Our Biggest Christmas Tree . . . Ever!!!

Every year we make the trek to our favorite Tree Farm outside of Columbia to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree for our family. We always have a great time. We found out that this year we would not be able to find a local farm and have a real tree for Christmas. The apartment has a rule that no "real" trees can be used. We didn't want to purchase an artificial tree for just one year so we had a bit of a dilemma. Well, in one evening two friends had offered us Christmas Trees . . . how wonderful is that! A friend called and said he wanted to drop something off for us. When he arrived he had with him a 9 foot Christmas Tree! I love surprises!

Lia was already in bed so Todd, Zach and I put the tree up and strung the lights so that Lia would be surprised in the morning. The next day the kids and I decorated the tree with all of our ornaments. Each ornaments holds a memory of a Christmas in the past or a friend who we treasure. Our friends said they felt bad to surprise us . . . but they gave us the best Christmas gift . . . another year of memories and a reminder of God's provision to us in the smallest and greatest of ways.

I'm melting!

Lia has been whining a lot today. I was going to lament through the blog about all the whining today but that would mean that I'm whining and I don't want to whine. No whining!

This evening I told Lia she needed to take off the shoes she was wearing. The shoes, "her dancing shoes" are way too small and they clunk as she walks. We can't have clunking because our neighbor downstairs is very sensitive and we want to respect her desire for silence (that's another story for another time.). On with the story. I told Lia at least 3x to take off her shoes. Her only response was whining . . . long, strung out words in her raspy and whiny voice about how she couldn't dance without her shoes, how sad she would be not to wear her shoes, how dancers had to wear their dancing shoes (all valid points but she still needed to take them off). I decided she could sit alone a bit until she could stop whining and took off her shoes.

As she sat in her "quiet spot" I hear her say, again in long, strung out whiny words, "Mom, I can't take off my shoes because then I would melt!"

36-28

36 Mizzou 28 Jayhawks

Mizzou came out on top last night with an impressive win over the #2 Kansas Jayhawks. It's quite possible that today Mizzou will be placed at the #1 spot.

It would be so fun to be living in Columbia right now! The next big game is the Big 12 Championship next week in San Antonio. Tigers vs Oklahoma. Wow! I just never thought this would happen.

Go Tigers!

We took the kids downtown tonight for the Mizzou Tiger Pep Rally. There were 100's of people crammed together in the freezing temps chanting MIZ-ZOU! Truman, mini-Mizzou and the cheerleaders were all out for the ZOU! The rally started about 45 minutes late and the kids started losing their enthusiasm. We didn't make it to the end of the rally but did enjoy shouting and cheering on the Tigers.

For those who don't know Mizzou is having a great football season. They are ranked #3 in the nation. Saturday night Mizzou will play KU (our biggest rival) at Arrowhead Stadium in KC for the "border showdown." The stakes are high. A national title could be at stake. Who would have thought!

thanksgiving

It's the day after Thanksgiving! I wanted to post yesterday but after cooking, eating and chatting for a majority of the day I was just too tired and full to think. Todd's parents, sister, our two nephews and a new friend celebrated the day with us. We had good day. I enjoyed cooking and having our family here.

A year or more ago I was asked to speak at a Woman's meeting at church. I had everything prepared for that meeting until one afternoon when I was at home, fretting about the future and attempting to gain some control over the outcome of our lives. Why do we do this? The energy spent in worry and trying to manipulate our circumstances is futile. No, I'm not saying we shouldn't make plans and make wise choices but there is a reality to the verse in Proverbs that says, "A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." (I live in Kansas case and point.)

I remember clearly what happened as I sat quietly, going over my notes for the meeting that was just two days away and fretting over our future--I was multi-tasking. God showed up. No, I didn't see Him but I became so aware that He was there with me, at that very moment and the word "thanksgiving" came to my mind. In a moment I started thinking about all that I was thankful for. Suddenly, I wasn't consumed with anxiousness or fear but joy. It was a beautiful moment. I pushed aside my notes and changed everything that I was going to share with the women. I won't elaborate on what I shared about these areas in my life but here is my short list of things that I am thankful for.

