Articles from December 2011

…It was so nice not to have to run out to the grocery store for breakfast essentials! Before leaving, I had purchased a half gallon of organic milk with an expiration date one month from now, so we were all set for breakfast this morning. (Organic milk seems to spoil a bit faster than regular milk once the seal has been broken, but has a much longer shelf life before opening.) I also had a loaf of pumpkin bread in the freezer that I plopped into the fridge last night, so our non-cereal lovers were able to enjoy some of that. Now if I had only remembered to buy some OJ before our trip…

Some other traveling notes off the top of my head:

-Flying Southwest was great! On-time departures and arrivals both ways were the highlight (they are very efficient!), as well as no baggage fees (we could pack a suitcase of gifts!) and a flight crew with a great sense of humor. We haven’t flown Southwest in quite a while, so maybe our experience was not the norm, but for now I have nothing but positive things to say!

-When flying a couple of days before Christmas, it is essential to make a parking reservation. I did NOT do this and we ended up having to park valet at one of the local parking lots – not a bad deal in the end (under $10 a day with the coupon), but I learned my lesson.

-Spending time with extended family is wonderful. Even though all of my parenting flaws seem to be amplified when living under the same roof as family members who only see my children a couple of times a year :), I am always amazed by the love and attention lavished upon us and our children during these times. Truly, I am very grateful to have others who can celebrate the positives in my children, and who have new suggestions on how to deal with the not-so-positives.

-Kids love the beach! Even though it was too cold to swim, our children loved playing in the sand – they actually played together for hours on end and enjoyed each other’s company. I think that the sound of the waves lulled them into a state of relaxation, and that fresh salty air caused them to sleep well at night! Maybe we need to consider a move to the coast

Happy New Year’s Eve to all of our dear readers!

I found this article a light chuckle amidst the cozy fire and twinkling Christmas tree lights.

Savor the season, friends.  We are, for sure!

BMama’s prior post reminds us that near and far there are families who might not be having the merriest of Christmases this year.  Whether your Christmas has been merry and bright, bittersweet or just plain sad, please be assured of our prayers for your family this year and into the New Year.  At Christmas, we see Our Lord vulnerable in the manger, and we celebrate His birth, but we know what is to come for that baby.  We know that He will suffer for us, that His Incarnation is the beginning of our redemption, but His suffering, Death and Resurrection are the next part of the story of our salvation and the salvation of the world.

Whatever this Christmas season brings to your family, may you cooperate with the graces of your situation and draw close to the Lord, may you know that His arms are open to you.

I’m asking tonight that you join me in prayer for a young man who needs a miracle.

He is a son, a father, a friend to many and has been told he has days to live.  I know his family would love your prayers for a miraculous turnaround in events.

You can follow his story here.  Thank you and God bless.

B-Mama suggested that we start a periodic column telling some of the less than perfect realities.  I want to add at the outset that my goal, in my less than perfection, is to remain loving and cheerful (love perfects all things), so this is NOT to be taken as complaining or denigrating the life of the family, just to give our readers a little window into the everyday foibles that even we Tigers face.

I can think of no better real scenario to begin with than this:

We got home at midnight last night, six kids in tow, from Christmas in New York.  The kids are exhausted, as am I, but strangely they are awake and hungry.  We are out of bread and milk.  I am serving cheese nachos and scrambled eggs for breakfast!

I have certain Mommy mantras, which come from this blog and other sources:  for example, do you all remember Red’s Burnt Cake (when you are trying to do too many things at once, one of them is bound to fail)?  Well, when you make something out of nothing, Nachos for Breakfast.

We are hosting Christmas this year, and since my blood pressure has been a bit high, I’m trying to rest as much as possible in these last weeks of pregnancy.  My parents will do most of the cooking at my home on Sunday, but I’m trying to keep this house in some semblance of order prior to Saturday.  I’ve solicited the help of my older two children in this regard, as I bark orders from the sofa.  They did a lot of cleaning for me yesterday, and I was quite impressed.  This morning I wandered into the schoolroom and discovered their battle plan.  Gianna had posted the following notice for her siblings (this is the unedited version)–

Rules for Makeing the house Neater–

1.  When you leve the room clean it up

2.  Clean up the room before playing

3.  Don’t play with a lot of toys

4.  Don’t make really cool things (ouch!)

5.  Try not to cut paper

6.  Keep small and breakable things away from Claire

7.  Don’t let the babys get markers

8.  Don’t let the babys get sicors (scissors)

With the exception of #4, which stung a bit, not a bad list.

Red let her son open my Christmas gift as soon as the package came, which meant that, to my good fortune, my gift got to stand alone instead of being part of a pile on Christmas morning.  He was really excited about it, and even called to thank me.  I think that it would be great if each gift got that sort of pride of place, but it is difficult in the rush of Christmas for a child to really stop, think, and appreciate each present.  Enter the Wednesday pile.

After the gifts are opened on Christmas morning and one or two are selected for immediate play, most things will go to a shelf in the basement called the Wednesday pile.  Wednesday is our day without outside activities, and while we all need the break mid week, by February, Wednesday can seem like a very long and lonely day.  Thus, Wednesday becomes the day to take out a new Lego set, board game, book or toy from the pile and then that present gets the child’s full attention for several days.  On this day, I am more free to help and participate if it is a new toy or game which requires set up or supervision.

With this strategy in place, our Christmas fun lasts through most of the long gray days of winter, keeping the children occupied and helping us all to avoid cabin fever.  We are able to find a proper home for a new gift rather than feeling like we are drowning in toys, and I can gradually cull old things that are out grown.

