Don't ya hate it when....

This morning, at just about straight up 8:00, Savannah came in & said "Samuel's on the couch. He's got fever." I got up & went to the living room & found him laying there with no shirt on & a thermometer sticking out from his armpit. It read 98-point-something, so he may've had 1 degree of fever, but considering that he was shirtless in a cold house, I thought his body temp may've risen a tad to heat him up! He didn't go to bed feeling sick and he didn't FEEL warm to the touch at that moment, so I said "nah....you're ok". My kids tend to be fever-phobic & I constantly find them taking their own temperature just for fun. If it ever crosses the 99 degree mark, they think they're dying. Don't get me wrong. I do take fevers seriously if they actually look sick or have any other symptom of illness, but if you've been running & playing and irritating your siblings all day long and your temperature is 1/2 a degree above normal, I do NOT worry about it. Anyway...I gave Samuel a dose of Motrin just to be safe & went back to bed where I was actually able to sleep a little longer. By the time I got up, he was JUST FINE & stayed that way ALL day long.

We went to Hobby Lobby today & got some things for a school project he's turning in on Monday and came home to watch a little TV & eat lunch before heading back out for our evening activities. Samuel was totally fine all day long. The only thing that was slightly 'off' was that he never ate lunch. He kept saying that he wasn't hungry. I didn't force the issue because he always has a teeny appetite, so I just figured he'd eat later.

Tonight, my brand new niece sang at a little BBQ restaurant in town. We went to hear her. Samuel was less than enthusiastic about going, which usually leads to moping, so when he said that his throat hurt, I blew him off. He has a habit of being overly dramatic & can fake a symptom like nobody's business, so until I see ACTUAL signs of an illness (fever, vomitting, diarrhea, etc), I tend to blow him off a lot. I know...it sounds bad, but really, he's a great actor.

We had appetizers (chips & queso for the kids) and he ate that just fine. He had already slurped down an entire soda before the food arrived at the table, so it was no shock that he didn't want to eat supper---he'd already filled up on chips & coke! I think he ate 1 chicken strip before I finally called him to me (he was at the other end of the table). He had on his coat still, so I made him take it off so I could figure out whether he was running fever...he felt a little warm. Sure enough, after having his coat off for several minutes, his cheeks were red, his ears were turning red & he was warm all over. By the time we got home & I took his temp it was 101.9! He went to bed with another dose of Motrin.

:::Sigh::: I've called a sub to teach my SS class in the morning. Looks like I'll be hanging out at the after hours doc office instead. I'll step onto the podium now & accept my bad mother award.

10 Things that might surprise you about me

Our sweet music/worship/tech dude pastor at church posted this to his blog & Facebook and I love it....so I'm stealing it. (It's ok, I told him I'm stealing it.) Read it, then comment if you're going to post it too so I can read yours.

1. Despite my obsessive/compulsive issues at work and in many other areas of my life, my house is an absolute wreck. Most of the time. I've come to terms with that fact for now. When the kids are grown & gone, I can be OCD at home again. Til then, I've given up.

2. I do not like tea or coffee.

3. I have no idea how to burn a CD. (don't offer to come show me...our CD drive died over a year ago)

4. Larry & I don't own a DVR/Tivo. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I had it.

5. I have never watched a single episode of Dancing With the Stars, American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance. Actually...I don't watch much TV at all. (THAT part is probably no surprise at all, though.)

6. I bite my fingernails. Always have. I've tried to stop lots of times, but it just hasn't happened. At this point in my life (I'm 34), I don't see it happening. Oh well. I'm not that vain....don't really care that I have no nails. I don't think I could function with them anyway.

7. I go barefoot about 90% of the time, year-round, when I am at home.

8. Sarah fed me a booger when she was about 18 months old. I ate it & even said "Mmmmm" before she told me what it was. (I'll share that story one day.)

9. I love to wrap presents.

10. I am not real offended by people saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Maybe I don't have enough righteous anger in me, but I just don't care one way or the other.

Comments, please.

1. What do you think of the new background/banner at the top?

2. What is your favorite Christmas memory of your childhood?

3. What traditions does your family have at this time of year?

4. What is your favorite holiday treat/snack/food?

5. Do you even TRY to watch what you eat during the holidays? Or do you attempt to do well the rest of the year so that you can pig out during the holidays? Do you keep up a workout plan during the busy holiday season?

6. Do you love me? :)

7. What is the very best gift you ever gave?

Sneak Peak....

