December 25

Merry Christmas!!!!

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

Lo, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he...."

Zechariah 9:9

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

December 24

Today was the day to make up for lost time!! After sleeping in I started in on all the baking left undone in recent days. I think everyone is healthy again! yay!

The day was pleasant with ClassicFM playing in the background, the doorbell ringing as various neighbors dropped things by, and two unexpected packages from the post office from distant lands!

Tray after tray after tray went in the oven! And I think it is all done!

Now for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of cheeses, meats, veggies, olives -- all eaten in the living room. And then the children will want their traditional viewing of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I'll be spending the evening wrapping......

December 23

Another peacefully slow day. Some spent a lot of time sleeping but others were busy playing together or building models in their room. I went out to do the final food shop. It was nice to take my time and not feel rushed. There was time to talk to people I met while out, time to interact with humanity rather than just rush on by.

I read something on Ann Voskamp's instagram yesterday. "It's the strangest, most wondrous thing: when you open up your hands and say yes to whatever God wants to give you, you are really holding on to the hands of God....your very big God can make anything, no matter how bad, into a gift." Isn't this so true. Sometimes it takes awhile to open our hands and there is often great pain involved. But the very heart of the Gospel breathes out "all will be well". This is what I heard from the mouth of a friend as we stood in Aldi and she told about the tragedies and hardships this year had brought to her life and yet the strange good that had come from it.

I spent the afternoon finishing up the handmade gifts (which are pretty much all for Laura). Andrew helped me start wrapping. My goal is not to wrap on Christmas Eve night but I think this year my plans have gone awry since I haven't been able to get baking done.

A few pineapples were sent out to neighbors -- no homemade baking from this house! And there were more leftovers for dinner. The children sat in a row on the couch and watched a movie afterward and the parents got to choose their own movie upstairs. And there was some lovely knitting while watching.

December 22

I didn't take very many pictures today....it was a very slow sort of day. I have two very sick patients and a bunch in recovery. No baking while this is going on -- I have 6 batches of cookie dough sitting in the fridge from Saturday -- waiting until it is safe to cook around here. But the slowness was a gift and we all slept in and took things very easy.

My back room has been driving me crazy with how messy and disorganized everything is from all the Christmas projects. I took some time to declutter and reorganize so that I could properly start into cutting out and sewing Laura's Christmas present. I spent all afternoon sewing and the results look good! Laura will be so excited!

There was time to sit at the computer and email out our Christmas greetings. And I took a few minutes to run to the store for some seltzer water. Two of us were interested in the mountains of leftovers from yesterday. The other recoverees wanted salami sandwiches (???). Afterward we all watched Christmas with the Kranks.

I think everyone is safely tucked in their beds now! Perhaps tomorrow will bring better health!

December 21

Well, the stomach bug has hit! There is about an hour of disappointment -- cancelled church, cancelled lunch guests, cancelled visits with friends. Then there is the relief of being quiet at home.

I spent a peaceful morning home with two kids, attending "online church" and taking time to finish up all the delicious food I had planned for lunch. Then another child "dropped" as he came in the door from church and with older kids gone that left just Michael and me to enjoy our gorgeous dinner with Laura chatting by our side, taking bites of her bread and butter. Actually, that was an unexpected treat to enjoy a lovely meal together with time to talk some and not rush away from the table. There was even a pot of delicious Darjeeling to enjoy together afterward while sitting in front of the tree in the living room reading our Sunday books.

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and knitting. Rachel invited me to her room to listen to Adventures in Odyssey and knit. I made lots of progress on Laura's Christmas present. :) Michael headed back to church with just two well children and the rest of us had time to read some Christmas books together, listen to an online service (knit), and coach Laura on how to decorate her doll house (real tree, tiny paper chain, etc.).

Funny how this was just the kind of day I dream of having. Funny how it can't happen unless the stomach flu hits.

December 20

Less than a week now until Christmas! I think I'm ready for the marathon to be over! I am working hard to be content with the amount of work, etc. and I am thankful for much grace. But, I'm glad it won't last forever!

I was up early this morning tackling as much baking as I could: tea rings, thumbprint cookies, shortbread, soup. Incidentally, someone asked for a link to the thumbprint cookies. Here it is. I used jam instead of chocolate and put the jam in the cookies before baking.

There were military-like helicopters flying low and slow over our house this morning. It made me think of so many places where that sound would send panic through a mother's body. I am so thankful I can look out the window and wonder what is up rather than screaming to hide my children somewhere. I take the peace we have here for granted.

My dad and his wife came for lunch today before the children's piano recital. The kids enjoyed the visit and loved the gifts he brought. They accompanied us to the annual Christmas recital. My favorite part is the end where all the students surround their teacher on stage and play together.

After the recital it was time to play chauffeur to the high school youth group and then work on getting my ducks in a row for tomorrow's lunch. Oh, I do want to tell you about my current favorite winter salad: salad greens, sliced Fuyu persimmons (washed but not peeled -- the peel is edible), dried cranberries and toasted pecans. Dressing: juice of 1 orange, canola oil in twice the amount of orange juice, 1-2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. It is so good!!!

And now it is time to stop work and rest! Tomorrow is another Lord's Day! Good thing! It's the only way I can survive this craziness.

December 19

Rachel's final day of school! This involved no less than five round trips to the school! yikes! I think they forget that freshmen can't drive themselves.

In between all the driving we enjoyed a day with our friends from Michigan! Good thing that included sitting down and drinking tea, a lot. We went over to Eagle Creek for a winter hike and lunch. It was so nice to get out in the fresh air and the park was nearly deserted.

In the evening we took a carload down to hear Rachel's concert at school. (She is the 4th head from the left edge of the orchestra above :). The school was hopping with activities, including a live nativity and we took a few minutes to exclaim over the miniature donkeys, goats, and sheep. Rachel stayed for the "after party" while the rest of us hurried home to rest after a long day. And then there was one more trip back to school....