Huh?

Here’s a little thing I picked up at Marshall’s today.

It was so weird. And ugly. And bizarre. And cheap. How could I not?

Because every tree needs something that says:

“Merry Christmas from a Creepy Baby Dressed as a Lamb
while Wearing Mickey Mouse Ears”.

(*please also note the inexplicable “A Star is Born” phrase at the bottom of the ornament — backwards cuz I used my computer camera).

Deck the Halls…and walls…and floors…and such…

There’s nothing that warms a home quite like Christmas decorations do, is there? Here’s what we’ve got in our house this year:

1. A Tree

I’m a big believer in real Christmas trees, but for the 3rd year in a row we opted to go with our artificial little friend. His fragrance isn’t nearly as lovely as a real tree’s would be, but he’s a lot simpler to assemble and decorate, and — with 2 tiny ones around — I’m not as worried about someone pulling it over on him/herself or eating some needles or me being so scatterbrained that I forget to turn the Christmas lights off and our house burns down. So, fake tree it was this year. It was sort of an impulsive decision that we are already feeling a bit bad about. We do love them balsams (*name that movie). Oh well…”maybe yater” (as W would say ).

Fake tree or real, the ornaments that adorn it are my favorite part. Our ornaments are a collection comprised of ornaments from our childhoods…and more recently too, I suppose. My family was *big* on ornaments as I grew up. My 4 siblings and I each had a box of our own ornaments, along with an itemized list of our ornaments reminding us of what year we got each one and who/where they were from. It sounds SO “type A”, but I am really thankful for it, and it’s a tradition I’d love to pass down to our kids. I love how so many of my ornaments bring back glimmers of memories from different times in my life. On our tree we’ve got pasta wreaths spray-painted gold and beaded pipe cleaner candy canes and loosely stitched stockings…and I love it.  Those “department store” type trees are beautiful — with the matching glass ornaments and ribbon and all that — but in my home I’ll take a personalized tree any year.

W had a great time helping us decorate the tree. As you can see, he decided that all the ornaments would look good on one branch :

2. Nativity Scene

This was my “dream” nativity scene — I first eyed it while I was working at a Christian bookstore…and finally it became mine! It’s original home during the holiday season was in our bay window, with a lovely lighted garland behind it giving it just the right solemn glow.

However now that we’ve got a 2-year-old it’s new home is way up high on top of my china cabinet.

3. Advent Calendar(s)

Last year I set out on a quest for the perfect advent calendar — something that would tell the Christmas story in a simple yet fun (yet not overly cutesy) way. I didn’t come up with much. So far the best I’ve been able to do is find the cheap little cardboard kind with the perforated “doors” to open each day, along with this little number I scored after Christmas at Marshall’s last year:

It’s basically just a hanging tapestry with 25 square pockets on it and a little wooden thing-a-ma-jig that you move to a new pocket each day. It doesn’t do anything to tell the Christmas/advent story at all, and M has nicknamed it “house of the rising sun”…but W likes it, it’s a fun little way to count down the days til Christmas, and — I have to admit — it’s growing on me.

Those are the big decorations we’ve got going on in our house this year — what about you?

The Tale of the Orphaned Sweater

Here is a picture of baby S on Thanksgiving:

Note the little hand-knit sweater she is wearing. Isn’t it lovely? It came with this matching cap:

Both are beautifully and intricately knit…upon close examination, the details are beautiful, and even the expert knitters in my family were unsure how some of it was done. Whoever made them did a wonderful job.

The thing is, I have no idea who made them.

See, I bought them a few years ago at a church garage sale. I was pregnant with my son W but didn’t yet know if he was going to be a boy or girl. Eager new parent-to-be that I was, I went to the garage sale, saw this pretty sweater set, and snatched it up for like $1 or some ridiculously cheap price, just in case I’d need it.

I can’t help but wonder what the story of the sweater is. Who made it? Who wore it? Did anyone wear it? Was it ever treasured or simply tossed away carelessly? How did it end up on a card table piled high with onesies and worn out BabyGap clothes?

I don’t know. But you know what’s funny? I started this post out as a simple anecdote about a garage sale sweater and now I’m all deep, thinking of how we are each so much like that sweater in the eyes of our Maker (see Psalm 139 & Romans 8ish).

Check Out…

…the Saturday Evening blogpost at Elizabeth Esther’s site!

The Love of a Little Child

It’s almost 2 pm. I’m kind of frazzled. I’m kind of gross. I think I may have quickly run a brush through my hair this morning. Absolutely no make-up is on my face. I don’t think I’ve brushed my teeth all day (can’t remember).

