Well, the weather changed just the slightest bit today and that led to practically no snow for us! Still we had fun being together as a family and watching the few periods of falling snow before Kristine left tonight to head to Anniston for a two-day work event. Check out the pics and video from today’s near miss snow-event:

Close-up of some accumulating snow granules

Accumulation on the back porch where sleet had bounced off our awning

Falling snow – front bush

Just 2 weeks ago, we were quietly getting snowed in for Christmas in Wisconsin. It was beautiful, and in the end, no big deal. 14″ of snow, and life went on (though west of us, it was much more of a blizzard). Last week, it was snowing as we were leaving Indiana, and it kept snowing and snowing and snowing after we left on New Year’s Day. After it was all said and done, they got 21″ of snow over 5 days. Whew!

Here we are at about 20degrees outside, in an “Arctic Blast” (supposedly not going over freezing for 100+ hours. Wow… and not so impressive to those of you that haven’t seen freezing in a month!!). Tomorrow we’re forecasted to get 1-2″ of snow. After our Christmas vacation… no big deal. But in Alabama, it is a big deal. School’s canceled for tomorrow at 4pm. So funny!

A couple other random notes…

Monday I cooked this delicious tomato soup, with delicious melty Wisconsin grilled cheese sandwiches.    And as Brian was dipping his sandwich in the creamy goodness, he said, “Wow… this is so, so good!”  “That’s amazing,” I said, “because I didn’t even like tomato soup until this week!”  “Mmm, this is as good as Campbell’s!”  Huh.  What a compliment.

Believe it or not, the kids ate it, even though they supposedly don’t like soup.  Josiah eats tomatoes all. the. time.  So when I gently convinced him that it was really tomatos, he was all in.  He didn’t like dipping his sandwich, though.  Analise had to be reminded that she likes spaghetti sauce, so this really was the same thing.  She gamely tried 2 bites of her sandwich dipped into it, but decided she didn’t like it.  I’ll take that, though, as I didn’t like it until Monday!

Tuesday, I used a bottle of Trader Joe’s Yellow Curry Sauce that I’ve had for a long time.  I sauteed some chicken, added some coconut milk (bc I’d read that mellows curry flavor somewhat, and I’m not a huge curry fan), added the sauce and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  Served it with brown rice, stir fry veggies and Naan bread.  It was great! Brian said, “This is as good as Surin!” (our favorite Indian restaurant).  Huh.  What a discerning palate  my hubby has!  But I’ll keep him… so glad he enjoys my food, because I enjoy cooking for him!

The kids had grilled chicken and rice, and they were intrigued that ours was yellow.  Brian explained it was Indian, and Analise wanted to know know why there was Indian food.  “Because Indian’s have to eat, too!” was his quick response.

Josiah and Analise look at the Nativity outside Salem Lutheran Church before the 5pm Christmas Eve service

I interrupt the live snowstorm blogging for a quick thought about this beautiful evening…

We bundled up and trudged through the snowbanks and still falling snow to walk the half block to the 5pm Christmas Even service with my parents and the kids.  It was a nice family worship time, full of songs, the familiar words of the first Christmas story and keeping the kids entertained with crayons, paper and jingle bells (during the songs, muffled at other times!), and ultimately, keeping Josiah from playing with the candle flame and Analise from leaning her hair into the candle. I did find a few seconds to appreciate the quiet candle-lit song…

Silent night, holy night
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

As we were leaving, someone asked if I might come back to the 11pm service to sing “Mary, Did You Know?” in a quartet, as one of the members wasn’t going to be able to come back.  Since we live just steps from church and I’m always up for helping out, I said yes and somehow managed not to fall asleep before I needed to head back over at 10:30.

My beautiful little church holds so many memories for me.  Years and years of Lutheran worship, from traditional liturgy to contemporary songs, many a Christmas program, hundreds of Sundays singing with the choir, serving as acolyte, reader, usher, communion assistant, and pianist (though never at the same time!), vocal and piano solos, confirmation classes, and somewhat more recently, our wedding.  So many pieces of my faith were formed there, and I found myself closing my eyes and knowing the familiar words of liturgy by heart.   Just as the service started, one of my best friends from high school and her family sat down next to me, and we were both surprised and excited to see each other for the first time in more than 7 years.  She and I had sung many songs together at church, and I was taken back to 17 years ago tonight, when we sang a duet at the Christmas Eve service as juniors in high school.   Here now we sat as mothers, with a whole new look on this Silent Night at the miracle that took place that first Christmas Eve.

So as I stepped to the front tonight, I was reminded of how my faith has changed.  And yet… He was, He is and He is to come.  Our Emmanuel.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.

Family picture in front of the Christmas tree after the 5pm service

Snowing outside Salem Lutheran during the start of the 11pm Christmas Eve service

Video of the snow outside Salem Lutheran during the start of the 11pm Christmas Eve service

This is one day I’ve got to be able to look back on.

6:45 Up with Analise and Josiah (they were bouncy and quite cheerful, a plus for a Monday morning!)

7:30 Drive Analise to school, come back home to shower.

