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Note: I started this post June 25, and was interrupted by a call from our worker asking us to take an emergency placement of two girls, thus the interruption of time. Also, things are even more intense and chaotic right now, but we are getting it figured out. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to introduce you to Busy Boy as well as let you in to the complexity that is life in the Stubborn house right now, and I think what might be effective is to give you a daily breakdown. 7:00 AM – Bitty Babe wakes up. Depending on the kind of day it is, she is either cooing and playing in her crib, or screaming bloody murder. There is no in between. Also, depending on what kind of night it was, I am either well rested and ready to start the day, or am dragging my legs over the edge of the bed trying to explain to my screaming baby why it is taking me so long. “Hold on, Honey!” “I’m almost there, Baby Girl!” “My eyes are having a little trouble opening, Darling. Be patient!” God graciously made me a morning person, so as soon as my feet hit the floor and I start moving, I wake up very quickly and am ready to get things started. I pick up my precious baby girl and greet her with ‘good morning’s’ and lots and lots of kisses. I bring her to the changing area on our living room floor and soak up the love as she coos and smiles at me as I change her butt. I then sit her down (‘cuz she can sit now!) with a couple of toys while I take care of some….ahem…personal business. Then it’s time to get her morning bottle made as well as dose up her morning med. Update: When I originally wrote this, Bitty was not crawling yet. This has since changed in a big way. There is no more sitting her on the floor while she contentedly plays with a toy, because she has figured out very quickly how to climb our sunken living room’s stairs to follow me where ever I go, so now she goes into the bathroom with me and plays with a roll of toilet paper. Feeding Bitty is one of my favorite things. I love how she gazes up at my face and strokes my hair. She still needs to be swaddled to eat effectively most of the time, but she usually works her right arm out, and it goes straight to my hair and face. She has this thing about scratching too, so I really have to stay on top of her nails. 8:00 AM – Busy Boy wakes up. I usually know this because he either knocks on his door, which he can’t open yet, or he cries, which stops as soon as I open the door. He greets me with a smiley “Hi!” and gives me a hug around the legs. I melt. He carries his sippy cup of water and his blanket out with him, but he usually drops them somewhere between his bedroom and the living room. I always give him kisses as soon as I see him, and I ask him how he rested, which he usually replies to in his own lovely little language. Busy Boy, at 29 months of age, has the language skills of an 15-18 month-old, but he makes up for his lack of words with his expressiveness in his own language. He wants to make himself known so much, and we are determined to give him the tools to do that, so the day he moved in I began using sign language with him. He picked it up so quickly those first couple of days that I was convinced that his guardians had been using sign with him, which I found out was not the case. He already knows more than 20 signs, learns new ones instantly, and signs 3 word sentences. He even makes up his own signs to make himself understood. For example, at lunch one day he pointed to the grilled cheese sandwich I had on the stove and he signed “hot cheese.” What I love about the use of sign language with speech-delayed kids is that it gives them a chance to build vocabulary and confidence as they learn to speak. More on that another time. After Busy Boy gets up, I get his butt changed and then wait to see what kind of morning it will be. Sometimes Busy Boy is ready to go right away and immediately wants to go to his high chair and eat breakfast. Other mornings he needs some time to play before he realizes he is hungry. 8:15 AM – Breakfast. I have been enjoying breakfast time so much! This used to be a hard time of the morning for me before Busy Boy came. Most mornings I would spend the first hour sitting on the couch with the babe watching TLC’s morning lineup. Because of Bitty Babe’s high needs, it was just easier to not have any morning expectations. Now that Busy Boy is here, I don’t have a choice. I have to feed the child! I definitely think it helps that Bitty is old enough now that she is interested in playing with things, so she is not needing my constant attention and entertainment. Even though she’s not eating solid food yet, I’ve been putting her in her high chair with some of her favorite toys, or a graham cracker to gnaw on, so she can join us in the breakfast fun. I know I haven’t been writing much about it recently, but I love to cook, and I’ve always thought that cold cereal was more of a snack food than a breakfast food, which leads me to the conclusion that I should make hot breakfast as often as possible. This is actually a very practical thing with two little ones because they eat in the kitchen, and I want to be with them, so cooking for them makes my time well spent. Lately I’ve been making Busy Boy blueberry pancakes and a simple cheese omelette. They are quick, nutritious dishes, and Busy Boy gobbles them up. While I’m making the hot items, I give him him his choice of fruit, which he uses his new found sign language skills to communicate. Busy Boy is a big eater, which is wonderful, because he will try just about anything, but he is also a slow eater, which means that breakfast takes up a good 45 minutes of our morning. 9:00 AM – New butt and play time. This is when I am really glad that Bitty is getting so independent and will play on her own, because this allows me time to get some morning chores done. During this time, Busy Boy is exploring. He is such a thinker. He loves finding out how objects might work together, especially in combinations I would never have thought of, like plastic stacking rings strung onto a wagon handle. 10:00 AM – Snack time for Busy Boy, nap time for Bitty. Yes, you read that right, Bitty is actually going down for regular morning naps! This started about a month ago, and I am loving it! Depending on how she’s feeling, she will sleep anywhere from 1-3 hours. It’s wonderful! Snack time is another time of the day that I am so thankful for my ASL background, because Busy Boy is able to let me know when he is hungry and exactly what he wants. It’s incredible. I seriously almost cried the day when instead of whining and grunting for his hat that he saw in his diaper bag, he signed “hat please.” Amazing. 10:30 AM – More play time. Since Bitty is usually asleep at this time, I try to take this time to spend some good one-on-one time with Busy Boy and work on more specific skills. It’s pretty obvious that Busy Boy was never really read to, as he has no idea what to do with a book, and cannot identify objects in pictures…like any. So this is something I am really trying to work with him on. It’s hard sometimes, because he is so active he doesn’t really want to sit still with me. Now, don’t get me wrong, he is a very cuddly kid, and loves to be rocked and snuggled, but right now reading seems like a waste of good play time to him. So I am trying to read AROUND him a lot, and catch him during his few quiet times. I’ve been collecting children’s books for years, so I am super excited to share these wonderful books with my kiddos. We’ll get there. Update: Since I wrote this, Busy Boy is now choosing to get books off the bookshelf and look at them independently! He has been pointing to pictures and telling me about them, such as pointing to a picture of Elmo taking a bath and signing and saying “bath time,” or “night nights” for Ernie in bed. 11:30 AM – Lunch. More good food. Enough said. 12:15 PM – Busy Boy goes down for his nap. The first few days were rough simply because we had no idea what kind of schedule he was on. Now that we know, and we know how routine oriented he is, nap time is a breeze. After I get him cleaned up from lunch, I change his butt and tell him it’s time for night nights. He grabs his bunny blanket and his sippy cup (with water) and heads to his room. He’s usually fussing as he walks, but it’s so fake it’s hilarious. He puts himself into bed, I give him a kiss, say good night, go out, and shut the door. DONE! Time for Mama ( Äiti) to get busy! This is when I try to get caught up on dishes and laundry. If Bitty is awake, I work in our bedroom putting clothes away, which is my LEAST favorite chore. If Bitty is asleep, I work somewhere else in the house, maybe even getting some deeper sorting and organizing done. If Bitty is really sleeping, I might even lie down for a while, although she has this Äiti radar and has an annoying habit of waking up within minutes of me lying down. 3:00 PM – Busy Boy is up and ready for a new butt and a snack. He always wakes up in good spirits, so I am excited to see him when he wakes up from his nap. Then it’s play time, hopefully including some outside time, especially now that Bitty can sit in the grass and play as well. Our physical therapist blessed us with a playskool turtle sandbox, complete with sand, so Busy Boy has been thoroughly enjoying that along with the inexpensive water table I found earlier this summer. Bitty usually naps at this time too. 5:00 PM – More snack as I start dinner, ‘cuz we always end up eating late. 6:00 PM – Hubby gets home from work and helps with the littles as I try to finish dinner. I love, LOVE, love seeing Hubby in his amazing role as Isä. He and Busy Boy are bonding incredibly well. It helps that Busy Boy is such an easy going, funny, interesting kid of coarse, but he has taken to Hubby in a huge way. 7:00 PM – Dinner. It’s fun eating as a family again. 