A Trip Down Memory Lane

I just signed up for a giveaway over at http://theinspiredroom.net/.  I don't normally enter giveaways because I have trouble figuring out the comment section.  Really.  It is very difficult.  I don't know what a my google address is, and then you have to come back and read letters.  Time.  Don't have it.  Anyway,  the giveaway said to tell your favorite CHRISTmas memory.  And I started thinking about that.  Here is what I wrote. 

I grew up in a military home. Because of this our address, weather, and conditions changed all the time. But my favorite memories are of CHRISTmas in the Middle East. My mother is the queen of tradition, and no matter where we were, whether in FL with sunshine, Va with snow, or the desert, we had our tree, our favorite foods, our stockings hung somewhere, and our favorite songs playing. We always celebrated CHRIST and He led us from place to place. What a wonderful trip down memory lane. Thanks!!

I really do have a mom who is the queen of tradition.  I tried to follow her traditions for a few years and felt like an utter failure.  I just KNEW my kids were going to run away because we didn't put up the tree on just the right day,  have an advent calendar we followed daily with little candy canes for every child,  exactly 7 meaningful stocking stuffers that were opened each night the week before CHRSTmas,  music, food,  etc.   You get my drift.  Smell my cooking.  You get me.  I have struggled for years with minor depression beginning with Dec and travelling through Jan.  AND JUST THIS YEAR  I have learned why.  I can't be my mom.  She is amazing,  and wonderful, and I have Hallmark card memories of not just CHRISTmas,  but many holidays, some I am sure were made up just so she could have fun. 

This is getting long, AGAIN, but I will just say this year is wonderful.  We did do some things like the tree, and some decorating,  we have had wassail and sugar cookies,  and we are going to a concert this morning of CHRISTmas music.   But I am not going by some wonderful "moms" play book on how to have a meaningful CHRISTmas.  I am going by my play book.  Which is more low key,  a little more spontaneous.  The memories,  I FINALLY realized were not in the tradition, but in the joy my mom had.  And without joy,  the traditions are meaningless.  So my NEW tradition is to find JOY and PEACE  in the holidays.  What a concept,  considering the the celebrations of CHRIST'S birth (and eventually death and resurrection)  is about the one who brings JOY (no happiness, another post I am sure) and PEACE (not an end to war but peace about our role in this life and where I am going next,  another post I am sure) to this world. 

Merry CHRISTmas, thanks for reading, 

Reb

A Perfect Mellow Evening

I am sitting in a big comfy chair,

listening to mellow  CHRISTmas music,  with the tree lights on, 

creamy coffee in a mug,

and listening to my 6 yr old tell how she is making stores and planning streets with her Peoplies. (little people, but we call them peoplies, sound better!!).

 This to me is a perfect evening.  Kids reading,  time to think, talk,  look at my kids growing before my eyes,  (ok not so much this part but it is part of the night).  I seem to be missing something though.....A FIRE!  Yes,  we have a wood burning stove but no wood.  I may be taking the kids out tomorrow and finding me some.  Doesn't it seem as if there are very few of these kinds of night?  We seem to always be going,  to music lessons, to church, to run errands...and sometimes,  like tonight,  when we do have mellow evenings,  it almost feels guilty, but it shouldn't.  I should just feel thankful and enjoy it.  So I will. 

I was going to post about our CHRISTmas decorating.  I will post some pics tomorrow.  But if I post about decorating it won't peaceful and mellow.  Decorating makes me want to curl up and suck my thumb,  or run far far away.   But tonight I will leave you with a couple of peaceful, mellow pictures.  I hope your evening is mellow like jello. 

thanks for reading,

Reb

5 Birthdays Party and Spoons

In our family we have 4 November birthdays, and then mine.  I won't post about mine until THE DAY because it is supposed to be life changing, thought provoking, REALLY grown up, and I am still waiting.....
Back  to the November birthdays.  My dad's is the 20th, my daughter's the 22, my niece's the 24, and another niece's the 27th..woof, or whoph or whoo or something like that.  Anyway,  this year we were all scattered when their birthdays came around, so we decided to have one big party here tonight.  Just so you know how loud it was,  there were 12 kids and 9 adults,  and one of the adults said his house had never been this loud in his entire life. He's 18.  That's a long time without noise.   Of course he grew up with just himself, his dad, and brother, but still... HIS WHOLE LIFE.  I couldn't decide if he was blessed or if we were.  I decided we were.   Anyway,   it was fun, loud,  (did I say that?)  full of chickens (in the dark, crazy kids)  food,  laughter (OK,  I have to stop and comment.  My brother works for the paper and he was trying out his sale pitches on us.  I think I just bought a YEARS worth of Sunday papers cause I firmly believe my kids will be uneducated,  I am actually losing money by not utilizing all the coupons, and I can compost the paper when I am done for my chicken coop, and some other reason that by this time I knew was for my own good.   This guys is good!!)  and games.  We taught my sister in law and company how to play SPOONS.   It was fast, furious, and full of fury.  Don't play if you get your feelings hurt easily.  Real easy to learn.  Use a deck of cards, some spoons from the drawer, and get in a circle on the floor.  Put the spoons in the center of the circle.  Deal out four cards each and the dealer begins to pick up cards from the left over pile one by one.  He passes the picked over card to his left and continues.  The next person does the same,  looking for a matching card.    The second goal is to get 4 of a kind.  The REAL goal is to get a spoon from the center of the floor. The first person to get 4 of a kind SMOOTHLY reaches for a spoon.  Others will take notice and the fury begins.   You don't want to be LAST.  If you are,  you're out of the game.  You continue to play losing one player at a time until there is just one, the WINNER.   Lots of fun and a great game to get people warmed up.  Course you may lose some people if they are sensitive.  Thankfully we desensitize people as we come in contact with them or they with our family. 

