A Florida Christmas

We've been Christmasing in Florida, and it's a whole new experience! John Mark told his dad last night that this was one of the the best Christmas Eves he could remember- usually, he said, someone is making him clean or cook or wrap and here he was boating home with a nice catch of fish! The guys have had some great fishing days (Daddy D has been gloating over his 30" Snook) and my mom and I have been shopping fools. It's strange to shop for traditional Christmas treats with little kids wandering around the stores in swimwear and everyone wearing shorts and sandals. You won't find snowmen in Florida except on the wrapping paper, but all the palm trees are lighted and Santa is still everywhere, usually riding a sailboat instead of a sleigh.

We had The Great Unwrapping this morning. John got me the pink Zune I've been hinting about for weeks, and he was thrilled with his elaborate (and successful!) shopping deception at Thanksgiving. John Mark is currently reading how to make paper water bombs in The Dangerous Book For Boys; Becca is taking pictures with her new pink Easyshare camera; GranMartha and Daddy D are cooking; John is trying to dry out the bag of electronic equipment someone knocked off the boat last night; and the little kids are playing with all their Christmas booty. Later we will send them out to swim so they can work off the sugar overload. My stepbrother Casey and his family will arrive sometime today, and we'll all have Christmas dinner, stuff ourselves with pie, and then go on a tour of the canals to see the decorated docks and boats.

Tomorrow, John and I are taking John Mark and Becca to Ft. Lauderdale to catch the plane to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to see their Uncle Dave and his wife Stacie. The kids are very excited, not only because of their big adventure sans parents, but also because Dave, who is also a diving instructor, has promised to take them diving. John and I figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them, and they are blessed to have such wonderful aunts and uncles. While they're gone, the little boys will stay with GranMartha and Daddy D while John and I take a few days and vegetate somewhere where there are great sunsets, warm breezes and good seafood. And maybe see a movie or two... or visit a theme park with NO KIDS... oh, the possibilities are endless! A Florida Christmas may not be a traditional one, but it definitely has its perks!

Off We Go...

to see my family for Christmas. Apparently, the southeast has had virtually no rain this year until NOW when we have to drive through it for the next day and a half. Ugh. I will check in from (hopefully!) sunny Florida. Yule, ya'll!

Scenes From A Christmas Play

Tonight was our church's Christmas party and nativity play, which is always a lot of fun:

Becca volunteered to sing "What Child Is This?" as an a cappella solo (which became a duet, thanks to sweet Kacey). She did a fine job this first time out, but it was a stressful day for her mother!

This is why the real Magi had servants to dress them.

I'm pretty sure that the real baby Jesus did not wear corduroy, denim and pink booties, but I don't think the real Mary and Joseph could have been any more pleased with their baby- look at those grins!

Joy to the world!

More Christmas Music

Last night the kids had their Christmas piano recital. Each of them played a solo and then a duet with their teacher, Miss Kim. They did a fabulous job, and their father was amazed, because he has come in on many a lunch break to hear them plunking away at these Christmas carols and promptly headed as far away from the noise music as he could get. It has been a busy month around here in the music department.

John Mark and I played a duet together too! It was my first time playing for an audience since music finals in college, and definitely the first time John Mark and I have tried anything like this. The piece was at the limit of his ability right now, but we had fun working on it together, with just the occasional squabble. The actual recital was a nerve-wracking experience, but we plowed through and if our critics can be believed, no one heard our mistakes. And that's all that counts, right?

Afterward, Kim and her husband Harish hosted a Christmas dinner for all the kids and their families in the church fellowship hall. Her studio, made up of almost all homeschoolers, now has 17 students- 19, if you count me and fellow mom Marcia, who also began taking lessons from Kim this year. It was a big difference from the little recital with three families which was held in Kim's living room last December! We had a wonderful time, and I am so relieved that it is over.

Inauguration

Earlier this week, the kids sang at the Governor's Inauguration. I went along for the ride because I enjoy watching history take place, even when it involves the wrong political party. It turned out to be rather a prestigious invitation; although there were many bands and other groups across the state that took part in the parade, our chorus was one of three groups that actually performed as part of the ceremonies. They sang the prelude music as people were coming in and taking their seats. It was televised, so the kids had fun watching themselves later that night.

This was probably the scariest bus ride I've ever had in my entire life however, and I've taken many, many bus trips over the years. Bus #2 was driven by a totally incompetent driver who hit a light post, got stuck in the mud and almost couldn't get out again, hit a gas pump and almost knocked it off the foundation, and later, hit a car in a parking lot! We all had to wait for the police to come and fill out their reports. Becca, Philip and I were on the other bus, but just watching all this was scary enough. While I am pleased to know that one can hit a gas pump and not have it burst into flames (something I had always wondered), for the first time in my life, I found myself checking the emergency exits and trying to figure out how to get the windows open just in case. We were very thankful to make it home safely and it was plenty of adventure for one week!

