Boxing Day

All of Christmas Day, the weather-buzz had been about the appearance of snow--which hadn't happened in NC since 1947. When we finally rolled into bed at 11:00 p.m., it was still raining and I told Kevin that it just wouldn't happen.

At 4:00 a.m., the breadmaker was going (making bread for the morning) and I woke up to hear it. I sneaked out of bed and couldn't believe my eyes as I beheld the winter wonderland outside. I went back to bed, knowing that services would be canceled for the morning.
Lydia took lots of photos to show the extent of the snowfall. We ended up with a good 7 inches.
Kevin thinks our house looks so pretty in the snow, so he always wants to get a good picture of it. I think that the cryptomeria tree on the left looks like a natural Christmas tree!
Thankfully, my parents and Aunty Chris had spent the night. That was partly because my dad was scheduled to preach at Shiloh OPC (our church) in the morning. Well, we didn't have services, but we did at our house! We were able to sing carols and listen to an outline of the sermon that he was planning to preach. We'll hear it again (in full) next week as he's coming back to fill the pulpit.

Here's Aunty Chris.
Kevin's present from me was an ice cream maker. So after they played in the snow, I whipped up a batch of homemade chocolate ice cream. It is so delicious, but when I was pouring out of the 3rd box of heavy whipping cream, my conscience started screaming at me! Thankfully, the machine can also make sherberts and sorbets. But if you plan to visit our home, give me a call first and I'll make sure to have some ingredients on hand for a cool treat ;0)

Christmas Day

We had been to a lovely, reflective, Christmas Eve service and got home quite late. I was sure this meant a sleepy morning--but no. So the children were up at 7:00 and through the stockings by 7:30. We came downstairs and opened the gifts which we, and others, had given to the children.In an effort to maintain an appropriate balance and emphasis, our tradition has become to give each child one individual present and then one group present. This year, Lydia received a "light wedge"--it's a sort of fancier type of reading light so that she can read in bed. Abigail (the artist) received prismacolor colored pencils for her artwork. Philip received inflatable punching gloves and a punching bag. Simeon got a xylophone. Their group gift was a set of walkie-talkies (mostly so that I can communicate with them when they are out in the woods!); they are a big hit.
Christmas lunchtime came around 1:30 p.m. My sister and her family came, as well as my parents and Aunty Chris. We have had our friend, Ms. Sara, to our home now for 5 years on Christmas. She lives in a local nursing home facility. She said that she thoroughly enjoyed our time. She's very gracious!
While she was here, we had three Skype visits: one from my cousin Bethan and her family in Wales--it was so chaotic that I could hardly hear her, but it was nice to see she and her family nonetheless. The second call was to my sister-in-law and nephew in Hawaii. They were celebrating in their shorts and sleeveless dress! The third call was from Afghanistan; from my brother stationed there. It was good, but hard, to see his face and know he is so far from his family.
My family has the English tradition of opening Christmas crackers, wearing the silly hats and quizzing each other with the corny jokes. It's fun, and hey, it's tradition. Here's the donning of the hats--or in the case of my nephew, his hair was already blue so he didn't need one!
Another tradition is to have Christmas pudding. It's massively rich, and because it is so, we have small pieces and pour heavy whipping cream over it! Yes, good thing I don't have to get my cholesterol checked soon.

Exhausting, but lovely day. Lydia said, "Mommy, you got us really nice gifts. Thank you." And on my pillow was a little handwritten note from Abigail (signed for all the kids) thanking me for the gifts. Kevin and I discussed why they hadn't thanked him; they have a lot to learn about family economics!

Day with the O.Hughes family

We spent the day at my parents' house where Owen and Amber are staying. The girls had helped make a gingerbread house with some of the teens from church. They wanted to eat it immediately, but I said they should show it to cousin Emma first--and so the day came. It was hard and stale, but candy is hardly affected by time or elements! Abigail didn't even take off her hat or coat before she dug in! Here are the "big" boy cousins. Griffin and Philip are 6 weeks apart in age. They had tremendous fun jumping on cushions, playing with cars etc.
Here are the moms. The pink blanket behind us looks hideous and is not part of the decor. It was to prevent little boys from smashing their faces on the fireplace.
After dinner my dad read us a devotion from Matthew 1. So grateful to have the example of godly parents/grandparents who love our children and earnestly desire to know the Savior as their own.

