Christmas Break! (December Events and Life)

 “A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices…” I am so thankful for hope in Jesus Christ. These days in December have been flying by so quickly, and it’s hard to believe that Christmas break is here! 

We started off December with a “Night in Bethlehem”. A local church puts together an evening of activities and re-creates what a night in Bethlehem might be like. There’s the opportunity to visit the potter’s house, the spice shop, the jewelry, and the bakery and host of other spots. At each place, you can do a small activity or craft. It’s a fun event that we went to last year, and I planned for us to do it again this year. Emma is still of the age that she enjoys these types of things, and the boys usually do, but whew- the night was an epic failure! I did not set us up well for success as I planned this for an evening after basketball practice. Wyatt and Chandler were very hungry, and it was quite a chilly evening for North Carolina. Everyone was in a rather sour mood by the time we left, and I was mad because no one appreciated Christmas events (in my opinion). After a rather lengthy discussion, I apologized for planning an event on top of an already busy day, and the boys apologized for not having as much patience and grace as they should’ve had. While the evening did not go as I envisioned it in my mind, it was a reminder that we are still in the trenches of parenting these teens, and we have lots of things to work through! 

We have had some fun events that did work out more smoothly! On one Sunday evening, we invited several families over to our house to make cookies and have supper together. Jen made a big pot of chili, and we created lots of sweet desserts and treats! I made caramelized pecans as teacher gifts this year, and while it’s the simplest recipe, these pecans are so delicious! You can see the recipe Here. I double the amount of pecans to the sugar part, and I add some real vanilla extract. I’ll definitely be making this recipe again. 

We also had several basketball games that we attended to watch the boys play this month. Chandler has become quite a good defensive basketball player, and it’s easy to tell that Wyatt enjoys the game. Travis plays on the middle school team, and while they are not that good, it’s fun to watch them play. I’ve been happy to support the cheerleading coach in whatever ways that I can, but I’m also relieved that I’m not responsible for practices, routines, uniforms, and hours of being away from our family. The one thing that I don’t really like about basketball is that the season is very, very long. But ya know, we’re already at Christmas break! Garett and Travis both were chosen to represent their classes on the Homecoming Court in January, so I’ll be going to consignment stores over Christmas break to find them a sport coat. This is an event that takes place in January in which each class from 7th-12th grade picks their classes representatives. In the senior class, several representatives are chosen and Garett was one of them. Travis is the class representative for his class again, and while he’s not exactly excited about dressing up, I’m happy for him. It’s usually a really quick ceremony done at the end of the basketball games. It’s a lot of work and effort for a very short ceremony, and it’s not the way that I would do it, but ya know…no one asked my opinion. Ha! However, it is an honor to be chosen to represent your class, and I’m thankful that Travis and Garett were chosen. We will do our best to have Travis not looking like he’d rather be at the dentist than wearing a suit coat! 

We went to Virginia the last two weekends. The first weekend up there, we helped our friends, the Everett’s move onto the Air Force Base. Garett was helping with a teen event, so he stayed home, but the rest of us went. We worked hard to load the U-haul, drive to the base, unload the U-haul, and we got a lot done in a day! The Everett’s surely could’ve managed without us, but that’s what friends are for, to come along and share in burdens and praises. We came home tired but with full hearts. This past weekend, we all went up on Friday night and on Saturday to enjoy Christmas together. Laura made lots of delicious food, we played racquetball at the gym, decorated gingerbread houses, and shared in laughter and fun. It was a good way to start our Christmas break. 

On the art side of things, we managed to help each student create at least one ornament to give away at Christmas. My middle school class created two ornaments each, and the middle school participated in an art show on the last day of school. Garett is my Teachers Aide in the mornings, and he has sealed and sprayed  a lot of ornaments for me! I am so, so thankful for my art assistant, Kaycee, as she has helped me be organized with all these ornaments and trying to help keep the art room picked up. I am very thankful for all of her help, and the fact that she doesn’t complain about all my crazy ideas! 

