this is christmas

here is my new favourite song this Christmas.  thanks B! :) it is Christmas in a nutshell.  it's been on constant replay in my home as i wrap up the last minute preparations.  like too many times to count.  the lyrics are beautiful.  i come away every time thinking "yep, this is Christmas". love it, love it, love it...
hope you love it too...

then this....another "this is Christmas" moment for me.  thanks D! when i first saw this story i was again struck by the things that matter most in life.  not the packages.  not the trappings and glitter of the season.  it's love, it's family, it's lasting Hope.  and it's a happy ending for a change too...enjoy!

also, sending love and prayers to those we know who have recently lost loved ones. it must be so difficult at this time of year.  wishing you peace and comfort during these especially hard days.

i'm taking a blog break and will find my way back here in a few weeks.

merry Christmas, friends and family! i truly love you and count you all as some of my finest blessings!

#3

gotcha day #3 for Alemayehu Jeffrey. 

 

he was so excited about his new t-shirt...and happy to wear it to school and show Ethiopia's flag.

 

and cake is a giant highlight for AJ too.  takes after his mom...somehow...

 

i'm crazy blessed by this boy. he is sweetness and affection and joy and giggles. yesterday marked the anniversary of the day we rolled into AJ's life~ and he into ours~ forever. it is always emotional, always special, and never without loads of gratitude to see the healthy boy who now graces our home with love and laughter. 

i briefly looked back here and here to relive those early moments, and it's amazing how the details take me right back to the same feelings of those beautiful first days. then, last evening we looked through the photo album of his journey.

 

happy 3rd Gotcha Day, AJ!  so so so happy we did....

 

been thinkin'

i have some holiday thoughts whirling around in my brain these days.  it is just 15 days 'til Christmas, after all.  i thought i'd share with you.  click on the links if you are interested...

every Christmas i love these two Christmas classics.  well, not classics in the "classic" sense, but more "80's" classic...sung by bigtime artists with big hair and crazy lifestyles.  even still, the lyrics are thought provoking.  if only we all (including me...so easily side tracked) considered some of the basic truths in these songs 365 days a year...the first, "Do They Know It's Christmastime" was recorded by Band Aid, the British group Bob Geldof put together in 1984.  members of Band Aid included Bono, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, and Sting. the single raised about $8 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.  Second, in 1985 the USA For Africa project was inspired by Band Aid.  "We Are The World" was a benefit single for victims of famine in Africa. It raised over $60 million, which was distributed to Ethiopia, Sudan, and other impoverished countries.  i've included an updated version of that song, created after the earthquake struck Haiti. wow, are the artists ever varied and talented~ some people can really sing!!  Wyclef Jean is Haitian, so it's fitting that he closes the song.  anyway, these songs touch me.  maybe in part because of the era they symbolize, but even more because of their relevance today.

finally, thinking about these families, this town, this tragedy.  still so raw, still so broken.  pray for Newtown this weekend...

on a happy note, did you hear about this? seems to be all over the news. call it shameless advertising, call it genius marketing, but whatever you call it, i still find it incredibly sweet and soooo fun. i wish i worked for WestJet and had been part of pulling off this Christmas surprise. pretty brilliant, i'd say...

now, off to work on making supper...

 

random, but blog-worthy

it's been a really busy few weeks.  lots of things underway, not to mention Christmas coming very quickly! so, a few quick pics to capture moments i especially loved.  the first, my "know-it-all" youngest three on the day i got in the van with my new phone.  they (even AJ!!) were firing off phone tips left and right, as if they owned one of their own.  "no, try it this way..." or "push that button, Mom" or "hold it down"....sheesh, when did i get so old??  it felt as if they were my own personal Samsung Technical Support team, all under the age of 10, and as if i was doing rocket science.  crazy, and humbling.  so, needless to say, they are my first picture (and wallpaper on my phone...i think it's called wallpaper...) and i felt they deserved to be considering they helped me close all the little start-up windows and tips just to get the clear screen for a camera shot to be taken.  wow.  it's that bad.

 

Last Friday AJ proudly entered the van with last week's spelling test...never disappoints.  "Mom, i only got one wrong!!!"  precious, precious, precious....how i'll miss this.  click on the picture if you need to enlarge it~ that i do know! :)

 

 

first highschool wrestling tourney of the season.  Joelle, Hannah and Adam competed.  this tournament allows bantam level entries, so Adam was allowed to wrestle kids of similar weight even though being in grade seven.  all three had fun and showed character and growth.  great outing and team building time for St. Clair as well. 