7:59 Allison sends me a text reminding me to keep God’s word close at hand, and that she’s praying Ephesians 5 to sink into both of us.  (I’m trying to keep my Bible open on the kitchen table so it’s right there and ready when I have a down moment to read.)

8:30 Head back to Analise’s school for Santa Shop (a super cute shopping event they put together for the kids to shop for friends and family).

9:15 Drive home to pick up Josiah, take him to church for childcare, head to a Christmas brunch.

9:30 Driving to the brunch, my dear old 1997 Nissan Altima, with 180,000 miles, starts chugging, and I start praying that I’ll just make it to my destination.

9:32 No luck… the car dies completely as I make a left turn, thankfully downhill, and I coast off to the side of the road.  Call Brian to let him know, then call my angel, my father-in-law, who says he’ll be over to rescue me.

9:38 I check my email on my phone, and find a forward from a friend, and instead of skimming past it in my Inbox, my eyes see the top of the email that says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;  he will never let the righteous fall. – Psam 55:22” Perfect timing.

9:45 He shows up, adds oil to the car, and it runs, but barely, sounding terribly, and we’re sure it won’t make it to a shop on it’s own.  I’m fighting back tears, already given up on the brunch (no big deal, really), just upset at the thought that I’ve probably driven my last mile in this car with all the memories.

9:55 Tom and I decide it would be wise to take everything out: car seats, toys, reusable grocery bags, coupon books, old french fries and stale Goldfish.  I reach under the seat to grab something silver , and realize, through new tears, that it’s not a paperclip or safety pin as I’d first thought.  Instead, it’s my wedding band, that I thought I had lost for good a couple months ago.  God is so good to redeem this situation!!

10:30 Tom takes me home, where thankfully, I have a back-up car.  I pick up Josiah from church’s childcare, take him home to Brian (who’s home for the day), and head back to school for 2 more hours of Santa Shop.

The rest of the day improved immensely… got to walk home from school alone with my sweet girl, long afternoon snuggle on the couch with both of my little loves, a night-time adventure walking to school through the woods for Analise’s Christmas program this evening.  She was front and center for a small group part in Rudolph.  So sweet!  The kindergartners did great, and I think Brian’s working on the video right now.  She definitely enjoyed performing in front of the large crowd of parents!

A few more fun random memories from Santa Shop today…

• I had listed several people Analise could shop for, and I sent money with her.  Her personal shopping aide told me when they were finished that she had desperately wanted to get 3 things for Josiah, so the list had gotten reworked.  How sweet!!
• On the way home, Analise was telling me how several people had gotten to get something for themselves, but she hadn’t.  We talked about how this is a season of giving, and she told me what she would have wanted (a Barbie, of course).  I told her that maybe just maybe I’d take Josiah shopping there after the Christmas program.
• Josiah was quick to see the Barbie and knew immediately that it was the perfect gift for Analise.  (Love how that worked out!) Then he was very quick to find a motorcycle that he wanted to get for Daddy.  He insisted that Daddy would love a motorcycle, particularly a red one.  Then he told Brian (who was standing off to the side), that maybe he (Brian) could share the motorcycle with him.  And that he (Josiah) would let Brian come in his room to play with the motorcycle.  So cute!!  And of course, he really wanted Daddy to open his motorcycle immediately when we get home.

But our tree has a nice stash of Santa Shop presents under it, waiting for next week! (we’re opening early because we’re leaving on December 19th for Wisconsin.)  All in all, the day was very rough around the edges, but they still glimmered with God’s goodness.

Just had to share the fun little details of my good day today.  I spent several hours at Curves (where I workout) with samples of my Tastefully Simple goodies.  I made a good number of sales, and enjoyed the time chatting with ladies while addressing Christmas card envelopes. [Sidenote: The cards I ordered from SeeHere on Thanksgiving night arrived on our front porch on SATURDAY.  Can you believe that??  Crazy fast!  Not to say that I’ll be that fast in sending them out…] [Another sidenote: Let me know if me and my Tastefully Simple goodies can help you with your Christmas shopping!]

I had a few errands to run, and one was at the mall.  As I was walking through JC Penny to another store, I remembered a fancy wedding we’re going to this weekend, and thought I’d see what the clearance rack of dresses held.  I found a super cute (though slightly summery) black and white dress that fit, marked down to $25 from $100.  A pretty good deal, except that I might need to buy a sweater or shawl and some dressy black shoes.  Hm.  As I was hanging it up, still mulling the purchase over, I saw a pink stain on the back near the hemline.  I asked the cashier if the price reduction was for the stain, and lucky me… it wasn’t.  She had forgotten to mark it down again.. to $4.97.  WOOHOO!  I’m hoping I can get the stain out, and if not… well, it’s pretty far out of sight.  And now I can see if I can find any deals on a sweater and shoes!!

I had a few extra minutes between Curves and picking Analise up from school to browse on Twitter, and saw there was going to be a LandsEnd chat with some prizes.  So I answered a few questions (well, 12) while I was waiting, and voila!  I won a sweater!  WOOHOO!

