Is the Christmas stress beginning to set in for any of you?

I can feel it. Christmas is more of a Mega-Urgent Task for me this year. I’m spending next week away at Science Camp with my kids. I’m afraid it’s going to be one of those no t.v./no internet sort of deals, since it’s a retreat center. That bums me out. How’s a girl supposed to entertain two pre-schoolers all day and night and do any Christmas shopping, without the internet or television?

What was I thinking, signing up for this?

Do you think the children would let me back out?

Once we get back, late in the evening on the 11th, we will turn around and fly to Alabama on the 13th.

Who planned this? I need to develop a greater compassion for my future self when I’m signing up for mess. Instead, I’m afraid I’m going to BE the mess.

So that’s my dilemma. To get out of Science Camp or to not get out of it? Can you tell which way I’m leaning?

Ironically enough, I have just begun reading this fantastic book. If you are related to me, don’t buy it. You might be getting it for Christmas. If you are not related to me, BUY IT, read it. You won’t regret it.  Here’s a link.  It’s called The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst.

I loved this quote from the book:

“That daily stuff–those responsibilities that seem more like distractions–those things we want to rush and just get through to get on with the better and bigger assignments of life–those things that are unnoticed places of service? They are the very experiences from which we unlock the riches of wisdom. We’ve got to practice wisdom in the everyday places of our lives.”      Lisa Terkeurst, page 41

Ah, the everyday tasks….

deciding whether or not to cancel Science Camp

potty training

feeding children—Doesn’t it seem like all you do, as a mom? By the time you clean up one meal, it’s time to begin prepping the next.

laundry—oh laundry

Crying, sick toddlers

children that should be napping.

the desperate desire to rest…

I went to sleep at 8:30pm Saturday night, with a fever of 99.8. I didn’t fully wake up until 8:30am Sunday morning. Don’t worry. I’m not sick, but I live with a fever half the time, and we don’t know why.

I have a rheumatologist appointment on Wednesday, but I have this feeling that they will not be able to figure it out either, and they’ll send me home saying that I’m fine.

I know. I’m sounding like a bummer. I DO NOT want to be such a drag, so allow me to share happier thoughts..

Our two years in California feels like a strange detour. We’ve been plunked down in what is not a foreign land, and yet in many ways it is.

Even the seasons are different. The grass turns green in November. It turns brown around June.

This is what brings me the most comfort through all of the uncertainty, the decisions that come with being a parent, the health problems, the loneliness of home schooling, and the home-sickness:

Trusting God.

I am prone to full-on stress-ball fits of freaking out. Get two or three kids talking in my ear, about two or three different demands, and a toddler asking to pee, all at once, and I begin to unravel.

I can’t take it! Would you please all take a number and sit down? No, there are no numbers, but there should be!!

But God is here. God brought us here, and He does not leave us alone. Let the world think what they want to think. Let the angry people fuss. Doesn’t matter.

This world is a beautiful place, created by God himself. Believing otherwise is foolish. My sons love to make things out of Lego blocks. I wouldn’t look at one of their creations and try to figure out how it came to be. It is obviously created by someone.

That applies even more so with living, breathing people. Humans, animals, and plants are incredible! How could anyone look at these intricate systems and believe that they magically formed themselves? Ludicrous.

Believing is a choice. Some people simply refuse to believe in anything. The skeptics. I do pity the skeptics. They are living with only a portion of God’s love in their life, and they have no idea what they are missing.

But the world is so full of both God’s love and the Devil’s lies, that the skeptics don’t recognize which is which. Even the believers sometimes have trouble discerning the difference, myself included.

I am not a skeptic.

I’m a believer, a believer in God, and in Jesus, his Son. I believe in showing love even when you don’t want to do so. While I find this almost impossible to do, I believe in not retorting to insults, because what good will it do?

I believe in teaching kids kindness and respect. That’s right, respect. And obedience! I believe in God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

I believe in loving even the people I do not agree with. You will never see a person-bashing post on my Facebook wall.

I believe in humility, in acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers. Peace, goodness knows I believe in peace. When I am thinking clearly, I carefully choose each word I speak, always trying to promote peace. Unless I am in stress-ball mode, when I do not at all do what I want to do, but instead I do the complete opposite.

But I believe that with God’s help, I can improve! I believe all people can improve.

My grandma wrote this poem. I love it. It applies perfectly to the theme of my past year and a half in California: Trusting God, when you’ve reached the end of yourself. There are problems too big for me to fix. All I can do is show love. Let God take care of the rest.

Humility

Keep me humble, oh Lord.

Keep me humble as a little child.

Never let me forget

You were with me while

I had many burdens

That alone I couldn’t bear;

You were ever beside me

Guiding me with Your care.

Never let me take credit

For any deed You have done.

Never let me think that alone

Any battle I have won.

Always walk beside me

As through life I go;

And somehow through me

Please let Your glory show.

by BHK

We wish you a merry Christmas!! I just stuck my head out the door and subjected the neighbor boys to a 5 minute lecture/lesson on scooter safety. Haha!!  I love being old!

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Yes, that is DaddyO in a Sheldon t-shirt. Gotta love it!

