Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Old Traditions, New Traditions

I used to love to get those books that were full of 
"what happened on this day in history"stories.
I loved to find reasons that each day was special.

My mom was pretty good at making days special.
And creating traditions.

Then I had kids of my own.
Something inside of me shouted, 
"Let the traditions begin!"

We have lots and lots of traditions.
We have those that are the average, ordinary, 
run-of-the-mill traditions that many people have.
But we also have those that are not average, sort of 
out-of-the-ordinary, a little bit silly traditions.

And we keep adding new ones.

Like "Light the House Day."
We've tried this one several times in the past,
 but have been unsuccessful overall.
This year, William was determined.
He measured, priced, and planned.
He took the project and ran...



while we enjoyed watching him.


And he was successful!
Good job, William!
The house looks fantastic!


The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is "Noodle Day"
on our calendar.
We figured that this must be our 10th year of making noodles at Grandma's house.

Here are this year's participants...

Josh


GG


Carrie


William


Grandma


and Matthew
Grandpa, Uncle Scott, and I were also on hand.


Let the noodling begin!





The silhouettes that we gave Grandma and Grandpa
for Christmas last year.
All last fall I wished that I could just freeze the kids right where they were for just a bit.
This was a good way to do just that.











Off to the noodle bed!



This year it only took an hour to make
9 eggs worth of noodles.
A record!
The morning ended with the traditional Taco Bell lunch.


Thanksgiving Breakfast is also a tradition...
Cheese, Summer Sausage, and Crackers...
sliced on the cutting board
my dear friend, Debbie, gave me.



Traditional Crescent Rolls







We also make Broccoli Salad, Green Bean Casserole,
and Pumpkin Torte.

New Tradition!
Turkey Bingo!


Carrie just loved her can of sardines!



Uncle Scott loved his Rudolph Nose.


And Matthew had lots


and lots


and lots


and lots


and lots


and lots


and lots
of fun with his pack of mustaches.


He also loved looking at himself in the mirror.


And he enjoyed decorating others with them.


And the Friday after Thanksgiving?
Not Black Friday!
Christmas Tree Day!


With a pot of chili waiting for supper.


Cozy, homey traditions.
Traditions that may change or disappear
as the years go by.
Old traditions that may be replaced with new traditions.
Traditions that will always be remembered.
And a few that will stand the test of time.
Which ones will those be?
Only time will tell...

Enjoying the season,

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Oh, How He Loves Us


He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, 
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. 
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, 
And I realize just how beautiful You are, 
And how great Your affections are for me. 

And oh, how He loves us so 
Oh how He loves us, 
How He loves us all 

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree, 
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. 
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, 
And I realize just how beautiful You are, 
And how great Your affections are for me. 

He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves 

We are His portion and He is our prize 
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes 
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking 
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss 
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest 
I don't have time to maintain these regrets 
When I think about the way 

                     
And oh, how He loves us 
Oh how He loves us, 
How He loves us so 
how he loves 

Yeah, He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how he loves 
Yeah, He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves.
                                                          

(David Crowder Band)



It was our last morning camping at Lincoln State Park back in September when this Lion King-like light came shining through the trees.

I sent Josh over to see if he could catch God's glory.
God is amazing!
Oh, how He loves us!

Thankful...oh so thankful...for His love,

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Cousins

I love this picture.
Cousins.
I picture them years from now, looking back at this picture and talking about all of the fun times that they have enjoyed together.
My hope is that they will always love each other
 and be close.


See those girls on the end?
They may be sitting at the same end of the couch, together in this picture, but for now they are the "bookends" of the family.  
Girls who share their Grandma's name.

I love you William, Matthew, Joshua, Carrie, and Ciara!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Information Does Empower


This boy.
At 10 months old, we took Matthew to the ER down the road  for what we thought was croup.  
After several hours of not being able to get his breathing under control, they sent us by ambulance to 
Riley Hospital for Children.
We stayed there two days before they felt 
comfortable releasing Matthew.

Since then, we've had some scary moments when his breathing would get labored and, depending on if it were day or night (or Thanksgiving), we would go to the doctor's office or the emergency room.

More breathing treatments.

Finally, the doctor said that this might be asthma.
Not saying for sure...but might be.
They sent us home with a nebulizer machine, Budesonide, and Albuterol.
We never go far without his machine...just in case.
I know that I'm supposed to use the Albuterol for emergencies to get him opened up.

May I say "finally" again?
Finally, after visiting the doctor's office last Friday, I told our doctor how frustrated I am--and how frightened--to not know exactly what I should be doing 
to help Matthew.
Oh.  Would you like to meet with our 
Pulmonary Practitioner?
Seriously?  
You have someone here who could 
educate me on this?
YES!
FINALLY!

Yesterday we met with the Pulmonary Practitioner.
She looked at him and said, "Oh!  An allergists dream patient!  He has shiners (dark circles under his eyes) 
and a nasal crease!"
His Grandma and Great-Grandma have noticed the nasal crease and have commented on his "allergy salute."
We now have an Action Plan for Matthew and very clear instructions on what to give when.
Now Matthew is taking Claritin every evening 
and Flovent twice a day.

He is not one of those obvious allergy/asthma patients.
For that I am thankful.
He is now under the care of someone who specializes in allergies and asthma.
For that I am thankful.
He is young.
For that I am thankful. 

In this case "too much information" was 
just what I needed. 

Relieved and very thankful,