Christmas Redeemed

With having babies sick the whole week before Christmas, I felt like I really had to look hard to find much Christmas spirit within me. On Sunday evening though, we had a Christmas party. Alas, I have no pictures and will have to get them from Heidi. I came close to telling Dru several times that I just wasn’t up to hosting a Christmas party, but it felt like that would be giving up altogether, so we pushed through. My house was dirty but no one seemed to mind. And they even put up with me doing some Christmas decorating and pretzel chocolating while they were all here. I decided that I WOULD decorate cookies this year! So I did.

Here are a bunch of pictures…most of them post Christmas.

These first pictures are pre-Christmas. Above, Jube washing dishes, perched precariously on the edge of the sink.

Havilah came with us to the Mall one evening before Christmas to do some last minute shopping. Jube stayed with Mae Wahn.

The white blobs are marshmallow on spoon shaped pop-sickle sticks. I dipped them in chocolate and drizzled them in white chocolate. Kinda good.

On Monday afternoon Jube and I did some more chocolate stuff. Suddenly I realized that Jube’s nose was not running and that he was happy. It was as though I got my life back! Amazing!

The cow has a hat on.

A nap before we went to the Mall, this time just to take pictures just for fun. This was last night.

Pictures with the elephants. Jube loved it.

 

Jube said it was too heavy to pick up. He tried though!

When we got to this part of the photo shoot, there was another guy trying to take pictures or our adorable chillens too.

I think she’s pretty sweet.

Big hat.

There are more pictures that should be posted of Christmas Day, Etc. Later. Dru will probably post some of them over on our family blog.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

There that was cheery enough. Now I will proceed to tell you that on this particular Christmas Eve Day, we're feeling kinda Grinch-like. Being sick at Christmas time is not the thing to be. Dru woke up feeling worse than he wanted to admit, I think. Right now he's laying on the bean bag. Jube is whiny, snotty, and emotionally unstable all around. So I feel a little un-Christmassy today.

But, I'm going to put the whole family down for official nap time--except for me. Then I'm going to turn on some music and tidy my house and have some quiet time and fold the laundry and wash a small load of laundry and be happy that I'm so rich with a good man and an awesome God and two nice children. I'm going to finish making the cookies and then make a nice soup and biscuits for supper. And then we are going to have a nice little family Christmas gift exchange tonight.

And tomorrow we may or may not have a Christmas party here, depending on how everyone feels around here. Maybe we'll get snowed in and won't have one because no one can make it on the roads. Wait, I'm in Thailand. Scratch that.

Merry Christmas.

Jube and His Cookie

 

I took this very good picture of Jube (if I may say so myself) and Dru said, “You, brat!” Which is what he says when I take a picture of Jube that he likes but I took rather than him. Nonetheless, he still found it necessary to edit for me. (I’m still deciding if I like it better this way or not.  I think it’s better.

Now, about the cookie. It’s this recipe…click through to the recipe, but we must give credit to Pinterest for finding it for me. Anyway, it’s a very nice cookie and I actually like it, but alas, it didn’t turn out as a roll out cookie for me. It ended up being a drop cookie that I spread out with my finger a bit before baking. I need to try the recipe again to see if it was me or the recipe that has problems. But anyway, anybody have a good recipe that rolls out and tastes good for the Christmas season?

Old Memories

I just sent Jube up to bed and he went quite angelically for a change—even if I do still here bumping noises coming from above. As he went, I had a flashback to my sixth birthday.

On that day, our house was filled with a bunch of women, working on some project if I remember right. Was it sewing circle? I can’t remember. I just remember that my great aunt Eva was there and she praised me for going up to take a nap without complaining. But before that happened, on that same day, Grandma Ruth handed me a clear plastic bag and inside was a white, smiling, stuffed monkey with long arms and legs. I was nearly paralyzed with delight. I remember being speechless for a bit. Grandma laughed in her comfortable way at me. So that was what I remembered when I sent Jube up for his nap.

And then I had to think some more about that monkey. Soon after that birthday, Jacob and I started learning to read together, my mom teaching at our house. It was fun, but I soon learned that I had to hide Floppy Monkey, or Jacob would treat him most disgracefully. If the monkey happened to be on the floor, Jacob would stand just next to it and then leap into the air and come down on him with both feet planted squarely on his dear little body.

That dear monkey’s head is now a bit wobbly and coming off at one side. His body is no longer white but a dirty creamish color. He’s sitting with all of my other childhood stuffed toys out in a green hammock made from a blanket in our mini barn at Mom and Dad’s.

Also on that hammock is a big rag doll that Grandma Ruth made me. Her face is stained and hair is falling out, but she was the only doll I ever truly cared for other than the rag doll that my Great Aunt Nita made me (and I lost her, I think both Mom and I have searched high and low, but Miranda, or Mandy, seems to have disappeared). I named that big doll Heather, after my friend, Heather Kuhns, because of the red hair, you see. I have been jealous of Heather's beautiful hair on more than one occasion and I still wonder if I'd look good in her hair color--but I'm afraid I'm stuck with my own brown hair for now.

