Merry Christmas

"But Mary kept quiet, treasuring their words and pondering them in her heart. It must have been beyond her ability to grasp, that sleeping in her arms—the tender child she had just borne—was the Savior of the world. "

Christ is in our Christmas -
Praying he is in yours as well.
Hoping you carry the spirit of Christmas
in your heart all year long.

You have now received the official Fish-bowl Christmas card....
as in - there were none!! :)

Although I think this picture is much better suited to the feel of our house most days!!
Merry Christmas dear friends.
May your holiday be full of all that is important to you.

Helpers

It is easier now getting into the Christmas spirit because the kids are starting to feel it.
They are also a *bit* more interested in helping me more this year
with these sort of chores.
Being snowed in with no other choice didn't hurt either!

It is really so sweet to see how excited they are this year to be
giving to me and daddy and be more involved in those choices
and insisting on getting something for each other and be
excited about hiding those gifts....

And life is so tough when you are the family dog.
She wouldn't remove herself from the center of the action though!

It is tough for though...
giving up that control.
My type A perfectionist
"perfect present" Personality.....
You see I have "my way" of doing it...

So if there is one cardinal lesson my children teach me
during the holiday and throughout the year is
to learn to embrace the imperfection......
and I am learning...
there is beauty in the imperfection as well.....

Christmas .....

The halls are finally decked....

Even the dog could not escape the merriness....

"I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all.
And that, of course, is the message of Christmas.
We are never alone.
Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest,
the word seemingly most indifferent.
For this is still the time God chooses." - Taylor Caldwell

Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles. - Unknown

And the angel said unto them, "Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, Which shall be to all people. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David A Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, Lying in a manger." - Luke 2:10-12

Christmas Fun

All dressed up!
Finally found a dress and had a nice night at "the new job" Christmas party.
Dress 50% off...boots almost 75% off....
Nice night out - priceless!

Then it was gingerbread house time...
Never ceases to amaze me what the kids come up with!
This year K wanted to invite some friends "that never get to do this kind of thing Mom!" -
So I relented on the "family" tradition.
They had a nice night ...

Mine!

Dude that insisted on using the "real" pastry bag, not the ziploc bag....sad that he knows the difference!

I still don't think the girls realize that the boys were acting up in the background!

The girls house...

The "dude" house...
they even made the gingerbread man "crash" into the roof and start to slide down...

I can't believe they are old enough to pipe their own houses and not need any help holding it all together anymore.
*sigh*

Can I just tell you.....

One of outakes from taking pictures after the tree was up...

Can I just tell you, how far this man has come in the last year!
If you are a regular blog reader, adn me 40 years from now reading back on my blog,
you know one thing...
I have often come here to expell the woes of being married to someone who is not the world's best shopper or gift giver.
I have spent many a holiday or important day
stewing over the lack of attention in that department
from my wonderful husband.
Well - I guess I can complain no more.....
he has come through more than once this past year.
I believe I finally have him broken in!

To summerize the story -
I have had a very hard time finding my Christmas spirit this year.
Our job changes have added additional stress to our world in the last month,
continually dealing with the kids' difficulty in school,
not having my usual days off and
feeling overwhelmed by a list that seems way too long and
time way to short....
I just haven't been able to find it.
Add to the mix that J had to go do a side job last weekend
when it seemed much more important to me that we spend time at home
getting Christmas up in the house....
needless to say I was grouchy...
Tackling the boxes one at a time on my own...
And lo and behold I open a huge box that should have been the outdoor wreaths.
And I find a bunch of little boxes....
containing this......

The Willow Tree Nativity that I have been coveting for years now.
I knew he had been surfing eBay months ago and saw it...but I warned him , we don't have the money....
well apparently - this was a bargain brand new that could not be passed up, or so he assures me....

Anyway....I digress.....

Could he have know weeks ago when he ordered this that I would be having a really horrible week and he would have to work?
When he left it in the box for me to find he merely thought I would enjoy
putting it to use this year instead of opening it Christmas morning and having to wait until next year.....
I know he did not intend the reaction he got, but got it he did.
Opening this surprise was exactly what I needed.....

