The Christmas season

So here it is, the Christmas season, a time of stress and anguish for many...only I'm not feeling stressed and anguished! I must be forgetting something! Actually I stress in November, like the day after Thanksgiving - aaaagh, I have to get my Christmas cards done, aaaaaagh, I'm not done with my shopping, aaaagh, the house isn't decorated... I think you get the picture. I've always been weird this way, needing to get things done way ahead so that when the actual event happens, I'm not stressed. So I guess I stress about stress or something haha!

So here it is 2 weeks before Christmas, my shopping is done, the gifts that have arrived (I like to shop on-line and avoid those stressful lines) are wrapped, I've made goodies (aaaaaagh, I have to get them delivered NOW!!) and I'm kind of bored. How odd is that!!

In case I sound like I'm bragging because I'm done, or in case I sound like I'm organized, I'M NOT!! I'm just...weird. And if you don't believe me...I'm already working on crafts for VBS next June! Who does that??

A wonderful Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - I know I did. We went to Wichita to spend it with my husband's family. Some of them live in the KC area, some live in the Wichita area, everyone was there at my mother-in-law's house...except one poor brother-in-law who just had hip replacement surgery and stayed home.

I love my husband's family, but I have to admit I didn't always appreciate them. I grew up on the mission field where the closest thing we had to family was another missionary family, and they lived a long ways away. So when we moved to Wichita a year after we were married (the whole family lived there then), what with everybody going to the same small church, getting together for birthdays and holidays, it seemed a bit too...much. Sometimes. Even though I really liked them and had a great time with them. They were wonderful people, but I just wasn't used to it. And I was young and stupid. Then people started moving away - first a brother and his wife, then a sister and her husband, then a niece...and I realized how much I missed them and had taken the whole family togetherness thing for granted. Then we moved away and there were no more birthday celebrations with family, only holiday celebrations, so we didn't see each other for months at a time. And I came to realize just how stupid I had been.

I'm thankful my eyes were opened (or maybe I just grew up), and I'm incredibly thankful for this family. They are not my husband's family, they are my family, and I'm proud to be a part of it. We may not always agree on everything, we all have our quirks (me more than anyone!), but we love each other. Because that's what family does.

A visit from my Momma

I haven't written on here for awhile because I had a very important visitor for 2 weeks - my momma :) What a great time we had! I have to tell you about my mom. She is one of the kindest and wisest ladies I know, although she would (and does) say that she is far from that. But this is MY blog, so my opinion is the one that counts here... She is also one of the strongest women I know, not necessarily physically (although she is that too for the most part) but mentally and spiritually. My dad was a quadriplegic for about the last decade of his life, and Mom took amazing care of him. I think it would be safe to say that she kept him alive and fairly well all those years until he went to be with the Lord 11 months ago. The care and devotion she showed him taught me lessons I will never ever forget.

So...our visit. She's been in the area before and seen the Garden of Eden, so we skipped that. She THOUGHT she'd been to the Big Ball of Twine, but she's never seen it the way I showed it to her HAHA! Sad to say, the painting of the Statue of Liberty holding a ball of twine has broken in half and is falling out of the window, but she still got a big kick out of it and all the other paintings. AND we took her to the Home on the Range cabin which she really enjoyed. We also stopped in Portis to show her that the animator for Porky Pig was from there. Other than that, we scrapbooked (she does such a beautiful job so I let her do banquet pictures for me!), we gardened, we sat by the pond, we talked. And talked some more. She is working on a book about my dad's life, so we also worked on editing the chapters she has already written. Did I mention that she is an amazing woman? She also got a chance to spend lots of time with my kids which they all enjoyed.

One of the pages Mom scrapbooked for me

In Portis, home of the animator for Porky Pig - you can't see it very well, but on the right side of the top piece is a picture of Porky Pig

My beautiful Mom, me, and my beautiful daughter

The Dutch Windmill in Smith Center
Home on the Range Cabin

The only bad time in our visit came the night before she was supposed to leave. We'd taken her to Wichita Friday night because she had a very early flight Saturday morning. Well, she took quite a tumble in the hotel that night and ended up in the ER getting her chin glued back together. She also hit her head pretty hard. So she and I ended up spending almost 3 extra days together until she felt up to flying out. It was quality time, but I'm not sure the price was worth it! Poor Mom is still suffering from the bruises and bumps and her aching chin. I wanted to send her back all rested and relaxed! Well, she rested all right, but it's hard to be relaxed when everything hurts!

So now she's gone, and I can't wait til she comes back! Love you Mom!!