Nostalgia Meme

Here's the question which I picked up from Katherine:

What were you doing 10, 20, 30 years ago?

Finding photos for this project was hard! Even as a teen, I was the only one in our family who bothered to take photos, and all my pictures were taken with my little Vivitar 110 camera. Let's just say that they're nowhere near professional quality and leave it at that. When John and I began our family, the first thing I asked for was a "real" camera, but I'm still the primary photographer, which means there are relatively very few photos of me. But, from the bottom of the family albums (which are at the end of a long line of scrapbooking projects) here's a blast from the past:

Ten Years Ago:

1997: John and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. I was still into high-maintenance hair. John Mark was 4, Becca was 2, and Philip was born in February. In January of 1998, we would discover that we were expecting Baby #4! I was a Creative Memories Consultant, and it was definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time. As one of the first consultants in our little town and since there were no local craft stores at that time, my business took off in a big way. 1997 was an exciting but very stressful year. I'm not a consultant any longer, but it was a great experience for me and I developed some skills in running a business that have served me well in many other ways over the past several years.

Twenty Years Ago:

1987: I graduated from high school in the spring of '87 and began college at LSU that fall. I have to show this picture because these are the only academic awards I've won in my entire life: 5th Place in the state in the Virginia Junior Classical League competition, and Magna Cum Laude on the National Latin Exam. In high school, I was a mediocre student at best- I was all about music. But I had a fabulous Latin teacher named Maureen O'Donnell. Mrs. O'Donnell had a way of squeezing knowledge into even the most reluctant of her students, and these awards prove it. We were all her "Soo-pah Scho-lahs," as she called us in her thick Boston accent.

This is another photo from 1987: me and my BFF Christy. I met Christy on the marching band field when we moved to Fairfax at the beginning of my Junior year. We were kindred spirits and inseparable. When my family moved back to Alabama midway through my Senior year, her family took me in for 6 months. In this photo, we are probably laughing at her older brother Steven, who was a college student at George Mason and a computer whiz. He lived in the basement and was constantly teasing us. Christy's family adopted me as one of their own, and I adored them all.

Thirty Years Ago:

You thought I was kidding when I talked about our Halloween costume reincarnations and told you that my little brother had to be a pink clown too! Here's the proof:

In 1977, I was 8 and my little brother Matt was 3. My youngest brother, Will, was still a baby. See those awful Buster Brown shoes I'm wearing? Along with huge plastic-framed glasses, Garanimal outfits, a penchant for reading, and those hated shoes, my parents could have hung a huge sign on me that said "DORK" and I couldn't have received any more teasing than what I already got at school. Kids can be so mean. My parents would divorce in the spring of 1978 and it was the beginning of some very difficult years. Although I was a star student in Mrs. Lau's Language Arts class, 3rd grade quickly became a misery for me in Mrs. Ehl's math class as we got into topics like multiplication. My parents had their own problems and when I did receive help- usually long after it was needed- my assignments were accompanied by dread and tears. My multiplication turtle was bare long after almost everyone else's was completed. It was a tough year. But you'll be happy to know that I can say my multiplication tables with the best of them now, and I have ample evidence of God's faithfulness to me during some very tough times.

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I'd love to hear your stories too- please play along!

Christmas Concert '07

Today was the Children's Christmas Concert with the Symphony. The kids did a really nice job, but the orchestra music was a little too highbrow for a kid's concert. I wish the director would choose music that was more kid-friendly and Christmasy, considering the fact that the program is called "A Child's Christmas." I complain only on my blog however, because I don't want to be in charge! But how cool is it to have an entire symphony back up your singing when you're 12 years old?

There was supposed to be a candy cane hunt out on the square afterwards, but it was canceled due to rain, so we went to DQ for lunch with a new family in our church whose daughter is also in the chorus. I love days when you unexpectedly meet a new friend!

Tonight we are having a turkey dinner because the cooking bug bit me at Walmart earlier in the week and now I have a turkey breast that must be made, along with all the fixins'. I will coax the kids into getting the house company-clean by threatening to turn off the Christmas movie marathon they've been enjoying all afternoon. You're a mean mom, Mrs. Grinch...

The Purse

*If you are a man, you'll just want to move on from here, because I promise, you will not understand this post. Trust me.