8:00 PM – Bath time. Busy Boy loves to sit and play in his little tub. He also likes it when Bitty Babe comes to join him. He enjoys helping to wash her and he likes to tickle her belly and her toes. After his bath I rub him down with coconut oil infused with lavender and eucalyptus oils. I started this when Bitty Babe had RSV this past winter, but it’s a great way to get more touch opportunities, as well as check for booboos, and nourish their skin. One of my favorite heart-warming moments included this little ritual. As I rub the oil into his skin, I sing Busy Boy a song, “This is the way we rub the oil, rub the oil, rub the oil, this is the way we rub the oil right before bed time.” One night, Busy Boy got his fingers into the jar and took out a little too much oil, so I asked him if he would rub it on my arm. As he lovingly rubbed the oil in, he sang the song to me in his beautiful little way. It was a great little reward from heaven. 8:15 PM – Bed time for Busy Boy! Just like nap time, Busy Boy gets his blankets and his sippy cup of water, gives Isä kisses, and heads to bed. After I close his curtains, I sit with him on the floor and rock him as I sing my favorite lullaby from Psalty to him. Then I pray over him, thanking God for putting this amazing child in my life. I put him back into his bed, kiss him good night, tell him I love him and leave the room. He might fuss a little, but is usually out before I get to the living room. 8:30 PM – Chill time with Hubby. I might get some dinner clean-up done, but I usually do most of my dishes the next morning during breakfast. I need this time with my sweet husband. Plus, Bitty doesn’t go down until at least 9, and is extra needy in those evening hours. 11:30 PM – Night night! I take the dog out, brush my teeth, crawl between the sheets, read my Bible, turn my music on, and am out! 4:00 AM – Bitty usually wakes up declaring that she is starving to death, so I stumble out of bed, use the facilities as fast as possible, make her a bottle, and try not to fall asleep on my child as I give her the sustenance she so desperately desires. Then back to sleep for as long as possible. Wow. Just writing all that really reminds me of how much life has changed since Jeremiah and Gabe were here. Gabe came to visit last weekend, and he commented multiple times how funny it was to see all the baby stuff around the house. He loves it though, and is so glad to have the opportunity to be big brother to Busy Boy and Bitty. I love the stories behind how traditions are formed. Growing up we had a lot of Christmas traditions, and as a kid I took them as a given. It wasn’t until later that I found out the simple reasons that formed those traditions. For example, we always open all of our presents on Christmas Eve, so obviously we weren’t a Santa Claus kind of family. It wasn’t that our parents didn’t allow us to believe in the magic of Santa, it just was not taught or emphasized. I asked my parents about this later and they said that they didn’t want to teach us that Santa was real, and then turn around and teach us that Jesus was real, because one really is, and really loves us, and really wants a relationship with us, and the other is a legend who has become a symbol of a lot of things, and some of those things are not worth teaching your children (i.e. commercialism, and being good to get stuff.) Christ was the center of our household growing up, especially at Christmas. Being a pastor’s kid meant late night services Christmas Eve, but that didn’t stop us from having our own little Christmas pageant before we opened our gifts. We’d get all dressed up and act out the story as Mom read from Luke and Dad videotaped. When we were very young David and Sarah played Mary and Joseph, I was usually the angel of the Lord (fitting, right?) , and Rachel was baby Jesus. One of my favorite Christmas memories is a video we have of Rachel at about 16 months old in a laundry basket manger. She would just not stay in! So Sarah kept pushing her down and Rachel kept standing right back up, smiling up a storm. When Rachel was too old to be baby Jesus any more, her role was changed to a shepherd and a cabbage patch kid replaced her as the Holy child. Christmas Eve dinner was fondue! I guess my parents got a few fondue pots as wedding presents or something, and it was a fun way to do dinner with four kids. We had a spread of all kinds of fruit to dip in chocolate, yummy bread to dip in hot cheese, and good ole’ red meat (venison or beef steak) to fry in oil. Yes, our parents apparently trusted us enough to allow us to fry our own meat, although I’m not sure when that started. Anywho, another reason we opened our presents Christmas Eve, I found out later, is because we would always head to our Grandma’s place in Duluth very early Christmas morning. Our parents would pack us up in our PJ’s and load us into the maroon minivan while it was still hours from daybreak. That way, we would sleep most of the 8 hour drive and wake up just before we arrived. Smart people, my parents. The experts say that smell is one of the most intense senses that trigger memories. I can attest to that because I can still distinctly remember how my grandma’s apartment building smelled. There was a gas fireplace in the lobby and the smell of Christmas-y potpourri from the holly wreaths and other decorations that residents hung on their doors. Grandma’s apartment had a very unique combination of scents as well, although the one that sticks out in my mind the most is the aroma of turkey loaf. You know, the Jennie-O frozen kind that cooks in its own gravy. Sometimes I cook that up just because I’m missing Grandma. Both of my parent’s families lived in Duluth, so although we stayed with our dad’s mom (grandpa died before I was born), we spent time with our mom’s dad and his wife as well. Our maternal grandma died before I was born, but grandpa had remarried to a wonderful woman who totally accepted us as her grand kids. After opening presents at Grandma’s and hanging out with our uncles, aunts, and cousins, we would head out to Grandpa’s to do the same. Grandpa was a very quiet, stoic man, but Grandma Marie was loud and boistorous. She had kids from her previous marriage, and they had kids, so we had a lot of step-cousins running around to play with. There would be a huge spread of snacky foods on the dining room table, and I remember loading up on broccoli and ham buns. Grandma Marie bought us the most interesting presents, most of which she bought on the home shopping network. One year I got a plastic doll that crawled. It broke the next day. My dad’s brother, Bill, said he could fix it because his brother, Richard, was a doctor. He couldn’t. Anywho, after opening presents the cousins would head downstairs to the basement where there would be a roaring fire in the fireplace. Rachel and I were talking about the basement not to long ago and she asked me if I remembered the mugs that Grandpa had on a shelf on the wall. Oh yes, I do. They were a series of mugs that had a nak*d woman (was it a mermaid?) climbing out of the mugs. It’s just one of those really odd things that sticks out in our minds. Hehe. We also remember our cousin (Donny? Scott?) that would always roast his socks in the fireplace. Odd. Those kinds of family memories make up a childhood and are something that I want to be able to share with my kids someday, and I hope that our boys have benefitted from the effort we put into making their Christmases special, and will remember them fondly. Do you have any quirky traditions? I’d love to hear about them. Leave me some comments, people! Over 300 of you are reading this blog daily, so now would be a great time to hear from you. I’m one of those annoying people who plays Christmas music all year round. I figure you can’t be accused of playing it to early if you never stopped. Spotify has become my new best friend this Christmas because I have made my ultimate Christmas playlist with almost 800 songs. Baby E and I listen to it every morning as I’m feeding her breakfast. I’ve got everything from John Denver to Veggie Tales on there. It’s pretty sweet. Anywho, since both boys are gone this year, and Baby E is too young to participate in a lot of activities, I’m missing a lot of our Christmas traditions this year. One tradition that has stayed is that Rachel and I do the majority of the Christmas decorating. The past few years Hubby’s dad has gone out to the homestead and finds a tree that he thinks is impressive enough to be honored with the corner position in our living room. He scopes them out all year. This year’s is a beauty. Hubby and Dad put on the lights and then Rachel and I put on the ornaments the next day with a VHS tape of Muppet Christmas Carol playing on the TV. One of my favorite things about decorating the tree this year was pulling out all of the beautiful ornaments that I bought after Christmas last year. I wait until end of January when all the Christmas stuff is 75% off and then get the really fancy, hand-blown glass ornaments. Another reason I love getting them after Christmas is that I get to experience the fun of re-discovering my treasures all over again the next Christmas. I catch myself saying things like “Oh! That’s so cute!” or “Oh yeah! I remember getting that!” as I un-package my green and red bins….which I also got on clearance after Christmas. One tradition I’m really missing this year is the nightly lighting of the Advent candles. We started this tradition the first Christmas the boys were with us as a way to introduce them to the wonder of the prophecies and fulfillment of Christ’s birth. We lit the candles every night after dinner and read scripture passages that corresponded. We quizzed the boys on the meaning of each candle as they took turns lighting and then blowing them out. It was a really special thing. I miss it. Only God knows what our next year will bring, so I know that by this time next year Christmas will have a whole new layer of meaning and tradition. One of my favorite Christmas stories is “All is Well” by Frank E. Peretti. I listen to it year round and actually performed it at competitions in high school. At the close of the story Peretti describes how God is the great story teller of our lives and how He loved us so much that he wrote Himself into our story as a baby in a manger. He came into this earth under extremely adverse circumstances and experienced the rejection and chaos this life has to give. He chose to do that. For me. So even though this year has had a lot of pain and hurt, I am choosing to hold onto joy. Joy that comes from deep inside because of what and whom we celebrate. Merry Christmas Blessings! Hannah ***BTW, no one paid me anything for my opinions. They’re just things I like.