Christmas at Home

When we made the decision to cancel our trip to my parents' 5 days before our trip, we weren't sure what Christmas at home would look like.  

On the 24th, we potentially started a new tradition. :)  We went to Dollar General, and split up into pairs: one parent with one child.  We set a $3 limit per gift, and each child picked out gifts for the other parent & child.  We all had so much fun!  As soon as we announced the idea, Little Guy declared he was going to get Little Miss a Frozen toy.  And he did!  He walked in the store and immediately found the Frozen version of the Trouble board game.   LM could not be more excited!  :)  

Midday we made a Walmart run to pick up our grocery order for the holiday, going through drive-thru first because the cook needed a break! 

The children spent 3.30-5.30 with their cousins decorating cookies, while I prepared for our Christmas Eve "party." 

 

Our menu was: fruit & cheese kabobs, veggie tray designed to look like a Christmas tree, Lil' Smokies in a bbq sauce, meatballs in a cranberry bbq sauce, croissants, and Sprite mixed with cranberry juice.  

Then we watched our church's online-only Christmas Eve service.  Before it started, there was a special lesson for the children.  We followed along at home, as an assistant pastor made a Nativity trail mix.  M&Ms because of the Messiah. Miniature marshmallows for the sheep.  Bugle snacks for the angels. Pretzel mini-twists for Jesus being wrapped in swaddling clothes. Peanuts for the rocky road that Mary & Joseph took to Bethlehem. Cheerios because a cheery person is joyful. etc. 

The children did not finish watching the service because it was way past LM's bedtime. 

As soon as they were in bed, I washed dishes and more dishes, and prepared food for breakfast and lunch on the 25th. I hope we can eat leftovers for several days. :)

 

After a simple celebratory Christmas Day breakfast of casserole, fruit, and cinnamon rolls, we re-read The Advent Book, prayed, and opened presents.  It was a (off-brand) Magnatiles Christmas this year!  And the day has been spent playing with ... magnet tiles!

 Lunch was courtesy of Walmart online grocery pickup. :)

 

Mid-afternoon we had our birthday party for Jesus.  The top layer represents his righteousness.  The second layer represents his shed blood on the cross.  The third layer represents our sin, which his blood covers.  And the fourth layer represents his righteousness which we receive when He forgives us!  

LM wanted sprinkles on the cake because "Jesus likes sprinkles!"

And now we're watching "The Toy that Saved Christmas." 

Merry Christmas!

A tale of four hearing aids

Years ago I attended a seminar on adoption, where the presenter gave an overview of different types of adoption.  She explained that international adoptions from a certain country were only allowed if the child had special needs, but that those special needs were on a spectrum.  Some were once and done, like hearing loss, where you "just got hearing aids and were done," and some were more involved. 

Many times I have wished I could find that presenter and explain that hearing loss & hearing aids are not "once and done."  One might think that now that Little Guy has graduated from his far-away private special ed school for kiddos who are deaf &/or have hearing loss, that we can say, "Now we're done."

This summer one of Little Guy's brand-new-in-January hearing aids (which, I'm happy to note, came with a 5-year warranty!!) was having problems.  We spent a couple weeks troubleshooting with the audiologist over email and in-person, scheduled an ENT appointment to see if wax buildup might have been contributing to the feedback he was hearing, and eventually I mailed the hearing aid to the pediatric hearing clinic, making sure to insure it for $1700.  It turns out that the problems were so severe that the hearing aid company replaced the hearing aid.

I made a mistake when I mailed it, and didn't take the ear mold off, and it got lost in the process, so once we had the hearing aid back, we had to go to the clinic to get a new mold made. Thanks to COVID, there's a delay for new molds, so we had the HA back, but had to wait a while to get the mold. Whew! 

Fast forward to November, and his HAs were not keeping their charge for the full day.  We made a flying trip (65 miles one-way) to the clinic, and sat outside (thanks to COVID restrictions in the waiting room), while an audiologist retrieved the HAs, took them in, waited for IT to fix her computer, and then fixed them with a firmware update. EXCEPT the computer wouldn't update the left one because it was brand new in July and didn't need it. 