Thankfulness.
1. The Cross of Christ. Eternal Life
2. My life isn't about me. It's all about Him.
3. My life from when I breathed my first breath to this day is marked by the faithfulness of God.
4. My darlin, Todd. 16 years of marriage.
5. Our children, Zach and Lia-Joy
6. Family and friends.
7. Our church
8. Seasons
9. Music
10. Nations and Cultures

"The person with an abiding heart/spirit of gratitude is the one who trust God."--Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust
"We need only to know who and what we really are to break into spontaneous praise and thanksgiving." --Hans vrs Von Balthasar, quoted by Brennan Manning in Ruthless Trust

Monday

I couldn't think of anything clever to title this post. It's Monday. It's been a great Monday. So that's what I came up with. Monday.

Two of our friends were here from CoMo today. We had a quiet and relaxing day together. Todd is always wanting to make pancakes so visitors are always reason enough to make a great big stack. We enjoyed our pancakes, coffee and being together.

At dinner tonight Lia talked about how she is growing into a "woman" and Zach is growing into a "man." She then went into an explanation on how Zach would be a husband and she a wife someday. As she sat processing her own stories of her future life, she paused and asked if she could marry her daddy. How sweet is that. I remembered when Zach insisted that he would only marry me when he was a "big guy." How can it be possible that one day Dad and Mom won't seem so cool and the thought of getting married will seem "gross." Although I want Zach and Lia to "grow up" to be healthy adults, I also want to capture these moments when they are "just kids" and never release these moments to just my memories.

As we finished our meal and Zach and Todd cleared the table it came to Zach's attention that his fish, Twidgey had died. Todd and Zach stood over the fish bowl, staring at the lifeless fish, laying flat at the bottom of the bowl. Zach received Twidgey 1 1/2 years ago from his 1st grade teacher for doing a great job in summer school. Zach was trying to understand how Twidgey met his fate and we didn't have an answer. It seems like it should be so simple, it's a fish. But as Zach stood there asking his questions with strain in his voice, we didn't have a good answer. He started to cry . . . all we could do was hug him and say that we were sorry that his fish died.

He and Todd are now playing Madden Football and I suppose that is easing his loss. He said he didn't want another fish. This is the second Beta that Zach has had. The first, Sparkly, lived for almost 2 years. We bought Sparkly the day Zach fell at the swimming pool and had to get his first stitches--he was 3 years old. Because he was so brave we bought him a fish. The day that Sparkly died was Zach's first encounter with death. He laid in my lap and cried--a deep cry--over a fish name Sparkly. We buried Sparkly in the back yard.

Lia would like for me to dance with her now. She has asked me to stop typing so I can join her on the dance floor. Of course I'm not wearing a dress so I can't be a real dancer like her.

Monday.

fall 2

Fall in Mission

Lia and I drove around one afternoon taking pictures of the beautiful trees that are brilliant with color this Fall. We stopped in at our favorite coffee shop for a tastey warm drink and I let Lia take a few pictures. The picture of the blue sky is one that she took.

Trick or Treat

We went trick or treating with friends in their neighborhood last night. It was a lot of fun. Every house we visited welcomed the kids warmly and with lots of goodies--it reminded me of when I was a kid and would trick or treat in my Grandparents neighborhood. After each house Lia would shout, "Mom, I have more candy. They gave me more candy!" Several times instead of saying Trick or Treat she said, "Surprise!"

Zach dressed up as Obe Won Konobe from Star Wars and Lia was Tinkerbell. She had to give up her wings since it was so cool outside but that didn't hold her back--she was either hopping or running most of the evening. Her friend Xen was a Kangaroo--the cutest Kangaroo ever I must say. Lia kept saying, "Come with me Kangaroo."