*** Today you turned 18. We made it! All those nights of crying over you, praying over you, and convincing you and ourselves that we would not give up have paid off. We made it! I am thankful to say that every day gets better. Who knew that when I was only 8 years old, you were created in your mother’s womb, and one day you would be MY son? God did. Who knew that a summer teaching job would lead to the promised motherhood I had been hoping for? Who knew that what the world might see as a random meeting, a random conversation, an odd connection, God would use to make a family, and bring hope to a hopeless child? God did. I remember that conversation on that cloudy mountain. I remember your tears and your verbalized hopes and fears for the future. Who would take a chance on a 15 year-old boy who had already been deemed a lost case by the ones he called his parents for 13 years? Who would dare or risk to love a damaged adolescent when he would age out soon enough? God would. We would, because he brought you to us. And you are becoming a man; growing every day in ways that neither you nor we expected; surprising us in the best ways. Bumps are just bumps, and no longer Mount Everest. Son, I appreciate you so much. You are a hard worker and such a big help to your mama. (And yes, I am freaking out that I am 26 and am experiencing the first pangs of empty nest syndrome!) You are cuddly when you need to be, and strong when it matters most. I feel safe with you around because I always know that you will step up if I need you. What I want for you this year is to see you grow into the man that your heavenly Father has called you, created you, and named you to be. I am praying that God will reveal that vision that He has for you to you so clearly that every step you take is toward Him and what He has for you. I want to see you continue to be brave and allow God’s healing to flow in you. I want you to realize and BELIEVE what an amazing, resilient, and intelligent son I have. My precious Yishai, I love you. I am so glad that God brought you into my life. I am so glad that you are my first born, and I am so blessed to be called your mama. You are truly my gift. I miss him like crazy. It still hits me in waves. Especially when I hear a song about heaven, or read an article about something science related, or go through a week like last week. This week I worked up the courage and initiative to go through the boxes (and boxes) of pictures and paper treasures that he had been saving for decades. I got through the pictures rather quickly, as we had gone through most of them as a family when we were together for his memorial in November. I organized them roughly according to decade and put them in photo boxes that I had purchased (on clearance) for just such an occasion. It was fun to look again at photos documenting my daddy’s early life, and life before me, and then our life together. The sequencing was interesting to me. To me, the eras were organized roughly as follows: before Dad; Dad as a baby/child/teen; Dad and Mom before kids; Dad and Mom with David and Sarah; Dad and Mom with David, Sarah, me, and Rachel; Dad with Laraine; Dad with David, Sarah, me, and Rachel; Dad with Dane, Amelia, and Justin; and then later, older Dad and Laraine with Amelia; and finally older Dad and Laraine with all of us and our kids. The phases were just revealing to me. Anywho, after I got through the pictures I started going through his paper treasures. The man saved a lot of things. I am in the process of sorting what was important to him, but wouldn’t matter much to the rest of us, and what is worth saving as a part of his memory and/or family history. One thing is for sure. My dad took great pride in his children. He saved a lot of our school work and report cards. He saved lost teeth and hair cuttings. He saved a lot of our art, especially my brothers, and any notes or letters we wrote to him. We were also in the paper quite a bit as kids, and he saved all of those clippings. Some of the other things he saved are pretty normal I suppose. He saved birth announcements, death announcements, wedding invitations, bulletins that contained important family events or announcements. He saved a lot of news clippings, some of which took some searching to figure out why they were significant, and if they still were. Some of the most intriguing things that I found are letters to and from Dad. The topics are varying, but each reveals a little bit of who my dad was. Some are notes of encouragement to him from professors, fellow pastors, or board members. Some are rejection letters with best wishes. Some are his letters explaining a conflict or why he felt the Lord was leading him in a different direction. So interesting. Pieces of my dad I was never aware of. Perhaps I will reflect on individual pieces more later. Some are quite stirring and I am still figuratively chewing on them. For now, I am just grateful to be experiencing these pieces of my dad. I’m married to one of the most gadgety men on earth, but we have been talking lately about how much simpler it would have been to live during the pioneer days. Notice, I said simpler, not easier. Anywho, I’ve been really into this wonderful series by Lauraine Snelling about life in North Dakota in the late 1800′s – early 1900′s. I LOVE IT! Everything about it! The life style, the culture, and the sense of community just fascinates me. So, my step-mama gave me some books a few years back by Barbara Swell all about old-time cooking. I’ve been delving into them the past few days and am so excited to try some of the new, old recipes I’ve found. I’ve already made an amazing pie crust from this book, and Hubby can’t stop raving about it. Tonight or tomorrow I will be using the same crust to make chicken pot pie. I’m thinking of serving some sweet potato roles along with it. What I love about the recipes is that they were designed to feed a family with good, fresh, seasonal ingredients. They are intended to be flexible to use whatever produce or meat is available. There is some prep time involved, but most of it is walk away type stuff, like letting dough rise. Anywho, I will let you know as I try some of these goodies, so you might be tempted to cook old-timey too! Update: I made chicken pot pie from scratch last night. My pie crust fell apart, but it was still delicious. I called it “patchwork pot pie.” I also made sweet potato buns. I LOVE sweet potatoes, but the recipe was vague in the timing, and I don’t think I let them cook long enough. They were a little doughy, but I can tell they would have been really good. A really good way to use up sweet potatoes. Today I made oatmeal no-knead bread. I was looking through ANOTHER one of the cookbooks and found this recipe and realized I had everything I needed on hand, so I decided “Why not?” Plus, making bread from scratch gives a really good opportunity for a science lesson. Jeremiah finds yeast absolutely fascinating. Okay, so I kind of used the phrase “yeast farts” to describe the gas bubbles, but he was really into the whole process. The bread contained molasses, which I found really strong in the crust, but otherwise it was absolutley delightful. It will be really good toasted with tea tomorrow morning. Blessings! Hannah BTW, these are just books I’ve really enjoyed. I’m not receiving any compensation for my reviews. As of 1:30 PM this afternoon, June 28th 2010, Gabe is officially stubborn! He was nervous. He ate an entire bowl (like, glad container bowl) of taco casserole, plus a bowl of green grapes, at 11:30. He eats when he’s nervous, and he hates that I know that he eats when he’s nervous. Jeremiah was nervous. He was bummed because we still don’t have a date for his adoption day. He was a bit mopey, but over all held it together. Gabe was so excited to have many people who love him and care about him show up for court today. Gabe’s worker was there, as well as our adoption worker, whom we have never met before, so that was great. Hubby’s mom, grandma, and sister were there. Many of our closest friends also made the trip, and thankfully one of them remembered a camera, otherwise we would have been picture-less. The court hearing was short, as I knew it would be. Gabe was glad that he didn’t have to say much, just a lot of yes sir’s. The judge gave a nice speech that I’ve heard at many adoption proceedings about how this is his favorite part of the job. It was nice. We got a picture with the judge afterwords, and he said he would love a copy. That made me smile. After court we all headed to a local restaurant for a very fun time of celebrating and laughing together. Gabe felt very loved. That’s because he is. Oh, and he ate A LOT! After dropping Hubby off at work, we went for a little DQ for dessert. Yum! Gabe requested our family’s favorite dish, affectionately named “Rufus”, for dinner. It was amazing, as usual. Great job, lovey! So that was our day. And now we wait for Jeremiah’s. Soon, we hope. I can’t believe our first Christmas with the boys is already over. It was a good one, though. We made plenty of good memories and had wonderful times with our wonderful family. Here are a few highlights: - Christmas Eve We started the day with a delicious breakfast of biscuits, gravy, and cheesy scrambled eggs. Yummy! Our pastor’s wife passed on a bunch of her amazing recipes to me as a graduation present, and her “Mile High Biscuits” is one of our favorites. I’ll put the recipe at the bottom of this post. After breakfast, we lit the Jesus Candle on our Advent candles and read our Christmas Eve passages. The boys have really loved this tradition, which we usually do after dinner, so we will have to figure out a way to keep it going. What I’ve loved about it is the set passages that are relatively short and come from all over scripture. I haven’t found many devotionals that break things down that well. Any ideas? Next, the boys cleaned up the kitchen while the grown-ups finished making sure all presents were in order. The boys finished dishes in record time. Finally is was present time. In my family, we always opened presents on Christmas Eve. I’m not sure how this tradition started, but I think it was more practical in nature than sentimental. My dad is a pastor, so we always had Christmas Eve