O give thanks unto the Lord: for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

As I considered these verses and decorating our home for the holidays, I found myself thinking this year about why. Why do I pull out treasured decorations each year and surround myself with these little doo dads. Is it just because I always have? Is it because I've succumbed to the commercialism of the day? Is there some true meaning to decorating? I know there are the stories that have come about regarding the meaning behind each of the symbols of Christmas... but are these simply to justify the desire to continue in the festive traditions.

After considering these verses I found myself over the last few evenings as we decorated, re-evaluating the decorations that I choose to use. Decorations are a way of declaring our hearts. Instead of a time of decorations, I would say it is a time of declaration. This is not just a Happy Holiday as the politically correct would have us say, it is a Merry Christmas of deep and meaningful significance. We declare to all that Christmas is here to remind us of an incredible event that took place over 2000 years ago.

And so as we trimmed the tree and hung stockings, I brought up the topic with my decorating assistants. We want to show that this truly is the day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad. So, we all agreed that we would place more emphasis on the nativity scene in the living room and let some of our snowmen and elves take up less prominent places in our home... and hopefully in our hearts as well.

W is....

-for our little wiggle worm

I don't remember any of the other children being quite so wiggly! He kicks and coos and wiggles. We used to call it 'Tai Chi baby' when he moved his hands slowly yet deliberately in front of his face, but now it's all wiggle worm! He loves to lay contentedly for almost an hour every day in his happy place... (I know.. such a lucky me to have such a great baby!)

-for his woodpeckering
this is what we call what he does when you are holding him with his head near your shoulder. He doesn't stay very still, he bobs his head back and forth like a wood pecker until he finally feels comfortable and then settles into the crook of your neck for a snuggle... unless you aren't Mummy then he keeps woodpeckering until you hand him back. It's wonderful to be needed for something... even if it's only to rescue him from woodpeckering!

-for being a Wednesday's childAnd I was worried about the Wednesday's child full of woe prophecy! HA! He is such a contented babe. So adored and pleasant. Maybe the 'woe' was supposed to be 'whoa', as in 'whoa, what an awesome child!' or it could have been 'Wo', as in 'wo, unto you that don't have such a wonderful baby as me!'

-for his cute little wrinkled browHe wrinkles it up all the time when he is looking up at us. We didn't notice that Caleb also has this wrinkled brow until we were trying to catch a picture of the wrinkled brow with them together!

-for the 'W' lovers club --

This is an oldie but a goodie from Sesame Street. We looked it up recently because Channa hadn't ever heard it except for in high school band class when a boy used to sing it to her... she never really knew why... maybe she'll do a little blog about it for us sometime??!?
I think I'll make this Whittaker's little theme song!

-for our wee little Whittaker
What a few months can do. We couldn't be without him. He adds an element of wonder and wow to each day. We look forward to each smile and coo. There are fights over who gets to change poopie diapers and whose turn it is to hold him. He sleeps well, eats well and warms our hearts with winning smiles and chortles. He rarely even whimpers, since if he does he is immediately picked up and loved. He will definitely be spoiled but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Merry Christmas Dr Seuss style

How well do you know your Dr. Seuss? Can you answer the questions about the old story How the Grinch stole Christmas?

What is the dogs name :

Where does the Grinch live? :

What is the main reason the Grinch hates Christmas? :

Where do the Who's live? :

What materials did the Grinch use to make his coat & hat? :

How many times does the Grinch get stuck in the chimney? :

How long was the Grinch stuck? :

Why did the Grinch think he could go down the chimney? :

The Who Children will dance with what tied to their heels on Christmas day? :

Who was the only Who who saw the Grinch on Christmas Eve? :

How much do the Who's like Christmas? :

While raiding the refrigerator, the Grinch took the last can of what? :

What did the dog do before the Grinch tied him to the front of the sleigh? :

What did the Grinch use to fasten the horn on the dog's head? :

Where did the Grinch stop first? :

How did the Grinch get the idea to dress up as Santa? :

Where did the Grinch tell the Who he was taking the Christmas tree? :

What did the Grinch leave on the walls? :

What was the last thing the Grinch took? :

After eating their Christmas meal, what do the Who's do that the Grinch hates?:

What is the name of the Mount that the Grinch took the Who's Christmas, and how high was it? :

What did the Grinch do at the Who's Christmas feast? :

December Days

December seemed to come all too quickly this year. It crept up on me quietly and then started to ring in my ears... I actually spent Dec. 1st certain that I was going to hyperventilate as I wrote out my to do list for the next 24 days. Of which was to be sure to do the Dec. 1st blog... which as you can see after hyperventilating, I decided to be human... not expect perfection... get some sleep and blog when I get to it!

15th - Dick, Grandpa Noble, or Chappy
29th - Doug, Uncle Dishes to some, definitely a rival for the favourite uncle status!

must have to name your child with a D name if born in Dec. even my neighbour Doris has a birthday in December.

Holidays in December... hmmm... I think there is at least one!

Last year I had the crazy idea to have each child come up with 24 things they wanted to do before Christmas and write them on little pieces of paper and put them in the pockets of their advent calendar!... This meant that before Christmas while I tried to do shopping and preparation, (oh, and I did THIS to Caleb's room last year), I had to fit in 96 extra little treatsie activities! The kids LOVED it... I however got wise and this year popped 12 hershey's truffle kisses into their advent calendars before we got started this year. Then I suggested they collaborate on the other 12 activities so that we could all do things together! So this year we have 12 GREAT Christmas activities to look forward to, (gingerbread houses, going to see Christmas lights, sleeping under the Christmas tree, going sledding and more) and 12 chocolate kiss mornings to savor while we read one of the Christmas books I've collected over the years and often put away sadly unread at the end of the Christmas season!

It wasn't feeling like Christmas time yet until finally a little heart to heart with Sarah opened my eyes and reminded me what Christmas time was really all about. She is super excited to be all grown up now! She and I are little whispering fools now and having so much fun with our little plans... and she is helping me immensely to keep the true spirit of the holiday and not go overboard. As much as I plan each year to remember to make it a Christ centered holiday... those pesky little 'one mores', and 'oh, they'd love this' creep in and steal the show. Perhaps she isn't the only one who is finally growing up!