I'm still reading a book by Sheila Walsh that I got months ago from Thomas Nelson publishers. I'm going through it very slowly, highlighting about half of every page. There is so much wisdom & "WOW" on every page. I'm not done, so I'm not going to post my full review for this book just yet...but I wanted to give you a sneak peek. Here are a few pearls from the first couple of chapters.

1. When we are satiated with God's grace, it is much easier to extend grace to others; but when we are on starvation rations ourselves, we have little to spare.

2. As you are, right at this moment, God loves you.
He knows all that is true about you, and He loves you.
Even when you can't forgive yourself, He forgives you.
There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more.
There is nothing you can do to make Him love you less.

This is the grace of God.

3. The ground at the foot of the cross is even. There are no podiums for those who feel most worthy. There are no pits for those who feel they don't belong. The only way to break free from this dead, stale religion is with the glorious gift of fresh-baked grace every morning for the rest of our lives!

4. (This one actually came before #3...so read this & then go back & re-read #3)
A common thread throughout human history is our inability to live up to God's standards. But another thread can be traced: our desire to squeeze people into a mold of our making--to embrace a dead religion rather than a living truth. Both realities would leave us miserable...if it weren't for Christ.

5. God's promises are not derailed by human circumstances.

6. Forgiveness means we surrender our right to know the outcome.

7. Most of us struggle with wanting to avoid pain.....And yet, in taking things into our own hands, we lose the oppurtunity to allow God to work on our behalf for the greater good....One of the hardest elements of our walk with God is to keep worshipping Him even when it hurts. Jesus looked at everything Satan offered Him, looked ahead to the cross and the agony, and chose to worship God.

I'll stop there because I could keep going & going.

(By the way, this all came from Sheila Walsh's book let go.)

Coming to grips with cold weather

I've lived in Texas all my life. Eastern Texas to be more specific. I really should be used to things by now, but every year when winter rolls around, it hits all at once. We go from ever so slightly chilly days now and then (read: 65-70 degrees) to a sudden drop in temps that require a coat. (Read: 30s & 40s) Ironically, those 65-70 degree days bring out lots of jackets & coats, too, because none of us hot-weather folks know what to do with cool weather. And Heaven forbid we actually get 3 snowflakes on the ground. Schools close, stores shut down. Tumbleweeds could roll through the streets. The world shuts down & we stay inside til it's all gone. I'm telling you....we don't know what to do with cold weather. We may LOVE it, but we don't know what to do with it.

Yes, for all you Pacific Northwest, Midwest & New Englanders, 30s & 40s is really WINTER here. We get an occasional day here and there where the temp drops into the 20s, but it's not often. And usually that doesn't happen until late January or early February. Anything beyond Valentine's Day is the start of Spring. And about two weeks after that, it's Summer again.....where it remains til somewhere around mid-November.

I was talking to a girlfriend yesterday who moved to Texas from Nebraska. She said she has to fight depression every Winter because she wants to see snow & ice. Or at least some distinct seasonal weather. Sorry hon....east Texas has Summer about 9 months out of the year. The other 3 months are very short & sweet "seasons", all crammed into a short period of time.

So anyway, this morning it became Winter here. We woke up to the kind of weather that makes my kids giggle & exhale loudly....you know, to see if they can SEE their breath. (They couldn't.) But visible breath clouds or not, they needed to wear coats to school. These are different than the usual light jacket that they can wear to keep warm. That's where the problems started.

You see, my youngest offspring has her elder sister & an older cousin who pass things down to her. She is always & forever covered where clothes are concerned. No issues there. The problem is with my elder daughter & their brother. With no one to pass clothes down to them, we have to :::gasp::: actually buy their clothes. Luckily, grandma is awesome with garage sales and once in a while, we do get a hand-me-down from someone. But every now & then, we come up with an item we need right now and there is no time to wait for a good garage sale.

Today was one of those days.

It was time to leave for school so I told the kids to go get on their coats & come to the front door. It was time to leave. Sarah came out in a suitable "big coat" (that's what we call them at my house---anything bigger than a hoodie is a "big coat"). Savannah came out with a light jacket tied around her waist. (a light jacket that I've been telling her needs to go in the Goodwill pile for a couple weeks!) Samuel came out jacket-less. (of course, being the 9 year old boy that he is, I was just happy to see him dressed) I told them both to go back & get a coat.

Try #2...
Savannah came back announcing, "I don't have a coat."
What???????