service, than we opened our presents, and then left for Grandma’s very early Christmas morning. My favorite present from my hubby was my very own camcorder! YAY! I shot so much video over the past few days it’s frightening. And don’t worry, I will make sure to share an allarming amount of it here. The boys loved all their presents, and Jeremiah’s reactions were hilariously enthusiastic. We were worried about him being thankful, but that was definitely not an issue. Way to go, kid. After opening presents, we headed off to Christmas Eve service at my husband’s childhood church. It was a beautiful traditional service. It made realize how much I need to teach my boys as far as church history is concerned. I think I may be hitting up some of my homeschooling friends for some ideas soon. Actually, the prize I recently won from Kimberly at Raising Olives will be very helpful in that endeavor. After the beautiful service we headed over to Hubby Person’s dad’s house. We ate entirely too many goodies and then opened even more presents with Grandpa K, Aunt E, Uncle J, and Cousin T. It’s tradition that the youngest in the family passes out all the presents, which is all fine and good, but there were a few issues. First, Jeremiah is not very good with names. Second, Jeremiah is not a very good reader. Those two in combination led to nearly half an hour of hillarity. Kaleb’s dad was nearly falling off his chair laughing because Jeremiah could not get the concept that Grandpa was also Kurt etc… Miah started getting a little antsy toward the end, but held it together long enough to get to play with some of his new toys. - Christmas Day Ah, glorious sleep. Both boys were occupied enough with their new bioncles that Hubby Person and I were able to sleep in without a peep from either child. Jeremiah didn’t like the fact that Mom caught him in a lie, so an hour long tantrum ensued. I knew it was coming. He had had such a good day the day before, he just couldn’t handle it any more. It ended well though, as Hubby Person had a good long conversation with him about how to handle his anxiety. We headed over to Hubby’s mom’s for dinner. Yay, turkey! Yay, real pumpkin pie! We opened up even more presents. My MIL loved the basket I made her, which I still have to post about. The boys got some remote control cars and the spent a good two hours racing them around Grandma’s basement before heading out to sled. Hubby, Rachel, and I played my SIL’s new Wii with her for a couple of hours as well. Wow, it really is a work out. The only real bummer about the past few days was that my daddy, step-mama, and lil’ sis got snowed in by the big blizzard and weren’t able to make the trip. It was heart breaking, but I am glad they didn’t risk their lives in the 40 MPH winds. They are going to try to make the trip on Wednesday to be here for the new year. But we are blessed. Blessed beyond blessed beyond blessed. And it has nothing to do with material things, which we have been blessed with as well. How great is it that even though one set of grandparents couldn’t make it, the boys had two other sets of grandparents that loved on them and cherished them? How great it is that we have a God who enjoys celebrations! Who enjoys us enjoying Him and all He’s given us. Okay, that’s enough for now. Blessings! Hannah Oh, I almost forgot! Here’s the biscuit recipe. Mama Char’s Mile High Biscuits 3 C. flour 2 TB Sugar 5 tsp. Baking Powder 1 tsp. Salt 3/4 Cup shortening (I use the butter flavored Crisco sticks.) 1 C. milk 1 beaten egg Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal. Blend milk and egg together, then add to dry ingredients. Mix only enough to blend mixture. Place dough on well floured board and knead 5-15 times. The secret to light biscuits is to not over mix dough after liquid has been added. Cut into biscuits and place on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until biscuits are golden brown. *Hint* Don’t place biscuits too close together or they will not cook through properly. I’m so sorry I’ve been away so long. As I said before, we were dealing with some stalking issues, but they seen to have calmed down for now, so I am hoping to resume blogging as usual, although I am going to have to be careful for a while about content until my husband puts some extra security precautions into place. That said…. Things are…adventurous. Every day seems to bring something new that the Lord is teaching us as a family, and me individually. This Christmas season has been exciting. We are doing and Advent devotional together as a family every night after dinner. I found a five candle candelabra at a garage sale last year and it has made the perfect Advent candle stand. The boys take turns lighting the candles each night and everyone in the family has a passage to read. Most of Jeremiah’s passages have been out of Isaiah, and he is getting better and better each time he reads. He loves to read out loud, and it’s so fun to see his confidence grow. The boys love learning more about the Lord and more about the history surrounding Christ’s birth. Gabe has been asking some very intuitive questions, and Jeremiah’s enthusiasm is incredibly contagious. Both boys are handling the Christmas season and the trauma-versaries that come with them in their own ways. Gabe is, of coarse, very introspective and is dealing with some denial about what has happened around this time in the past. Hubby person and I just continue to reassure him that he is safe and that we are never EVER going to leave him. Jeremiah is much more vocal about his stress and has been having marathon tantrums the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, when he actually FINALLY breaks down and cries, he is very open about what is really scaring him. The biggest things that he has expressed anxiety over is that he has never been in a family of his very own for Christmas before and he is not sure what to expect. He told me (yes, with his own mouth. YAY!) that it would be helpful if I could let me know ahead of time what is going to happen so he knows that Mom and Dad have things under control. Good to know, kid. He has also been having a lot of birth mom questions lately, which I am trying to handle with sensitivity and age-appropriate honesty. Wisdom on this would be helpful. Jeremiah had his first Christmas concert tonight, which I will proudly post video of as soon as possible. He was amazing! I mean, he sang well, which is awesome, but the best part is that he participated completely. He sang loudly…on the song he remembered the words for…and when he was sitting down he was quietly paying attention and watching the other performers. I loved being there for my son’s first ever holiday concert. What a memory. Hubby person, unfortunately, had to be out of town this week, but Jeremiah knows that Daddy loves him and that he wanted to be there. Finally, I am on the fertility adventure again. I had my yearly physical with my OBGYN today, and when she found out I haven’t had a cycle since…ummm…FEBRUARY….she was a little concerned. She did an internal ultra sound and was shocked when she discovered that my uterine lining was only .34 cm thick. To put that in perspective, a typical woman’s uterine lining is 1.0 cm thick on day 14 of her cycle. Right before her period, it can be from 2.0 to 2.5 cm thick. Mine was .34. As if I just had a period…except my last one was 9 months ago. Yeah. She has prescribed progesterone for 10 days to help my body get the signal that “Hey! Do something with the uterus!” After that, we are going to try clomid again, but at a higher dose this time, to try to get those darn ovaries to wake up. WAKE UP OVARIES!!!! Okay, so those are the current adventures. God is good. He is taking care of us in crazy ways…including putting another infertile, adoptive, Christian mom in my path today in the Christian book store so I could unload for an hour after my appointment before coming home to the boys. If you think of us, pray for us, and if you need prayer, just let us know.
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Tabhair faoi deara: Thosaigh mé an post seo 25 Meitheamh, agus cuireadh isteach ag glaoch as ár oibrí ag iarraidh orainn a ghlacadh socrúchán éigeandála beirt chailíní, dá bhrí sin an cur isteach ar an am.Chomh maith leis sin, tá rudaí níos déine agus chaotic ceart anois, ach táimid ag dul figured sé amach. Tá mé ag iarraidh a figiúr amach an bealach is fearr chun tú a thabhairt isteach chun Boy Busy chomh maith le tú a ligean i do chastacht go bhfuil an saol sa teach stubborn ceart anois, agus sílim go d'fhéadfadh a bheith éifeachtach a thabhairt duit briseadh síos laethúil . 07:00 - Bitty Babe wakes suas. Ag brath ar an cineál lae é, tá sí ag crón ré ceachtar agus ag imirt ina crib, nó screadaíl dúnmharú fuilteach. Níl aon i idir. Chomh maith leis sin, ag brath ar cén cineál oíche a bhí sé, tá mé ceachtar rested go maith agus réidh chun tús a chur leis lá, nó tá tarraingt mo chos thar an imeall an leaba ag iarraidh a mhíniú do mo leanbh screadaíl cén fáth go bhfuil sé ag cur fada liom sin a dhéanamh. "Coinnigh ar, Mil!" "Tá mé beagnach ann, Cailín leanbh!" "Tá mo shúile ag oscailt dtrioblóid beag, Darling. Bí othar! " Dia chaoin mé ag duine ar maidin, amhlaidh a luaithe is a bhuail mo chosa ar an urlár agus tús a chur mé ag bogadh, dúisigh mé suas go han-tapa agus táim réidh chun a fháil rudaí a tosaithe. Mé Pioc suas mo cailín leanbh lómhara agus a beannú le 'dea-maidine' agus go leor agus go leor de póga. A thabhairt mé léi go dtí an ceantar atá ag athrú ar ár n-urlár seomra suí agus soak suas an grá mar atá sí COOS agus smiles ag dom mar mé athrú a Butt. Mé ag suí ansin léi síos ('cuz féidir léi suí anois!) Le cúpla bréagáin agus a ghlacadh mé aire a thabhairt ar roinnt .... ahem ... gnó pearsanta. Ansin, tá sé in am a fháil di buidéal maidin a rinneadh chomh maith le dáileog suas a maidin Med Nuashonrú:. Nuair a scríobh mé ar dtús seo, ní raibh Bitty crawling go fóill.Tá sé seo athraithe ó shin ar bhealach mór.Níl aon níos mó ina suí di ar an urlár agus imríonn sí contentedly le bréagán, toisc go bhfuil figured sí amach go han-tapa conas a tóg ár seomra suí bháite ar staighre a leanúint liom nuair a bhí riamh a théann mé, mar sin anois téann sí isteach sa seomra folctha liom agus drámaí le rolla de páipéar leithris.:) Is é Beathú Bitty ceann de mo rudaí is fearr leat. Is breá liom conas gazes sí suas ar mo aghaidh agus strokes mo chuid gruaige. Riachtanais sí fós le swaddled a ithe go héifeachtach is mó den am, ach oibríonn sí de ghnáth a lámh dheis amach, agus téann sé díreach go dtí mo chuid gruaige agus ar aghaidh. Tá sí an rud faoi scratching freisin, mar sin tá mé i ndáiríre chun fanacht ar barr na hingne. 