Aunty Chris' Birthday Party

As for everyone, this is a busy season for our family; but what a blessing these last days have been. My mom's only sister, Chris, has been visiting from England. On the 21st we celebrated her birthday at my sister's house. My aunt has never married, so celebrating with a big party is a rarity for her.

Also a rarity is for these little girls to spend time together. Owen's daughter, Emma, is 6 months younger than Abigail, but they are the closest of buddies. There are generally tears shed when they must part. Emma lives in Florida.
Owen is holding his youngest son, Myles who is generally SMyles, but was a little overwhelmed by the number of new faces.
And who can blame him. Owen and Amber gave Aunty Chris this beautiful scarf, which she modeled in "head-covering" mode.
And then there was the attempt to have all-assembled-grands have a picture with the grandparents and grand-Aunt.

Go Duke!

The children asked a very talented friend if he'd be willing to knit them Duke hats. Yes, you correctly, "he"--he's a math PhD student (and GCC grad) and he attends our church. He made each child's hat slightly differently and he did a marvelous job. The kids are thoroughly enjoying their soft, woolly hats which show their support for their favorite team!

Starry Night II

We took our own turn of painting Starry Night. The kids had fun (I mean, who doesn't when it involves paint!) and found that Van Gogh's style was much more difficult to replicate than first thought. It was a good exercise.

Tackiness!

So, there's a house. Probably like many locales. There's a house where the man outdoes himself every year in tacky decorations. We call him Mr. Penny Road because his house is off Penny Road. This year, he added an inflatable Santa Claus whose pants constantly rise and then fall revealing the words "Happy Holidays" across his pine end. Out of all the hundreds of decorations this man has, Philip immediately notices the "Santa with his pants falling down." As you can imagine, that has been the dominant theme of both boys' discussions of Christmas lights. Thankfully, we've only seen this one. I hope we never see another one!We tried to be economical and take the children to this one over a week ago at the tailend of a daytrip out of town. Unfortunately, we got their too early and he didn't have everything lit up yet for the evening. Shucks, kids.

Christmas Carols and Recital

I have two piano students: Lydia and our young friend Emily. I taught Emily's older sister for several years, and now Lydia and Emily take lessons together. Their mom teaches art to the other kids while I teach piano. It seems like Christmastime is the best time for our families to get together and we have a little "recital" where the girls play a few pieces they have worked on. We sang carols together and enjoyed cookies, hot chocolate and popcorn. We stayed up very late and had a wonderful time ;0)

Emily and I are playing a duet.

Lydia and I are now playing another duet ;0)

Here are our combined gaggle of kids aged: 12, 10, 9, 8, 6, 6, 4, 4, 2. We used to be neighbors and had been friends for 6 years before we each outgrew our respective homes 3 years ago. So, now we get together for piano and art about every other week. The children just love each other and the adults do too. It is a foretaste of heaven to be together with Christian friends and to disregard time. How great it will be to spend eternity together worshiping our shared Savior!

Children these days

After school, on most fair-weather afternoons, you can find my children playing "at the fort." The neighbor boys have built a fort at the corner of their property and the kids have really enjoyed playing out there.Sometimes the games are elaborate and involve a dictatorial king, a duke and a duchess, as well as prisoners and slaves. Many life lessons are being learned out there in the backyard!
And for her big news, Abigail lost her first tooth on Sunday, November 28, 2010. She is just over 6 1/2 and that tooth has been hanging by the threadiest-thread for ages! So, she's very proud of this recent accomplishment, and her life will never be the same ;0)

Symphony

Kevin had some free tickets for us to go to the Symphony on Saturday afternoon. We chanced it and took all four children to hear "holiday favorites" sung by some Broadway crooners and the Concert Singers of Cary, accompanied by the NC Symphony.
The hall looked very festive, and as you can see, it was mostly a white-haired audience. We had quite a time getting out and not tripping over all the walkers and wheelchairs. But hey, it was free!
The kids were a little awed by the whole thing and Simeon was very content to sit on my lap (and eat a secret bag of nuts, raisins and m&ms) and snuggle. He's getting so big, I'm happy for times when he just wants me to hold him and make him feel safe.
I can't say that I left in a terribly "festive" spirit as the musical selections were rather eclectic. But I'm thankful that no matter how emotionally flat I feel, the reality of the truth of the incarnation remains unchanged. I read in a book recently that we are not justified by the incarnation, we are justified because Christ took upon his own body the wrath that we deserve, and we can now be declared righteous, because of His perfect righteousness. I needed that reminder.