Two weeks later, the left one was only keeping its charge for 3 hours each day. So I mailed it (insured for $1700) to the clinic (keep in mind the current backlog in the USPS.... sigh!).  Eventually it was returned with no specific reason given for the problem. 

While that hearing aid was still gone for repairs, LG refused to wear his old hearing aid in that ear (it's hard to mix hearing aid sets apparently), and then ... his RIGHT HA got damaged.  LG ran to me as soon as it was damaged, and without passing go, I packaged it up, and we went straight to the Post Office and mailed it (insured for $1700) to the clinic.  I am getting quite good at this step, and even remember to keep the ear molds and not mail them with the hearing aid.

And then LG was left with only his old set of HAs (which thankfully we kept and did not donate to anyone or to a hearing aid bank!).  He wore them happily (albeit without bluetooth capability and without the FM system at school, making it harder for him to hear in noise).  

Eventually, the left HA arrived at our doorstep via FedEx, and we continue to wait on the right HA, which, in the audiologist's words, "sounded like angry steam coming from a teapot!"

So, now, all our family wants for Christmas are: 

• 1 hearing aid (LG)
  
• 3 front teeth (LG)
  
• 1 new pair of glasses (Mom), and 
• 1 new crown (Dad)!
  

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #28

271.  BRIGHT sunshine on Dec. 22nd

272.  We are past the darkest day of the year!

273.  We know LIGHT eternal

274.  The Gettys are doing a Christmas family hymnsing!

275.  I'm motivated to make some cookies. Yum!

276.  Sally Lloyd-Jones posted so many fun Christmas-at-home activities on her FB page, although they may be a bit too sedentary for our family :)

277.  Just when this baby-gift-for-Mom which I received almost 7 years ago started breaking, and I was scouring eBay to replace it, it was Amazon's Deal of the Day! 

278.  hearing friends' voices & laughter on a fun Christmas memories podcast

279.  the many Christmas concerts to watch online (including our church's posting the last 4 years')

280.  looking forward to new family traditions & making memories this Christmas

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

As we prepare to worship (yet again at home) on this fourth Sunday of Advent, my heart is longing for so many things! 

I long to worship with our church family.

 

I long to be free of fears and sins. 

 

Little Guy said yesterday that he wants to get rid of all the sin in the world.   It was a great opportunity to talk about Jesus, the cross, and the need for us to cooperate with the Spirit in crushing the sin in our own heart.

 

Our hearts long for so many things large and small, temporal and eternal: 

 

• I long for my library account not to be blocked anymore. 
• I long for my children to sleep in until I've had some time alone in the morning. 
• I long for them to clean up their toys without my asking (Jesus' return is more certain than that!). 
• I long for lots of things which I won't share in this space due to others' privacy. 

 

All these longings of our heart point to the greatest longing of the human heart - Come, thou long expected Jesus!

Come, thou long expected Jesus
Born to set thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in thee

 

Israel's strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart

 

Born thy people to deliver
Born a child and yet a king
Born to reign in us forever
Now thy gracious kingdom bring

 

By thine own eternal spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone
By thine own sufficient merit
Raise us to thy glorious throne

The window

A friend posted a photo of a window on Facbook the other day, and memories flooded back. 

This window represents so much more than some glass with a wood frame. Those walls, that glass, and the stain of the wood take me back to the countless formative hours of my youth that I spent in this sanctuary. 

The preaching of God’s Word that I heard in this room opened my eyes to God’s holiness, my sinfulness, and the reconciliation found in Christ. 

The heartily sung hymns I learned there sustain me yet today. 

And how many summer Sunday evenings was I distracted by cows mooing out the open windows, while a visiting missionary gave a report? 

Or how many sweltering summer evenings were these windows open while we children sat on the edge of our seats waiting to find out which team was ahead that day in the Vacation Bible School contest, not realizing that we were gaining so much more than points and a small prize?! We were hiding God's Word in our heart and learning the power of God's Word. (I cannot read Philemon without remembering a certain week of VBS lessons.) 

Seeing the Christmas decorations in this photo reminds me of the many happy (albeit dark and cold) afternoons in December when we spent hours practicing the Christmas play. 

And I could go on and on! 

Thanks for posting this, MAK!

What's cooking?