 

i feel the need to add here that in all photos the opposing wrestler is not experiencing any pain or shortage of oxygen.  the "head and arm" move below holds both the head and arm which prevents a choke, and at any moment the wrestler could also tap the mat to alert the referee and end the hold if discomfort exists. there, that's clarification for all the non-wrestlers and it's just important to know about the sport as well! :)

 

 

Layla and i enjoyed a half-school-day last week by baking muffins and cheddar biscuits to add to our soup meal that evening.  we figured we'd live on the wild side and cut out some Christmas tree shapes.  aren't we crazy? they were yummy!

 

during the baking session, Hudson and AJ came into the kitchen and announced that AJ now knew how to tie his shoes.  Hudson has taken it upon himself to teach his brother.  it wasn't exactly fully successful, but the basic steps were there with some direction from the "just about ready to burst as i watch" older brother....so sweet!

 

last, but certainly not least~ worthy of mention is the SEMC team that is serving in El Salvador this week.  a team of fifteen people from our church family partnering with God make an eternal difference.  feel free to follow their blog with me.  you don't even have to know them to catch their excitement for what they are seeing and experiencing there this week.  so good....

'tis the season

i love Christmas.  i always have.  best holiday ever, in my opinion, with Thanksgiving coming in at second place.  Christ's miraculous birth in Bethlehem and the peace, hope and joy that brings to my every day life, well~ it is sooo worth celebrating...God's love came down into our world and changed my eternity...."because of His great love...."  wow...that mind blowing detail can get lost amidst the hustle and bustle and noise and chaos and planning, but what is Christmas without this??

my mom made Christmas awesome when we were kids.  my dad was a willing and happy participant, but there was no doubt that the details of making our family Christmases memorable went to my mom.  she enjoyed it so much.  she still does.  dad earned the money to pay for these "details".  no surprise there, someone had to bring in the pay cheque.  much the same in our house now, actually.  i'll never forget the year i convinced my mom to bump up our gift-giving night (we usually did it on or close to Christmas Eve, but sometimes it was a few days before then) because of the unbearable anticipation i was experiencing.  she agreed, with not too much convincing even, which i remember being surprised by.  i think it was the year i received the prized Easy Bake Oven.  i still have lots of other standout memories too.  i remember stringing popcorn and cranberries for the live tree, baking and consuming loads of Christmas treats, Christmas Eve church services together by candlelight, decorating our home, anonymous giving to those in need, hours of music by Nana Mouskouri and Evie (i was always in awe of how pretty Evie was...and the Christmas season wasn't official until Come On Ring Those Bells was playing loudly on a Saturday morning with me perched by the big box speakers...) belted out from the record player or the tape recorder.  i remember receiving cherished gifts, board games played, late nights with time together by the crackling fireplace...etc....more than ever, i'm thankful for a blessed childhood including wonderfully simple and predictable holidays that shaped me profoundly for these later years.  and to even have the motivation to continue some of these same traditions for my own kids based on the joy and stability it brought to my life, year after year...wow, it was like a gift i didn't even consciously know i was receiving every. single. year.  nothing packaged, nothing purchased~ yet still the best gift parents can ever give their kids.  and i married a man with the same feelings about Christmas and his childhood memories.  his part in his memories may have been a bit more devious, however...because i know for certain i never went into my parents' closet and snooped at my presents early by unwrapping already wrapped presents and then proceeding to play with the unwrapped toys before putting them back in their packages and re-wrapping them at the end of the evening while his parents were out of the house.... :) (who does that!?!?!) but still, there was stable and consistent love and warmth and traditions in his home too.  another priceless gift given to a happy son.  oh, and not to mention the huge dose of grace considering his parents didn't cancel presents altogether that year....