It literally brought me to my knees next to the box, in tears as I opened each one.
They are beautiful resin copies of original wood carved pieces.
I love Willow Tree's work.
They specialize in capturing relationships.
I particularly love that there is no manger in this scene.
Even though the bible says there was one,
I love that Mary is holding Jesus,
staring lovingly at Him.
As I know , any mother would with her first born.
It speaks to me.


In one fell swoop, I was reminded of my husband's love for me, and
reminded very quickly where I could find the Christmas spirit I was so seriously lacking.
It wasn't on my list, or in the boxes of decorations,
or dependent on everything getting put up in a timely manner....
it is in that manger.
And I so needed that reminder.
See , *someone* knew what I would need that day.
Set that plan into motion months ahead.
If you keep your heart and your mind open,
you can see it.
The love.
Every day.

I would love to admit that the Christmas spirit has been alive and well ever since
but I am human
and while I am not circling the drain
as I was the day I opened that box, I am still not where I should be.
I try to recenter myself every time I look up to the mantel and survey that scene.
I miss my church.
I miss my routine.
I miss the security that is so disheveled right now
in so many areas of our family and lives.
But I also know,
it will all be alright.
Christmas will come.
I pray it comes to our hearts long before it comes under the tree.

And looking at this loving caring patient face every day has to make me smile in the meantime!

Couldn't resist

I don't usually enter online contests and all that jazz...but this one was too darn tempting....so I am also telling you about it!
Go HERE now to try to win a flat screen touch computer!

So..thanksgiving.....

Even though I am still recovering from the flare up in my hip/leg that the drive gave me, I would not trade our yearly trip to NC for nearly anything. We look forward to it every year, spend a lot of time just hanging out with my brother, and his family, as well as my sister and hers. Rarely, do we even do that when they are here......
This year B took us to Pilot Mountain.
Gorgeous.
Rumored to have been a lookout point for indians and pioneers. I believe it. You can see nearly forever from up there. We spent some time at the lookout point, then hiked up to the "knob". If we wanted to , yeah right, we could have gotten a permit to climb the rocks to the real actual top.
nuh-uh. Not happening.

So nothing profound in this post...just fun pictures...

My brother's boys did not tag along...just my two and the nieces.

K and S on an "elbow" tree.

Love this one.

From the lookout. If I was better at direction I could tell you we could probably see Virginia or Tenn. on the horizon. Literally it was like looking out on the ocean horizon we could see so far.

Considering the lore of the indians and pioneers it was almost creepy how many profiles we could see in the rocks. This one was the most real - forehead, nose chin, mouth and the moss even looks like hair. Perhaps the indians are right, the spirits do still live inside the rock.

Sis and her hubs - a rare nice shot!

The dude. Who could not get enough climbing.

At the bottom of the knob..up up up....

At the over look...

A shot from another path the kids did not venture down, just us grown ups. I totally did not climb over a fence to an illegal area to get this shot...nuh-uh not me...

Me and my hubs.

Another illegally gained shot....

Well maybe this is where I get profound.
These two.
I adore them.
The three of us have certainly lived, experienced, lost and loved a lot.
I am so darn proud of both of them.
I looked at my "baby" brother over that weekend, cooking, working around his house, parenting...and just could not get over the man he has grown into. I still look at him occasionally and think I expect to see the young boy I used to drag, literally, out of bed by his feet.
Then there is my sis - whom of course I see more often, so don't tend to ponder as much.
She is so strong and it amazes me daily what she accomplishes some days.
I know Mom is looking down beaming from ear to ear to see these two.
To see what they are maturing into.
The giving, caring, strong, loving people they have become.
I wonder if anyone who knew my parents as the teenage parents they were,
ever expected three wonderful, mature, giving back,
providing for their families, and much much more adults,
to come from that union?
Sometimes I look back at the childhood the three of us had,
and wonder how on earth we all came out so well!
God is good.
Good things do come with time, prayer and patience.
I am so glad for the place we all are in our lives right now.
Just wish we weren't so far apart most of the time!