I've tried some new fun recipes lately.  :) 

Spaghetti pie which I had only made once before many years ago was a big hit recently. 

This version of King Ranch Casserole (which I tweaked a lot, meaning I didn't use anything "Whole30 compatible") got rave reviews around our dinner table!

I'm the only one in our family who likes this Butternut Squash Casserole, but I keep making it, because it is so delicious and nutrient-dense. 

Any new recipes in your kitchen lately? 

Advent

Friends loaned us this book, which we are using this year. 

The title is simple, and so is the premise. Every day you open a door to one more sentence or two of the Nativity story from Luke 2.

This is another book they loaned us.  It's like a color-based "I Spy" Christmas devotional!

Do you read any Advent books?

He heals the broken-hearted

Name that hymn! :) 

During this week's Facebook lives, our pastor has quoted &/or sung Christmas hymns.   These are so rich!  And worth meditating on!

 

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem's home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

 

Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor

All for love's sake becamest poor ...

Thou who art God beyond all praising

All for love's sake becamest man ...


Thou who art love beyond all telling

Savior and King, we worship thee

Emmanuel, within us dwelling

Make us what Thou would have us be

Thou who art love beyond all telling

Savior and King, we worship thee

 

 

I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship,
should set his love upon the sons of men,...
But this I know, that he was born of Mary...
and so the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is come.

 

But this I know, he heals the broken-hearted
and stays our sin and calms our lurking fear
and lifts the burden from the heavy laden;
for still the Saviour, Saviour of the world is here.

But this I know, all flesh shall see his glory,
and he shall reap the harvest he has sown,
and some glad day his sun will shine in splendour
when he the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known.

 But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
and myriad myriad human voices sing,
and earth to heav'n, and heav'n to earth, will answer,
'at last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King!'

 

1 Once in royal David's city
stood a lowly cattle shed,...

4 And our eyes at last shall see him,
thro' his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle
is our Lord in heav'n above:
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.

5 Not in that poor lowly stable,
with the oxen standing by,
we shall see him, but in heaven,
set at God's right hand on high;
when like stars his children crowned
all in white shall wait around.

 

2020 Christmas

In an attempt to improve my fun quotient, so far we have:

• strung Christmas lights in our van (tradition!),
• ordered hot cocoa bombs (fun!),
• gone from a white-light, thin tree to a colored-light, full tree (and with ornaments this year!),
• had loads of fun unwrapping a Christmas book each night, 
• opened one door each morning on the Playmobil advent calendar, 
• gone 1.5 miles out of our way to park in front of a holiday house, enjoying a choreographed light show for about 10 minutes, while tuning in to the radio station that plays the songs that go with it.  

What else should we do?

Lunch on-the-go

Moms are pros at eating and driving.  While I have eaten plenty of meals on the road the past few years, this is one of my favorite eating-on-the-go stories.  Enjoy!

 

::from the archives::

 

I quickly gather my bags, erase the chalkboard, bow and apologize for leaving, and walk toward the classroom door, after our hour of Bible study (an add-on to their hour English class and thirty minute Bible study with a different teacher).

I put one hand on the doorknob, and, with the other, reach for the object a lady at the end of the table is offering me.

I feel the Saran-wrap around it, and, for the moment, drop it down into a totebag.

Taking inventory of the shoe shelves in the foyer, I find my shoes, drop them onto the floor, and slip my feet in, while walking out the door.

If I have a moment, I drop by the Education Building next door, doing the unthinkable and leaving my shoes right where I step out of them, rather than taking time to properly set them on one of the shoe shelves.

The teachers from the Christian school are finishing up their lunch break. We can exchange an amazing bit of information in five minutes, and go from laughing to almost crying, in addition to trying to solve the problems of the team, and updating each other on all the schedule changes we know of.

I have to keep an eye on the clock to make sure I exit the building before recess is over, or else I cannot make my way out the door while the entire student body is rushing in. Plus my shoes get trampled in the process.

Keys in the ignition, mileage recorded, seat belt on, now I can start the engine. Wait, where is the Saran-wrap-covered item?

Peeling back the wrapper with one hand, I pull out of the parking space, and navigate the obstacle course known as a road. The first half of the drive takes incredible observation skills just to stay within the narrow confines and avoid concrete block walls, cars parked in the road, concrete telephone poles also in the road, elderly people sauntering along also in the road, etc.