08:00 - Dúisíonn Boy Busy suas. Tá a fhios agam de ghnáth seo toisc go knocks sé chucu ar a doras, nach féidir leis a oscailt go fóill, nó caoineadh sé, a stopann chomh luath agus a oscailt mé an doras. Mbeannaí sé dom le smiley "Dia duit!" Agus tugann dom le barróg ar fud na cosa. I leá. Déanann sé a cupán sippy uisce agus a blaincéad amach leis, ach titeann sé de ghnáth iad áit éigin idir a sheomra leapa agus seomra suí. Mé a thabhairt dó i gcónaí póga chomh luath agus a fheiceáil mé é, agus ceist a chur air agam conas a rested sé, a fhreagraíonn sé de ghnáth i dteanga a beag féin álainn. Boy Busy, ag 29 mhí d'aois, tá na scileanna teanga ar 15-18 mí d'aois, ach déanann sé suas as a chuid easpa focail lena expressiveness ina dteanga féin. Tá sé ag iarraidh a chur in iúl dó féin an méid sin, agus tá rún daingean againn a thabhairt dó na huirlisí sin a dhéanamh, agus mar sin an lá chuaigh sé i thosaigh mé ag baint úsáide as teanga chomharthaíochta leis. Phioc sé suas é chomh tapa sin chéad cúpla lá go raibh mé cinnte go raibh a caomhnóirí ag baint úsáide as comhartha leis, a fuair mé amach nach raibh an cás. Tá a fhios aige cheana féin níos mó ná 20 comhartha, foghlaimíonn cinn nua láithreach, agus a shíníonn 3 abairtí focal. Déanann sé fiú suas a comharthaí féin a dhéanamh thuiscint féin. Mar shampla, ag lón lá amháin dúirt sé leis an ceapaire cáise grilled a bhí agam ar an sorn agus shínigh sé "cáis te." Cad is breá liom mar gheall ar an úsáid a bhaint as teanga comharthaíochta le urlabhra-moillithe páistí is go dtugann sé dóibh an deis a thógáil stór focal agus muinín mar a fhoghlaimíonn siad a labhairt. Níos mó ar an am go chéile. Tar éis a fhaigheann Boy Busy suas, a fháil ar a Butt athrú agus ansin fanacht ar a fheiceáil cén cineál maidin a bheidh sé. Uaireanta is Boy Busy réidh le dul ar an bpointe boise agus láithreach ba mhaith leis dul chuig a chathaoirleach ard agus bricfeasta a ithe. Maidin Eile riachtanais sé roinnt ama a imirt sula tuigeann sé go bhfuil sé ocras. 08:15 - Bricfeasta. Bhí mé ag baint suilt as am bricfeasta an méid sin! Seo a úsáidtear a bheith am deacair ar maidin go dtí mé sular tháinig Boy Busy. Maidin an chuid is mó ba mhaith liom a chaitheamh ar an chéad uair ina suí ar an tolg leis an leanbh breathnú ar lineup maidin TLC ar. Mar gheall ar riachtanais ard Bitty Babe s, go raibh sé ach níos éasca a nach bhfuil aon súil ar maidin. Anois go bhfuil Boy Busy anseo, ní féidir liom a rogha. Tá mé chun beatha an leanbh! I mo thuairimse, cuidíonn sé cinnte go bhfuil Bitty sean go leor anois go bhfuil sí suim i seinm le rudaí, mar sin nach bhfuil gá sí mo aird leanúnach agus siamsaíochta. Cé nach bhfuil sí ag ithe bia soladach go fóill, tá mé ag cur léi ina cuid cathaoir ard le cuid de na h bréagán is fearr leat, nó scáinteoir Graham go gnaw ar, ionas gur féidir léi bheith linn sa spraoi bricfeasta. Tá a fhios agam nach bhfuil mé ag scríobh i bhfad faoi sé le déanaí, ach is breá liom chun cócaireacht, agus mé Shíl i gcónaí go raibh gránaigh fuar níos mó de bhia sneaiceanna ná bia bricfeasta, as a dtagann dom ar an tátal gur chóir dom a dhéanamh te bricfeasta chomh minic agus is féidir. Tá sé seo i ndáiríre an rud an-phraiticiúil le dhá cinn beag mar gheall ar a itheann siad sa chistin, agus ba mhaith liom a bheith leo, mar sin cócaireachta le haghaidh a dhéanann siad mo chuid ama a chaitear go maith. Lately tá mé ag déanamh pancóga fraochán Busy Boy agus cáis simplí omelette. Tá siad tapa, miasa cothaitheach, agus gobbles Boy Busy suas iad. Cé go bhfuil mé ag déanamh na nithe te, a thabhairt mé dó a rogha torthaí, a úsáideann sé a nua aimsithe scileanna teanga comharthaíochta a chur in iúl. Is Boy Busy eater mór, atá iontach, mar go mbeidh sé iarracht díreach faoi aon rud, ach tá sé chomh maith le eater mall, rud a chiallaíonn go dtarlaíonn bricfeasta suas 45 nóiméad maith ar ár maidin. 09:00 - Butt Nua agus am súgartha. Tá sé seo nuair atá mé i ndáiríre sásta go bhfuil Bitty fáil chomh neamhspleách agus beidh ról léi féin, mar is féidir an uair seo dom a fháil ar roinnt chores maidin dhéanamh. Le linn an ama sin, tá Boy Busy iniúchadh. Tá sé den sórt sin a thinker. Is breá leis a fháil amach conas a d'fhéadfadh rudaí ag obair le chéile, go háirithe i teaglaim riamh, ba mhaith liom a shíl de, cosúil le fáinní cruachta plaisteach strung isteach ar láimhseáil wagon. 10:00 - am Snack do Boy Busy, am nap do Bitty. Sea, léann tú an gceart sin, tá Bitty ag dul i ndáiríre síos do NAPS maidin rialta! Seo a thosaigh thart ar mhí ó shin, agus tá mé grámhara é! Ag brath ar conas a sí ag mothú, beidh sí chodladh ó áit ar bith 1-3 uair an chloig. Tá sé iontach! Is am Snack am eile den lá go bhfuil mé chomh buíoch as mo chúlra TCÉ, toisc go bhfuil Boy Busy in ann a in iúl dom nuair a bhíonn sé ocras agus go díreach cad ba mhaith aige. Tá sé dochreidte. Tromchúiseach mé cried beagnach an lá nuair a ionad whining agus grunting dá hata go bhfaca sé ina mála diaper, shínigh sé "hata le do thoil." Iontach. 10:30 - am spraoi níos mó. Ós rud é Bitty de ghnáth ina chodladh ag an am seo, déan iarracht liom an deis seo am a chaitheamh ag roinnt dea-aon-ar-aon am le Boy Busy agus obair a dhéanamh ar scileanna níos sainiúla. Tá sé soiléir go leor riamh go raibh Boy Busy a léamh i ndáiríre, mar tá sé aon smaoineamh cad atá le déanamh le leabhar, agus ní féidir a aithint rudaí i pictiúir ... mar aon. Mar sin, is é an rud Tá mé ag iarraidh i ndáiríre a bheith ag obair leis ar. Tá sé deacair uaireanta, toisc go bhfuil sé chomh gníomhach nach bhfuil sé ag iarraidh i ndáiríre chun suí go fóill liom. Anois, nach fháil dom mícheart, tá sé ina kid an-cuddly, agus loves a bheith rocked agus snuggled, ach anois is cosúil léamh cosúil le dramhaíl ó am spraoi go maith dó. Mar sin, tá mé ag iarraidh a léamh TIMPEALL dó go leor, agus é a ghabháil le linn a amanna ciúin cúpla. Tá mé ag bailiú leabhair do leanaí ar feadh na mblianta, agus mar sin tá mé ar bís Super a roinnt leis na leabhair iontach le mo kiddos. Beidh muid a fháil ann Nuashonrú:. Ós rud é go Scríobh mé seo, Boy Busy roghnú anois chun leabhair a fháil amach an Seilf Leabhar agus breathnú ar iad go neamhspleách!Tá sé ag cur in iúl le pictiúir agus ag insint dom mar gheall orthu, mar shampla dírithe ar pictiúr de Elmo cur le folctha agus a shíniú agus a rá "am folctha," nó "oíche oíche" do Ernie sa leaba. Níos mó bia maith. Go leor sin. 12:15 - Téann Boy Busy síos le haghaidh a chuid nap. An chéad chúpla lá a bhí garbh ach toisc go raibh muid aon smaoineamh cén cineál sceidil a bhí sé ar. Anois go bhfuil a fhios againn, agus tá a fhios againn conas ghnáthamh dírithe ar a bhfuil sé, tá am nap a Breeze. Tar éis a rachaidh mé glanta air suas ó lón, liom a athrú ar a Butt agus inis sé in am le haghaidh oíche oíche dó. Grabs sé a blaincéad Bunny agus a cupán sippy (le uisce) agus tá i gceannas go dtí a sheomra. Tá sé ag fussing de ghnáth mar siúlóidí sé, ach tá sé chomh falsa tá sé hilarious. Cuireann sé é féin isteach sa leaba, mé a thabhairt dó póg, a rá oíche mhaith, dul amach, agus an doras dúnta. ARNA DHÉANAMH! Am le haghaidh Mama (Äiti) a fháil gnóthach! Tá sé seo nuair a thugaim a fháil ghabháil suas ar miasa agus níocháin. Más rud é Bitty dhúiseacht, tá mé ag obair i ár gcuid éadaí seomra leapa a chur ar shiúl, a bhfuil mo chore LAGHAD is fearr leat. Má tá Bitty chodladh, tá mé ag obair áit éigin eile sa teach, b'fhéidir ag fáil fiú roinnt níos doimhne a shórtáil agus a eagrú a dhéanamh. Má tá Bitty codlata i ndáiríre, d'fhéadfadh liom a bheidh fiú síos ar feadh tamaill, cé go bhfuil sí an radar Äiti agus tá an nós annoying de Airdeallach suas laistigh de nóiméad atá suite liom síos. 03:00 - Is Boy Busy suas agus réidh le haghaidh Butt nua agus snack. Dúisíonn sé suas i gcónaí i biotáillí maith, mar sin tá mé excited a fheiceáil dó nuair a wakes sé suas as a nap. Ansin, tá sé in am spraoi, tá súil againn go n-áirítear roinnt ama taobh amuigh, go háirithe anois gur féidir Bitty suí sa bhféar agus spraoi chomh maith. Ár teiripeoir fisiciúil bheannaigh dúinn a turtle playskool bosca gainimh, iomlán, le gaineamh, tá Boy sin Busy ag baint suilt as go maith go maith leis an tábla uisce saor fuair mé níos luaithe an samhradh seo. Bitty NAPS de ghnáth ag an am seo freisin. 05:00 - sneaiceanna níos mó mar a thosaíonn mé dinnéar, 'cuz muid ag deireadh suas i gcónaí ag ithe go déanach. 06:00 - Faigheann Hubby abhaile ón obair agus cabhraíonn sé leis an littles mar iarracht mé an dinnéar a chríochnú. Is breá liom, LOVE, grá bhfaca Hubby ina ról iontach mar Isa. Sé agus Boy Busy ag nascáil incredibly maith. Cabhraíonn sé go bhfuil Boy Busy den sórt sin atá éasca, ag dul greannmhar, kid suimiúla garbh, ach tá sé tar éis glacadh le Hubby ar bhealach mór. 07:00 - Dinnéar. Tá sé an spraoi ag ithe mar theaghlach arís. 20:00 - am folctha. Is breá Boy Busy chun suí agus spraoi ina tub beag. Is maith sé freisin nuair a thagann Bitty Babe chun páirt a dó. Is maith leis ag cuidiú le nigh di agus maith sé chun tickle a bolg agus a bharraicíní. Tar éis a folctha mé rub dó síos leis an ola cnó cócó infused le olaí lavender agus eucalyptus. Thosaigh mé seo nuair a bhí Bitty Babe RSV an geimhreadh seo caite, ach tá sé ina slí iontach a fháil deiseanna dteagmháil níos mó, chomh maith le a sheiceáil le haghaidh booboos, agus a n-craiceann cothaigh. Ceann de mo chroí-téamh chuimhneacháin is fearr leat san áireamh an dóiteán beag. Mar a rub mé an ola isteach ina craiceann, ag canadh mé Boy Busy amhrán, "Is é seo an bealach rub againn ar an ola, rub an ola, an ola rub, is é seo an bealach rub againn an ceart ola roimh am leaba." Oíche amháin , Boy Busy fuair a mhéara isteach sa phróca agus thóg amach ola beag an iomarca, mar sin d'iarr mé air más rud é go mbeadh sé rub sé ar mo lámh. Mar a rubbed sé lovingly an ola i, chan sé an t-amhrán chugam ina bhealach beag álainn. Bhí sé ar luaíocht mór beag ó neamh. 