Category - Family Life

This week between Christmas and New Year’s has always been my favorite week of the year. The frenzy and stress that precedes Christmas is gone but the decorations and good feelings remain. There are few obligations at this time of the year, so it is a quiet time to enjoy the tasty treats and presents. I like to continue to play Christmas music, right through to New Year’s, though I tend to choose instrumentals now.

So how was your Christmas? Ours was wonderful. We started with Mass on Christmas Eve. Here are Boo and Pumpkin Girl all decked out. If you look carefully, you can see the remnants of Pumpkin Girl’s black eyes.

They were both in the Christmas play. Pumpkin Girl was a sheep again and Boo worked up enough courage to be a Wise Man. Phil sang a solo during the play. Unfortunately, I missed most of it because I had to be in the crying room with Bip. Here’s a picture of Boo afterwards.

Back at home, we had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamales, rice and beans. I don’t know how it happens, but every year my mom manages to get us some homemade tamales. Even when we live in Korea. Got them right past customs, even. Right before dinner I heard a lot of sirens in the area. I thought how sad, to need an ambulance or fire truck on Christmas Eve. But ho ho ho, look who it was:

The next day, children were up bright and early. They were genuinely surprised and delighted to find their stockings filled, especially given their behavior of the previous couple of days. They got everything they had wanted for Christmas “and more,” as Pumpkin Girl said. She got her very first Barbie doll. We managed to hold her off until this year, when she started asking for one. No matter what, she always came back to Barbie. I had a Barbie as a child, and I turned out ok. Well, more or less. But whatever issues I may have are not Barbie’s fault. So we are now a Barbie household. I need some help, though. Where does one buy Barbie clothes? Our base PX only carries the dolls, no extra clothes. Of course, her clothes need to be conservative and modest. If anyone knows of a good online source of decent Barbie clothes, please let me know.

Boo was please to find a popgun and a Lego Star Wars Gameboy cartridge. He and I are spending all our spare time playing Gameboy now. I really like the Lego Star Wars game. Boo plays Star Wars with his friends all the time, but he’s never seen the movies. Even Episode 4 or whatever we call it these days, the first one that came out in the ’70s, is still a little too violent. It’ll definitely give Pumpkin Girl nightmares, and there is no way for her not to see it if Boo is. Anyway, the Lego version is fun and cute and gore-less. You don’t even need to know the story line to play. We’re enjoying it very much.

Bip really got into opening gifts. He was thrilled with all of his gifts, which aside from a wooden rocking horse fell into 2 categories: things to pound and cars. Such a boy!

My gifts were almost all from Europe. A beautiful rosary and rosary box from the Vatican library collection and a Swarovski crystal Nativity from the Vatican are some of the highlights.

About the Girl: Pumpkin Girl fell off our shed on Sunday and smashed her face. How many times do you have to tell them to GET OFF THE SHED? I don’t think she’ll forget anymore. Her nose is swollen and bruised (think Marsha Brady when she got hit with the football) and scratched on one side. She has two black eyes. I don’t think it’s broken because it’s sore like a bruise, not painful like a break would be. I’d post a picture here, but she looks like she got beat up. I don’t need a visit from CPS adding to my Christmas Cheer. Not that three hots and a cot wouldn’t be nice about now.

About the Boy: Phil had The Talk with Boo. Or rather, read him The Book. On Sunday while Pumpkin was lying on the couch with a bag of frozen peas on her nose, Phil took the opportunity to take Boo to his room and read to him. Reports are that it went well. Phil told him that if he had any questions, to feel free to ask. Boo’s reply: “No, that pretty much explained everything.” Well, everything an 8 year old would want to know. By the way, if you have a child that needs to know about the facts of life, then this book (#2 in a series) is a great one. Check out the reviews on Amazon (follow the link above) – I pretty much agree with all of them, especially the one dated June 28, 2000.

About being neat and tidy: I let a strange man into my house today. Well, he wasn’t a strange man, he seemed normal enough, but he was a stranger. He was a federal investigator doing a routine background check on one of our friends. He interviewed me for about 10 minutes and was done. We get a lot of these investigators in their overcoats and hats, flashing their badges. Most of the time I don’t know the people they are investigating. Boo, ever the inquisitive one, always asks who was at the door. One time I told him that it was a federal agent, wanting to know what he’d been up to. His eyebrows shot up into his hair. I had him going for quite awhile until I finally admitted that while the man indeed was a federal investigator asking questions, he wasn’t asking about Boo. So when I let the man into the house today and Boo found out who he was, he made himself scarce pretty quickly. I guess he wasn’t taking any chances. But see, just one more reason for keeping your house clean – you never know when the Feds are going to knock on your door.

Please pass this information on to every single person you know.  I know it’s late notice, but if you have a blog, please consider posting the information there, too.  I ask that you join me in remembering children of all ages who have died way too soon.  Please keep their families in your prayers as you light a candle on Sunday night and especially during this time of year.  I know that this candle lighting is easy to forget, maybe you could go right now and place a tea light or pillar candle on your coffee table or dining room table to help you remember.

The Compassionate Friends
Worldwide Candle Lighting

Held annually the second Sunday in December, this year December 10, The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe as they light candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor children in a way that transcends all ethnic, cultural, religious, and political boundaries.

Believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.

The Worldwide Candle Lighting started in the United States in 1997 as a small Internet observance but has since swelled in numbers as word has spread throughout the world of the remembrance. A memorial message board is available during the event at TCF’s USA website www.compassionatefriends.org. Hundreds upon hundreds of postings are received each year from all over the United States, as well as dozens of other countries. Some messages are in foreign languages.

