Speechless

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

A Crazy Week!

Our week started by my school having open house Monday evening.  Then I come home to find Alan telling me the air conditioner/heating unit isn't working. OK.....so we call our home warranty and get someone scheduled to come fix it.

Tuesday, was Andrew's Art Show which I was looking forward to.  I picked up the kids from school, and grabbed two Rosa's Taco platters and headed home.  I put everything down and went toward the bedrooms and I heard water leaking somewhere and I noticed the carpet felt strange as I walked on it.  The hot water heater had a corroded pipe and was spraying water everywhere. I am vacuuming up the water and did not get to go to Andrew's art show.  Alan had a football meeting with parents at the school after the Art show, so he took Andrew to it and took a picture of his award winning art, while I am at home trying to clean up a huge mess and waiting on the plumber to arrive.  On top of that, I was coming down with a sinus infection and was starting to feel terrible.  It is nearly 8:30 and I have made another phone call to our home warranty people and discovered that they really had not called anyone for an EMERGENCY call.  So we end up in a hotel for the night.

Wednesday, Alan stayed home from school and worked very hard all day trying to clean up all of the water damage.  He used our carpet cleaner to suck the water out and he told me he used towels to soak up water and then would throw them in the dryer and go back to vacuuming again.  When the towels were done drying, he would start the whole process over again.  Finally, a plumber showed up and replaced the copper pipe.  I then come home to help Alan as much as I can but after awhile, Alan looks at me and says, "I'm tired and your sick, go to bed and I am going to go rest."  I didn't argue.

Thursday, I went to the doctor and got two shots and two prescription and yes I still went to school.  I have UIL coming up............there is NO WAY I am missing any chance to rehearse my Junior High Ladies!!!!  The air conditioning man showed up after lunch to fix the air/heating unit.  Meanwhile, we are still trying to dry up the carpet in the hallway and the office.

I am expecting tomorrow to be much better. 

On a much happier note, Anna received her Bible at church for saying all 66 books of the Bible On Sunday February 20, 2011.  Eric and Mica Ribble ( Portis Ribble's Nephew) presented her with the Bible. Mica is the interim Children's Minister until we hire a new one.

Andrew received an EXCELLENT ribbon this year for his "Lion" art work.  I had no idea how much his Art work had improved.  This is the first piece I have gotten to see all year.  I can't wait to see what he brings home in May.  Way to go Andrew!!!!!

A Snow Week!

Remember when I said that it never snows when I am around?  Well, that is no longer the case. Not only did it snow early Tuesday morning, but it stayed below 12 degrees for three straight days and then on the fourth morning (this morning) it snowed again.  We have been stuck inside our lovely home for four straight days.  We finally made a break for it a few minutes ago to go to Sonic and to Walgreens.

We have slept late, played games, watched movies, exercised, drank hot chocolate, have bible studies, played super heroes, played on the computer and cleaned house.  I am quite sure I have left something out.  Today the kids finally got to go out and play in the snow.  The sun is out for the first time since Monday and it sure has made a difference in our house today.

We have all realized how much we miss going to school too.  Here are some of our pictures.  Oh and my Walgreens trip was very thought out.  The picture below will show what I bought and I only paid $1.40 and still got back $5 in cash rewards :-)  That made my day!

Dad is making Auntie Anne's Cinnamon Rolls

Andrew is a puppy and Anna is taking him for a walk.

Church was canceled Wednesday because of the icy roads, and the kids literally will cry if we miss church on Wednesday night.  So I created a bible lesson and activity for them.  That seem to work for them.

We studied Hebrews 11:1 and talked about having faith in someone (God) you can't see.  They drew pictures of the wind, air, gravity, a skeleton, and a heart.  These are things Andrew and Anna came up with that you can't see, but you know it is there.

Snowball fight!

Holiday in the Park

We had season passes to Six Flags this year.  So we thought we would take the kids one last time today for Holiday in the Park before they close for the year.  Everyone else apparently had the same idea.  It was so packed that you could barely move through the crowd.  Even parking was bad.  In the three and half hours that we endured this chaos, the kids only rode a grand total of THREE rides.  The lines were so long even for the kiddie rides.  I stood in line with Andrew and Anna for 40 minutes to ride the Trucks only to see them go around the track three times. 

After we all four decided we had enough of this crazy place, we left the park and went to Boston's to have pizza.   Yes! even I got to enjoy gluten free pizza.  Anna and I actually shared it.  Even though it is a small pizza, I can't eat it all. 

Then to end the trip, I begged Alan to let me run into Whole Foods Market (my favorite grocery store) and look for some gluten free goodies.  Hmmm.......that may have been a mistake!  I found chocolate covered doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, and freshly baked chocolate cupcakes with icing!  I came out of the store with a big smile.  Then my kids thought they had the right to have my very own gluten free treats!  Of course, I set them straight and told them they get cinnamon rolls baked for them EVERY Saturday morning and they can go to the doughnut shop and get what they want when Dad wants too.  By the way, the chocolate cupcakes were AMAZING!!!!

Playing wth Gifts

Playing with Christmas gifts will never be a problem with Andrew and Anna.  They both received many things and have had a blast playing with their own gifts as well as each others gifts.

Andrew gave Anna a School/Teacher play set.  Boy has she been teaching away.  You can almost tell she is a mini Mrs. Rachel (her teacher) in just how she speaks and mimics her. Very Cute!