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a relaxed Thanksgiving afternoon at my sister's house. This is the childrens' table. It's not always ideal to have the children separated from the parents, but at least we could hear the conversation. Oh yeah, like the one when Abigail asked (as without guile as possible) "Do you guys know any bad words?" to which her cousin responded (in all seriousness), "Well, I do, but they're all in the Bible." We silently jiggled with laughter in the other room.Here are my sister and her husband, hostess and host. They are some of the least aging people you would ever meet!
Kevin and my dad caught some football time in the living room, far from the madding crowd.
And seeing as my sister had decorated fro Christmas, we took advantage and had my niece take our photo for our annual card. So, watch for it in a mailbox soon near you. And yes, I realize that Philip is doing something weird with his mouth, but it is hard to get everyone to smile at the same time!

Swift to Hear

"So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." James 1:19,20

I spend my days talking: instructing, correcting, encouraging, directing, managing. I have some children who are better listeners and doers than others. I have some who need constant reminding, constant calling to attention. I didn't realize how far I had slid into this lifestyle of 24 hour speaking until I actually heard one of my children, for perhaps the first time.

We were doing an art study on The Starry Night by Van Gogh. I have done a serial art study with Lydia and it was always tough going. She was okay to look at the paintings, but never seemed to pull anything of herself out of the paintings we were studying. It was more of the Socratic method of studying art. So, I assumed that life would be the same with Abigail. I showed her Starry Night in the lobby of the library where we were waiting for Lydia to finish a homeschool class. I asked her what she saw in the painting. And then she started to speak. She immediately, but deliberately explained to me how van Gogh had included a pattern in with the painting which was sort of different from the overall theme of his painting. I explored the idea with her and she identified the pattern as the wind. I then asked her what colors he used in the painting. She began naming colors which I couldn't even see--not because they weren't there, but because I hadn't noticed them. She talked about how he used the colors. She talked about which part of the painting appealed to her, because of his color choices. She talked about how impressed she was with his use of lines, his use of small brush strokes. I was really, truly blown away.

As I stood there I couldn't help but thank God for His allowing me to be humbled--humbled so that I could hear this child. This child who is reminded minute by minute to finish one task and move on to the next. This child who is forever doodling on papers, taking hours to finish a drawing project. And ALL of this is going on in her head, all the time. But I never take the time to ask her. Oh Lord, help me to see that being made in Your image is unique in every child, and help me to appreciate that.

Low Battery

Well, sometimes that describes how I feel, but right now it's the status of my camera, hence the dearth of photos.

We went to a Tedd Tripp parenting conference this past weekend. Good stuff. If you haven't got a copy of Shepherding a Child's Heart, you should ;0) Got us thinking and re-thinking some of our parenting heart attitudes and behaviors as well as those of our kids. One thing that has continued to resonate (lots has, but I'll just include this thing) is that our children, because they are created imago dei are created to be worshipers. They will worship either God, or idols. They don't ever stop worshiping. They crave awe. Children constantly seek things to awe them ("Mom, watch me do this! See, look at what I can do! Mom, look at this cool thing I found!") Dr. Tripp admonished us to see our children dazzled, awed, blown away, by the grace of God. And the primary responsibility lies with us parents to reflect that to our children. Am I dazzled by the grace of God? Do I worship Him constantly or do I give in the idol-factory of my heart and rush to be awed by the idols? I want for my kids to be dazzled by the gospel!

So, we're re-working some of our daily habits in light of the seminar. All good, but convicting--which is hard work.

Tonight at dinner, Simeon wanted to ask something of the other kids. They were watching a DVD of Andy Griffith (confession: if Kevin isn't home for dinner, I let them watch some Andy Griffith episodes on the computer while I fix (okay, and sometimes eat) dinner. It's not ideal, but it's not every night either. Mostly every other. Anyway, the bigger kids were absorbed and so Simeon shouts, "CHILDREN!" at which they all look at him and he asks his question. It's just funny to me how #4 asserts himself. He often says, "SSHHH, I readin' da Bible now. Be quiet." And he actually commands a presence.

