My Peacefully Chaotic Life

What a wonderful Christmas we had! Christmas Eve we traveled to my sister-in-law's house. Our whole family does not fit in one vehicle and of course the children wanted to ride with their big brother in his. So mama went with them and daddy got "alone time " in our car which translates to "it's too quiet time!" I really enjoyed spending time with my all-grown-up son. You know, you love your children but it is a true blessing to like them as a person. He is like his daddy in that he knows how to just crack me up! We laughed like crazy, he shared music with me and we talked serious stuff as well. It was nice to spend the day with my sister-in-law and her (grown) children. The time always seems too short when we go back which is not often enough. We got home late that evening. Unfortunately the children slept all the way home and were ready to rock and roll when we got here. So by the time they all went to bed and I got presents wrapped it was after one in th...

I had a wonderful day finding peaceful moments throughout the chaos. How about you? I had to run to the store to get the items we needed for Christmas dinner. As we went through the store my girls and I held hands and sang Christmas carols. Now that might sound corny to some but it was actually a lot of fun "bein' carolers" as my Flowerchild put it. There was something very precious and innocent in that moment that made me just want to hang onto their childhood and never let go. Shoppers turned to look (because it was after all, a very joyful noise! a very, loud joyful noise!) and the only thing my dear children paid attention to was Mama. And I have to say the only thing that stood out to me were the sweet smiles on their faces as we belted out We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Silent Night. So it got me to thinking, we all have some kind of chaos in our lives. For some, it is juggling work or school with family. Others care...

I can not believe Christmas is this week! I have been thinking about what to cook for our Christmas feast. Thanksgiving is our really big meal but I also like to have special meals at other holidays as well. So here is what I have in mind: Baked ham Sweet potato dumplins (this is a new recipe I haven't tried yet) Butterbeans Cornbread and Yeast Rolls Maybe Three Meat Stuffing (another new recipe but has a lot of ingredients so we'll check $$) If not the stuffing then maybe Macaroni and Cheese and probably pear salad, pickled peaches, and/or cranberry relish on the side And for dessert: Edward's Lemon Meringue Pie Maybe some homemade goodies, we'll see We will have to see how our grocery budget runs this week to determine exactly what all we can have. We won't go hungry!

I had great plans for today. I had visions of getting up early to get going for the aforementioned trip. That way we would be home by lunch. After lunch I thought I would give haircuts to the menfolk and my mother. Then the children and I would bake cookies. I would have time to clean the house, vacuum, scrub the bathroom, get the laundry done and put away, and have a nice supper. (Alright, I understand there was no way I could have gotten all that done in an afternoon but I like to dream big!) Well, we did get going fairly early but my bubble burst after that. Town was a madhouse and everything took forever. And folks were so grumpy! Say "Merry Christmas" and they looked at you like you had sprouted two heads! We finally got home around 3:30. Haircuts...out the window. I was tired and Smiley needed to nurse. Cookies? Yes, and they were yummy! Cleaned the house? Ummm...well, for the things I did manage to put away it looks as if other stuff just replaced it. Vacuum? No. Scrub...

Ok it is official. My children have been taken over by what I must assume are aliens. Yes, I am kidding but let me tell you about this night! The FisherMan and I were supposed to go over to the next town to visit a church member who moved to the nursing home this week. We planned on squeezing in a bit of shopping for my mom and picking up some giftwrap. We also thought we might complete a sentence and maybe even NOT go to a public restroom even if it meant "holdin it" just because we could. (Those of you with several little ones know exactly what I am talking about. Oh, the glee of a full adult conversation! Not to mention no bathroom trips...I swear sometimes I think they are marking their territory!) But, I digress. Well, when it got time to go Ladybug and Flowerchild went ballistic! As in full blown panic stricken screaming and crying, begging me to not go, heads spinning, ok maybe not that but we were to that point ....we were left scratching our heads thinking "hu...

The children were nestled all snug in their beds....finally! Wednesday nights around here tend to run late for the kiddos. FisherMan being the pastor means we are just about always the last to leave. Tonight was no exception but it was a nice night. Everyone likes to hang around after church and visit. Tonight the weather was pleasant instead of, oh.... frigid, so we could stand outside while the children ran around and screamed and played chase. The grownups talked and tried to stay upright as the little ones used us to hang on as they ran around. You know, the whole "you can't get me" game as they run around you. When we got home the neighbor's dog showed up to visit, too. Wouldn't be a big thing but he got shot a few days ago! He had been staying up here for a couple of weeks and the children just loved him (i.e. parents were attached and blamed it on children's attachment) Well, he was out on his usual morning rounds of the neighborhood and we heard a shot...

Well, the musical went great. We had a good turnout considering we are a rural church and many of our older folks do not get out at night. The children were precious right down to the boy who fell apart at the very beginning because he did not get "his" jingle bell... ah, the things that seem important when you are five! There is some consideration being given to doing it again in the upcoming morning service. As for home stuff Mondays are Wal-mart day. Except we did Wal-mart on Tuesday this week because I have been sick with a stomach flu. I am better but still not running on all cylinders. But that puts everything behind for the week. I am not sure if I should hope it's a virus in which case I was probably contagious at church and it doesn't bode well for all those folks I shook hands with/ hugged or to hope it was food poisoning which doesn't bode well for the fingerfood fellowship! We had a guy come by this morning to show the FisherMan the bobcat he had shot...