As you all know, I have some issues with clutter, and December 26th used to be a sad, sad day in our house, I would just sit overwhelmed looking at the gifts, even my own, and wondering where it would all go.  Eventually, I began to stress about this feeling througout December, and it really turned me into a grinch.  Before you judge me for this, just think about the multiplier effect.  If each of my children receive just four presents, that is 24 presents, and because they are close in age, it is likely to be 24 toys.

Now that I have a working plan in place, I watch with joy as my children open the gifts that thoughtful relatives have selected for them, because I know that this gift will not just become lost in a pile by New Years, but will instead provide us with fun, anticipation and things to do together for many months to come.  This year, my children already know that it is coming, and they must have liked it because they have asked about it and are looking forward to it.  A “plan” really frees a parent from being the bad guy — when the children know and expect the plan, it is not you taking away the gifts, it is just the plan.  It helps a lot that the plan comes with my promise to play with them each Wednesday and help them enjoy their new gift, and it is good for me to have a time when I really plan to lay on the floor and build Legos, otherwise I am always saying “not right now,” so the plan helps all of us.

I have found that it is really helpful to look at what your holiday stressors are and see what might be done to make this time of year more joyful — one lesson that I have finally learned is that I cannot change or control other people, and I should not try, so instead of, for example, continuing to ask them to give us fewer gifts or experiences instead of gifts (honestly, I don’t even want that many experiences on our schedule at this point!), I just needed to find a way to manage the gifts which suited my needs and goals.  It is just another example of what Kat called setting yourself up for success.  Oh, and I fully acknowledge that this is completely a first world problem and that complaining about too many gifts is irrational, which is why I am glad that you won’t find me doing it anymore!

In Texas we get cold rain instead of snow, which is not nearly so Winter Wonderland-ish as the white powder. It’s cold, dreary and very, very muddy. The kind of mud that sucks up mud boots of little boys and has my washing machine churning through the heavy duty cycle. Since we’ve been fighting generic winter colds, I’ve been low on energy and creativity.

Enter an easy dinner to make life just a bit simpler.

I warmed tomato soup from a box on the stove and made some grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. For the first time ever, I didn’t even stand over the stove cooking bacon, but laid it out on foil on a cookie sheet and popped it into the over. This is how restaurants do it…I don’t know why I haven’t done it before. So easy and zero clean up.

It was declared the “Best Dinner Ever,” especially since the boys could dip their sandwiches into their soup, ranking it behind my (in)famous nacho dinners when Dad is gone. Got to remember to keep this one on the back burner.

Some of us are missing a craft gene, others are very pregnant and in need of a simple nativity craft.  I picked up this box at the local Catholic store for only $7.99.

The box is filled with plain ceramic nativity figurines in need of painting.  My children LOVED painting them and they then insisted that we make a manger scene (I should have anticipated this).

I wanted something requiring little work on my end.  I settled on a simple shoebox nativity.  We then made this–

I want to emphasize that it was VERY simple.  I cut the top of the box to flatten it, then folded it in half and taped it with scotch tap to the bottom part of the box to make a triangle shaped roof.  I had the children glue brown paper squares to the top and sides.  We gathered some grass and pine needles for the floor.  We then cut out and glittered a star that I secured with a paper clip.  They have been playing with it daily and the figurines have held up well in the hands of our energetic two year old, otherwise known around here as  “Claire the destroyer.”

This Advent season has taught me plenty about the beauty of God’s grace.  When I strive for perfection, I inevitably fall short.  But that doesn’t mean that my erred, misshapen, miscalculated life can’t be beautiful in its own way.  It’s all about perspective.

Like the Christmas cut-outs the kids and I attempted last Friday.  It was a “first” for us and I admit to being a novice baker.  I don’t even own a rolling pin (FYI: Camelbak water bottles suffice in a pinch.)  Our product was less than stellar and the process getting there was rather harried, squeezed in before dinner.  It was even tumultuous at times–picture 3 of 4 children crying–the baby because she was hungry and two others as they fought over the chair nearest the cookie dough.  Then the cut-outs stuck to the table (not enough flour) and we were forced to start over, our project taking a nosedive.  We persevered, however, and ended up sitting around the oven laughing as we watched the cookies run together on the pan while baking.   I had my own chortle later as I cleaned up, musing at my motherly miscalculations and clear miss at perfection.   The cookies’ odd angles and blurry edges were imperfect, but the beauty of our togetherness and the pride among us at accomplishing this feat, very evident.

You can chalk our Christmas tree up to “imperfection” status.  I walked in to see the gorgeous fir in our corner, thanks to the Cost.co labors of my husband.  Upon walking toward the fireplace, however, something was missing.  It was the lower left part of the tree!  He had cleverly hidden it toward the back, but the vacancy was not to be missed.  ”Next time I’m unwrapping it to make sure this doesn’t happen again!” was his response.  It’s not perfect, but never before have we had a tree so tall and high-reaching in our high-ceiling living room.  It looks gorgeous now adorned with ornaments and the kids can see no imperfection.  It represents a beautiful holiday we will share together, times of dancing and decorating, unveiling and celebration.  It is imperfect and absolutely beautiful.

Beyond all this, Advent has taught me about loss and sacrifice juxtaposed to a bountiful time of year.  I am humbled watching families grieve and endure.  They are struggling and aching and I am feeling their grief from afar.  It is as imperfect as life gets.  The pain is acute.  Yet Christ is present and I am in awe watching these families in crisis cling to our Lord.  Talk about beauty.  Raw beauty.

He is the Source of all things beautiful, for all of us who are anything but perfect.  Thanks be to God.