This past weekend the boys and I headed to a family reunion in Georgia. We rode along with Alan’s parents. It was Nonna, Dan, JD, and me in one car and DaddyO, Joshua, and Caleb in DaddyO’s truck. It was a 5 hour trip. THANKFULLY, it went surprisingly well. No problems at all. Wahoo!!!!

We used to all get together the day after Christmas, but since Christmas has become so hectic for everyone, this side of the family moved the gathering to summer time. This was the second year that we all gathered at Magnolia Springs State Park. I believe it was also the second year that it rained most of the time. No biggie. We still had a great time.

Thank you so much, DaddyO and Fran for sharing the family stories and traditions. Fran, when you went around telling us “We’re going to play a little game, but if you don’t want to participate, you don’t have to, just please don’t laugh…” many were thinking, “What in the world is she talking about?” Ha!!  But this was really fun and interesting.

For those who weren’t there, let me explain. Alan’s Aunt Fran brought a famous poem and read it to us, and then we all made our own version of it and shared it with the group.  Fran made it super easy for us by just copying the poem, only taking out the specifics for us to fill in our own blanks. This is another activity I will have to remember for when the boys get a little bit older! It was a good way to learn a little more about each other.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

 There’s only one thing cuter than a baby: 2 babies!!!  or 3!!

How many people can you squeeze into a three bedroom cabin??  We packed in 11. Yep. I counted Amy’s pregnancy. 😉 Now, in our defense, these rooms are huge. Each bedroom has 2 full size beds. It will sleep 12 even!

Of course, that does mean I had to share my room with one little boy and one baby. Little boys aren’t so bad, but JD turned out to be a pretty horrible room mate, which is why I never choose to sleep in the same room with him. This weekend was definitely a form of sleep torture for me.

On Saturday, we met up with the rest of the family. The boys loved this. They quickly formed a spy club. They even separated themselves into two teams. It was adorable.

taking a vote…..the yeses won

wiffle ball and cornhole

Nice selfie, Jay

DaddyO gave us all an overview of some of his family ancestry research findings. This was all very interesting. This side of the family hails mostly from Great Britain and boasts Johnny Cash as a relative. They have ancestors that fought bravely for the South in the Civil War. That’s about all I can remember…

You can also see Jay and JD in the background of the above photo. Jay was wonderful about carrying little JD around, which was such a great break for me. Thank you so much, Jay!!

Well, at least one person was ready for this photo! 🙂 

Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the big boys!!

We took all the boys to the playground. As soon as I arrived, little Dan slid down a slide with a giant puddle and soaked his pants. This greatly upset him, so I took him back and changed his clothes. Our cabin was about a mile from the playground, but Dan begged me to go back to the playground once he was changed. Never considering the sky full of giant, gray clouds, I said, “Sure,” piled Dan into the stroller, and set off. About halfway there, the bottom fell out. Yep. You should have seen me, soaking wet, pushing an umbrella stroller, and running in the rain. Oh, and did I mention I had just eaten more than my share of banana bread??  I was one hot, nauseous mess when that was over.

I changed shirts and carried on. Dan, who had simply been riding in the stroller, conked out in bed. Sometimes I wish I were 3.

JD says, “Let’s get this party started!!”

Nonna and Val and the dueling plastic game thingy

Aunt Frannie brought this box full of toys and trinkets and whipped it out Saturday night. It contained things like balloons, balls that will stick to the wall, slingshot monkey, rattly plastic teeth. You wouldn’t believe how well this entertained us all! DaddyO later explained to me that this was an idea she got from their dad. When they were young, their dad received a promotional box of toys for a few years from his job, where he worked as a purchasing agent. (I hope I got all of that right!! Feel free to add details in the comments!) Of course, that was Alan’s grandfather’s second profession, before that he was an Army officer. How history does repeat itself!

Fran, I thought this was an awesome idea, which I will take with me to each duty station, and whip out for our own parties!! We do enjoy entertaining.

Do you see the gator? Joshua got out an animal book and did his research yesterday. The bottom teeth on an alligator do not show when their mouth is closed, but on a crocodile they do. Joshua wrote all of this out for us and drew us a diagram–all of his own accord. Nope. I don’t think home-schooling boy #1 will be too hard–as long as we study animals everyday. Ha! No, obviously we can’t do that, but I do plan to have lots of animals books available to him for his silent reading time.

Oh the sweetness!! The babies enjoyed the attention from their beautiful older cousin.

We were sitting on the porch, and Amy said, “April, you are the only woman of child bearing age on this porch that is not pregnant.” Hallelujah! I love babies, but it’s time for a break!! We had three second trimester mommas present this weekend–all due within a month of each other!

The oreo game!! The object is to be the 1st to get the cookie from your forehead to your mouth.

Yes!!!  2nd place!!!

Hey, I get it. This is how I feel when I complete a 5K. Who needs to win?

Beth wins it!

Melody called this photo ‘the remnant’ photo. We took this Sunday morning. It was just all of us out-of-town cabin dwellers. 

saying good-byes 

We all thoroughly enjoyed this. We only get to see this side of the family once a year. Wish it could be more often!!

“I am from those moments

snapped before I budded

leaf-fall from the family tree”

–poem excerpt from Where I’m From, a poem by George Ella Lyon

For the complete poem, please visit his website: www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

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