I have been shopping for a purse. That fact is astonishing in itself, because I don't spend time shopping for makeup, shoes, or purses. That list used to include jewelry, but now that my baby is six and no one tries to yank the earrings out of my ears or teethe on my necklaces, I've reached the point where I can again accessorize. But as I was saying, I have been shopping for a purse. My old one was purchased for $3 at a consignment sale: practical black canvas with straps just long enough to fit over my shoulder and large enough to hold all manner of items from water bottles to books to Halloween candy PLUS all my normal junk. It went with everything. It has been a good purse, but not perfect. It was a bit too large and with no organizational features, I found myself literally digging for the items I needed. And, to be honest, it is a bit boring. Time to move on, boring black purse.

I had it in my mind that I would simply walk into the Handbag Warehouse and pick out a nice new number and be done with the whole business, but... out of all the bags in Handbag Warehouse, there were none that called my name. Because if I'm going to actually pay real money for a purse, it has to call my name. And ideally, have a zipper closure, a nice long strap, a pocket for my cell phone, and some great organizational features. And be red, because I'm tired of boring black even though it goes with everything. But no purses called my name, so I ventured inside the mall.

First stop, Elder-Beerman, where I roamed around the purse department and I saw it: the purse that was calling my name. It was (gasp!) a designer purse, but it was also on sale. I stood for long minutes in front of the shelf, staring at this purse that was calling my name. And I circled the purse department again and then I stared for more long minutes. Surely this could not be the purse. It was just barely big enough for my essentials, much less water bottles and books. It had no great organizational features besides a few paltry pockets and a place for my cell phone. It was $5 more than my cut-off price and I did not even have a coupon. But it was red. And shiny! And it was calling me.

This purse offended every practical bone in my body and I left the store. I went to Dillard's, Sears, the purse kiosk in the center of the mall, JC Penney, Kohl's, and even to New York and Co, where my practical black purse had been purchased before it was relegated to the consignment sale. Nada. Nothing. There was a wonderful, almost-perfect purse at Sears (of all places) with all the correct features and a touch of whimsy to boot. Its color was called vino. "No," I told the purse. "I do not carry purple purses." I traipsed back through the mall, spent a few more long minutes staring at the red designer purse that was calling my name and did the proper thing: I went home. This purse was too flashy to be calling my name. It belonged on someone much more fashionable, someone who has cute hair and does not wear overalls out in public.

I thought that after I gave it some time, the lure of this purse would diminish, but it did not. I had to go back to the mall. As I rounded the aisle, I mentally prepared myself for the inevitable: the purse would be gone and it was the last of its kind. It was still waiting for me. I stared at the purse again. I circled the purse department again, desperately searching for an alternative. I picked up the purse, pulled out all the stuffing, thoroughly examined every pocket. I tried it out on my shoulder to be sure it was the correct length. I am certain the store security was watching me closely by now. And I left again, determined to give Sears another chance, but the purses there seemed so maw-maw by comparison. Back to Elder-Beerman. More long minutes staring at the purse. It was time to go home. I bought the purse.

When I got home, I pulled out the paper stuffing and managed to fit all the essentials inside. Becca walked into the room and spied this new shiny thing. "Ooh, pretty!" she exclaimed. I don't know if her admiration of the purse is a good thing or not, considering some of her pre-teen fashion choices. I decided I would give this purse a trial run and leave the tag on until I was committed. As we headed out the door later, John Mark said, "Hey, new purse! You left the tag on." "I know!" I hissed. And off to church we went, me in my overalls and shiny new red purse with the tag still attached. If that isn't Minnie Pearl, I don't know what is.

But at church, I looked over at my shiny, red purse and smiled. "I like you," I thought. I came home and took the tag off. I am committed to this relationship. Meet my new purse:

The Rubbermaid Explosion

Friday night: The Rubbermaid Explosion

Saturday night: Whew!
We had a deadline: Sunday lunch at our house for our CARE group- AACK!- otherwise it's possible I may never have been motivated enough to get it all out this year since we will be on the road for the holiday. This is one of the fastest Christmas box turn-arounds we've ever had!

Notice the choir uniforms slung over the back of the couch in the top photo. They were the source of much wailing and gnashing of teeth in our household on Thursday night as we searched in desperation for two sets of red cummerbunds and bow ties. I was most dismayed with the prospect of being the only choir mom to report to the Lady-In-Charge at the performance on Saturday morning, "My kids have lost their uniforms!" I was even more dismayed with the prospect of having to purchase two more sets of cummerbunds and bow ties, but after a grueling two-hour house turnover, they were discovered at the bottom of a shopping bag in the laundry room. Like the Biblical woman who found the lost coin, there was much rejoicing, along with a finder's celebration at Sonic. And now, the house is clean and semi-decorated- a happy benefit of hosting CARE group. I am feeling much more merry!