Just like everyone else, the last few days have been a crazy blur, but they've been a lot of fun too.

This year I was done shopping early enough to be in bed by 11 on Christmas Eve, instead of racing Santa to the tree. Some years it felt like I only slept a tiny bit, oh wait, that was this year too. The Little Mr.'s were so excited. This was a Christmas Magic sort of year. They were in our room, jumping on the bed, screaming about Santa at 5:AM. They even did the unthinkable. They turned on the lights.

At 5 AM our coffee pot has not yet even turned on. It was a jolly year of excitement. They were quite happy all the way around.

Our holiday frenzy is really just begining.

Tomorrow, a nephew will officially join the family. We will go to court to hear the Judge say, he belongs to you. There will be visits from some long lost friends in the next 5 days. There will be a Christmas brunch with lots of extended family. There will be cousins. There will be more cousins. There will be New Years.

We will then rest, briefly, and return to our regular lives.

Last but not least, a picture of my Christmas Mister's.

Elfin Magic

So I spoke too soon about being done with the shopping and way too soon about being under budget. But, it's OK.

After two more hours of shopping last night, I believe I am now done. Well, except for a few more tiny things when I hit the grocery stores on Saturday. And yes, I do shop more than one store. Bargains and speciality items, don't you know.

So I got home last night and felt pretty smug. I told The Mr. how much I loved living here. Less than 20 minutes away from consumer heaven. Right around the corner from the big box discount store is a big box electronics store. How very convenient. For the elf.

The List had now been completed and I made some smart remark to The Mr. about my charming Elfin Magic being the source of my success. To this he said, "Look honey, you can't help it if you're short and have pointy ears. I love you anyway."

Ahem. I am quite short, but I do not have pointy ears, thank you very much.

This morning we took care of all the important stuff. Library. Check. 3 Harry Potter books, volume one for The Mr., volume four for me, and volume five for The Little Mr. Curious George and Nate the Great for The Littlest Mr. Movie Store. I love the dollar rentals. The boys are right now deeply focused on the black and white version of A Christmas Carol.

And yes. We did read the book first. That's why The Little Mr. had such a burning desire to see it. He reads it first, then makes us insane until we rent him the movie. The last one was Bridge to Tarabithia, I think.

Sick for the Holiday?

Doesn't it seem like someone in the family always manages to get sick for the holiday? It doesn't matter what holiday, 4th of July, a birthday, or Christmas. Someone always gets sick.

For two days my kids have been wild. No other way to describe it. Just running around the house making themselves and everyone else crazy and cranky.

Then it hit. Last night. One said "I don't feel so good" just before getting into bed. Then this morning two said, "I just feel sort of yucky mom."

Their noses are snotty and their eyes watery. Their tummies are gurgley and they are sleepy. Right now I have one little boy tucked into bed sleeping fretfully. I have another under blankets on the sofa with Harry Potter, book 4.

I'm betting that by the afternoon, I'll have a little girl all sleepy and snotty too.

So the plan for the next few days is tea and juice, tissues and blankets, naps, books, movies and fire places. A little honey for those sore throats, some vapor-rub and chap stick. Kisses and hugs and soup.

They'll all be well again in no time.

Simple Pleasures

Living here in the Northern part of the Mid-West, we have a good deal of cold weather. This year we're also having a hefty amount of snow. If you've been born and raised here, it's not really a big deal. We've always had seasons like this and so we endure it and sometimes even enjoy it.

It makes me realize that one of the things I take great joy in is a true simple pleasure.

I like to be warm.

Over my life time here in the snowy Mid-West, I've developed a fine winter collection. I have thick corduroy pants. I have wool sweaters. I have soft turtlenecks. I have some very toasty shoes. I have a great winter coat and fabulous mittens. I have polar fleece jammies and flannel jammies. There are blankets on the chairs in front of the fireplace. The beds are all made up with soft flannel sheets and thick afghans. The kids have their own special store of polar fleece blankets. There are big, heavy sweatshirts, with hoods. No, not hoodies, real sweatshirts. I admit to having polar fleece socks. And wearing them often.

