Merry Christmas!

This year Christmas seemed to arrive much quicker than usual. I am usually pretty prepared...gifts, menus, organized etc. but for one reason or another this year was a little chaotic. I was wrapping gifts well into the night on Christmas eve and it felt a little crazy knowing they were going to be torn open in less than 6 hours.

Christmas eve we went to a wonderful candlelight service at Grace. After church we had dinner with Mom & Dad Harbaugh, Aunt Kathy and Lisa. The kids had a blast opening their new toys and games and played them well past bedtime.

The whole family was up and ready to open gifts early Christmas morning around 7a.m. James and I couldn't wait for the kids to begin! We spent a lot of time this year planning what to get them. Everyone of the kids got a new pair of ice skates. The excitement when they opened them almost made me cry. They were SO giddy and all (except Brett) put them on to walk around the living room!

Madison got a new dollhouse w/ dolls, Brett got new skates along with a stick, jersey and gloves and Dylan & Noah got a couple new race tracks and some remote control cars. Little Miss Mackenzie got a stocking filled with a few new toys but we made the decision not to do any extra gifts...(please keep this a secret.)

James and I always say we aren't gong to do anything big, maybe a nice weekend or date night but every year he surprises me and gets me so many wonderful things that he's remembered me mentioning throughout the year. This Christmas was no exception. I got a new ipod w/ a cd & stereo dock, a purse, Godiva chocolates, and also got some new pj pants, gloves and a hat from the kids. James & Brett even snuck out one day to Blue Frog Beads and Brett lovingly handcrafted a necklace just for me! I am one spoiled mama.

We had Mom & Dad Laslo over later Christmas morning for brunch and presents. The kids were full of energy and enjoyed some grandparent time all to themselves. In the early afternoon we headed over to my Uncle's house for Christmas "dinner." We spent a great afternoon with most of the cousins and we all relaxed while watching the little ones run around chasing puppies and playing games.

What a wonderful time of year this is. I also love that kids were big enough this year to understand the true meaning of Christmas. Daily they helped remind even me that it is truly about Jesus Christ our savior being born in a lowly stable, later to die on the cross to redeem us from our sins. What a gift and what a savior. There is nothing better than little children to give you Christmas cheer and keep your spirit alive.

The weather over the last few days went from snow to sleet to slush, then yesterday afternoon the snow began falling again. A beautiful fresh blanket of snow to cover the dirty, bare and gray landscape. What a great reminder...Jesus Christ born on Christmas, later to die on a cold, lonely, ugly cross to save me from my sin and wash me white as snow!

Decemberish

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Christmas Program

Last week Madison, Noah & Dylan had their Christmas program for Story Hour/Coffee Break Bible Study. For almost a week before the program Madison would build a microphone out of legos and lead her brothers in singing their songs. She loves to be the teacher and is an excellent leader.

Unfortunately, a few minutes before the program Madison got stage fright...and, proceeded to stand up there the entire time with her head down. Here's a little clip of the kids singing Noah's favorite song.

I always love these programs & at least one of my kids usually does something pretty comical. I wish I had the video camera more often!

The Oboist

On Monday night we had the pleasure of attending Timothy Christian's 5th & 6th grade Band/Orchestra concert. Here's a couple pictures of Brett from the night of the concert...

Unfortunately I only have a couple pre-concert. The camera I took to the concert ended up with a dead battery.

Let it Snow!

It's certainly winter in Chicago. The temperatures are dropping...tomorrow (or today) is expected to reach only 12 degrees.

Another sign that winter is here is the absence of my husband. The snowplowing season arrived with the snow. It somehow seems that the big snowfalls only happen at night and that's the part I don't enjoy. James will usually leave around midnight and return sometime early afternoon the next day, SO my nights seem a little lonely. Even if he leaves when I am asleep, there is something inside me like a tiny little alarm clock that eventually wakes me up.

I spend many nights while he is gone finding myself sleepless. It's not because I am worried or scared but I think it's my brain knowing that I am responsible for 5 little ones solo. It seems almost inevitable that every time he leaves one of them wakes up in the middle of the night for something. I am an extremely sound sleeper so I would rather be wide awake than be startled in the wee hours of the morning, completely disoriented, and try to tend to a child.

What do I do at 2 a.m. ? Well, I get a chance to go through emails, my house gets dusted, the dishwasher gets emptied a little sooner, the towels in the dryer get folded and put away without any extra "help" and sometimes I even get to catch up on some shows I have DVR'd.

The kids are just itching to get out into the snow. It's not the easiest part of my job...getting little ones ready to play in the snow. It takes some time to get on snow pants, gloves, hats, coats and boots. I can work up a pretty good sweat just thinking about it! Then, after a few minutes everyone is cold and we need to come in and take off all the different layers we just put on.

Every year when I think about the process of it I am reminded of the Cosby Show episode with Rudy getting ready to go out in the snow. Just as Cliff (Bill Cosby) gets his daughter in all her snow gear, and not easily, she tells him that she has to go to the bathroom. Story of my life...you can make them go before you do anything but for some reason they always need to go again;)

The snow does make a beautiful sight to see though. When everything is freshly coated it takes away from the leafless trees and dirty streets and makes everything look beautiful. Our first craft of the morning is going to be paper snowflakes. I can't wait to teach them about God's amazing craftsmanship in making each one different, unique & beautiful. I'll post some pictures later of them.

I wish I knew...

I thought this was too cute not to share...

A few days ago when we got our real first snowfall all the kids were ecstatic! They were jumping around the living room squealing that it was "winter!"

