Doing the Next Thing

I planned a really yummy Easter menu: boneless leg of lamb with mint balsamic drizzle, roast chicken (for the non-lamb-eaters), sweet potatoes, asparagus, fancy green salad, and homemade lemon meringue pie. But we didn't eat that - not one bit of it. Instead we had pizza. In the photo above, the caprese skewers represent the only homemade item we had at our entire Easter feast! And it was GREAT! It's been a busy few weeks, and even Spring Break was filled with things like taxes & doctors' appointments. So when the Saturday before Easter came and I started making my little "to do" list ... I also started to panic. My quick-thinking (and awesome) husband decided that the remedy was to skip it all, have pizza for Easter, and take the kids to a carnival Saturday night instead of staying up all hours to finish deviled eggs. We had a blast at the carnival -- I wish you could have seen K's reaction to the thrill of her first fun house, first ferris wheel....

I love this post from the Femina blog. So familiar. We are in the midst of our own festive happy chaos. Decorating & redecorating (after kids/cats un-decorate.) Baking cookies instead of dinner. Too many events. But rejoicing - the King of Heaven humbled himself to be born a poor, human baby, live in our broken world, and die for the forgiveness of sins. So ... let's whoop it up and embrace the chaos!

We enjoyed a glorious Easter celebrating the Risen Lord with family and friends. We worked hard for days to prepare. Some unexpected things popped up, needing attention in the beginning of the week, so I again found myself with a longer-than-I-wished To Do list at the end of Holy Week. But it was ok, because the anticipation of the joyful event pushed me on with a cheerful heart. Each of the five kiddos were assigned their own zones in the house in which to become a 'cleaning tornado,' and they all met the challenge. We cleaned, we cooked, we decorated. And then, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated! (Or as I like to say, we 'feasted like Hobbits.') Of course, in spite of my 4yo's proclamation that "I wish it could be Easter every day!" ... it's not. Monday was a school day, and I had art class to prepare for and teach. Which meant, for the time being, ignoring the fact that the house looked like this: Today was my first real day to have a chance to...

40th Birthday self-portrait

naptime for our Christmas kitten

a nd Happy New Year, from our family to yours! S (15), C (13), M (10), A (5), & K (3) Glory to God in the highest!

I take for granted sometimes that my Littles know all the things I've been teaching the Big 3 lo these many years. But I discovered yesterday there are some ... shall we say ... gaps in their body of knowledge about Advent and the Nativity. So I did it ... I broke down yesterday and bought this: The Little People Nativity set. Family Christian Store had it on sale. It's not elegant. It's a bit cartoonish. But it's got A (5) and K (3) enjoying the Christmas Story for hours on end and sparking their interest in hearing the story from the Bible.

How was everyone's Christmas? Ours was good. Busy - as always, but good. This is our year to travel and be with all of my side of the family. So we celebrated our faux Christmas Morning with our children on the 24th, then headed to Tennessee for a Christmas bash that included 12 adults and 11 children! It really is a blessing to gather that many family members to celebrate and fellowship, even if it is what my Mom calls "happy chaos." We also took the opportunity to get a portrait done of the entire family. I can't wait to see the results and post the picture. It was actually much easier - and faster - than I thought it would be to get a good shot of so many people, five of whom are age 4 and under! Now it is New Year's Eve and I sit here in the midst of a mess of presents, luggage, and packaging - evidence that we left in a rush - and I'm struggling to get it all put away and tidied up. I titled my blog Doing the Next Thing, because that seems to be wha...

--Be careful with your camera's memory card! I had an SD card disaster this week and lost a bunch of pictures. Lessons learned: 1. don't delete pics from the card using Windows - do it on the camera; 2. get some prints once in a while and back the dern thing up before you have 500 pics piled up! --In other "tech" news: our kids truly are more tech savvy than we. A (4), in a wise-in-his-own-eyes attempt to turn on a Sp*der-M*an cartoon, ordered Fre*d Cla*us on demand for $4.99! Not my first choice for movie night w/ my Sweetie, but we weren't going to let 5 bucks go to waste. --Christmas decor and baking ... am I the only one who struggles with frustration at the huge mess being festive makes? I love doing Christmas-y things with the family, but it takes motivation to stay jolly while working overtime. ;-) --Check out the Samaritan's Purse Gift Catalog . We're letting our kids choose one item from the catalog to earn money for by doing extra chores. It...

What's been going on, you ask? Well... on the one hand, it feels like a whole lotta nuthin! On the other hand, I've been incredibly busy with daily life. You know the drill, the kind of busy where everyone gets fed, clothed, cleaned, and tutored each day and you fall into bed at night - only to get up and do it all over again. The weeks fly by, and poof! It's Thanksgiving before you know it! That's ok, though. We've laughed, loved, learned, and served. K (2) continues to keep us in stitches with the funny things she says and does. The latest is her announcement that "I go bafroom you" each time I say I have to go to the bath*room. She runs in, lifts the lid, and stands ready to assist me in any way. Future attendant at a 5-star hotel? The Big 3 have enjoyed their enrichment classes, culminating in a medieval feast for M (9) and some pretty amazing President projects for S (14) and C (12). A's (4) obsession with the human body has been replaced with Spi...

