Christmas Preparations

My little helper, Christopher, always HAS to help when I start the baking! This is HIS section of the counter with HIS rolling pin and HIS dough and HIS cookie cutters and HIS cookie sheet! When he starts trying to take over MY side of things, I conveniently put him on washing duty and he's equally as content.

Of course we had extra help as we were making chipa with Ruth and Anita for Anita's class project. I'm not sure why the girls are so happy and the boys have such sour looks on their faces, but we ALL had fun that night! And the chipa was fabulous as always!! (Maybe I'll make some more today, come to think of it. We need something to warm up this kitchen anyway and I DON'T want to make another cookie for a long, long time!)

Mr. Creative

This is Timothy. Timothy is also known as Mr. Creative or Mr. Mess, depending on what he is making at the moment. Here he is being a scuba diver. Please notice his flippers. What a kid, I tell you! He is constantly making new games, cards, costumes, and messes. I just love him!

The Sunday School Christmas Program

Well, it's over. The Sunday School Christmas program is over for this year. I'm happy and sad at the same time. This is my last year as the coordinator (I kind of hope) and even though it was extremely stressful this year, I will still miss being with all the children every Sunday, morning and evening. It's not like I won't ever see them again since I'm scheduled to teach again in two weeks, but it will only be with my 3rd and 4th graders instead of the 3 year olds up through the 12 year olds.

The highlights for me from this year's program:
* The tiny tots' poem, "Wise Men Travelled From Afar". It had hand motions and the kids really got into this little piece (Christopher LOVED it!! Ask him to do it for you, and he'll readily oblige!).
* The excitement in "Go Tell it on the Mountain" from the Tiny Tots and the Primary Choirs (ages 3-8 combined).
* The amazing handbell choir that accompanied the Junior Choir on several pieces. The sounds just resonated throughout the sanctuary and brought tears to my eyes.
* Simon's solo. THIS was my ultimate highlight. "The Lord Never Closes His Eyes." This young man beat the odds last night as he had a major headache and was so worked up before the program that he couldn't even walk in with his choir, but sat in the foyer on a chair sobbing because he wanted to sing so badly, but couldn't. I was distracted by other details, so once he went into the restroom to calm down, I moved on to the next "issue". Before I knew what was happening, I looked up and saw Simon standing in front of the microphone at the front of the church and singing with such a beautiful voice, a piece that had me truly in tears standing in the back of the sanctuary. That young man blew me away with his voice and the words of his song, and with the emotion that he put into it despite his overwhelming nervousness. Well done, Simon! God was honored by your gift last night!
* The cooperation of the directors of the choirs, the pianists, the handbell choir, the guitarist, the helpers, etc, etc, etc. It could not have been done without the help of everyone.

Still, I'm thankful that it's over now. One less stress that I have to deal with here. The Lord's name was lifted high last night and many parents, grandparents, neighbors and other family members watched and listened as their children told them the story of the birth of Jesus, some hearing it for the first time. And that was the point of the whole evening.

The Silence

I thought I'd better touch base here and explain the silence of the past two weeks before you all start to worry. You should all know by now that when there is silence on this end, it just means that things are busy ... or else there are computer problems. This time it was a little of both. My sweet, computer-driven husband installed some type of anti-virus on this old laptop that would cause everything to snag and hang and eventually crash. It has become quite frustrating, so we finally just took it off. Now it's just old-age that is slowing things down. Old-age of the computer, that is! I'm still a spring chicken, you know!

Things HAVE been busy around here, too. The Cookie Kitchen is in operation just about every day. I'm so thankful that we have orders to fill, that I don't want to complain, but seriously, I think it was much, much easier to do this volume of cookies when the boys were younger and didn't care what I was doing in the kitchen! Now they want to help EVERY time they hear my mixer going or the trays banging on the counters. Christopher runs in to see what I'm doing, and in that time, Timothy has already run to wash his hands, pull up his stool and is yanking a Home Depot apron over his head. They want to help sooo badly, but I lose time, cookie dough and patience when they want to help. I was in a hurry the other day to get some shortbread cutouts made and they insisted on having some dough for themselves. I gave it to them, but I was constantly barking at them to quit coughing, sneezing and spitting at the counter! I finally threatened them that if they kept it up, I'd make them roll their cookies out on the floor! One look at the expressions on their faces and I realized I had made an inappropriate threat! I took that one back awfully quick! When they help me, they have their own dough, their own rolling pins, their own cookie cutters, their own trays and their own half of the island. They love their responsibilities so much that I can't take it away from them, but I usually have to end up doing a second batch to make up for the loss after they are in bed. THAT is why I have no time to blog!