On the Library side of things, we focused on library books about Christmas and this season. We played a scavenger hunt in the library by hiding all the pieces of the Nativity for each of our classes. They enjoy looking for the pieces, and placing the character back in the scene. One character did get dropped, and Joseph’s head fell off, but we glued it back together! If you’re familiar with the Mercy Watson  books, there is a Christmas book about Mercy the pig. We also read Christmas in the Big Woods, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and a bunch of other books. I feel like library has had to take a little bit of a back seat this year as I balance out Middle school art and Elementary art, but again, I have a great assistant in library too. Jennifer Wade has helped keep the library organized and running smoothly, and she keeps up with books that need to be returned, and she has managed to extend the shelf life on some of our most popular books with lots of book tape and glue! I am very thankful for her too. 

We have plans to go to Maine for part of Christmas break to see my sister, husband and their kids. My parents are also planning on coming to Maine, so all of my families side will be together for the first time in probably almost ten years. I’m excited about all having all of us together, and the boys are hoping for snow and ice. 

Continued (12/25) 

I had plans to finish this blog post before Christmas, but here we are and I’m still writing! We are currently in the van traveling north towards Maine. We’ve savored and treasured our first few days of Christmas break, and created memories with our family. 

On Sunday evening, we were invited over to our friend’s house, the Kennedys. We enjoyed delicious food, fun games, and even a time of singing Christmas carols. It was a really great way to start Christmas break. Jen ended up with three of our boys going home with her, and Chandler asked me if his friends, Nicholas and Eli, could spend the night at our house. I was thankful that I was able to say “Yes” on a whim. Sometimes I feel like these three boys struggle to fit in with the youth group, and while they all have different and unique personalities, I’m glad that they were able to play video games, eat more food, and share laughter together. 

Jen and I did some Christmas shopping with Emma on Monday also. We pick names in our family, so each family member has to pick gifts for someone else in our family. I usually end up finding out who everyone has just by the process of helping finding gifts or getting a bargain for someone. Emma had Chandler’s name, and while she had a few little things for him, she wanted to get him something else. We used to put a monetary limit on the gifts, but now that all the boys have their own jobs and money, we kinda just let them pick out the gifts that they think they’re person would like. I was pleasantly surprised to find that several of our children really did go above and beyond as they really thought through what their person might like. One day last week, Garett took Chandler to Dick’s Sporting Goods as Chandler needed to find something for Travis. Garett does not like shopping so he did all of his shopping online. Chandler wandered around Dick’s for about thirty minutes, and then bought a sweatshirt for Travis. However, by the time, he got back to school, he asked me to return it. Chandler said that he thought that Travis would like the sweatshirt, but since he couldn’t wear it to school, Chandler wanted to look for somethings else. I told Chandler that I would return the sweatshirt, and we could look for something else. Travis had hinted around that he would like like a basketball backpack that he could put his shoes in. So Chandler and I went online on Thursday evening to try to find a backpack that would be perfect. At first the only color that was available was in white, and if you know anything about Travis…white is not the color for him! However, we were able to find a backpack in navy blue. I told Chandler that I didn’t think that the backpack would arrive in time for Christmas, but much to our surprise the backpack did arrive in time!

 Travis had my name for a gift, and he kept telling me that he and dad were going to do shopping together. My sister, Jen, offered to help him, but Travis wanted to go with Roger. Finally on Tuesday mooring, Travis and Roger had the opportunity to go Christmas shopping. Travis already knew what he wanted to get for me, and he brought his money and his ideas along. Roger said that he pretty much was just the driver, as the first place they went to did not have exactly what Travis was looking for. Travis bought me AirPods with his own money. It really was one of the sweetest gifts I’ve ever received as he really thought about what I might like, and he was willing to spend a good chunk of his own money to get me AirPods. He could’ve bought me the off brand, and that would’ve been fine, but he told Roger that he wanted to get mom something nice. I really do love that sweet boy! (He can drive me crazy faster than lightening, but I love him so much!) 