Here in the United States, publicity about the event is widespread, being featured in the past in Parade Magazine, Ann Landers column, Guideposts magazine, Annie’s Mailbox, and literally hundreds of U.S. newspapers, dozens of television stations, and numerous websites. Information on the Worldwide Candle Lighting and planned memorial candle lighting services is posted on the TCF website at www.compassionatefriends.org each year as the event nears.

The United States Senate has, for many of the 10 years of the Worldwide Candle Lighting, joined in the remembrance by unanimously passing resolutions declaring the second Sunday in December of each year National Children’s Memorial Day to coincide with The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting.

 

The Worldwide Candle Lighting gives bereaved families everywhere the opportunity to remember their child . . . that their light may always shine!

I’ve really been enjoying all the advent blogs I’ve found. Lots of women are so creative and seem to have so much time. I wish I was able to dedicate the time and energy into creating such wonderful, homey crafts and baked goods. I’m having advent envy. Of course, this year, I’m spending all my free time trying to unpack our house. It’s going much slower than I had hoped. Since we moved into an identical house, you’d think that everything would just go right back into the same place it was in the old house. Not so much. Unfortunately, we were not well organized to start with and the packers don’t really care that you’ve got homeschooling books in three different bookshelves that really should be packed into the same boxes. They also don’t care that that big pile of papers should just go out into the recycling. They just dump it all into a box, label it something helpful like “guest room papers” and seal it up. In some cases they literally dumped stuff into a box. Playmobile pirate ship, remote control car, vintage Little People village from my childhood, Hello Kitty playhouse all in one box, with some books stuck in the empty spaces as filler. Two bowling pins (don’t ask!) on top of the Justice League Watch Tower.

OK, this was supposed to be a post about advent. Even in the best of circumstances, I’ve not given much thought to Advent beyond counting down the days. I’m not big on kids crafts, even though I’d like to be. I get frustrated when I can’t find the craft supplies I need for a project and gosh darn it, don’t you know that a 5 year old and an 8 year old just won’t make the project perfectly! Doesn’t add up to a lot of Comfort and Joy. However, in reading some of these other blogs, I’m seeing that Advent crafts do not need to be lengthy, done perfectly or involve hard to find supplies. Instead, they should reflect the season of joyful anticipation and should be heartfelt and simple. I would like to try some of the ideas I’ve found. I love Dawn’s blog in general and she’s got a lot of great advent ideas. I like her sequin ornaments, tissue paper stars, and star candles most of all. I think I’ll add them to my holiday plans binder for next year. Hopefully I’ll be in a better place to accomplish them. Over at O Night Divine, a blog devoted to Christmas, take a look at this homemade advent wreath that is a beautifully simple departure from a traditional wreath.

What I would like to share is the wonderful advent calendar that my mother made for me when I was about 4 years old. I hang it up for my children now and they take turns pinning an ornament to the tree everyday. I absolutely love my advent calendar for so many reasons – because my not-so-crafty mom made it for me, for it’s simplicity, and for the fact that it has been a part of my Christmases for as long as I can remember.

Something else I would like to share is our family
advent wreath. This is the latest one that we made at our church’s advent workshop. We first made one 4 years ago and it was then that my husband said he wanted to have an advent wreath every year and make it part of our family’s tradition.

I have a new winter look for my blog, but I have to admit that I’m not feeling too festive.  I have always loved Fall and Winter, but lately my heart’s just not in it.  Part of it is seeing all the lights and decorations and hearing the music.  I am reminded of December 2003, as I entered the final weeks of my pregnancy with Rebecca.  What a joyful time that was!  As the world prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ, I was preparing for the birth of my own baby.  The clever little thing arrived just 3 days before Christmas and we came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve.  What could be more perfect, than a brand new baby for Christmas?  It would be the only Christmas we got to spend with her.  And so now, as the world again prepares to celebrate the birth of a baby, my  heart aches for my own baby.  It doesn’t make for a very merry season.

I have a sign that says "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" but I don’t put it up anymore.

I think that knowing that this season brings me such sadness it what drives me to be so organized for Christmas.  While everyone else is bustling around buying presents, I would much rather stay home and pull a blanket over my head.  So keeping things simple and organized keeps me sane.  I have to "do" Christmas for my other children.  They deserve the happy times, because God knows that their little hearts have already been smashed into enough peices.

And to top it all off, our house is filled with moving boxes once again.  Our unexpected, emergency move has really put a damper on the season.  Taking pictures of our ruined, moldy possessions for our insurance isn’t exactly my idea of holiday fare. My husband says that he does know where the decorations are, so we will attempt to put them up this weekend.  I have managed to get a small portion of the living room unpacked and set up, with enough room to put up the tree.  As long as all the Christmas pictures are only taken facing the tree, the chaos of the rest of the house won’t be seen.  I just hope I can figure out where all the Christmas presents got packed away to.

As you can see, I’m really struggling here.  Maybe after this big cold front passes us and our temperature drops from 74 degrees today to 43 degrees tomorrow, my mood will improve.  Maybe seeing Christmas lights on our house will help, too.  Some nice thick eggnog and John Denver’s Rocky Mountain Christmas album might do the trick.  Maybe some prayers from my faithful blog readers, all 12 of you.

We’re off to Disneyland for a week!  I’ll see you when we return.