I was hoping to get some pictures downloaded, too, to show you what I was up to last weekend, but being technically ignorant, I don't have those downloaded yet. I was at the Christkindel Market downtown Kitchener, working in the Belgian Waffle Wagon! What a load of fun! I think I have lost all feeling in my fingers and toes as a result of the cold (our booth was outside), but it was great! I was exhausted and behind in all my work around here, but as always, God provides for us in the best ways! I made more money in those two and a half days than I have made in ages! AND I got to get out of the house and work with adults!! Despite the cold and the exhaustion, it really was loads of fun and if I have the opportunity to do it again, I will jump at the chance!

So that's some of the silence explained. The rest has to deal with the issues we're still having with the business and the bank. It's far from over. The stress is still great and the waters are getting murkier (is that a word?), but I pray for wisdom for Fred ALL THE TIME! He's got some tough decisions to make and he needs the Lord's wisdom for sure! We don't know how this nightmare will end, but we do know that God loves us and has proven Himself faithful over and over again! He's dealt with much bigger issues than this in the past, so this is nothing for Him!

I'll try to be a little more conscious about posting, but I can't promise anything. Until Christmas, those cookies are taking priority! Can you smell them? I have about 95 of Ingrid's Jam Prints waiting for me to deal with them. I'd better go!

I Need to be Thankful

Today was not the easiest day to be thankful for me. More junk has shown up regarding Micro-Aid and what should have been a done deal almost two years ago now. Phone calls in the afternoon caused my stomach to churn and my eyes to leak, but I'm thankful that even during this time, God is giving me reasons for thankfulness!

* The boys have NO clue what is going on in the "big" world. They are so trusting of their father, that he will provide for them, that he will fix everything, that they are safe with him. I am thankful that my Father can do all that and more! (If only I didn't understand all the "big" world stuff, though!)
* The support group that we have that is bringing this situation to the Lord in prayer. At the moments that I feel so overwhelmed with it all, a peace will come over me and I KNOW someone just prayed again!
* That all of tomorrow's responsibilities out of the house for Fred and for me are all taking place around the same time and in the same part of town. This sure helps for a one-vehicle household because carpooling tomorrow will be perfect!
* Some of our after school babysitting kids are going to be leaving this week until after Christmas. Ok, I'm just a bit thankful for that because we need a break from them sometimes, but I was wondering how we were going to supplement that income, as it is my grocery money. Well, God provided with another occassional child whose father needs a babysitter for the exact time that the other children will be gone! That's reason for thanks around here!
* For my dishwasher ... enough said, right? Whew! It's a blessing every day!
* For God's mercies that are new every morning. May He grant us many new mercies tomorrow!

Monday's Thanks

* I'm thankful that Roger and Amy, Daniel and Ryan made it to Ohio safely despite the long flights from Indonesia!
* For Timothy and Christopher's cheerful willingness to clean up the basement with me today
* For the boys' commendable behavior at the funeral home tonight as we went to give our support to my cousin Ron's wife, Tammy, whose father passed away as the result of cancer. The boys don't have a clue who he is, but they were so respectful and well-behaved tonight!
* For Connie who pulled together a beautiful, gigantic platter of cookies for an emergency customer tonight
* That I was able to get ALL the dirty laundry washed, dried, folded AND put away today! I think I did six loads and now they're DONE!
* For the many people that are praying for our stressful week (issues with the sale of our business that we thought were dealt with have NOT been, and now they have come to a head this week)
* Isaiah 23:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Weekend Thanksgivings

* Miriam's delicious Whole Wheat Dried Cherry and Chocolate Chunk Scones recipe that she shared with me. Mmmmmmm!!!!
* Another successful Watkins event today
* My husband who is sooo good about taking the boys for me when I have responsibilities with Watkins
* My mother-in-law who loves when Fred brings the boys over when I'm doing those above mentioned events
* The surprise gift of a Pampered Chef stoneware from a friend who decided she just didn't know what to do with hers...heard I broke mine and passed hers along to me!
* For the ability to whip up a supper from leftovers in the refrigerator that the family loves (Thanks, Mom, for teaching by example!)
* For friends who have gone through something similar to what I am going through now and their willingness to share the good, the bad and the ugly...as well as encouragement and Godly wisdom
* For the piece of REAL mail that came in my mailbox this week!! Thank you, Lilly! It's up on my refrigerator in a place of honor!
* My crockpot which will soon be simmering tomorrow's pork stew for lunch