Oh, and there's the big grey teddy bear that Grandma Ruth made, too. I'm not sure if he has both eyes and a nose any more. It seems that one of those important appendages at least threatened to come off at one point. Clark had a black bear like my grey one and I was always a little sad for Clark because my bear held up to the abuse better than his did. Is his bear still around?

Thinking about those bears always makes me think of another odd memory. I have one memory of when Grandpa and Grandma moved off the farm for that short period of time. We were at Grandma's house and me and I don't know who else, went into one of the walk in closets, took all the stuffed animals out and threw them down the steps. I felt a bit wicked as I did it, wondering what Grandma would do. But I guess those poor stuffed animals just had to go regardless so down the steps they tumbled. But she didn't seem to mind too bad and she just put them all away up on the top shelf where we couldn't reach them and soon after that was when Clark and I got new teddy bears.

So this has taken two days to write. Appearances were deceiving yesterday, and Jube really didn't go to bed angelically at all. He went to sleep much sooner today and I hope he sleeps for another hour before waking. And now I shall close this rambley post. (Spell check doesn't like the world rambley, but I do, so there it is.)

I found it!

For months I've wondered where it was and for months I've had to say, "It's okay, I can just bend down further." It was one of those things I had to just give to the Lord and hope He would show me where it was one day. So yes, I prayed about my vacuum hose extension.

I knew it was probably outside somewhere. Last I knew Jube and Dew had been banging on the big square water tank with it--making dreadful noises. Then it disappeared. I searched high and low. I was hoping that when we cleaned out that flower bed, we'd find it among the weeds. No luck.

Then this morning Jube and I were vacuuming and Jube had the sweeper hose (what was left of it) outside the front door. I told him to take it back inside lest he lost that part of it too. Then the thought struck me "I wonder if it's outside in one of the pipes or fallen down one of the holes by the old water tower". So I went out to investigate for the umpteenth time. And behold!! It was there, stuck inside of a bigger pipe. I was very joyful indeed.

And as I was thankful and happy to the very extent of being giddy, I had to think of the widow lady that Jesus told about, the one who had last her coin and when she found it she threw a party to celebrate. I understand that better now. And this is my form of throwing a party and telling my friends to come and rejoice with me.

I just now thought further about this story and remembered that really this story was about the kingdom of heaven...and the the finding of a lost soul. I need to think more about that. I need to ponder about how joyful Jesus is when a soul repents. I need to think about His love and what that means to me.

What do other women pray for? I know my mom prayed for these sorts of things too. What are your stories?

Pictures

 

This is our little girl who is growing up. This is where I put her when we go outside. Very nifty, especially in the evenings when the bugs come out.

She’s already stuffing things into her mouth with her very limited motor skills. She lunges for the glass when I take a drink and watches food go into our mouths. And she has even had some tastes. It’s so fun to watch her decide if its good or not.

On Saturday we went with Mae Wahn down to her home town and to visit the big Market on the way.

That hat was for Havilah but Jube likes hats and having it on him kept it out of the way. In other words, not falling on the ground.

Right now, in spite of some concern about running out of pampers at all the shopping centers, I don’t think we’ll be running out of eggs. We’ll all be glad when the flooding in Bangkok is over.

Notice on this picture that I’m holding an iced coffee and Jube is holding a dolphin.

And notice that on this picture HE has the iced coffee and I have the dolphin. This is the point where Delvin and Lily laugh because Dru said once that no 2 year old of his would drink coffee…

There were 3 little puppies. Jube tormented this one most of the time we were there.

Havilah plays alone much better than Jube did at her age. I think a big part of it is that Jube keeps her entertained. She watches him run and play a lot.

And he found a cat.

Dru and I took a stroll in the neighborhood and left the babies with Mae Wahn. I love that area. Rice fields and country.

I told Dru that I’d not stand under this tree for long periods of time. I think the coconuts might hurt were they to land on your head. It wasn’t a very tall palm.

Havilah with one of Mae Wahn’s relatives. A sister? Not sure.

Puppy on a ride before he loaded the bike back into the pickup. This bike is his birthday present from Mae Wahn and it goes with him on trips to see her.

Jube and Mom making tortillas tonight.

Outside, watching the guys work on the flower bed.

Salvaging the peppers form this plant. There was very pokey vine tangled among the bush that I was telling Jube not to touch.

Most of the tangles and weeds from the flower bed.

These are the peppers. Small but mighty. Dru handled them just a little for taking pictures and he’s still blowing and waving his hand around 2 hours later. Oh, and in Thai, they’re literally called “mouse poop peppers”.

The goofy members of my family.

Them again.

Our tiny tot.

And that is the end of this blog. I have lots of pictures of me in it. I did that for my mom. Goodnight now.

My Son

Is anyone tired of Jube pictures yet? Jube discovered pomegranates while Jessica was here. He thinks they're candy. He's a little goofy but we love him.