Snippets

Oh. My. GOODNESS!  Where is time going?!  I knew this would be one of our busiest holiday seasons to date, but good grief!  My online time has been limited to work for my business with only brief moments to hop on and see something on Facebook.  I haven't read anyone else's blog, and I obviously haven't updated ours, either.  This post may simply serve as a reminder to myself of why I didn't journal anything in the last two weeks, as I'm sure any readers I may have have given up on me, LOL!

The week after Thanksgiving my parents came out to help watch the kids while I flew to Salt Lake City for a quick business-related trip.  The kids AND the grandparents had a ball, and it was such a blessing for them to be together.  Ted was crazy busy at work, and I would not have been able to go if Mom and Dad hadn't taken the time to drive out.  Another bonus of them coming when they did was that they got to attend the opening night of Charis's play (A Christmas Carol) that Friday.  I stayed home with Kenna and Lucan and spent some quality girl time with Kenna after we put Lucan to bed.  The boys and the grands enjoyed the performance, and Charis had a blast.  I was able to see the show on Sunday afternoon when I volunteered to usher.

The day after I returned home I had a Stampin' Up! home workshop, the first in a month.  Though we had a major snowstorm which prevented a number of people from showing up (they were going to be driving in from a considerable distance), there were STILL eight people there!!  And 4 of them booked their own workshops!  Such a blessing.  All the ladies are Christians, too, so it was just a wonderful time of fellowship and a big encouragement to me with my business.

This past week we continued to do school but took Thursday afternoon and Friday off.  Thursday evening was the annual homeschool craft sale for the kids, and though Charis couldn't be there because of her play schedule, the boys and I went to sell some cookies and gift sacks they had made, plus the items Charis had made for our dismal craft event back in November.  Charis did much better at the homeschool sale without even being there!  She earned nearly $30, and the boys got a total of $15, which they promptly spent at other tables, LOL. 

Yesterday Ted took a day of leave to go with us on our field trips to Columbus.  We toured a chocolate factory--very interesting!  We got a free "Buckeye" at the end (better known as a peanut-butter ball in my family!), so the kids thought that tour was definitely worthwhile!  After that we went a little ways away to the only American whistle factory and had a very enjoyable tour given by the president/owner of the company.  It was a much smaller (and noisier!) place, but fun to hear about an American business.  I never really thought about how whistles are made!  And now we all have our own whistle with lanyard and safety guard.  We each picked different colors and mostly kept our self-control during the looong drive home afterward.  (But who taught Lucan to blow a whistle, anyway?!)  Reading our Sonlight read-aloud (The Witch of Blackbird Pond) and the fifth book in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series helped the drive go much faster.  We had to hustle once we got home to get Charis to the theater on time, and then I helped at the table selling flowers and raffle tickets.

This morning we left early to go to a "free" chiropractic appointment--we donated canned goods for the food pantry in exchange for a free adjustment.  Woohoo!  Two bags worth of groceries was a lot less than our usual bill, LOL.  Then we met Ted at church to swap vehicles, and Charis and I stayed at church to set up for our Kitchen Kindness ministry team brunch, which was a wonderful success.  There were about 20-22 people there, just about half of our team, and it was such a blessing to visit with everyone and share stories.  We played some games (that I totally stole from the KK brunches from Las Vegas!) and laughed a lot and of course ate yummy food. 

Now we have a few hours with NOTHING SCHEDULED!!!  What's that like?!  Charis has another performance tonight and one last one tomorrow afternoon, after which we strike the stage and have the cast party.  And THEN things will slow down...until next weekend, when I host a downline Christmas party Friday morning, take the kids to the homeschool skate/gingerbread house decorating party Friday afternoon, and host our family community Christmas party Friday evening...followed by Kids' Street Live rehearsal Saturday morning, grocery shopping Saturday afternoon, KSL performance Sunday, and hostess appreciation party Sunday evening!!!  (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!)

So...now we all know why I haven't blogged, LOL!  Two weeks 'til Christmas, and I'm so far behind it just doesn't even matter!  We read our Advent book and do the Advent calendar whenever we have a few moments...we swap the numbers on our Christmas countdown calendar when we remember...and we know our families love us even if their packages arrive after Christmas day, heh!  (Although I am patting myself on the back for getting Mom and Dad's gifts to them when they were here last week!  Woohoo!)  Despite the busyness of our schedule, we're trying to keep things in perspective...if the house is messy before we rush out the door to an activity, so be it.  If dinner is leftovers, oh well!  The kids are excited and are enjoying the decorations, the music, and the snow that comes and goes, and I'm praying that they'll remember the joy of the season and not how stressed their parents were over silly details that don't matter in the scheme of eternity.  With being so busy this year, I am all too aware that my tendency would be to get upset and let the stress overtake me--but God has been so gracious to give us good family time together, and we've worked well as a team to balance our various responsibilities.