A Little Bit of This and That

So I'm sitting here on my comfy couch, all cozy and warm with the Christmas tree softly lighting the living room, a pine needle candle tricking my nose into thinking my tree is real, and wishing I could stay home tomorrow with a book! I think Thanksgiving break spoiled me. We returned home from Southern Indiana on Sunday after a WONDERFUL and much-needed break. John was only able to be with us long enough to eat Thanksgiving dinner, so it was bittersweet. His manager at Costco is asking all employees to work full time until after the holidays, so he had to return to Missouri early to work the weekend. Meanwhile, the kids and I relished every moment away. I think they spent every waking moment with one of their cousins, and I enjoyed hanging out with my mom and sisters. Saturday we traveled to Nashville, Indiana, for a beautiful, sunny, 60-degree day of shopping at all of the unique and rustic shops there. What a treat! Anna's highlight was probably finding a dress for her 8th grade dinner and theater social coming up on the 10th. The hardest part was helping her try on all of those dresses with her cast. Yes - I did say cast. My children attract broken bones like honey attracts flies, though the doctors keep assuring me there's nothing wrong with them. Anna was playing volleyball with a friend at recess (it will be two weeks this Friday), ran backwards, tripped and tried to catch herself with her left arm. Her left arm didn't cooperate, and she ended up with a badly broken wrist. Thankfully, everything has stayed where it's supposed to and she should be in a short cast by next Monday. We even scoped out the cast colors when we were at the doctor's office the first time and they do have a black cast - the perfect accessory for all of your evening wear. As someone who speaks from experience, I have to observe that a 13-year-old with a broken bone is somewhat more of a challenge than an 11 or 9 or 7 or 5 year old with a broken bone. Let's just say younger children don't require any shaving and generally aren't as particular about their hair. Noah's highlight was probably an outing he had with his Papaw and cousin, Olivia. My dad treated them to an afternoon at the mall where he bought Noah some basketball shoes that are WAY too nice for the son of a part time Costco employee to be wearing. We keep reminding Noah to tell everyone they were a gift! Overall, life is treating us well and we cherish our many blessings including a strong marriage, great kids, our "daily bread" and then some, and the peace we have in knowing that God's will is perfect, pleasing and good. Still no news on the job front, but we will keep you posted. Well, hopefully that gives you a little window into our world for the time being. Until next time, may God richly bless you and make your Christmas season truly joyous.

October's Whirlwind

Whew! Where did October go? I can't believe we're already at the end of my favorite month of the year. With all the rain we've had this month (one of the wettest on record), there haven't been a lot of opportunities for getting outside, but man the trees are gorgeous!! I haven't seen colors this rich for a long time. October is always packed full with hay ride socials for the middle schoolers, birthday parties for Noah, volleyball games for Anna and lots of caffeine for John and Julie who just try to keep up. Speaking of Noah's birthday (my "little" guy turned 11 this year), he had quite the drawn out celebration. We started the weekend of the 16th with a sleepover for him and five of his best buds, followed by a walk-a-thon the next morning to help his friend, Josh, raise money for research for a rare autoimmune disease that causes his immune system to attack the lining in his esophagus - a very painful condition that has no cure and no successful treatments. It was neat to see the boys really get into helping out their friend, even if it meant I had to sit on the steps during the sleepover and pepper exclamations of "Quiet!" over their whispered giggles for a half hour before they finally gave up and fell asleep so I could get them up at 7:15 and to the park for the walk. This past weekend we celebrated with my family. Mom, Dad, my middle sister Erin and her family (9 guests in all in our little house!) came and stayed through Sunday. We had a blast hanging out together, eating way too much, and catching up on each others' lives. Yes, life has been busy, but I marvel at its many blessings.

Even in the midst of this flurry of activity, love has made its imprint on our lives. John begins a job at Costco this Saturday and while it's not the counseling job he would like, we know there are many who would be eager to have the opportunity to work again, and we give thanks. Friends and family have reached out to us in our time of need with a generosity and selflessness that reminds us of Someone else who has given all for our sakes, and we rejoice. As a wise man once said, "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." We think he was right.

School Days, Fried Pickles and Hopeful Hearts

Well, this past week has been kind of hairy. Even though I'm technically part time this year, I've gotten home past four every day so far. That's pretty much how the beginning of the school year is, though. School's in! Let's have a retreat! School's in! Let's have a service project day! School's in! We have to have parent night, preceded by back to school night in addition to 8th grade trip meeting night. It's crazy busy, but it's good. Anna and Noah have had a great start back. Anna is part of the chapel band this year, which leads worship at school every Tuesday morning. She's one of three singers, but hasn't quite got used to standing in front of a crowd and leading. This morning we had a special event, See You at the Pole, and I and one of the chapel band leaders were standing behind the crowd practically standing on our heads to get the girls to sing LOUDER! Anna is also loving youth group, (which her dad leads), as you can see from the food-fight photo taken at the weekend campout. Noah is having a lot of fun getting to know his 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Elzinga. She's a lot of fun and a good fit for Noah who, you know, can be "energetic." Noah and I have been playing some one-on-one basketball in the evenings and his three pointers have done me in more than once. He also likes to cook, hence the experimental fried pickle we tried recently. I have to say, I had my doubts, but I guess anything fried in butter is a winner. John is still looking for a job, but we are hopeful he'll get a call for an interview this week. It's for a position with Boys and Girls Town, which is a residential children's facility, as a daytime therapist. It's in St. James, an hour-and-a-half away, but we are not in a position to be picky! He got the unofficial word that the vice president was planning on having her assistant contact him within the next couple of days, but that was Monday and still no call. We passionately believe God has a purpose for everything he allows to happen in our lives, so we pray for the patience to wait on His perfect timing. My mom is here visiting through Friday afternoon so she could participate in Grandparents' Day at school tomorrow. She's taking us out to dinner tomorrow night which is REALLY exciting for me since eating out hasn't been on the menu - no pun intended - since about February. Unless you count the 20 free meals I won from Qdoba for singing karaoke over the summer, but that's a different story . . .

P.S. Okay, I haven't figured out how to put captions under my pictures yet, so the first one is the aftermath of Anna's youth group food fight, the second is, obviously, my pickle frier, and the one beneath is a picture of me and my boss, Cathy at the 7th grade retreat.

Bogged Down Deadbeat's Blog Breakthrough

Well, this is truly earth shattering. I - a self-confessed reluctant technology user - creating a blog. And John isn't even here to help. Sorry if I sound a bit impressed with myself, but - well - I am. So if I don't really like trying to keep up with the "technology Joneses," why am I doing this? It's pretty simple. I have friends and family now, literally, all over the world. I really stink at picking up the phone or even shooting out emails. I'm an all-or-nothing person and sometimes the thought of how many people I should try to catch up on or try to catch up on me can overwhelm me into doing nothing. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but you can give her a blog. So here's to all of you long lost friends, you neglected grandparents, aunts, uncles and other sundry family members and buddies who have inspired me to cast off my technology-rejecting ways and give this a shot. Now what do I do about pictures?!