Another Blessed Christmas Season

We have been pretty busy here in the Houseful of Blessings. Cara came home, got sick the next day, and eventually passed it on to a few of us, including me. One night we went driving around looking at Christmas lights and ended our evening by a yummy trip to the Big Spoon Yogurt shop, thanks to some Christmas money from Grandma. Thanks, Grandma, it was fun!

Here are a few other things we have been up to:
Cookie baking

Gingerbread housing

More cookie bakingChristmas Eve at Omi's

and a sweet Christmas day at home. We started our Christmas morning with Ralph reading us the Christmas story out of Luke, followed by the tearing into the stockings and presents mayhem. :-)Most of the family also went to the day after Christmas celebration with my family. Sadly, Samantha and I had a bad cold, and decided to stay home rather than infect the whole family....so we hung out and watched a bunch of movies and rested and tried to get better. But the rest of the family had a great time, I hear. :-)
Since then, we have just been hanging out at home mostly, playing with new stuff and taking life easy. Except for Ralph, who had to go back to the real world this week and go to work.
Today is looking like another lazy day watching a movie and hanging out. Cool. :-)

Prayer Request Update

My dad didn't have the surgery, due to a long and complicated story......so he will be having it sometime after New Years.

But God already knew that was gonna happen, and I'm continuing to trust Him to take care of my beloved Daddy.

Thanks for praying.

P.S. Cara comes home in 2 days!!!

P.S.S. Christmas is in 11 days!!!

Prayer Request

Please pray for my dad, who has another major surgery tomorrow. Please pray for the doctors and nurses and all involved in his care, for a good outcome, and for a quick recovery. It's so comforting to know that my dad is in the hands of the Almighty God, and that God loves him more than we do, and will be taking care of him. Thank you.

Recipe for a Happy Boy

This morning, the big kids were doing their Math, and I had a few things I needed to do before sitting down to do some school with Jackson. But....as I was trying to get these things done, Jackson was being loud and distracting the other kids. And when I told him to stop, he got all grumpy and gave me his mean face. My first reaction was to get angry.....doesn't this kid realize I have all this stuff to do? Why won't he behave? I could have lost my temper with him and ruined both of our mornings. Instead, I called him into the kitchen to help me. As I handed him dishes to put in the dishwasher, he whined and pouted and acted helpless. But as I smiled and encouraged him that I needed his help, his whole demeanor changed. He immediately went from surly and uncooperative, to cheerful and happy. Next he helped me put the clothes in the dryer and then a new load into the washer, all while singing and babbling what a good worker he was being. As he was doing that, I told him he could help me start some bread next, and he was thrilled. Seriously. So off he ran to get me some bread flour and he measured out all 12 cups of flour for me, with a smile on his face. Then he asked if he could have more jobs. "Could I spray the doors with cleaner and then wipe it off? And by the way, I love you, Mom." :-)

What changed him? I think he just needed some attention, something to do, and to feel like he was needed. If I had yelled at him and punished him for being loud and annoying in the beginning, neither of us would have gotten the blessing of working and chatting together.
Did it take me twice as long to do it with his "help"? Absolutely.
Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Oh, that's right, I have a blog....... :-)

No, we are not dead. Just busy with life.

We had a wonderful visit with Cara. We picked her up at the airport Friday night, and when we got home it was just starting to snow.......and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed. But that was ok; we had plenty to keep us busy....snow play, sappy Hallmark channel Christmas movies (when the power wasn't out), drinking hot tea and hot chocolate, more snow play, visiting, and then Thanksgiving. For some reason I took hardly any pictures when Cara was home, and then totally forgot the camera on Thanksgiving...but it was a fun filled day with family. We went to my sister's house in Vacaville. The food was great and the company was better. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we went to Apple Hill for the traditional Christmas Tree Hunt. :-)
We did the usual things.
stopped at Carl's Jr. for lunch...

found the perfect tree...(Nope, that's not it. We changed our minds after I took everbody's picture in front of it...and after we had already yelled for the cutter. :-)Here it is:
went to High Hill Ranch for cider and a visit with Santa and a choice of candy or a caramel apple from the Fudge FactoryThen home to eat pizza and decorate.It all went by so quickly, and too soon it was time to take Cara back to the airport. Since she had to leave at 4:30 am Sunday morning to make her early flight, we didn't all go. Only Ralph and Samantha braved the early hour.

This week we are back to the normal routine, whatever that is. And...it's only 23 days til Christmas!!! Yea!

Total Domination.....hehe

The carsThe Competition (well, part of it anyway)The Track

The Racers

So tonight was the Awana Grand Prix! Um, did I mention total domination? Ok, not total, but we did come home with 3 trophies. (Did I mention we also took 3 trophies last year?) (and 3 the year before that?) Samantha won Best of Show for her horse car!!Joey won 4th place in the speed division.And.......drumroll please.........Nick took 1st place in Speed!! Way to go Nick!! Look, I even got a little smile! (This was a long time in coming for Nick. He has watched his siblings win trophies for speed and design over the years, but somehow the coveted trophy has always alluded Nick. Not this year! :-)
(Edited to add: Well, was I wrong. Nick did get a 3rd place in design 2 years ago for his sea monster car. Good thing I have this blog to remind me of all the stuff I forget!)

Becca didn't place this year, but that's ok. I mean, we have to let those other kids win SOMETHING. :-)And here's Jackson's really cheesy smile with Becca's trophy from last year, cause he needed to pose for a picture too.

And..........guess what!!?? Cara comes home in 2 days!! And, Thanksgiving is next week! Fun times ahead!!!
(Yeah, I know, I sure did use a lot of exclamations in this post, didn't I?...Well, here's a few more for good measure, just cause I can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Today

Today was Nicks' real birthday, and the sun was shining, and we just really needed a day off. So we headed down to town to do our Christmas shoebox shopping. It's always fun to see what each child will put into their own special box. The boxes are all different and unique, hopefully as unique as the child God has picked to receive that particular box. Everyone has fun making their shoebox....ok, that's a lie...Nick told me he will give me the money and I can do his shopping next year like I do for Danny now, just please don't make him shop anymore.....but other than Nick, everybody loves it. After the shopping was done, it was time to get some dollar menu burgers and head to the park for a while for a little picnic and some play time.
After that, we came home to relax and let the birthday boy play his new computer flight simulator he got for his birthday (we normally don't allow computer games during the week, but birthday boys get a break on that rule).

In the evening, I got a call from my mom; my dad was supposed to have surgery this Thursday and it has been postponed again. I guess Dad got bumped for an emergency. I know that my parents would like prayer for God's timing, but we are hoping it will be soon, so Dad can get this behind him and move on.

At dinner, Jackson told me, "Mom, you're too old for that kinda stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" I asked.
"Everything!"
Ok, then. Now I know.

And that about sums up today in the Houseful of Blessings.

Another Birthday in the Houseful of Blessings

Yesterday the grandparents braved the storm and came up to help us celebrate Nick's 15th birthday. There was spaghetti, and fresh homemade bread, salad, dirt cake, and ice cream. There were presents and family and a good friend, and a little brother willing to help blow out the candles. (Jackson is always willing....like it or not.) It was pouring outside, but we had a fire going and it was cozy inside.

Another birthday memory made.
Life is good.