8:15 PM - am le haghaidh Leaba Boy Busy! Díreach cosúil le am nap, faigheann Boy Busy a pluideanna agus a cupán sippy uisce, tugann póga Isa, agus ceannairí a chodladh. Tar éis dom deireadh a chur lena cuirtíní, suí mé leis ar an urlár agus carraig air mar chanadh mé mo lullaby fearr leat ó Psalty dó. Ansin pray mé air, ag gabháil buíochais le Dia as a chur an leanbh seo iontach i mo shaol. Chuir mé ar ais isteach ina leaba, póg dó oíche mhaith, a insint dó Is breá liom é agus fág an seomra. D'fhéadfadh sé fuss beag, ach tá de ghnáth amach sula n-éireoidh mé go dtí an seomra suí. 08:30 - am Chill le Hubby. D'fhéadfadh liom a fháil ar roinnt dinnéar ghlanadh suas a dhéanamh, ach is féidir liom de ghnáth is mó de mo miasa an mhaidin dár gcionn le linn bricfeasta. An gá dom an am seo le mo fhear céile milis. Plus, ní Bitty dul síos go dtí ar a laghad 9, agus tá sé ngéarghátar breise i na n-uaireanta oíche. 23:30 - Oíche na! Mé in ann an madra amach, mo fiacla Scuab, crawl idir na bileoga, mo Bíobla léamh, mo ceol cas ar, agus tá mé amach! 04:00 - Bitty Dúisíonn de ghnáth suas dhearbhú go bhfuil sí ag starving chun báis, mar sin mé stumble amach as an leaba, bain úsáid as na háiseanna chomh tapa agus is féidir, a dhéanamh di buidéal, agus déan iarracht gan titim ina chodladh ar mo pháiste mar a dom a thabhairt an cothú mian sí amhlaidh desperately. Ansin ar ais a chodladh chomh fada agus is féidir. Wow. Just a scríobh go léir go reminds go mór liom cé mhéad saol athraithe ó bhí Jeremiah agus Gabe anseo. Gabe tháinig chun cuairt a thabhairt ar deireadh seachtaine seo caite, agus dúirt sé amanna éagsúla cé chomh greannmhar a bhí sé a fheiceáil go léir an stuif leanbh ar fud an tí. Is breá leis é, áfach, agus mar sin sásta go bhfuil an deis a bheith deartháir mór go Boy Busy agus Bitty. Is breá liom na scéalta taobh thiar conas traidisiúin atá déanta. Ag fás suas bhí againn a lán de na traidisiúin na Nollag, agus mar kid ghlac mé iad mar a thugtar. Ní raibh sé go dtí ina dhiaidh sin fuair mé amach na cúiseanna simplí gur foirmíodh na traidisiúin sin. Mar shampla, táimid oscailte i gcónaí i ngach ceann dár bronntanais ar Oíche Nollag, agus mar sin ar ndóigh ní raibh muid ag Santa Claus chineál teaghlaigh. Ní raibh sé nach raibh ár dtuismitheoirí ar ár gcumas chun a chreidiúint i an draíocht de Santa, ní múineadh díreach nó béim. D'iarr mé ar mo thuismitheoirí faoi seo níos déanaí agus dúirt siad nach raibh siad ag iarraidh a mhúineadh dúinn go raibh Santa fíor, agus ansin cas timpeall agus sinn a mhúineadh go raibh Íosa fíor, toisc go bhfuil duine i ndáiríre, agus i ndáiríre Is breá linn, agus i ndáiríre mian le Tá caidreamh le linn, agus an ceann eile a legend a tháinig chun bheith ina siombail ar a lán de rudaí, agus nach bhfuil roinnt de na rudaí is fiú a mhúineadh do leanaí (ie commercialism, agus a bheith dea-rudaí a fháil.) Ba é Críost an t-ionad ar ár teaghlaigh ag fás aníos, go háirithe ag na Nollag. A bheith ina sagart ar kid i gceist go déanach oíche seirbhísí Oíche Nollag, ach nach raibh stop a chur chugainn as a bhfuil ár gcuid féin beag Nollag pageant roimh oscail muid ár bronntanais. Ba mhaith linn a fháil ar fad gléasta suas agus gníomhóidh an scéal amach mar Mam léamh ó Luke agus a Dhaidí videotaped. Nuair a bhí muid an-óg bhí David agus Sarah Mary agus Joseph, bhí mé de ghnáth ar an aingeal an Tiarna (fheistiú, ceart?) Bhí, agus Rachel leanbh Íosa. Is é ceann de mo is fearr leat Nollag cuimhní físeán atá againn de Rachel ag thart ar 16 mí d'aois i bascaed mhainséar níocháin. Ní bheadh sí ag fanacht go díreach i! Mar sin, choinnigh Sarah brú anuas í agus Rachel choinneáil ina sheasamh ceart ar ais ar bun, miongháire suas stoirm. Nuair a bhí Rachel ró-shean le bheith leanbh Íosa ar bith níos mó, athraíodh a ról le aoire agus a kid paiste cabáiste ionad léi mar an leanbh Naofa. Oíche Nollag dinnéar a bhí fondue! Buille faoi thuairim mé mo thuismitheoirí fuair potaí cúpla fondue mar láthair bainise nó rud éigin, agus bhí sé ar bhealach spraíúil dinnéar a dhéanamh le ceithre páistí. Bhí leathadh de gach cineál na torthaí ar snámh i seacláide, arán yummy a snámh i cáis te, agus Ole maith 'feoil dhearg (fiafheola nó steak mairteola) a Fry i ola. Sea, ár dtuismitheoirí muinín cosúil go leor dúinn ar ár gcumas ár Fry feola féin, cé nach bhfuil mé cinnte nuair a thosaigh a. Anywho, chúis eile oscail muid ár láthair Oíche Nollag, fuair mé amach níos déanaí, toisc go mbeadh muid ag ceann i gcónaí ar ár Mhamó ar siúl i Duluth an-luath ar maidin Nollag. Bheadh ár dtuismitheoirí pacáiste dúinn suas inár PJ agus sinn lódáil isteach sa minivan maroon fad agus a bhí sé fós uair an chloig ó lae. Sa chaoi sin, ba mhaith linn codlata chuid is mó de tiomáint an 8 uair an chloig agus dúisigh díreach sular tháinig muid. Daoine cliste, mo thuismitheoirí. Deir na saineolaithe go bhfuil boladh ar cheann de na céadfaí is déine a cuimhní spreagadh. Is féidir liom a fhianú go toisc nach féidir liom fós cuimhneamh go soiléir conas a smelled árasán mo grandma. Bhí teallach gáis sa stocaireacht agus boladh na Nollag-y potpourri ó na fleasca cuileann agus maisiúcháin eile a crochadh cónaitheoirí ar a n-doirse. Árasán Mhamó Bhí meascán an-uathúil de scents chomh maith, cé go bhfuil an ceann a bataí amach i mo intinn an chuid is mó an aroma de builín turcaí. Tá a fhios agat, an cineál Jennie-O reoite cócairí gur ina gravy féin. Uaireanta liom cócaireacht go bhfuil suas díreach toisc go bhfuil mé ag iarraidh Grandma. Tá an dá mo tuismitheora teaghlach ina gcónaí i Duluth, mar sin cé go fhan muid lenár daidí mam (grandpa fuair bás roimh a rugadh I), chaith muid uair lenár mamaí ar daidí agus a bhean chéile chomh maith. Ár grandma máithreacha a fuair bás sular rugadh mé, ach bhí grandpa athphós le bean iontach a ghlac go hiomlán dúinn mar a páistí mhór. Tar éis oscailt i láthair ag Grandma agus crochta amach lenár uncail, aintín, agus Cousins, ba mhaith linn ceann amach chun Grandpa chun an rud céanna. Bhí Grandpa an-chiúin, fear stoic, ach Grandma Marie bhí os ard agus boistorous. Bhí sí na páistí as a phósadh roimhe seo, agus tá siad páistí a bhí, mar sin bhí againn a lán de na céim-ar Cousins ag rith thart ag súgradh leis. Bheadh leathadh ollmhór bianna snacky ar an tábla seomra bia, agus cuimhin liom luchtú suas ar brocailí agus borróga liamhás. Grandma Marie cheannaigh dúinn ar an láthair is suimiúla, an chuid is mó a cheannaigh sí ar an líonra siopadóireachta sa bhaile. Bliain amháin fuair mé doll plaisteach a crawled. Tá sé bhris an lá dár gcionn. Mo dhaid deartháir, Bhille, dúirt d'fhéadfadh sé a shocrú toisc go raibh a dheartháir, Richard, dochtúir. Ní fhéadfadh sé. Anywho, tar éis oscailt i láthair a bheadh an col ceathracha thíos staighre ceann ar an íoslach i gcás ina mbeadh go mbeadh tine roaring sa teallach. Rachel agus mé ag caint faoi an íoslach nach fada ó shin agus d'iarr sí orm má chuimhnigh mé ar an mugaí go raibh Grandpa ar sheilf ar an mballa. Oh yes, is féidir liom. Bhí siad sraith de mugaí go raibh * Nak d bean (bhí sé mermaid?) Dreapadh amach as an mugaí. Tá sé díreach ar cheann de na rudaí i ndáiríre corr go bataí amach in ár n-intinn. Hehe. Táimid ag cuimhneamh freisin ar ár col ceathrar (Donny? Scott?) A bheadh rósta i gcónaí a chuid stocaí sa teallach. Odd. A dhéanamh ar na cineálacha sin cuimhní teaghlaigh suas óige agus go bhfuil rud éigin gur mhaith liom a bheith in ann a roinnt le mo chuid páistí someday, agus tá súil agam go bhfuil ár buachaillí tairbhe as an iarracht a chuir muid isteach a dhéanamh a n-Christmases speisialta, agus beidh cuimhneamh orthu fondly. An bhfuil aon traidisiúin quirky? Ba bhreá liom a chloisteáil mar gheall orthu. Fág liom roinnt tuairimí, daoine! Over 300 of you are reading this blog daily, so now would be a great time to hear from you. Tá mé ceann de na daoine annoying a imríonn na Nollag ceol i gcaitheamh na bliana. Figiúr agam nach féidir leat a bheith cúisithe ag imirt sé luath riamh má stop tú.Spotify anois mo chara is fearr nua seo na Nollag toisc go bhfuil mé mo deireadh thiar thall, na Nollag playlist le beagnach 800 amhráin. Babaí E agus mé ag éisteacht leis gach maidin mar tá mé beathaithe aici bhricfeasta. Tá mé gach rud ó John Denver go Tales veggie ar ann. Tá sé deas milis. Anywho, ós rud é dá buachaillí atá imithe i mbliana, agus tá E Babaí ró-óg le páirt a ghlacadh i go leor de na gníomhaíochtaí, tá mé ag iarraidh a lán de na traidisiúin na Nollag na bliana seo. Is é ceann traidisiún go bhfuil fhan go Rachel agus is féidir liom an chuid is mó de na Nollag maisiú. Tá an am atá caite cúpla bliain Hubby ar daidí imithe amach ar an homestead agus faigheann crann go cheapann sé go bhfuil suntasach go leor chun iad a chomhlíonadh leis an seasamh cúinne inár seomra suí. Scopes sé leo amach gach bliain. Is é na bliana seo ar an áilleacht. Hubby agus Daid a chur ar na soilse agus ansin Rachel agus chuir mé ar an ornáidí an lá dár gcionn le téip VHS de Muppet Nollag Carol ag seinm ar an teilifís. Ceann de mo rudaí is fearr leat faoi chrann maisiú na bliana seo a bhí ag tarraingt amach as gach ceann de na ornáidí álainn a cheannaigh mé tar éis na Nollag na bliana seo caite. Fanacht mé go dtí deireadh mhí Eanáir nuair a bhíonn na rudaí Nollag 75% de thalamh agus ansin a fháil ar an ndáiríre sainiúil, ornáidí gloine lámh-blown. Cúis eile breá liom iad ag dul tar éis na Nollag go rachaidh mé chun taithí an spraoi ath-fhionnadh mo seoda ar fad arís na Nollag seo chugainn. Ghabháil mé ag rá liom féin rudaí cosúil le "Oh! Sin chomh gleoite! "Nó" Oh yeah! Is cuimhin liom ag dul go! "Mar mé un-pacáiste mo araidí glasa agus dearg .... a fuair mé freisin ar imréiteach tar éis na Nollag. Is é ceann traidisiún Tá mé ag iarraidh i ndáiríre i mbliana an soilsiú oíche na coinnle Aidbhint. Thosaigh muid an traidisiún na Nollag chéad na buachaillí bhí le linn mar bhealach chun iad a thabhairt isteach chun an Wonder an tuar agus sásamh breithe Chríost. Las muid an coinnle gach oíche i ndiaidh dinnéar agus a léamh pasáistí scripture go corresponded. Quizzed muid na buachaillí ar an bhrí atá le gach coinneal mar a ghlac siad casadh soilsiú agus ansin ag séideadh amach iad. Bhí sé rud ar leith. Is fada liom uaim é. Ach Dia a fhios cad a bheidh ar ár bhliain seo chugainn a thabhairt, sin a fhios agam go bhfuil ag an am seo an bhliain seo chugainn beidh na Nollag tá sraith iomlán nua de bhrí agus traidisiún. Ceann de mo scéalta