By the Way...

If you've been wondering where my title and background went, you're not the only one!

I guess I better do some work on my template.

Sweet and Sour

Well, today has been a mixture of emotions. It's very cold (25 last night) and my son woke me up at 4 a.m. coughing his head off. So, I went upstairs and sat up with him for a while and finally crawled into bed at 5:30. When the alarm went off an hour later, I had only slept a total of 4 hours. So my husband told me to go back to sleep and he would get Hallie up and take her to school. I drowsily and gratefully agreed and all was well until I was straightening up our bathroom a few hours later. I opened the closet door and realized that all my gifts to my husband were there in plain view. They had been delivered last night right before he got home so I stowed them away in there to hide them quickly. I meant to move them to a more secure location while he and my son were at music, but got distracted cooking and totally forgot. I told myself, "maybe he didn't see them" and called him immediately. Ah, but no such luck. He did. I burst into tears. I couldn't help it. I was so disappointed at my own stupidity and I realized that there was nothing I could do to change it now. So, he tried to console me over the phone and convinced us to meet him for lunch. After I hung up, Ethan came over to me and said "What's the matter? Do you want your daddy?" I said, no, I was just disappointed. So he took my hand and put it to his cheek and said "Oh mommy, I'll make it all better." It was all almost worth it right then and there! While at lunch, I noticed that Randy had my daughter's rainbow "God loves you" bracelet around his wrist. When I questioned him, he said Hallie had asked him to wear it this morning so when he looked at it he would think of her and God and be happy. What a precious family I have! Two loving, compassionate children and a husband more than willing to wear a rainbow bracelet all day long just for his little girl. It's hard to feel down and out with all that going for you.

~~Daddy's Empty Chair~~

A man's daughter had asked the local minist er to come
and pray with her father.
When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed
with his head propped up on two pillows.
An empty chair sat beside his bed.

The minister assumed that the old fellow had been
informed of his visit.
"I guess you were expecting me, he said.
'No, who are you?"
said the father.
The minister told him his name
and then remarked,
"I saw the empty chair
and I figured
you knew I was going to show up,"
"Oh yeah, the chair,"
said the b edridden man.
"Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.
"I have never told anyone this,
not even my daughter,"
said the man.
"But all of my life I have never known how to pray.
At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,
But it went right o ver my head."
I abandoned any attempt at prayer,"
the old man continued,
"until one day four years ago,
my best friend said to me,
"Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter
of having a conversation with Jesus.
Here is what I suggest."
"Sit down in a chair;
place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair.
It's not spooky because he promised,
'I will be with you always'.
"Then just speak to him in the same way
you're doing with me right now."
"So, I tri ed it and I've liked it so much that I do it
a couple of hours every day.
I'm careful though
If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair,
she'd either have a nervous breakdown
or send me off to the funny farm."
The minister was deeply moved by the story
and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him,
anointed him with oil,
and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called
to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.
Did he die in peace?" he asked.
Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock,
he called me over to his bedside,
told me how much he loved me
and kissed me on the cheek.
When I got back from the store an hour later,
I found him dead.
But there was something strange about his death.
Apparently, just before Daddy died,
he leaned over and rested his head
on the chair beside the bed.
What do you make of that?"
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
"I wish we could all go like that."

Uh, What Was That Again?

Do you ever find yourself in a situation or just notice something unusual and say "hey, I'm going to blog about that" and then later in front of your computer you cannot recall what it was? Well, I find myself doing that frequently these days. I had several of those moments yesterday and now sitting here, all I can remember about yesterday is listening to certain Christmas songs my son has to play/sing for his piano recital over and over and over again. Oh yeah, and I remember dancing and singing to them in my car while waiting for the gas pump to stop and getting some very strange looks from some guy on the other side. Oh well, if you're not willing to make a fool out of yourself for your kids, then what kind of mother are you? Trust me, silliness is not a rare commodity around our house...for any of us. Randy and I would like to say it was just for the kid's benefit, but honestly we are as goofy after they go to bed sometimes as we are when they are around. Sometimes you've just got to do your own rendition of several 8o's songs complete with original dance moves and contrived voice to really relax. Okay, its just us.

Well, whatever it was I meant to blog about.........maybe it'll come to me later.

Christmas is Coming...

Okay, the Christmas season has begun. I spent all weekend wrapping presents and I am still not even halfway finished. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it immensely, but I am starting to get stressed. I have all the shopping done for the children under the age of 6. It's the teenagers I don't have a clue about. The oldest has such weird taste that I can't bring myself to buy anything he would actually like and since he works at Target, a gift certificate which has been great in the past would be pointless. The 16 y.o. is so precious that she can't bring herself to ask for anything. Only after threatening her with five hand knitted sweaters did she come up with a list...CD's, clothes, and love. Well , I love her dearly but that doesn't make my job any easier. Of course she will appreciate anything, so at least I don't have to worry about her being totally disappointed. The 12 year old is the hardest because she is at that tween age. She doesn't want any more American Girl dolls, but she isn't ready for lots of clothes, either, at least not that we would pick out for her. Hmmm.........that one is going to be tough. If any of you have any ideas, please feel free to share them.

I'm also exhausted from having to plan my family's gatherings. Since my parents are divorced and can hardly stand the sight of each other (yes, it was 28.5 years ago...??) we always have to plan 2 different events. Since my stepdaughters will be with us on Christmas Day this year, it is essential that we stay home. So, I have had to divide up Christmas Eve since my parents can't imagine packing up all the gifts and driving all that way (60 miles). I really felt like saying, "yes I know, try it with two kids" but instead decided to appease them for the sake of peace and goodwill. Anyway, I just plan to go with the flow. I don't mind chaos too much and I actually thrive on it sometimes (which is helpful with 6 kids) so...such is life. Moving on....

The hubby and I were in our church's Christmas program this weekend which is an outdoor, very realistic recreation of Bethlehem and the Nativity. Although we froze our heinies off (34 degrees, windy and dark) and I breathed in more chiminea smoke that I care to in a lifetime, it was a wonderful experience...especially seeing the children's faces as they watch the story they have heard many times unfold before them.

Well, I must go finish addressing Christmas cards. I wish I was this productive year round!