It occurs to me, on this very frigid day, that not everyone in my community has this luxury of warmth that I have. As the freezing days turn into weeks and months, I'll be very toasty, snug and cozy. I'll also be remembering that my simple pleasure--warmth--is a luxury to many.

Weekend Update

As usual, it was a long weekend.

Saturday there was yet another snow storm. The Mr. and I seem to live under a rock. We watched the weather on Friday night and went to bed. They said snow was coming, but only an inch or two, stopping in the afternoon. After breakfast we ran around town doing our errands, all the while laughing with each other that it seemed like a pretty hefty two inches. Much later in the afternoon, while we're driving to the evening church service, we turn the radio on. The weather guy comes on and says it's going to keep on snowing well past midnight and add up to about 6 inches!!

Then we really started laughing. It never even occurred to either one of us at any point during the day to turn on a radio or TV to see if the forecast had changed. We just kept expecting it to stop.

Sunday was another long day, but one that I'm feeling great about. You see, I had just that one day to do all the holiday gift shopping. We only do gifts for kids in all our extended families, but that still leaves me with 12 kids to shop for, 4 of which have now firmly settled in the teen category. Off I went, early in the day, telling the family, hang in there, I'm not coming back until I'm done.

I got it done, was home by 5:30 and was under budget. It only took 3 stores, 1 mall, 1 jumbo slice of pizza with the works and 1 Twix bar. I did have to park about 9 miles away from every store I went to, and the parking lots were not plowed. That meant people made up their own parking rules. It's amazing to me how many different ways a person will park when there are no little lines on the ground. There were also plenty of snow banks taller than my car. I also had to spend about 15 minutes outside in the freezing cold rearranging the packages to fit into the car.

Right now, I'm just enjoying the feeling of being done with the store part. I may even get the wrapping done before Christmas Eve, although it is tradition to stay up way to late wrapping.

For school, we're happily on break until after the 1st. Woo Hoo! Today, I'm simply wishing my boys came with a volume control. It's just plain too cold to be playing outside and all indoor boy activity seems to happen at a deafening volume.

One last note, for those of you following, or at least those who remember me mentioning it, I'm almost done with my reading goal. This was my year to read the Bible cover to cover. I started in January and I'm happy to say that if I stay focused here in the next week or two, I should be right on track to be finished by the end of the year. It's been a goal of mine for a long time to read it through, and now being close to the end, I can say the second time will be a lot easier.

I don't know why we make it out to be such a difficult thing or such a big deal. I know that it was to me. I've read bigger books and even some that were perhaps "harder," but I was just never able to get through it. This year I decided that I just had to do it, knowing that once I'd read the Bible through the big deal of it all would be gone. I know that each of the next times, I'll just be growing and enjoying.

Bible Challenge

Some dear friends of mine are missionaries to college students. They have launched a challenge for the winter break. Read the New (or Old) Testament in 31 days.

You can check it out on Facebook. The group is called 31 Day Challenge.

Might be a great challenge even if you're not a student on winter break.

'Tis The Season

Around here it's debate time.

I noticed it last week on the message boards of the local homeschool groups. The argument is on. It's still civil at this point, but that will end shortly. It always does.

This morning, I noticed that the debate has moved into the editorials page. There were plenty of letters to the editor extolling how right each person was.

As humans we seem to have this innate need to be more right than anyone one else. It's too bad, it makes us look pretty dumb in the end.

So, that said, here's what I think.

There are three kinds of school, all with the same basic goal...or at least that's what we all start out saying. The goal is the same. Try to remember that part as we go through the rest.

School types. The simplified versions.

There is the "traditional" school, where parents send their children to be taught by a teacher or group of teachers. Parents help with homework and are involved in both school activities and extracurricular activities, including lessons, tutoring and religious education. Parents choose this. Whether private or public, parents choose this.