And then if you're #3, like Philip, you're brushing your teeth while your mom stands next to you. But if she's zoned out by #4 yammerin' in the tub, you might just have to congratulate yourself on a brushing job well-done and say "Good job, Philip" as you hop off the bathroom stool and into your bed.

Today was our first day back to school after 3 weeks off. We hit it hard from 8:30-11:30 and then 12:30-3:00. At 11:00 Lydia says, "I just feel sick. Sick, Mom!" I think I was pushing a little too much for that first day back--so I let her lie down on the couch and then she was refreshed. Okay, better sign off as I need to run in the morning.

Square Foot gardening

Just wanted to post that my little square foot garden is still yielding, despite some cold nights. I still have tomatoes ripening and green beans. Lettuce is a cold weather crop, so that will do okay for a little bit. Our broccoli is maturing, but not at the point of yielding. Rosemary, basil and parsley are still in there as well. I've been trying to dry the herbs as basil and perhaps parsley too, will die in the frost. I guess I could transplant the parsley to indoors. I might do that.

Comings and Goings

We are on a break from school and have filled our days with visits from friends and family. Here are some photos from our days.We went back to Yates Mill Pond with our friend, Carolyn, who was visiting from England. Lydia took the camera and captured some nice shots of the location. We had a nice time with her.
My nephew's baseball team won the Championship game (he has now been on 2 championship teams!). This cake was served in honor of his being a good sportsman during the season; he played the championship game the following night.
My crazy brother, Owen, came for a fleeting visit. He is such a hoot; I wish we lived closer. Anyway, he drove with my parents up to Lancaster, PA for a conference. My dad was preaching a Reformation weekend conference with Dr. Sinclair Ferguson. They had a wonderful time, and I wish we could've all been there.
My sister-in-law, Emily, and her son, Calvin has been here for several days. She is over here on the "mainland" (as opposed to their Hawaiian island home) for a few weeks and will spend almost 2 months here during my brother's deployment to Afghanistan. We went to Early Voting on October 29th and while I was in line Emily and all the children took bats, balls and tee down to the ball field adjacent to the polling station. Calvin has had a lot of first since being at my house--some which might have corrupted him for life: first hotdog, first game of baseball, first piece of gum, etc.!
October 30th I ran my first 5K. It was chilly and hilly! I'm glad I was able to finish it, as I thought I was going to lose it on some of the hills. I finished at 31:20 for my time. I am a slow, but steady runner. Slow and steady doesn't win the race, but it does finish!

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking starts early for girls. Here, Lydia is knitting a sweatband for Philip while Abigail is holding open a library book for Lydia to read aloud to both Philip and Abigail. We are enjoying beautiful fall weather which makes it hard to stay indoors. Good thing our break is only a week away!!

Pizza Night

On Saturday night, we invited a couple of young men from our home church (who are freshmen at GCC) over to our hosts' home for pizza and tunes! Jesse is a great banjo player, and Alex jumped right in on the guitar for some bluegrass in Grove City. We had a fun evening together.

Homcoming

Here's a photo of the moms. I forgot to include that on the first post.

Also on Friday we took the kids to Emmett's Orchard, a favorite fall spot we used to visit with my mom. The Emmetts are building an orchard/apple cider mill/farm one building at a time. It's a beautiful, rural spot and I love talking with the lady who owns it (she's my age) and seeing her kids grow each time we visit. Our kids had a wonderful time.

The next morning Lydia and I braved the 42 degree weather to participate in a 5K run to benefit a local crisis pregnancy center. Lydia hasn't been training, so we just ran about 1.3 miles and then went home. But it was fun to be with all those fit and eager young people--okay, mildly depressing. But it was truly fun to be with Lydia and help her do something she has been wanting to do.

Then came the parade. We were eligible to march in the Homecoming Parade because it was my 15th reunion. The children had fun with my roommate's children, throwing candy along the parade route. The weather was perfect all weekend--which made it much more enjoyable! Amy, this is for you to see Brian, Jodi and family. We have prayed so often for little Jacob Brown, and here he is doing SO well. It was really great for our kids to meet Jacob and Justy and to see tangibly how the Lord has answered our prayers for healing for this vibrant, young man!