Samuel came back wearing a mid-weight jacket.
I told him to go back & get his big coat.
"I don't think I have one."
What???????

Frustrated that we're getting closer & closer to time to LEAVE, I go into their rooms to investigate. I dug in Savannah's closet and sure enough, no coat. Oops. It's supposed to get cold enough for some "snow flurries mixed with rain" this weekend. She needs a coat!! I found a really thick sweatshirt & had her layer up.

In Samuel's closet, I found several jackets....but no big coat. Good grief. How did I miss that two of my children didn't have a coat when we got out the Fall/Winter clothes???

And so, with Savannah in her double-layered shirts and Samuel in his jacket and Sarah in her appropriate big coat, we left the house for school. I just knew today would be the day the teachers eyeballed each other & said "Oh yeah....she (ME) is one of those mothers." You know, the mothers who send their kid to school in shorts & a tank top when it's 40 degrees outside...the ones who drop their kid off first & pick them up late....the one who routinely sends her child with a half-eaten sandwich & a leaking Thermos of juice for lunch. I'm a teacher. I know how that works. As we drove to school, I announced to the kids "We're going shopping this afternoon!!".

And that we did. Samuel got a green coat & Savannah got a blue one. Thank goodness for cheap coats at Walmart.

At least tomorrow I will be able to redeem myself. I'll no longer be that mom. (and for the record, none of my kids own a Thermos!)

The Announcement

The Announcement
By: Elizabeth Reeves 12/21/03

Eight pounds, one ounce. 19” long. 7:53pm. Born in the manger behind the Inn. Mary & Joseph joyfully welcome baby Jesus into their lives. Please join us in celebrating the newborn babe.
Being a mom, I have always wondered about those birth statistics of the Christ child. Was He an easy baby? Did He eat well? Did He sleep through the night from day one or was He up during the night til well into His toddler years? Just what would the birth announcement say if that had been customary in His day? I suspect it would’ve been a hard one to write. How exactly do you word a card proclaiming that GOD is in the cradle in the bedroom? Can you tell the Son of God that He has to “cry it out”? Is it even feasible to try & feed the Prince of Peace on a schedule? How did He react to His first tooth? Did He potty train early?
There are so many questions I’d love to ask Mary when I meet her someday! Surely raising the One who would bear the sins of the world on the cross was a challenge….or was it? With Christmastime arriving soon, I wonder how Joseph & Mary celebrated Jesus’s birthday each year? Did they put up a tree & drape it with lights & tinsel? Did they have a guy dress up in a red suit & bring him gifts every year? Did they shower Jesus with gifts at all? Did they eat turkey, ham, potatoes and pie? How does Jesus feel when He watches us do this? Whose birthday are we celebrating anyway?
Why do we feel the need to write a different birth announcement every year? What if the story in the gospels read something more like this: “Come & celebrate the birth of Jesus with 15 gifts per child. Watch preschoolders throw tantrums in the line at the mall while waiting to see a fat guy in a red suit. Endure lines with a dozen shoppers waiting impatiently, trampling mobs seeking the very last Hokey Pokey Elmo…… binge eat turkey, potatoes, ham, pumpkin pie & assemble ½ a dozen toys at 10:30pm on Christmas Eve so that Junior will be pleased on Christmas morning. Oh and by the way, put a little nativity scene in the corner of the living room if you have time.”
Whose birthday is this? This year, let’s try & imagine the birth of the man who would shed His blood for us …….let’s feel the labor pains of a teenager giving birth in a barn surrounded by cattle & chickens……..let’s ponder the birth weight & length of our Savior…..let’s consider the weight of raising GOD and let’s celebrate in a way that honors Him. Make sure He is the guest of honor at your birthday celebration this year.

Ahhhh.....it's December!

I know I've mentioned before that I love this part of the year. I love it! I get to start preparing for Christmas at home & work. We decorated the house this past weekend and the we're all enjoying a nightly dose of Christmas movies on ABC Family! If you haven't seen the line up for their Countdown to Christmas, take a peek here. Of course, with a few of the movies they'll be showing I have to scratch my head & wonder 'what does that have to do with Christmas?'. We won't watch every single movie, but we're trying to watch most of them. Especially the classics!

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas for my family without a healthy dose of the movie elf. We love that movie!!! Here are a few of my favorite scenes:

First, this one....


And this one....


My kids love this part...


and of course this....


Ok, I'll quit. Gotta go see if I can find our elf DVD!