I was going to show some pics, but they were too dark.  I am really terrible with pics, and I love them on other blogs.  I will try to do better.  

thanks for reading,

Reb

This and That turned Thankful

Do you ever have so many thoughts that you can't pick just one things to talk about?  I think I do that on every post.  But this one will be VERY scattered.  Just a little peek inside my brain (as if you don't know most of it anyways!!!) and inside my life.

A)  I went Black Friday shopping with my sister.  It was NOT intense..we met at 6:15 at Wally World and I spent a whopping  11 dollars.  But I LIKED what I bought.  We then trapsed to Old Navy and WOW...those people are nuts.  Some looked like they had been out all night....and really... for clothes that 3 months from now I will pick up at the GW clearance center for pennies.  SHEESH..I wanted to say,  "GET A LIFE,  FIND A NEW FRIEND,  COOK SOMETHING,  TAKE A WALK,  AND PLEASE DON'T WEAR YOUR JAMMY PANTS OUT OF THE HOUSE....but I didn't.  I just bought something so I would fit in with the crowd.  I liked what I bought.  We finished at Target and I picked up some stocking stuffers and a couple of little things.  I liked what I bought there.  To sum it all up:  I LIKED WHAT I BOUGHT!!!  THEN we went to Panera and had breakfast and talked for an hour...and can I say for the record  I HAVE THE BEST SISTER EVER.  I mean really,  we are so very different in how we look, what we like to do for fun,  music,  parenting,  but she  is my best friend besides my mom.  What a great God we have to bless me with her.  I LOVE YOU LIL' SIS!

B)  Saturday we went to the home of some new friends and I decided to take some craft stuff with me to do.  DID YOU HEAR THAT????  CRAFT STUFF?  I don't do crafts.  I like to look at craft blogs and dream that I want to do crafts,  I will even buy my girls stuff to do crafts.  But I have a love/hate relationship with crafts.  I want to LOVE to do them,  but I HATE the whole thing once it is finished.  But,  I had bought some felt to help my little girls make ornaments and crap stuff and took it over to cut things out and try to figure out what to do.  It would have been a very good thing, except I needed pinking shears...WHAT??  Scissors weren't good enough for this craft.  NOOOO,  I had to have PINKING Shears.  Sooooo,  my hate relationship won out.  Hopefully my really crafty daughter will pick up the ball and run with it,  very, very,  far away.  Thank you,  Haley.

C)  I met tonight with some wonderful ladies over coffee and chocolate.  Really, what ladies wouldn't be wonderful when you are full of coffee and chocolate.  This was our monthly Charlotte Mason support group.  It was lovely, and fun, and encouraging, and full of laughing,  and the Lord was over all.  Sweet ladies that help me each month to say,  "I can do this.  I am called to this.  They will survive and succeed...."   Thank you ladies. 

So,  this has really turned into a Thankful blog post.  And I am very thankful for the ladies God has placed in my life.  Even if they do intimidate me, and make me want to find the nearest book store or library and hide.  I could you know.  I did it once in Spain.  For hours.  I wonder if my mom even noticed I was gone.  She probably was very relieved.  I wonder...

thanks for reading,

Reb

Indians for Thanksgiving!!

We had the most wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  We live near an air base and there are many exchange airmen from around the world leaning the ins and outs of the plane.  Our church had invited a few men a couple of weeks ago to come eat and  visit and play games, and we were able to share about our faith with them.  They were so kind and talkative.  No quiet moments with this bunch. 

We have one tried and true tradition at Thanksgiving....it is different every year,  with different people, sometimes we go, sometimes we stay.  The last two years we have stayed but had different cultures over.  So this year we decided to make it authentic and invite Indians over....dot not feather.  And it was delightful!  We talked,  shared jokes,  discussed homeschooling,  politics,  the Pilgrims,  and our faith.  We knew we were from different countries,  but it was amazing how similar we are.  My son began telling a joke and one of the men had already heard it from his daughter!!!  Did you know in India they have laughter clubs.  People gather together and one person starts fake laughing until someone else gets tickled and then they all burst out laughing.  Rao said it was for their health.  I think it would be a blast.  I wonder how it would go over in church,  after prayer and before the sermon.   You know Proverbs says laughter is good medicine.  SIGH!!  The thoughts that go through my head...I am glad know one can read them!!!  Thanksgiving is such a great time to invite other cultures and faiths over and be able to share who Christ is with them.  It is as if God sent the mission field to us...and I am so glad that our "tradition"  allows for variety. 

We also had a family over we have  known just a short while, and what fun to get to know them.  They may never come back over after playing Dutch Blitz with us.  I am a little...COMPETITIVE!!!  As in,  I hope your ok I STOMPED ALL OVER YOUR EGO.   I think they are.   They asked Damon to come over and watch a game with them.....wait,  Damon,  not me.  HMM.  What if I promise to bring cookies and candy and flowers?  I'll beg. 

As usual this is wordy.  thanks for reading,

Reb

Playing Guestures.  They were very good.  And kept the score in their head,  not on paper.  I was impressed!!!

Making Indian coffee.  OH  MY GOODNESS!  And one of my sneaky kids drank most of mine.  Gotta watch the buggers.

The whole crew stuffed and happy.