Andrew got several boxes of model airplanes, cars etc from Alan's Mom and Dad and now Andrew and Alan are putting them all together.

Making play dough cakes, cupcakes etc. with the set that Gran and Grandad gave Anna. Andrew is examining the play dough through a microscope he got in his stocking.

Anna has become the four year old Cake Boss!  She made everyone of these cupcakes with her play dough set.  Anna informed me that these cup cakes are NOT gluten free because they are made of play dough.  That is almost scary that she knows that.

Andrew is showing Anna how to work his Air Hogs that he got from Gran and Granddad.

Christmas Traditions

We stayed home for Christmas this year.  Alan and I are so tired and worn out from everything that happened in the fall that we both mutually decided to stay home.  His family did come to our house to celebrate.  This is the first Christmas without Grandmother Sue and Grandmama.  I sensed from Pam (my mother-in-law) that she wanted a change in the way they have celebrated Christmas. She came to the right place.

When we celebrated with Alan's family, Menaw and Grandmother Sue ruled everything.  We had Christmas Stew on Christmas Eve and went straight to opening presents and that was it.  Christmas lunch was Turkey, dressing, vegetables, bread, etc.  It was like that every year.

I grew up where things changed from year to year which makes it easy for me to remember which Christmas is which.  However, even though things changed from year to year, my parents had certain traditions we did not leave out, and if they tried, I told them we HAD to do it.

When the four of us celebrate Christmas as a family, I bring traditions from both sides.  I had fun planning out the activities for the two days and the food.

  One of the first things we do, is Andrew and Anna make and decorate Christmas cookies.  This year Nana Pam joined us on this fun activity.  Before that I made some rocky road candy that my mom use to make each Christmas for Dad.  It brought back memories for me.

After that, Alan read our last Advent lesson and we lit the final Advent Candle.  Andrew and Anna went ahead and put baby Jesus in the manger and put the shepherds in the stable with Mary and Joseph.  This is something Alan and I have added in the last few years that is new to our family.

We then had Christmas Soup (formerly known as stew but changed for health reasons with some of the family members) and cornbread.  This is a 100 year old tradition that Pam's Great Grandmother started and Menaw continued.  Pam tried to encourage me to change it, but I told her that was one tradition that I have kept in our family and want to continue to do so.

Once everything was eaten and everything put away and cleaned, we did a right left game.  Each person has a small gift and you pass it right or left every time you hear the words right/left.  This is something that my Grandparents Johnson like to do every Christmas we got together.  I read the story of the WRIGHT family. 

Once that is over, we gather around and Alan usually  reads the Christmas Story from Luke.  This year Alan asked his Dad to read it.  This is something my Mom and Dad made sure happened every year  before we opened presents.

Then of course we had to take pictures of our cute kids!

Once the presents are opened, and paper and boxes are put in the trash, the kids get their pajamas on, I pop popcorn and make hot chocolate and we all watch the Polar express.  Another new tradition I added Christmas 2007. 

One more tradition that I wasn't going to do, but woke up to on Christmas eve morning is greeting each family member the words "Christmas Eve gift" before they say it to you.  This is another one of Pam's Great Grandmother's traditions that has to date back over a 100 years ago.  Then on Christmas day, you say "Christmas Gift" to each family member before they say it to you.  Pam said it was something they have always done and it became a contest among family members.  The first year I spent Christmas with Alan's family 14 years ago and witnessed this, I thought these people had lost their minds.  Everyone was so busy trying to say it before anyone else did, they forgot to tell me what was going on.

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Growing up in our house, the stockings were the most fun!  I could not wait for the stockings, in fact I never could sleep, because I could not imagine what cool stuff my Mom was going put in my stocking.  Each year was better than before.  I of course, still love stockings and attempt to do the same thing for Alan, Andrew and Anna.

Christmas Dinner:  We had Ham with a homemade sugar honey glaze, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans with crunchy bacon, green salad, fruit salad (using the bowl Grandmama gave me a couple of years ago) and rolls.

The red glasses are the ones that my Grandmother Johnson used for company when she used her white dishes.

Andrew said yesterday, "I wish Gran and Granddad could be here too."  Well in some ways they were here.  They were both here in the traditions just like both Alan's and My Grandmother and Granddad were also here in traditions passed on.  My Mom was here in what she taught me how to do growing up.  My Mom taught me how to do many things like how to cook, sew, dress, clean house, wash clothes, be a hostess etc.  I physically had to do these things growing up and while I may have griped and complained, I am very grateful to her for making me learn those important things.  Another thing that my Mom did, was she modeled how to make Christmas special and meaningful.  The look on Andrew and Anna's face on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Morning is absolutely a tribute to her creativeness that I have always longed to be more like her.  Thanks Mom!

Merry Christmas!
from The Weavers

Anna''s Chapel Program

On Thursday, December 16, Anna was the Angel in her Chapel program.  Her class opened Chapel by leading some songs and Anna said the opening prayer.  She did such a good job and of course I could not help but tear up.

One of her lines to Mary was "You're gonna have a baby!"  She had a few more but that was the one that I remembered.

The face of an Angel!

This is completely off the subject but quite funny.  Yesterday, I was helping Anna get ready for church and she was wearing a pink dress.  I went to her drawer to get her pink tights out and they were gone.  I asked, "Anna, where are your tights? They were in here yesterday."  She says, "Well, I don't know!  They have legs!"  She is way too quick witted like her Dad.