There is home school, where parents keep their kids at home and teach them themselves, sometimes using additional outside classes, co-ops, private lessons or tutors, or otherwise an additional teacher/s besides themselves. Parents help with homework and are involved in both school activities and extracurricular activities, including lessons, tutoring and religious education. Parents choose this.

Third, there is virtual school. It is a unique combination of "traditional" and homeschool. The student uses the same curriculum as a student in a "traditional" school, has teachers who are not their parents, and are bound by the rules of that particular school. These lessons, taught by the teachers happen over the Internet or a satellite in the child's home. Often the teacher or school grades all of the work and tests even though the parent will be the person administering the tests. Parents help with homework and are involved in both school activities and extracurricular activities, including lessons, tutoring and religious education. Parents choose this.

OK, so in any one of the three, parents make the choice about which style of education their kids get. Parents make the choice about how involved in that particular education they are. Parents make the choice about whether that option will continue from year to year, based on whether or not they are pleased with the outcomes.

Parents choose the curriculum. Even in the case of a public school, parents choose. Granted the process may be more difficult and further removed than a homeschooler, but they ultimately choose. Parents vote for politicians and school boards. Parents are involved with the schools directly. Parents can move their kids to another school with a curriculum they like better.

Ultimately, in any of these three situations, parents pay for the education.

I know, there are plenty of details and arguments left out here. I know it isn't nearly this simple, but let's face it, life isn't that simple. Being a parent--your choice, by the way, isn't that simple, now is it?

And in the end, have we forgotten the goal in our quest to be more right?

I think perhaps we have.

The goal, my friends, is to educate a child. If you really think it through, no child is educated in a vacuum. All kids need to have a variety of experiences and teachers. Some kids need the rigid structure and some need space in their days. Some home school kids have way more structure and stricter teachers and standards than public school kids do. Some public schools do a much better job at general education than some homeschoolers. It's true. None of us are perfect, and none of us are doing a perfect job of educating kids.

But, our hearts need to be in the same place. Our focus needs to be the same. Educate the kids. Maybe we could try a little grace for our fellow parent. Recognize just how hard each choice is, how much each one of us really does want the very best for each one of our kids.

Living in America, we all ought to be able to make the right choice for each individual child. That's about the only point of the school debate that should be argued, you know? Let freedom ring.

Tae Kwon Do

The best and the worst.

It's the night all the kids and parents look forward too. It's the night we all bring our cameras too.

Deep in the Do Jang is the table, all laid out with belts.

Will your child get one?

The class began as usual with warm ups and meditations. Then there was chaos. A little guy had a little accident. Or maybe a big accident. It was a pretty big puddle for a little guy. There were tears and red faces. Kids snickering and instructors scrambling.

Then the belt process began. Some of the belts were missing. They were on their way to the school with another instructor. She arrived, just after the final clean up of the puddle.

I almost forgot, they have a new computer attendance system. Everyone knows what a new computer anything means. Glitches. Students were missing. Some wouldn't scan. Everyone needs to have their picture taken at some point. General excitement and confusion.

Back in the Do Jang, the instructors were working hard at having a class as usual, despite the new belts and pee-pee puddle. Suddenly we hear lots of yelling--not unusual in the Do Jang, and yet, it was a whole different sort of yelling.

What was the excitement this time, you're wondering? How could this class get any better? One tiny little girl and a whole lot of vomit. A lot more instructors running with buckets and towels, mops and disinfectant.

Over all. Glad it wasn't my kids. For a change.

Second. I'm really impressed. This school impresses me every single class. The instructors know their stuff. They know the kids--by name when you walk in the door. They work together with a family to help improve the quality of your family life. They encourage. They are positive. They have abundant mercy and grace. And grace with the parents too.

I know that not all of them are parents, and yet, today, they handled everything like pros. The kept the kids focused and out of the messes. They kept the other kids from making a big deal out of an accident.

All around, I just can't say enough good things. They are a blessing to my family.

Winter Piano Recital 2007

Thanks to technology and Kathy, The Little Mr. can share his recital with you.

3 Deviled Hens and a Partridge

Today is testing day.

