Merry Christmas!

The BEST part of {Christmas} cheer...





If any of you who missed Janie's rendition, it's HERE!

And, may the savior himself, {Jesus}, bless each one of you with joy and strength.


{GLORY to God in the HIGHEST!}

Gonna be a MAN

How is it that this sweet boy





wakes up one morning





suddenly a FORCE to be reckoned with?





Watch out world.





He's a BOY.

Simple Pleasures

Take it slow. The moments pass so quickly.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat!





Pleased to put a penny in the old man's hat.





If you haven't got a penny, a haypenny will do.





If you haven't got a haypenny,





then GOD bless YOU!

God bless you, gentleman,
God bless you.

If you haven't got a haypenny,
then GOD bless YOU!


(Anyone else hear Miss Piggy singing this as a kid?)

Lunch. With. Company.

Ok. It's a lovely lunch, company and all seated around the table. Everyone visits, nibbles peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Smiles, laughes, no one careening off the bench. Lulie leans over and kisses my shoulder, little sweetie. She grins, hands behind her back. I mean who wouldn't soak up the attention? Then in a stoke of one-year-old genius, she decides to really impress everyone. I glance down just in time to see pudgy little hands now showing the whole table a handful of poo. Yeah, poo. Company. at. the. table. How long does this stage last?

Christmastide

In those days...
Luke 2:1-14

10 Years, My Honey

Ten years ago today. That's when Craig started courting me. Cold and icy and December wind, it was a day like today. He said he'd have none of this dating business. Dating is for the birds. Could he please court me, he asked.






Court. It seems strange now, we spent that whole time, days, weeks, a couple of months, not so much as a kiss. Just miles and miles of words, jokes and questions, belly laughs and stolen glances. We ate at Perkins, had "our" table. We knew the servers names.





On his birthday he asked me to marry him, held my hand and lassoed the moon. Held my hand, a first. And asked my daddy.





It doesn't take so long to plan a wedding. Don't we just buy a dress and get a church, I asked? It was all so simple, like how we hiked up a waterfall one afternoon just for the fun of it. Our faces wet, the view stretching on and out a million miles, simple.





And all along, he held my hand. Here and there at first. Then lots. Encyclopedias of conversation, atlases of adventure, and he held my hand.

A kiss and a wedding. Three kids, four. Ten years. I couldn't be a richer woman.

Surgery

January 13. Surgery. A pinpoint incision in the new year. Each day closer. A long tether of faith pulls me, encircles the fear I expect. Cataract surgery. On Lulie.

"The hearing ear and the seeing eye
the LORD has made them both."

I'm finding submission more and more like the deep breath of an athlete.


Ready or not





here we come.

Janie pats my shoulder, "Momma." I'm half-listening. "Momma, I'm trying to be patient with you." She's on tip-toe, "Momma, I'm trying to be patient with you. I don't know if I can, but I'm trying to." She circles me like a tether ball.

"Momma?"

Janie grabs my hand, "Can you read me a story?" A pile of books at the bottom of the stairs. A hand to hold.

A leash of love.

Honey-Dog

"And everything that is precious to us I would lock in there." Jane nuzzles a little closer to our English Setter. Sprawled out in front of the fire place, I'm not sure who is queen of the dog bed.





"Like our Bibles,"' Janie says, "I would lock our Bibles in the gated off spot." She rubs the soft curls on Honey's head, "At least I would try to get the Bibles and lock 'em in there." She's imagining a room just for Honey, the kind you can hide in if bad guys break into your house.





And if we had an extra Bible," she raises both eyebrows, "I would maybe give it to the bad guys so they could become Christians like us." She hugs Honey-dog, whispers something in her ear. "Then they could read it and maybe go to heaven like us." Heaven, it's settled.

It's a Wonderful Life

I round the corner. Lulie, alone in the tub, blinks big doe eyes at me, "Poo." Lots.




Janie pipes in, "Momma, I was laying right by her because I didn't know she would poop in the tub." Yeah, hair wet. Wet floor. Wet rug, towels, children.




Bleach. Lots.


In other news, Lucy dismantled and ate raw garlic. Jane talked Jack into letting the dog out because she lost her boots. Lucy tried to eat baby Jesus, and only almost has a black eye after cavorting down the stairs. Oh yeah, we also smashed another pretty red Christmas ball.

Ah, it's a wonderful life.

It's a ...

GIRL!

Turns out all this time the good Lord's been growing a sweet little baby GIRL in my belly! And all along I was CERTAIN: It's a BOY. Ha-ha, a splendid surprise. One more GIRL. So there you have it, another little sack of sugar to add to our line up. Blessing upon blessings.





And a little button nose too!

Any tips for a house full of girls? Neither Craig nor I had ANY sisters growing up! Hee-hee.

Blood Clot

It's in Momma's foot. It's the shape of a Flinstone chewable vitamin. Doc said it won't kill her. Hope it's the only one.

Ya'll had such splendid advice on Anemia. Ma is completely revived thanks to a combination of your words of wisdom. So, blood clots? This is her first one. Being that you only get to have a few "first's" in life She's trying to keep a sunny disposition 'bout the whole thing.