Kora's gift to Jesus

Saturday, we took gifts to a needy family in Frayser. There were two adults and six children in the home. Chris wanted to share the Christmas story with them, and he prepped our children in the car on the way over to not answer his questions until the family had the chance to answer.

Well, the family wasn't very vocal, and our girls jumped at every opportunity to speak. It actually worked out great, because it kept the whole situation from feeling too awkward.

Chris asked at one point, "What gift would you bring to baby Jesus?"

Silence.

Kora's hand went up.

"Um, a phone!" she exclaimed.

Oh, so we could call him?

We try to pass on sound biblical doctrine in our house, as you can tell.

My men

David's such a great helper. Sorry about my shadow, but the video's still great.

Flat tires and all my plans

Yesterday, I had big plans.

Buy presents and groceries. Get decorations from storage. Decorate house. Get tree. Decorate tree. Decorate outside. It was a full day's worth of plans.

I managed to get all the children dressed, fed, and ready for our big day by 11 am! I buckled them all in the car. I cranked the engine and pulled away. FWAP, FWAP, FWAP, FWAP.

Great, I thought, a flat tire. So I backed into my spot again. PWAF, PWAF, PWAF, PWAF.

I went to get Chris. He graciously dropped his project and immediately changed the tire. Since the weather was nice, and we were at home, I let the kids run around the playground while I actually learned how to change the tire. There are lots of nuances in our vehicle that one can't just figure out. I guess manufacturers do that to make the writer of the owner's manual feel important.

I lay on the pavement next to Chris. He was loosening the lug nuts when I heard Saja yell, "Mom, David's playing on the playground naked!" I jumped up in a flash and whammed into the drivers' side mirror. I actually felt my neck jam. Lying on the pavement, I confirmed that by "naked" she actually meant in a diaper, and then I just whimpered for a while. It somehow makes things feel better.

Before David turned streaker, I recorded him jacking up the car with his daddy. I'll try to get it posted, because it is just too cute!

Instead of my big plans, for some reason, God wanted me to spend my day in the waiting room at Gateway Tire with four kids (at naptime). It really didn't go as badly as I expected, except for one moment when David threw a Lego block at a much older kid and nailed him in the face. The kids' mom kind of told David off. I, of course, punished him with a time-out, mostly for the mom's benefit. She yelled at him, "We don't throw things!" I thought, "The kid's two years old! He knows we throw baseballs, basketballs, tennis balls, and footballs. He knows we throw water balloons. So you can't just say, 'We don't throw things.' " But at the same time, I had just told him to stop throwing the blocks. So he spent most of the rest of our time there in time out by my side. He liked it there.

I did manage to go by Walmart for groceries and a gift card. My parents brought the decorations to me. We didn't get a tree yesterday, but when we went to Priddy Farms today, we saw they had marked all their trees down. I don't know why God changed my plans yesterday, but I'm glad He did.

I'm glad that in frustrating moments, I can relax. Remember that God orchestrates my life. There is a reason Jesus commanded that all who are weary come rest in Him. It is wonderful rest.

By the way, if we had had the flat tire the day before, it would have interrupted our 4-hour trek home from a mini-vacation. If we had had the flat tire the day after, we would have disappointed a needy family awaiting Christmas presents. Of all the days and ways to have a flat, I'll take yesterday.

I just wish David would have kept his clothes on.

Sharing the Gospel, by Saja

Today, we explained to our children that our neighbors, friends and cousins, the Gehmans, were moving to Pennsylvania to tell people the good news about Jesus and start a church.

Saja told us when we moved to tell people about Jesus, she wanted to do it.

Chris asked what she would say.

"I would say, 'Jesus died on the cross for our sins,'" Saja said.

I smiled the smile of a proud parent, job well done.

"And if you don't change your ways, God will kill you," she continued.

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Chris.

"And destroy your whole village," she finished.

Thank you, Jonah.

To walk or not to walk

All of my children have been walking by age one. Kora was running by this time! But neither Tyler nor Tobias have shown any interest in walking. They are 13 months old. At their one-year check-up, the doctor asked, "When did they start walking?" Ahem... they haven't. Sad times.

Or is it?

For now, I carry them to the car. I carry them to the shopping cart. I strap them into a triple stroller. I can't lose them. What happens when they start to walk? Will it be chaos all over again?

When they were 6 months old, I spent 15 minutes everyday for one week individually teaching them what the word, "No" means by thumping their hand. Oh, it's heartbreaking all right, but effective. Both of them are fairly obedient now. I guess my next task will be to teach them the word, "Come."

I trained my golden retriever by offering doggie treats when he obeyed. You think the twins will go for doggie treats?

The whole point of this post is to announce that I've been playing a game with Tobias. I'll stand him up about four steps away from me and hold my hands out. Do you know what he does? He giggles and grins... and then falls forward (of his own accord) like a timber tree!

Moments ago, however, he got it. He took four steps before he fell down, accidentally. The time is near.

Anyone know where I can get some leashes?

Still here... laughing

I can't believe it's been two (and a half!) months since I last posted a thing on this blog. A friend of mine recently reminded me of its existence by saying, "Given up on the blog thing already?" At least the last post gave all of you a good understanding as to why I gave up--lack of time!

Well, I like to think my kids haven't said or done anything worth posting, but the truth is, I probably have just been too tired to remember. I don't have a photographic memory. I don't have a scanner memory. I have a Photoshop memory--where you upload the pictures and kind of make what you want. I can watch movies over and over, I can read books more than once, and I can read those scrapbooks I spend half my life organizing and really enjoy them because it's like a new story every time!

Chris, on the other hand, has a great memory. When I tell a story to my friends, I tend to Photoshop. When Chris is in the room, I just let him tell it. He remembers fine details that make no difference in the outcome of the story, but it seems to be pretty important to him. He's so gracious not to correct me in the middle of the story, but his story ALWAYS sounds a little different than mine (much like the Gospels. =) We've decided that I'm a headline teller, and he's a "the-rest-of-the-story" kind of guy.

So, the one thing that made me embarrassed happened last week. Kora was having a bath. I left the room to get a towel out of the dryer (I'm such a cool mom), and when I returned, David had stripped and hopped in. I prefer for them not to bathe together, but I decided not to make a big deal about it. Within the minute, Kora pointed to David's manhood and said, "Look, Mom! David's got a belly button on his bottom!"

To his credit, David has an outie belly-button.

I snickered inwardly and calmly agreed with her. Then I whisked her out of the bath, out of the room, and closed the door behind me. I excused myself from her presence and HOWLED. A belly button. Poor David.