A little while later Madison came up to me with the most enthusiastic hop and brought me a picture she had colored. I thanked her for it but she told me it wasn't for me. She then began rambling as fast as she could (she can tell stories like an auctioneer she talks so fast;) and I heard something about Christmas, Santa and reindeer eating cookies and the snow. When I was finally able to calm her down so I could begin to understand her here is what she said:

"I am going to give this to Santa to take with him when he comes to eat our cookies. I want him to bring this back to God."

Hmmmm....we have gone over the story of the birth of Jesus over and over these last few weeks. She knows the story but she has also heard of Santa. I guess it can be a little confusing. So, last night we went over the stories again and reminded them why we get presents. Madison is convinced that Santa works for God. I tried to show her that the North Pole is really on earth and God lives in heaven which is not on earth....but again...how do you show a 4 year old where heaven is on a globe? We'll have to work on it some more.

Reminders

Reminders are a part of life. I am reminded daily before I even open my eyes that I have 5 children. I can often hear the sound of little voices shortly after 5 a.m. Being a mom to 5 has made me a little forgetful too. Even with a planner I need to be reminded to do things and my kids are my biggest reminders. Most days they remind me over and over that I have starved them and that they are hungry;)

Some reminders can also be painful. Like knowing I have 4 wisdom teeth crowding my mouth. I forget they are there most of the time until I bite my cheek...ouch! Some dates on the calendar, a song or even a photo do the reminding for me.

Last week my mom gave me a painting that my Grandma did. Growing up my Grandma Grace was my inspiration to get into art. She was always giving me different projects to do and crafts to help her with. I just loved her creativity! After I brought the painting home James asked where I was going to put it up. He also asked me if I wanted it because I "liked" it or was it just because my Grandma painted it. My answer was a little of both. I am in no way a hoarder, but the thought of that painting being tossed away or forgotten in a crawl space was not an option. I know what it feels like to put your heart into something like that.

My grandma always valued the things I made. She saved them and cherished them...most of the time proudly displaying the things that her grandchildren made her. In the few months before she passed away she began making an afghan for me. I was able to go to the store with her and pick out the colors to match my room & bedspread. She became very sick soon after and was not able to finish it so she asked one of her best friends to. What special meaning that blanket has for me. I am happily reminded when I see it just how much love went into it.

Not all reminders are happy. I was listening to the radio last week and heard a song come on. I used to love it so much I would play it whenever I got in the car and really sing it out! But, when it came on last week, after not hearing it for over a year, it had a slightly different effect this time. It was one of the songs that played over and over on a DVD photo show at my cousin Sheri's wake. I still love the song, it's just that now it's a reminder for me of an especially hard day.

Another reminder that happens quite often is the one that my children are born sinners. The constant struggle of good v bad. The funny thing is is that children do not have to be taught to sin. They don't go through a course in the womb or even nursery explaining all the various ways to disobey. We try our best to teach them what is right, but most days they just don't seem to care. I am reminded and comforted by the verse "train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not stray from it." I know in my own life, all the teaching I received as a child has helped shape my life to this very day.

I also have to remember that for one reason or another God has chosen me to be the steward of these children. They belong to Him. Some days I even sit and wonder "me?" I also sometimes feel that I am not the best man for the job. I bet there is a mama out there that doesn't yell, that makes cupcakes and even let's them play with play doh. It's definitely not an easy job...it's not glamorous, doesn't produce a paycheck and leaves me exhausted at the end of each day.

There are the perks. I have casual day every day, I get to see all the 'firsts', I get unlimited hugs & kisses, the coffee is made to my liking each and every day, I can even go to work in my pajamas and I never have to deal with traffic. Each of these little things all add up to something pretty big. A big reminder that I have been blessed with much and trusted with even more in these 5 wonderful little souls.

I am reminded that His mercies are new each morning and His grace is sufficient and never in short supply...even when I may feel like I'm running on empty. He makes me full again. When at the end of a very long day, a day of possibly more punishments, timeouts, and testing of wills than I care to recount I get just one little hug, listen to one little prayer and hear "mama, I love you" from one set of lips...I am reminded that I have the most spectacular job in the world. I am the ONLY person out of how many on this earth that Brett, Madison, Noah, Dylan & Mackenzie call "Mama."

It's all fun & games...

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried? I've done it probably hundreds of times. You get to that point where you can actually feel your abdominal muscles worked to their max and it's slowly gets harder to take a breath...then the tears come.

Today I had one of those laughs. I think it has been a while since I had laughed (really hard) and it felt so good. The kids were taking turns fighting with one another over a Nerf gun. I was trying to prepare dinner this afternoon and the screaming, thumps and crying coming from the playroom were deafening. After I washed my hands I rushed in to see where I needed to referee.

No one fessed up so I grabbed the gun. Then, something inside me gave me the urge to torture my children. I pumped up the gun and began to shoot the little green bouncy Nerf balls. The look on the kids faces was priceless. I chased them all around the house, shooting them in the buns over and over as they raced to get away. At first it wasn't funny to them...and that's what made me start to laugh. After a few minutes they could see I meant business and was not going to stop. Then, they too began laughing. Each one wanted me to get them now. I was running and chasing them close to 25 minutes and I was pooped. I then made the mistake of telling them I was pooped. Big mistake.

Next thing I knew I had 3 little ones in stitches. All I kept hearing through little laughs and squeals was "Mama pooped." You really have to be careful what you say around little kids and I generally don't let them say "poop ;)" unless it is for it's 'natural' use. I think I almost had them in tears.

It always fun & games until someone gets hurt... Isn't that what they say? Well, at our house it's usually fun & games until Mom or Dad put the fun stuff on top of the entertainment center for another day. That's where we put things that get taken away from naughty children. I am currently staring at the Nerf gun, a cordless drill, a balloon and a backpack full of matchbox cars.

Tomorrow is another day. This is just another reason why I love my kids. I love that they can make me laugh so hard I cry. What a joy it is to raise these little ones.