Anyway, good day for this mommy.  I really appreciate my sweet mother-in-law for keeping the kids so I could enjoy sharing my tasty goodies (and please call or email if you want me to help with your Christmas shopping!!!!), and my sweet hubby for getting the kids fed and ready for bed.   Going to go tuck myself in with a smile on my face!

Here’s a glimpse of our Christmas cards (which you may or may not see before Christmas… I’ll be impressed if they’re out by New Year!).  Brian’s dad took 19 photos, and inevitably, in the best ones (“best” defined as where both children have semi-decent smiles, in the vague direction of the camera, and I’m not tugging Josiah back to the ground as he bounces incessantly) the top of Brian’s head is cut off.  Not so important to me because, really… people are looking at my cute kids, right?  I won’t tell you how many “just one more, Josiah, I promise this is the last one” photos there were!

For the 5th year in a row, I’ve had the joy of helping the kids pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  We shopped, wrapped, packed, and prayed for our boxes this week, and finally dropped them off at a local church on Saturday.  Very slowly, the kids are learning to think beyond themselves, and it’s a treat to walk them through this process.

It’s fun to imagine this trailer packed full of brightly wrapped shoeboxes bringing fun, love and joy to children around the world.

My little sweeties.  Analise is dressed as one of the Barbie Three Musketeers with the cape, mask and (not shown) sword.  Josiah can barely keep from dropping his box.  He does have Musketeers clothing, but didn’t insist on wearing it.

A look back… when Analise was 17 months old (2005)

Yesterday was one of Those Days. Everything seemed against me, and by the end of the day, I was just so thankful that it was behind me and that the morning would bring gracious “new mercies”. But as I collapsed into bed, my mind was quick to find a long list of things to be thankful for. So in the hope that the next time one of Those Days finds me, I’ll remember the many things to be thankful for, here’s last night’s thankful list:

• God’s provision, evident throughout my list, too ways to count!
• Good friends bringing encouragement
• The Word… In spite of the fact that I was busy and didn’t make time myself for the Word, God took me to it Himself.  I was supposed to volunteer in Analise’s class in the morning, but instead I found myself sitting outside Analise’s classroom waiting for her class to come back from a last-minute event.  I had nothing with me, except my iPhone, which happens to have the Bible on it.  And so I read.  And read. And read.  Her class didn’t come back (they went straight to the playground), and before I knew it, I’d read 6 chapters of John, and my heart was blessed.
• Smile of Analise when she saw me at school.
• Lunch with good friends, praying together, hearing Beth Moore bring her awesome wisdom on the Word.
• Chocolate cake
• Pumpkin pie (not that I ate both of those.  though I might have. or I might not have…)
• A snuggly little boy who happily curls up close to me after his nap (or whenever really!), so I can snuggle him close.
• Yummy hot croissant ham & swiss sandwiches
• Kids who didn’t battle with a 7:15 bedtime, and who were asleep before 7:30.  Whew!

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … with gratitude in your hearts to God. – Colossians 3:16

I am happy to announce that after going live with the preliminary version of topocreator.com almost 3 months ago, I have sold my first map! You know you want to buy one, too! Here’s a link to one of my favorite state maps (Arizona – high resolution) and also my topocreator.com paypal balance – I’d say business is booming 🙂

Fun memories from recently…

**Brian was staying at work late to speak to a group of students in the ACM society.  I was trying to explain how it wasn’t exactly class, but that he was teaching them something extra, “something cool.”  Analise said, “Like what?”  I was struggling, and said, “Like how to keep computers safe.”

Analise, who’s just getting proficient at the most basic computer skills and has computer class once a week at school, thought for a moment, and then said, “I know what Daddy should teach them!  He should teach them to log off.  That’s cool!”  I laughed and agreed that it was cool.  She continued, “And he can teach them to log on!  That’s cool, too!”  Indeed, sweetheart.  Indeed.  I think she’s going to be as cool as her Daddy some day.

**The week after Halloween, I gave Josiah a little bag of mini M&Ms dumped into a bowl to munch on while we were driving somewhere.  When I handed them to him, he said, “That’s a wot of m’s!”  When I got him out of the car, all but one tiny little M&M were gone.  When I coaxed him to eat the last one, he said, “I’m saving that one for Sister.”  Sweet boy!

**While I was gone this weekend, Beverly helped Analise write her own Christmas list.  She is enamored with the new Barbie and the Three Musketeers movie and all that goes along with it.  She brought home a neatly printed list that I was very impressed with.  Beverly spelled everything on the list for her exept the title, “Crmis List”.  Great writing and beginning spelling practice!  Sunday morning before church, she even wanted to copy it onto another list so Brian could have his own copy.

Yesterday after church, we were headed to Target to shop for our Operation Christmas Child boxes.  I was explaining that we were shopping for other children, not ourselves.  I told them I knew it would be hard and that we’d see lots of things we wanted, but that we would do Christmas shopping for each other another day.  Analise piped up in the sweetest, most innocent voice, “Mama, I happen to have my Christmas list here.  In case we see anything on it, you can just get it for me today.”   Good thinking, but not on my agenda… We did manage to do all our OCC shopping and not come home with a single item for ourselves.  Learning little by little that it’s not about us.  I hope to have pictures of them dropping off their shoeboxes later this week!