Nollag is fearr leat é "Tá gach Bhuel" le Frank E. Peretti . Éistim le feadh na bliana é agus ar ndóigh, a dhéantar é ag comórtais i scoil ard. Ag deireadh an scéal cur síos ar conas a Peretti Dia an teller scéal mór ar ár saol agus ar an gcaoi grá sé i bhfad dúinn ionas gur scríobh sé é féin isteach inár scéal mar leanbh i mainséar. Tháinig sé isteach sa talamh faoi imthosca thar a bheith díobhálach agus taithí an diúltú agus chaos tá an saol a thabhairt. Roghnaigh sé chun é sin a dhéanamh. Maidir liom féin. Mar sin, cé go bhfuil na bliana seo bhí a lán de pian agus Gortaítear, tá mé ag roghnú a shealbhú isteach áthas. Joy a thagann ón taobh istigh domhain mar gheall ar cad agus an té a cheiliúradh againn. Shona Beannachtaí na Nollag! Hannah *** BTW, d'íoc aon duine dom rud ar bith do mo thuairimí. Tá siad ach rudaí is maith liom. *** Sa lá atá inniu chas tú 18. Rinne muid é! Gach na oíche de caoineadh thar tú, guí os cionn tú, agus ina luí ar tú, agus sinn féin nach mbeadh muid a thabhairt suas a bheith íoctha amach. Rinne muid é! Tá mé buíoch a rá go bhfaigheann gach lá níos fearr. Cé a bhí a fhios sin nuair a bhí mé ach 8 mbliana d'aois, a cruthaíodh tú i do broinn na máthar, agus lá amháin go mbeadh tú a bheith MO mac? Dia raibh. Cé a fhios go mbeadh post múinteoireachta samhraidh mar thoradh ar an máithreachas a bhí geallta ag súil agam? Cé a fhios go bhfuil an méid a d'fhéadfadh an domhan a fheiceáil mar cruinniú randamach, comhrá randamach, ar nasc corr, bheadh Dia a úsáid chun teaghlach a bhunú, agus tá súil agam a thabhairt do leanbh hopeless? Dia raibh. Is cuimhin liom go comhrá ar an sliabh Geal. Is cuimhin liom do dheora agus do súil verbalized agus eagla don todhchaí. Cé hé a ghlacadh deis ar buachaill 15 bliain d'aois a bhí measadh cheana cás caillte ag na cinn a d'iarr sé a thuismitheoirí ar feadh 13 bliain? Cé hé a dare nó riosca a ghrá a ógánaigh damáiste nuair a bheadh aois sé amach go luath go leor? Bheadh Dia. Ba mhaith linn, mar gheall ar thug sé tú a chur chugainn. Agus ag éirí go bhfuil tú fear; ag fás gach lá ar bhealaí a súil nach tú ná againn; iontas orainn i na bealaí is fearr. Buaileann bhfuil ach bumps, agus a thuilleadh Mount Everest. Son, meas agam ort an oiread sin. Tá tú oibrí crua agus den sórt sin ina cúnamh mór le do mama. (Agus tá, tá mé ag freaking amach go bhfuil mé 26 agus mé a bhfuil an pangs chéad siondróm nead folamh!) Tá tú cuddly nuair is gá duit a bheith, agus láidir nuair nithe is mó. Is dóigh liom sábháilte a bhfuil tú thart mar tá a fhios agam i gcónaí go mbeidh tú céim suas más gá dom duit. Cad é ba mhaith liom chun tú i mbliana a fheiceann tú ag fás i an fear go bhfuil do nAthair neamhaí a dtugtar tú, chruthaigh tú, agus ainmníodh leat a bheith. Tá mé ag guí go mbeidh Dia nochtann an fhís sin go bhfuil sé chun tú a thabhairt duit ionas go mbeidh go soiléir go bhfuil gach céim a ghlacadh tú i dtreo Eisean agus ar a bhfuil sé ar do shon. Ba mhaith liom a fheiceann tú ar aghaidh le bheith cróga agus a cheadú leighis Dé chun sreabhadh i duit. Ba mhaith liom tú a bhaint amach agus a chreidiúint cad a mac iontach, teacht aniar, agus Chliste agam. Mo Yishai lómhara, grá agam duit. Tá mé chomh sásta gur thug Dia tú isteach i mo shaol. Tá mé chomh sásta go bhfuil tú mo rugadh an chéad, agus tá mé mar sin bheannaigh a bheith ar a dtugtar do mama. Tá tú fíor mo bhronntanas. Is fada liom uaim mhaith dó dÚsachtach. Amas sé fós dom i dtonnta. Go háirithe nuair a chuala mé amhrán faoi spéir, nó a léamh alt faoi eolaíocht rud éigin a bhaineann, nó a théann trí in aghaidh na seachtaine cosúil le tseachtain seo caite. An tseachtain seo d'oibrigh mé suas an misneach agus tionscnamh chun dul tríd na boscaí (agus boscaí) de pictiúir agus seoda páipéar gur shábháil sé ar feadh na mblianta. Fuair mé trí na pictiúir sách tapa, mar a bhí imithe muid trí chuid is mó acu mar theaghlach nuair a bhí againn le chéile ar a cuimhneacháin i mí na Samhna. D'eagraigh mé iad go garbh i gcomhréir le deich mbliana agus iad a chur i mboscaí grianghraf gur cheannaigh mé (ar imréiteach) do díreach ócáid den sórt sin. Bhí sé spraoi chun breathnú arís ar grianghraif a dhoiciméadú mo dhaidí saol go luath, agus an saol os mo chomhair, agus ansin ár saol le chéile. An seicheamhú bhí suimiúil dom. Chun liom, eagraíodh na réanna thart ar mar seo a leanas: roimh Dad; Dhaid mar leanbh / leanbh / teen;; Dad agus Mam roimh páistí; Dad agus Mam le David agus Sarah; Dad agus Mam le David, Sarah, dom, agus Rachel Daid le Laraine; Daid le David, Sarah, dom, agus Rachel; Daid le Dane, Amelia, agus Justin; agus ansin ina dhiaidh sin, daid níos sine agus Laraine le Amelia; agus Daidí ar deireadh níos sine agus Laraine le gach duine againn agus ár gcuid páistí. Na céimeanna a bhí nochtadh ach a dom. Anywho, tar éis a fuair mé tríd na pictiúir a thosaigh mé ag dul tríd a seoda pháipéar. An fear a shábháil a lán rudaí. Tá mé i bpróiseas na sórtála an méid a bhí tábhachtach dó, ach bheadh cuma i bhfad chun an chuid eile againn, agus cad é a shábháil fiú mar chuid de a chuimhne agus / nó stair teaghlaigh. Rud amháin do cinnte. Mo daidí bhí bródúil as a chuid leanaí. Shábháil sé a lán dár n-obair scoile agus cártaí tuairisce. Shábháil sé fiacla caillte agus gearrthacha gruaige. Shábháil sé a lán de na ár n-ealaín, go háirithe mo chuid deartháireacha, agus aon nótaí nó litreacha a scríobh againn a thabhairt dó. Bhí muid freisin sa pháipéar go leor le beagán mar páistí, agus shábháil sé gach ceann de na clippings. Tá cuid de na rudaí eile a shábháil sé go bhfuil go leor gnáth is dócha. Shábháil sé fógraí breithe, fógraí báis, cuireadh bainise, feasacháin go raibh imeachtaí teaghlaigh tábhachtach nó fógraí. Shábháil sé a lán de na clippings nuacht, cuid acu a bhí ar roinnt cuardach a dhéanamh amach cén fáth go raibh tábhacht ag baint leo, agus má bhí siad fós. Tá cuid de na rudaí is intriguing go bhfuair mé litir chuig agus ó Dhaid. Tá na topaicí éagsúla, ach gach nochtann le beagán de a bhí mo dhaid. Tá roinnt nótaí chun dreasacht a chur air ó ollúna, pastors eile, nó baill an bhoird. Tá roinnt litreacha diúltú le mian is fearr. Tá roinnt a chuid litreacha ag míniú coimhlint nó cén fáth bhraith sé an Tiarna a bhí le rá aige i dtreo éagsúla. Mar sin suimiúil. Píosaí de mo dhaid Ní raibh mé ar an eolas. B'fhéidir go mbeidh mé ag machnamh ar píosaí aonair níos déanaí. Tá cuid acu stirring leor agus tá mé fós guma figuratively orthu. Chun anois, tá mé díreach tar éis buíoch a bheith ag fulaingt na píosaí mo dhaid. Cad iad na píosaí de stair a dhéanann tú a shealbhú ar go? Tá mé pósta le ceann amháin de na fir is mó a gadgety ar domhan, ach táimid ag caint le déanaí faoi conas i bhfad níos simplí bheadh sé chun cónaí i rith na laethanta ceannródaí. Fógra, a dúirt mé nach bhfuil níos simplí, níos éasca. Anywho, tá mé i ndáiríre i tsraith seo iontach ag Lauraine Snelling faoin saol i Dakota Thuaidh i 1800 go déanach - go luath i 1900. I LOVE IT! Gach rud faoi é! Tá an stíl bheatha, an cultúr, agus an tuiscint ar phobail fascinates mise amháin. Mar sin, thug mo chéim-mama dom roinnt leabhair cúpla bliain ar ais ag Barbara swell ar fad faoi sean-am cócaireacht . Tá mé ag delving isteach iad le cúpla lá anuas agus tá an oiread sin sceitimíní chun iarracht a dhéanamh ar roinnt de na, oidis nua d'aois mé aimsithe. Rinne mé cheana féin screamh pie iontach as an leabhar seo, agus ní féidir stop a chur Hubby raving faoi. Anocht nó amárach beidh mé ag baint úsáide as an screamh céanna a dhéanamh pie POT sicín. Tá mé ag smaoineamh freastal ar roinnt rólanna práta milis chomh maith leis. Cad Is breá liom mar gheall ar an oidis gur bhí deartha siad chun beatha le teaghlaigh le maith,, comhábhair úra séasúrach. Tá siad beartaithe chun a bheith solúbtha a úsáid is cuma cad é a tháirgeadh nó feoil ar fáil. Tá roinnt ama prep i gceist, ach an chuid is mó tá sé siúl amach stuif cineál, cosúil le ligean ar cíos a ardú taos. Anywho, beidh mé in iúl a fhios agat mar iarracht mé roinnt de na goodies, ionas go dtiocfadh leat a bheith tempted chun cócaireacht sean-timey freisin! Nuashonraigh: Rinne mé pie POT sicín ó scratch aréir. Mo screamh pie thit amach, ach bhí sé fós delicious. D'iarr mé air "pie pota bhreacachan." Rinne mé freisin borróga práta milis. I LOVE prátaí milse, ach an t-oideas a bhí doiléir i uainiú, agus ní dóigh liom go bhfuil mé in iúl dóibh cócaireacht fada go leor. Bhí siad ar doughy beag, ach is féidir liom a rá go mbeadh siad a bheith go maith i ndáiríre. Bealach maith i ndáiríre úsáid a bhaint as suas prátaí milse. Sa lá atá inniu rinne mé mhin choirce aon-knead arán. Bhí mé ag lorg trí EILE ar cheann de na cookbooks agus fuair an t-oideas agus thuig go raibh mé gach rud is gá mé ar láimh, mar sin shocraigh mé "Cén fáth nach?" Plus, ag déanamh arán ó scratch thugann deis gur maith do cheacht eolaíochta. Jeremiah fhaigheann giosta suimiúil go hiomlán. Maith go leor, mar sin mé cineál a úsáidtear an "farts giosta" frása chun cur síos ar na boilgeoga gáis, ach bhí sé i ndáiríre an bpróiseas ar fad. An t-arán atá molás, a fuair mé i ndáiríre láidir sa screamh, ach seachas sin bhí sé absolutley delightful. Beidh sé gur maith tósta le maidin amárach tae. Beannachtaí! Hannah BTW, is iad seo ach leabhair mé taitneamh as i ndáiríre. Níl mé ag fáil aon chúitimh do mo athbhreithnithe. As of 1:30 PM this afternoon, June 28th 2010, Gabe is officially stubborn! YAY! He was nervous. He ate an entire bowl (like, glad container bowl) of taco casserole, plus a bowl of green grapes, at 11:30. He eats when he's nervous, and he hates that I know that he eats when he's nervous. Jeremiah was nervous. He was bummed because we still don't have a date for his adoption day. He was a bit mopey, but over all held it together. Gabe was so excited to have many people who love him and care about him show up for court today. Gabe's worker was there, as well as our adoption worker, whom we have never met before, so that was great. Hubby's mom, grandma, and sister were there. Many of our closest friends also made the trip, and thankfully one of them remembered a camera, otherwise we would have been picture-less. The court hearing was short, as I knew it would be. Gabe was glad that he didn't have to say much, just a lot of yes sir's. The judge gave a nice speech that I've heard at many adoption proceedings about how this is his