Well, 2007 is under wraps and 2008 has begun. I am again amazed at how fast time flies by! I have a teenager in the house to remind me that the 19-month-old will grow up and become too big to sit in my lap faster than I would like! But the Lord is good and " the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." Psalm 16:6 We had a wonderful Christmas! My parents came down and stayed with us for several days, which was a treat in itself. But it was even more fun to have them here on Christmas morning to share in the kids' excitement. We enjoyed a yummy buffet at a resort in Stone Mountain Park and the whole day was full of happiness and blessings! Last night, while my oldest was at a youth group party, the rest of us rang in the New Year with sparkling grape juice, fireworks, and chocolate fondue. C and M wanted to stay up to watch the ball drop and we let them. But it was a little anti-climactic because they were so sleepy they...

I'm going to sign off for a while to focus on celebrating the wonder of the Savior's birth with my family. Before I go, here's a summary of the year at our house: 2007 by the Numbers 7 states driven to (or through) on several trips to visit family and the beach 4 Build-A-Bears M. now owns, lovingly caring for each of them 56 (minimum) diapers per week before A. was potty trained 28 diapers per week after A. was potty trained 100 approx. milk gallons consumed 322 est. hours my Sweetie spent in Atlanta traffic (and he works from home 2 days per week!) 20 books on CD he listened to while in the car 11 weeks spent coping with a 2-year-old in a cast after A. broke his leg in February 90 unforgettable minutes it took for the pain to subside after S. was stung by a stingray on his 13th birthday - minor surgery removed the barb embedded in his big toe and he remains a lover of marine animals 3 grades learning in our home school this year, 7th, 5th, and 3rd ?thousands? of legos sc...

Those words are the title of an essay in Elisabeth Elliot's book The Music of His Promises . I've been feeling overwhelmed lately with the busy-ness of December - in spite of all my efforts to keep it un -busy. This entry I read during my quiet time really struck me. Elisabeth says... To be busy is to be engaged in an occupation which makes it inconvenient to be disturbed. [Jesus] was at the disposal of His Father at all times and therefore at the disposal of all whom the Father sent to Him. There was never a sign of moodiness, selfishness, offense, boredom, or busyness...We can learn to see every minute of our day as His, not ours...Knowing where we come from and to Whom we are going relieves us of the anxiety that makes us so fussy and so hard to live with. ( The Music of His Promises (2000 edition), pp 158-159) I have been very fussy and hard to live with these last few days. My mind is full of all the things I have to do to prepare for Christmas. Mind you, nearly all the t...

Here's what happens when you're baby #5, sick, and your Mommy is busy addressing Christmas cards... ...you fall asleep on the floor, listening to "Baby Santa's Music Box" while waiting for Mommy to come put you in the bed for a nap! Poor thing!

Today is the day to remember the man who inspired the Santa myth. The real St. Nicholas was a 4th century bishop who was known for his compassion and zeal for the gospel. Dr. George Grant (a good friend of my father) illuminates the history of this great man here . In our house we put chocolate coins in the kids' shoes before they got up, and also gave them a new Veggie Tales Christmas video -just for fun. We have a great book on St. Nicholas we'll read at our lunchtime devotions - I want my kids to know the real "St. Nick," who is way more interesting than the jolly dude in the furry suit!

We put up our tree this weekend and I was struck by how the whole process has evolved through the years. In the beginning it was a quietly joyful ritual performed by a young newly married couple, madly in love, looking forward to growing a family and establishing their own traditions. Fast forward 15 years and five kids. The scene now seems like chaos at first glance. Yet there is the same couple, still madly in love, with their growing children all around, following the family traditions. As " A Very Veggie Christmas " plays in the background, we open the boxes of ornaments that tell our story. We sing along with the corny songs, laugh, drink hot chocolate, and share memories attached to all our favorite ornaments... "Oh! That was the year we went to DisneyWorld! Do you remember how excited M. was when she finally got to meet Belle ?!" "When Mommy and I first got married, we couldn't afford Christmas ornaments. So we bought a few red ribbons at KMart to ...

Thanksgiving For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, For love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. -Ralph Waldo Emerson In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -I Thessalonians 5:18 I'm a little late with a "Thanksgiving" post, but I wanted to pause before Advent begins and reflect on the Lord's bountiful goodness to us. The poem above sums it up - we had each of those things in abundance: days the Lord made for us to enjoy and glorify Him; shelter in the form of my Mom's house in Tennessee; good health and good food (yum!); the love of over 20 family members gathered into one big noisy, joyful bunch - "blessings all mine with ten thousand beside. Great is Thy Faithfulness!"