And you know what? My kids don’t care. It’s been a day full of snuggles and hugs and kisses and fun. I woke up feeling discouraged by the many sad circumstances I keep hearing about around me, and God used my kids to encourage me today through their sheer sweetness. They love me no matter how gross I am. Not that there aren’t other people who love me no matter how gross I am — my wonderful husband chief among them — but there is something special about the unconditional love of a little child. There’s an innocence about it that exists in no other human relationship I can think of. They really don’t care. They don’t even notice! They’re not even thinking “Hmmm, mommy’s gross but I will choose to love her anyway.” No, they are completely oblivious to my grossness. It’s not even on their radar. I’m their mommy, and that’s reason enough for them to love me and hug me and snuggle with me.

I think there is much I can learn about the love of my Father — and therefore how to love others — from the love of my kids.

Special!

You know you are a true child of the 80’s if this gives you a little thrill:

Bunk Beds!

This last weekend we scored a great deal on a bunk bed/dresser set for W’s room!

It has always been our plan to eventually find some sort of loft bunk bed set for him, but we hadn’t been thinking it would happen for another few years. However, M’s dad is a volunteer driver for Bridging (a great organization), and during a pick-up at a consignment shop the other day he spotted this amazing deal for us! So we headed to the consignment shop first thing Saturday morning, and…SURPRISE! W got his bunk bed set a bit earlier than planned.

Here are some pictures of his newly re-furbished room:

(*this last photo is the view from “inside” W’s bed. He was a little nervous at first to have all these “scary eyes” looking down on him…so we somehow convinced him to think of them as “silly eyes” instead. ).

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On a separate note, I want to thank all of you who offered such kind encouragement on my last post! My goal in posting was simply to share a piece of what freaks me out about stepping out of that ol’ “comfort zone” and see if any of you ever struggle with that, too…but I was so blessed and surprised to get so much encouragement in response. Thank you. As of today, the invitations are in hand and I have plans to bundle the kids up and deliver them sometime tomorrow…here we go!

Ever Wanna Hide?

I’m not generally what you would call outgoing. Sure, I enjoy meeting new people and I warm up fairly quickly when making new friends — I’m just not big on approaching them FIRST. It kind of freaks me out. OK, it REALLY freaks me out. Holy fear of rejection, Batman! Looking back, I think this is why most of my closest friends over the years have been extroverts — they approached me first!

Yeah, confidence is not exactly my strong suit — the confidence to act on the spot, without a script of some sort, at least. Put me up on a stage, give me a script to recite or notes/words to sing — I’m good. Otherwise, um, no thank you. Gotta have a script. This is why I will never be in Comedy Sportz or any other improv troupe (also I’m not that funny, but I digress)…

ANYWAY, the reason this is all coming up for me is that the neighborhood Bible study I am a part of has decided to put on a little Christmas tea for the ladies on our street in a few weeks…just a time to gather together, get to know one another better, read the Christmas story and ponder the true meaning of Christmas. It will be a nice time and I’m really looking forward to it. The only thing I’m terrified about is that I’ve been asked to deliver the invitations. By hand. Door. To. Door.

AAAAAAAAK!

I’d be totally comfortable with designing the invitations…or addressing them and popping them in the mailbox…or even putting together a little e-vite…but hand delivering them? Offering my neighbors (most of whom I’ve yet to meet or don’t know very well) a warm smile, and an unscripted invitation to our gathering? I’m nearly breaking out in a sweat just thinking about it. Or hyper-ventilating a little. Or both.

It’s in those types of situations where the lies start to pour in, isn’t it. The insecurities. Suddenly I’m hyper aware of my extreme and seemingly-constant awkwardness, or how funny I might look, or how unfashionable I am. Stuff I normally wouldn’t care about suddenly is magnified and my tongue gets all tangled up.

SO….this is exactly why I told my neighbor who asked me that I’d be happy to do it. I told her it scares the living daylights out of me, but so help me I will do it.

Goodness, if people DIE for their faith, surely I could hand out a few Christmas tea invitations!

~gulp~

What about you? Have you ever resisted the urge to hide? How’d it go for ya?

Blogs I Read: El Salvador Trip

The authors of 2 blogs I follow — The Pipers and Kelly’s Korner — are on a “blogger” trip in El Salvador, learning and seeing firsthand the work that Compassion International (one of my favorite organizations) is doing there. I encourage you to follow along their blogs this week as they describe their journey. I’m excited for this chance to get to look through a “window” into what is in so many ways a whole other world…

 

List: Comfort Movies

Last night I Tweeted/Facebooked that one of my “comfort movies” is “Dan in Real Life”.

…and by “comfort movie”, I mean something that I’ve seen many times, is easy to watch, pleasant, pretty clean, and doesn’t require too much emotional energy (which, for me, rules out anything TOO dramatic, sad or violent).

You know, like “comfort food”, except in movie form.

A few of my other comfort movies include: While You Were Sleeping, That Thing You Do, Pride & Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, You’ve Got Mail…and probably loads of others I’m forgetting.

(note: I didn’t say they were all GOOD movies!)

These movies feel like old friends.

What about you? What are some of your comfort movies?