We also had some “not so Christmasy” moments on Tuesday, and we ended up having a bit of a loud family discussion. I didn’t think the kids were being helpful around the house, and I told them they were acting “entitled”, which led to a whole conversation! After much discussion, I finally had all the kids sit at the table and write down their blessings and praises from 2024 and their goals for 2025. It was a much needed reset for all of us, and I was blessed by reading over their lists. One son said that one of his goals for 2025 was to “not be such a grinch”. One son said that he wanted to not eat so many sweets. They had lots of praises in family, teachers, food, etc. It’s just so easy to develop an ungrateful heart, and we needed to reset our hearts and attitudes on what really matters…loving Jesus and loving others. 

Christmas Eve found us at Aunt Jen’s for delicious food, fellowship, playing on the Wii, and opening gifts together. Having Aunt Jen live close to us has been a gift in and of itself. She pours into our kids, feeds them often, and we are so thankful for her. We are very much looking forward to spending time with my other sister and her family in the next few days as well as my sister, Jen, and my parents. 

We woke up this morning, and savored some family time together over coffee and conversation. I’m reminded so often of how quickly these years are fleeting by, and I just want to stop and treasure these moments. God was so good to provide a Redeemer for us in sending His Son to earth. While I love the story of Jesus’s birth, the story is incomplete if we fail to recognize that this is the Saviour of the World. Without Jesus, I would have no hope for today, tomorrow or eternity. But I know that Jesus provides hope, peace, security, redemption, forgiveness, grace, mercy, sanctification and so much more. I am confident that my eternal salvation rests in Jesus, and that I have a home in Heaven. I serve a great God! 

I had big plans to write a Christmas letter, create cards, and send them out. But here we are, and not one of those things has happened! We are planning on taking family photos in Maine, so at this point in time, I’ll be sending a letter, family photo, and Garett’s graduation announcement all in one envelope! But, we love and appreciate each one that has invested in our lives and the lives of our children. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

This is one of my favorite songs this season. 

November Moments: Wisconsin, Hunting, Voting, & Grateful Hearts

 

Update: I started the post on the way to Wisconsin, and I’m trying to wrap it up on the way back to North Carolina. This post will feel a little “muddled” and messy, but I don’t really want to go back and change the subject and verb tenses in what I already wrote! :)  Jen, Emma, Wyatt and I arrived in Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon, and we froze for the entire time we were in Wisconsin! It was cold while we were there, and I no longer have the jackets and winter gear to be dressed for the elements. I went for a run on Thursday afternoon, and I was quickly reminded that it’s been a minute since I’ve run in 26 degree weather!

The other three boys and Roger arrived in Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon, and the boys spent lots of time hunting this past week. We ended up with five deer total over the course of the week, and I am very thankful for that as it’s meat in the freezer. Wyatt got to shoot his first deer on Friday afternoon, so that was exciting for him. The older two boys are definitely more into hunting than the younger two. I’m pretty sure that Travis came along with his older brothers last weekend because he wanted to miss two days of school rather than the opportunity to go hunting! Wyatt had decided to stay behind until Jen and I and Emma left on Tuesday afternoon as he wanted to play in Monday night’s basketball game. We left on Tuesday afternoon, and we drove until a little after eleven pm. We turned around to leave Wisconsin around noon on Saturday afternoon. It was a quick visit, but I’m thankful for the opportunity to visit with my parents, and spend time with my family. My dad recently had an “unsettling” doctor’s report, and it was good to visit with my parents. Every time we visit, it is a reminder that we are all getting older and that time is fleeting. 