So I eat mindlessly those first few kilometers. When I stop to turn onto a somewhat major road, I take time to look down and see what is stuffed in the center of the rice ball this week.

Today's rice ball was filled with some type of beans, some sort of mushrooms, and mashed pickled plums ... a delicious lunch on-the-go ... and prepared with love by a dear lady in the church!

Waking Up

Little Miss is almost 4, and this week she has started getting up by herself.  I do not consider that a developmental delay, but rather a smart parenting move. :) 

LM has always been a great sleeper (Thank you, Jesus!), even though she quit regular naps before 18 months.  She currently goes to bed at 6.30 PM, and awakens at 7 AM, although once a week or so she sleeps in until 8 or 9.

Here's how it played out:

Every morning until last week - She woke up happy and started playing and talking and singing. Eventually she would call out, "Mommy! Wake up time!" and I would go in her room and say, "Good morning!"  (I repeatedly said to Jim, "I don't think she knows she could come downstairs by herself." And I didn't tell her.)  Or I would wake her up in time to take Little Guy to school.  

One morning last week - I was busy, and when she called out, "Wake up time!" I said over the monitor, "Can you come downstairs by yourself?" and she was shocked and delighted and proud of herself. 

I did the same the next day.  And then you can predict what happened next.  One day I turned around in the kitchen, and there she was, with a big smile on her face. She had done what we had practiced! 

And then came the day that I knew would come.  We were lying in bed, still dozing (in fact it was the morning after I had taken a Tylenol PM in hopes of getting some good sleep!), and we heard what sounded like a HERD of elephants run down the stairs.  I stumbled out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs.  

Last night, I told Jim, "I need to get to bed, in order to be awake before we hear the herd of elephants." But, she's a quick learner. And this morning, all I heard was a quiet clunk as her feet hit the floor, and then I saw our bedroom door open. She stood quietly in the door, waiting for me. As we went downstairs, she kept saying, "Quiet. Sh! Quiet. Sh!"

My days of sleeping in on Saturday are over. :)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #27

261. this habit, which I started 14 years ago!

262. the power of giving thanks

263. bright sunny days this first week of December

264. switching this year from a slim tree with white lights to a f-u-l-l tree with colored lights. It feels like Christmas!

265. Christmas lights in the van

266. Christmas concerts aplenty online (3 tonight that I want to listen to)

267. after 3 weeks of Remote Learning (including a 2-day week for Thanksgiving), school is set to resume in-person on Monday

268. festive tablecloths

269. waiting & hoping & waiting & hoping 

270. ... while trusting the God who keeps ALL His promises!

Laundry Day - the joke's on me!  No time for laundry so far this week!

This week I spent Monday morning messaging back and forth & talking with someone at school, to troubleshoot tech problems with Remote Learning. 

Tuesday morning I had an appointment in the city, and Jim stayed home a half day with the children. I walked into a literal mess, which took some time to deal with. 

Wednesday (today) is an Early Release Day, and the schedule is different. 

Little Miss cannot go to preschool this week because we were with out-of-town relatives on Thanksgiving.  She is sleeping in until 9 AM almost every day (after her normal 6.30 pm bedtime). I predict next week will be rough.

I read this morning in the NYT that a Johns Hopkins epidemiologist "predicted that social gatherings will again be common and largely safe by the summer." At first, I almost danced a happy dance, and then I got a little depressed, considering how many months until summer.  

On a happier note, FB memories are a treasure during these times when we're not making as many social memories!

Today's FB memories also included a memory I had posted a few years ago.  Apparently I had had a flashback to "sitting in Mammie Katherine's breakfast nook, sipping Pepsi from one of her drinking glasses, and eating her sweet treats."  The comments were the real treasure!  Lifelong family friends from four different families shared their memories.  Memories similar to mine.  

One shared memories of eating the same Christmas treats.  One shared memories of making the treats with Mammie, who was her actual grandmother.  One shared memories of spending Christmas there with his grandfather, who was like family to Mammie.  One shared memories of being loved by her as Mammie also.  

And so we long for the day when we freely socialize and make all sorts of new memories with so many people we love!