Again.

This time we're going from Gold belt to Purple.

I think, thankfully, after this belt, it gets a little harder. I think that there will be more time between testings. More moves to memorize.

This morning the boys were trying to work their way through the 12 days of Christmas song. They got stuck around 3--you know the verse--3 deviled hens, 2 french horns and a partridge--there was no pear tree, just a partridge. Ah, Christmas, so fun.

Snow Day

Our snow days don't look like everyone else's.

The boys asked me the other day about having a snow day. What they meant was, are we like public school? If it snows a lot, will we get the day off? I laughed really hard and told them they lived in their school, so no, they would not get the day off.

They still win though. We had snow last night, so before we hit the books today, they bundled up and went out to play. The other kids were in their brick building schools. Mine were out in the back yard. It makes the school day easier when you start with what they want. They don't have to spend all morning or all day trying to concentrate on studies, listen to a teacher and wonder when they'll get to play outside in the snow. We did that first.

A Plain-Jane Sort of LIfe

Tuesdays are sometimes my favorite days.

It is the one day a week that we don't have to leave the house for anything. Now, we still open our doors in the evening to about 12 kids, so I'm not totally off the hook here, but I don't have to bundle any squealing, squirmy anybodies into hats, mittens or coats.

This is the day that we don't have to rush any thing. I can take an extra minute here at the PC. I have time for lotion after my shower. There is time to finish the coffee.

Of course, I won't be just lounging in my slippers all day. I'm a mom after all, I have laundry...wait a minute...there is laundry everyday. There are frog tanks to be cleaned. What joy. Dirty dishes...again, I'm blessed by these daily.

But even with all the "chores" of my everyday plain-Jane life, Tuesdays offer some space. For that, I'm thankful.

So It's Snowing...Big Deal

Here in Wisconsin, it snows. Often. It's a long season, usually starting in October and flurry-ing right on into April.

I don't know why we should suddenly loose our minds when a snow fall is predicted. And, the amount of snow is not necessarily related to the seriousness of the storm!

Today, it's snowing. For several days now, we've been under the weatherman's trusty storm warnings. Somehow, they've created a frenzy.

I went to the grocery this morning, with two of the three kids in tow, just as I do every Saturday morning, and it was chaos. You would think that we were on the verge of some sort of life threatening emergency or that the entire city were about to shut down or some other ridiculous calamity.

The grocery was packed. I had to park three aisles away from where I normally park. Upon walking into the grocery, we discovered there were no carts available and we would need to find one left by the checkouts. We tried to stroll into the produce area, but it was very crowded. There were lots of anxiety filled people barging around with their carts.

The produce area was all but empty. There was no cauliflower to be found. The salad area was down to a few bags. The onions were gone. I stood there with my mouth hanging open.

We pushed our way bravely through the crowds to the meat cases. It was strange. There were whole sections of the case that were empty. I looked at my weekly menu plans and sales flyer's. We weren't even going to come close. Instead we went for bags of frozen chicken breasts.

It's OK, I weakly told the kids. We'll make it work. We'll eat something different this week. Off we went to the aisle with dried beans and tomato juice. I knew those things would still be there.

In the dairy section most of the milk was gone, the butter down to a few boxes, cheese completely out of stock. There were still some eggs, but it was a grab and be greedy crowd.

By the time we hit frozen foods, I was feeling overwhelmed. I wanted to cry. I kept telling the kids how sorry I was for bringing them to the store and how sorry I was that I had chosen to stick to our normal Saturday routine.

People were rude. They were mean. They were greedy.

It was crazy.

We live in America. There is more than enough food, especially if you have money. Just look at how much we waste. There's enough.

We live in Wisconsin. It snows here. Often. This isn't the first snow or the last.

For some of us, this was our day to go to the grocery and stock our home to feed our family for the week or month. The reason you felt you needed to come out to the grocery the hour before the storm and empty the shelves, I'll never understand. I refuse to. That's not a part of humanity that I ever want to admit to being a part of.