so, as we dive into the busyness of this coming month, i'm remembering the Christmases past that formed the very way i perceive this amazing holiday.  I'm thankful for Boney M and the classic, timeless CD (favourite one of all time!!!) that reminds me of Mary's Boy Child, the tiny baby, the newborn King born from humble beginnings into a wooden stable with livestock , who grew to become a man who then made the Ultimate Sacrifice for all of mankind.  i'm so undeserving~ yet forever grateful...for both the Giver and the Gift this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

aj quote

lately, AJ is surprising us with random facts about our world.  he's becoming a bit of a walking encyclopedia, of sorts.  (by the way, can you believe they aren't in use anymore???  volume after volume, obsolete, no longer needed...blame the World Wide Web for that one...i'm probably the only one to admit this, but i miss them.  that and film in my camera.  miss that too.) back to the topic...yes, AJ is listening in class.  that is a fact.  Mrs. Ferguson clearly has his attention, long enough at least to retain some bits of information he tucks away in his brain to share with me sporadically through the day.  here's just an example of what i learned from him last week~ all in one day...

first thing in the morning as i woke AJ for school.  he stretched and moaned and hadn't even fully opened his eyes when this gem was shared...

AJ:"mom, do you know what the biggest waterfall is?"

Me: "no, actually i don't.  can you tell me?"

AJ:"yep, it's Sandia."

Me: "Sandia? hmm..." i was thinking, but not saying what i was thinking because he was so emphatic and sure.  Hannah came in to greet him, and i had AJ tell her what he'd told me.  Hannah mentioned Angel Falls (in Venezuela) and AJ had definitely heard of this as well.  i determined to get to the bottom of "Sandia". and, lo and behold, the Sandia waterfall does exist in the Sandia Mountains, found in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  daddy found it first on his iphone.  pretty little waterfall, hey? (i wouldn't be mad to visit there someday.  you know, if i won such a trip. because that could happen twice. sigh....)

 

 

no, it definitely isn't the largest or tallest waterfall, but it does really exist.  oddly, when i questioned his teacher about this she said she hadn't taught about the Sandia Mountion waterfall or even known of its existence.  so, basically, i think AJ may have gotten lucky on that one, but the wide-eyed look of true sincerity has me slightly doubting even that theory.

 

later, in the afternoon as we drove to pick up the girls from wrestling practice...

 

AJ: "hey mom, why can't you see air?"

Me: "umm...good question, but i don't know an easy way to explain it.  you just can't see it!"

AJ: "you just can't see it because it's blank!"

Me: "oh, true."

AJ: "do you know who the first person was to step on the moon?"

Me: "yep, i do!" (happy to finally know the answer to a six year old's questions but resisting the urge to blurt it out) "do you know, AJ?"

AJ: "yes, Mr. Armstrong."

Me: "good job, buddy! but not the husband of your SK teacher, Mrs. Armstrong.  a different Mr. Armstrong.  Neil Armstrong."

AJ: "oh, Neil Armstrong."

 

wow, that's alot in one day!  not to mention all the other little announcements about space and the planets and rotation of the earth around the sun, etc...on other days.

this is the stuff i'll miss when my children are all grown.  not the hard questions, specifically, but the beauty of seeing the world through their eyes as they begin to learn about it and comprehend its workings.  not to mention the grade-1 refresher course i'm getting~ that's always good too.  

 

throwback

throwback photos...in random order...i just came across many of them this week and man, did they ever take me back.  back through years of memories.  years of daily life during both the highs and lows...so bittersweet, if i'm honest.  i won't ramble about it.  lucky you! :) i'll just post the pics...

below, Joelle, happy with a book, fireside at our old house...i will show her this...ahem...

 

Hudson sick for the first time after arriving home.  he was mad at the bowl we kept putting near his face when he started to show signs of retching.  he tried to push it away.  he was honestly convinced the bowl was making him throw-up. it was understandable and pretty cute even.

 



 

 Adam, loving his new brother so sweetly.  i think we were all stunned to see Hudson crashed on the floor.  we knew it had to be bad when he stopped moving.

 

Layla~ antics on the toilet.  that expression was foreshadowing of more amped-up antics to come.  oh yes....

 

Adam and Hudson, on my unmade bed :)

Hannah in her element with Ethiopian friends.  we sooo miss them still. taking our girls on that trip is definitely one of my lifetime highlights.

Harvest Party~ Hannah, back when she took a turn finding candy in the leaf pile.  now she helps with the game while the younger kids experience the fun of it.

Layla, loving the chocolate.  nothing has changed.

 

day 1 with Hudson in Haiti.  he wasn't so sure about us yet, but we were so sure about him.

 

AJ's first experience with whipped cream and cream puffs.  total love of anything pastry ever since.  can't say i blame him.