favorite part of the job. It was nice. We got a picture with the judge afterwords, and he said he would love a copy. That made me smile. After court we all headed to a local restaurant for a very fun time of celebrating and laughing together. Gabe felt very loved. That's because he is. Oh, and he ate A LOT! After dropping Hubby off at work, we went for a little DQ for dessert. Yum! Gabe requested our family's favorite dish, affectionately named “Rufus”, for dinner. It was amazing, as usual. Great job, lovey! So that was our day. And now we wait for Jeremiah's. Soon, we hope. I can't believe our first Christmas with the boys is already over. It was a good one, though. We made plenty of good memories and had wonderful times with our wonderful family. Here are a few highlights: - Christmas Eve We started the day with a delicious breakfast of biscuits, gravy, and cheesy scrambled eggs. Yummy! Our pastor's wife passed on a bunch of her amazing recipes to me as a graduation present, and her “Mile High Biscuits” is one of our favorites. I'll put the recipe at the bottom of this post. After breakfast, we lit the Jesus Candle on our Advent candles and read our Christmas Eve passages. The boys have really loved this tradition, which we usually do after dinner, so we will have to figure out a way to keep it going. What I've loved about it is the set passages that are relatively short and come from all over scripture. I haven't found many devotionals that break things down that well. Aon smaointe? Next, the boys cleaned up the kitchen while the grown-ups finished making sure all presents were in order. The boys finished dishes in record time. Finally is was present time. In my family, we always opened presents on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure how this tradition started, but I think it was more practical in nature than sentimental. My dad is a pastor, so we always had Christmas Eve service, than we opened our presents, and then left for Grandma's very early Christmas morning. My favorite present from my hubby was my very own camcorder! YAY! I shot so much video over the past few days it's frightening. And don't worry, I will make sure to share an allarming amount of it here. The boys loved all their presents, and Jeremiah's reactions were hilariously enthusiastic. We were worried about him being thankful, but that was definitely not an issue. Way to go, kid. After opening presents, we headed off to Christmas Eve service at my husband's childhood church. It was a beautiful traditional service. It made realize how much I need to teach my boys as far as church history is concerned. I think I may be hitting up some of my homeschooling friends for some ideas soon. Actually, the prize I recently won from Kimberly at Raising Olives will be very helpful in that endeavor. After the beautiful service we headed over to Hubby Person's dad's house. We ate entirely too many goodies and then opened even more presents with Grandpa K, Aunt E, Uncle J, and Cousin T. It's tradition that the youngest in the family passes out all the presents, which is all fine and good, but there were a few issues. First, Jeremiah is not very good with names. Second, Jeremiah is not a very good reader. Those two in combination led to nearly half an hour of hillarity. Kaleb's dad was nearly falling off his chair laughing because Jeremiah could not get the concept that Grandpa was also Kurt etc… Miah started getting a little antsy toward the end, but held it together long enough to get to play with some of his new toys. - Christmas Day Ah, glorious sleep. Both boys were occupied enough with their new bioncles that Hubby Person and I were able to sleep in without a peep from either child. Jeremiah didn't like the fact that Mom caught him in a lie, so an hour long tantrum ensued. I knew it was coming. He had had such a good day the day before, he just couldn't handle it any more. It ended well though, as Hubby Person had a good long conversation with him about how to handle his anxiety. We headed over to Hubby's mom's for dinner. Yay, turkey! Yay, real pumpkin pie! We opened up even more presents. My MIL loved the basket I made her, which I still have to post about. The boys got some remote control cars and the spent a good two hours racing them around Grandma's basement before heading out to sled. Hubby, Rachel, and I played my SIL's new Wii with her for a couple of hours as well. Wow, it really is a work out. The only real bummer about the past few days was that my daddy, step-mama, and lil' sis got snowed in by the big blizzard and weren't able to make the trip. It was heart breaking, but I am glad they didn't risk their lives in the 40 MPH winds. They are going to try to make the trip on Wednesday to be here for the new year. But we are blessed. Blessed beyond blessed beyond blessed. And it has nothing to do with material things, which we have been blessed with as well. How great is it that even though one set of grandparents couldn't make it, the boys had two other sets of grandparents that loved on them and cherished them? How great it is that we have a God who enjoys celebrations! Who enjoys us enjoying Him and all He's given us. Okay, that's enough for now. Beannachtaí! Hannah Oh, I almost forgot! Here's the biscuit recipe. Mama Char's Mile High Biscuits 3 C. flour 2 TB Sugar 5 tsp. Baking Powder CTA 1. Salt 3/4 Cup shortening (I use the butter flavored Crisco sticks.) 1 C. milk 1 beaten egg Mix flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening until it resembles cornmeal. Blend milk and egg together, then add to dry ingredients. Mix only enough to blend mixture. Place dough on well floured board and knead 5-15 times. The secret to light biscuits is to not over mix dough after liquid has been added. Cut into biscuits and place on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until biscuits are golden brown. *Hint* Don't place biscuits too close together or they will not cook through properly. Tá mé chomh leithscéal Bainim ar shiúl fad. Mar a dúirt mé cheana, bhí muid ag déileáil le roinnt saincheisteanna stalking, ach bhfaca siad a bheith calmed síos do anois, agus mar sin tá mé ag súil blogging a atosú mar is gnách, cé go bhfuil mé ag dul a bheith acu chun a bheith cúramach ar feadh tamaill faoi ábhar go dtí mo fhear céile Cuireann roinnt réamhchúraimí slándála breise i bhfeidhm. É sin ráite .... Things are…adventurous. Dealraíonn Gach lá a thabhairt rud éigin nua go bhfuil an Tiarna múineadh linn mar theaghlach, agus mé ina n-aonar. Tá an séasúr na Nollag a bhí spreagúil. Táimid ag déanamh agus devotional Teacht le chéile mar theaghlach gach oíche tar éis an dinnéir. Fuair mé cúig candelabra coinneal ag díol gharáiste na bliana seo caite agus tá sé déanta ar an seastán candle foirfe hAidbhinte. The boys take turns lighting the candles each night and everyone in the family has a passage to read. An chuid is mó de na sleachta Jeremiah ar bhí as Íseáia, agus tá sé ag éirí níos fearr agus níos fearr gach uair a léann sé. He loves to read out loud, and it's so fun to see his confidence grow. The boys love learning more about the Lord and more about the history surrounding Christ's birth. Gabe Tá ag iarraidh ar roinnt ceisteanna an-iomasach, agus tá díograis Jeremiah s thar a bheith tógálach. Tá an dá buachaillí ag láimhseáil an séasúr na Nollag agus na versaries tráma-a thagann leis leo ina mbealaí féin. Gabe é, de garbh, an-inbhreathnaitheach agus tá sé ag déileáil le roinnt denial faoi cad a tharla thart ar an am san am atá caite. Hubby person and I just continue to reassure him that he is safe and that we are never EVER going to leave him. Jeremiah is much more vocal about his stress and has been having marathon tantrums the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, when he actually FINALLY breaks down and cries, he is very open about what is really scaring him. The biggest things that he has expressed anxiety over is that he has never been in a family of his very own for Christmas before and he is not sure what to expect. Dúirt sé liom (yes, lena bhéal féin. YAY!) Go mbeadh sé ina chuidiú dá raibh mé in iúl dom roimh an am a bhfuil dul chun tarlú ionas fhios aige go Mam agus Daid bhfuil rudaí faoi smacht. Dea go mbeadh a fhios, kid. Tá sé freisin a bhfuil a lán de na ceisteanna mam breithe le déanaí, a bhfuil mé ag iarraidh a láimhseáil go híogair agus aois-oiriúnach macántacht. Wisdom on this would be helpful. Jeremiah Bhí a chéad Nollag ceolchoirm anocht, a bheidh mé sa phost proudly físeán de a luaithe is féidir. Bhí sé iontach! I mean, he sang well, which is awesome, but the best part is that he participated completely. He sang loudly…on the song he remembered the words for…and when he was sitting down he was quietly paying attention and watching the other performers. Bhí dúil mhór agam a bheith ann do mo mhac ceolchoirm saoire chéad uair riamh. What a memory. Duine Hubby, ar an drochuair, bhí a bheith as baile an tseachtain seo, ach Jeremiah fhios Is breá le go Daidí air agus go raibh sé ag iarraidh a bheith ann. Finally, I am on the fertility adventure again. Bhí mé mo fisiciúil bliantúil le mo OBGYN lá atá inniu ann, agus nuair a fuair sí amach nach bhfuil mé go raibh timthriall ó ... Ummm ... Feabhra .... go raibh sí ina beag lena mbaineann. Rinne sí an fhuaim ultra inmheánach agus bhí shocked nuair a fuair sí amach go raibh mo líneáil útarach amháin 0.34 cm tiubh. To put that in perspective, a typical woman's uterine lining is 1.0 cm thick on day 14 of her cycle. Right before her period, it can be from 2.0 to 2.5 cm thick. Bhí Mine 0.34. As if I just had a period…except my last one was 9 months ago. Yeah. Tá sí ag forordaithe progesterone ar feadh 10 lá chun cabhrú le mo chorp a fháil ar an comhartha go bhfuil "Hey! An bhfuil rud éigin leis an uterus! "Tar éis sin, táimid ag dul chun iarracht Clomid arís, ach ag dáileog níos airde an am seo, chun iarracht a fháil ar na ovaries darn chun múscail. WAKE UP OVARIES!!!! Okay, so those are the current adventures. Dia maith. He is taking care of us in crazy ways…including putting another infertile, adoptive, Christian mom in my path today in the Christian book store so I could unload for an hour after my appointment before coming home to the boys. If you think of us, pray for us, and if you need prayer, just let us know.