The Scottish Festival

My family and I went to the Scottish Festival in McPherson today. We went last year for the first time and really enjoyed it. We all have different things we enjoy--Joey LOVES the sword and knife booth (picture in a moment!), Sarah enjoys the Blackheart Fencing Club, Zach enjoys the different Scottish and Irish dances (especially the hardshoe jigs today), my husband likes the sheepdog demonstrations, and I REALLY enjoy the 'tossing of the caber' and the bagpipes. The Massed Pipe Bands are amazing, and when they all play Amazing Grace at once my heart feels incredibly full! Last year was the first time I heard bagpipes live, and I was enthralled. It was also the first time I saw men in kilts! I also love the way the drummers twirl their fleece-covered drumstick 'thingies'--seems like quite a talent! Watching the men in the Athletic competitions is fun, but there is just something wrong with 500 pound women in kilts flinging large metal balls around...

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Joey's purchase - where were his parents?? The cell phone is there so you can see the size of that knifey thing!

My purchase! Santa in full Scottish kit playing the bagpipes

Zach bought a jacket...looks quite dashing with his shorts! He is sitting in the trolley that takes everyone back and forth from the Festival to parking

The Blackheart Fencing Club

Outside the Scottish Festival - I liked the bridge!

My Dream

A friend asked me the other day what I dreamed of before I became a pastor's wife. Hm, good question. As a kid, I wanted to be a scientist, then a doctor, then a cowgirl. Apparently I lowered my sights over the years!

At first I couldn't remember having any dreams as I got older, then I remembered that I really wanted to be a mom; since I have 4 kids, I guess I achieved that one! Once I became a mom and a pastor's wife, I started dreaming about becoming an author. My mom, bless her heart, must have had an inkling, because she kept every email I sent her over the years and later sent them all back to me since they told about our lives here in the middle of nowhere.

Then I started writing articles about my kids for a column in our paper called Village Voices. The paper wanted to add my picture to it, but something my dad always said came to mind--Fools' names and fools' faces often appear in public places! So I decided I better not! I had quite a following of little old ladies in town who told me I brought back memories of when their kids were little. This was all a few years back, and some of those ladies still come up to me and tell me they miss that column! Many of the articles were about my youngest, Joey; since he couldn't read yet there was no danger of him finding out what I wrote about him unless one of his siblings told on me! He was a wild little fellow, all boy, and always out to get himself killed. We were in the park one day, and he was doing something dangerous (as usual), and I yelled, "JOEY!" A lady came up to me and said, "Is that THE Joey?" I had to laugh because I didn't even know her.

Anyway, back to the author dream. I decided to start on a book using those old emails and columns; I even had a couple of titles: Living Life in the Middle of Nowhere, or maybe Diary of an Insane Pastor's Wife. Wait, that sounds like the pastor is insane... Anyway, then I started thinking about what Dad said...and then I figured if I wrote a book it would probably end up on a shelf in the Dollar Tree...and then I put it away. Someday I'll take that file with half a book in it, blow the dust off it, finish it up, print a few copies...and give them to those sweet little white-haired ladies who cheered me on, should they still be alive. I even have the perfect cover picture for it:

Some day!

Boys and Girls

I've decided if nothing exciting is happening in the present I'll revisit the past, and now that I'm babysitting a little girl, I'm remembering how different my little boys and girls were from each other even as little bitty kids. I was looking through some things and found this conversation from when my oldest daughter and son were 5 and 3:

Daughter: Let's pretend we're in love.
Son: Yeah, and let's pretend we fight.
Daughter: And let's pretend we want to get married.
Son: Yeah, and let's pretend I have a sword and spear.
Daughter: And let's pretend you say you love me.
Son: Yeah, and let's pretend I knock your head off with my slingshot.
Daughter: And let's pretend I'm a beautiful princess.
Son: Yeah, and let's pretend my RC car came alive and ran over a boy and Sherriff Woody came along and arrested RC and took him to jail and RC got out and ran over Sherriff Woody and took his head off.
Daughter: And let's pretend that we couldn't get married because you're not a prince, and a princess can only marry a prince so we can't get married after all, and I have to go find a prince...

Don't tell me God didn't make boys and girls differently :)

Touching Base with God

I had a revelation this evening. It came to me as I sat staring at the phone, waiting for Oldest Daughter to call. I planned to call her earlier this evening, but then she told me, via IM, that The Boyfriend had called and she would call later. So I sat here and waited. And waited. And continued to wait. It is now bedtime and I am still waiting.

Which led to my revelation. So many times I get busy and forget to touch base with God. I plan to, I really do, but then something comes up, something draws my attention away, sometimes seems really important and has to be done just then. And God waits. And waits. And continues to wait. Because He's my Father and He loves me and wants to hear from me.

So, I guess I'm thankful for this waiting period because it has opened my eyes. I'm so thankful God doesn't give up on me. But I'm giving up on my daughter. For now. I'm going to bed!

Wait, she is calling... !!