A few highlights from the trip would include the fact that Chandler got a really nice buck on Wednesday morning. Garett had sat in that exact stand the previous two days, and he decided to switch stands with Chandler on Wednesday morning. Of course that was the morning that Chandler got the buck! Chandler ended up with two does and a buck. Wyatt shot an anterless buck, and Garett got a doe. Travis didn’t shoot at anything and neither did Roger. Garett and Chandler both missed a deer earlier in the week too, but we are thankful for a safe and successful hunt. It was a long and tiring week for the boys as they got up every morning at 4:30am to go sit in the stands for a few hours. They would come home and eat, process any deer that had been shot, and then go back out in the afternoon for a few hours. My dad has invested some time, energy and effort into making a few nice deer stands. I always tell the kids that times sure have changed! When I was a kid and  went hunting, I had to sit on a metal tree stand in the woods that barely held me, and I remember dropping my book out of the tree stand and just having to sit there and count leaves! Now the boys have the opportunity to sit in an enclosed stands and a few of them even have a little heater in them! Times have changed! :) I’m thankful that the have the opportunity to hunt, but I’m more grateful that they have the opportunity to spend time with their dad and Papa in this way. They made good memories this past week, and I know they’ll look back on these moments with fondness. We are coming back to North Carolina with tired minds but full and grateful hearts. I’m thankful for my parents and their investment in the lives of our children. 

One of Emma’s highlights from the trip would be getting a pair of Ugg boots! Now if you don’t know what those are, no worries! (I didn’t know until Emma told me about them a while ago) There’s a sweet dear lady who attends my dad’s church, and she loves on Emma. She was chatting with Emma over Thanksgiving dinner, and it came up about these Ugg boots that a lot of kids in Emma’s class have at school. Emma mentioned that someday she would like a pair, but her mama had said that they were too expensive (true story!). Well, this dear Grandma decided to get Emma a pair of Ugg boots. She gave Jen some money to take Emma to the store to pick out a pair of boots. Emma was over the moon excited, and when we took her to the store, Emma tried on several different pairs. I liked the black pair, but Emma picked the traditional brown pair. The boots cost about $65.00 on sale, which is more than I’d ever pay for a pair of shoes for a growing girl! However, Emma came right back to my parent’s house and asked for a thank you note to write to Miss Mary. I’m pretty sure Emma will get her use out of those boots as she’s hardly taken them off since she got them! 

I had a short, very short, visit with one of my best friends on Friday morning. It was the fastest hour and forty-five minutes of the entire year. We rarely talk on the phone, and we aren’t even good at texting each other, but somehow we always fall back into quick conversations when we get together. I’m thankful for Jenna because we always have conversations that make me think. We don’t have superficial conversations, and we talk about things that really matter in life- personal relationships, our relationship with Jesus, deep personal struggles, and laughter and tears. It was a balm to my soul to sit and visit with Jenna, and it was a reminder of how deeply I’ve missed her. We would’ve needed about 24 hours to catch up, and we got less than two, but I’m thankful. 

Roger mentioned on Thanksgiving day that he is thankful for his job. I don’t think I’ve been as thankful as I should be for his job, and it was a reminder that God has been so, so faithful. I didn’t want to leave Maine, but it was a necessity. Roger ended up in Michigan for about nine months while I was in Maine with the kids. The job in Michigan ended abruptly, and God quickly steered us to N.C. What I envisioned and what has been reality have been two very different things! However, God provided a job for Roger that brings him home every night. The job provides for the needs of our family, and maybe, just maybe someday N.C. Will feel more like home. The area that we live in is very much a culture of “born here, raised here, married here, and plan to die here”. It sometimes feels hard to make meaningful relationships because everyone already has enough friends, and truthfully,  we don’t always fit in. We have created a few friendships with others, and friendships take time to grow…and I’m not always very patient! While the boys may fight and scrap with each other, they do have each other. Our family has become closer in the past few years, and I’m beginning to have a sliver of hope that maybe they’ll end up liking each other! We, as a family, are very thankful that Jen has moved to North Carolina. She’s invested in the lives of our children in an irreplaceable way, and I’ll forever be grateful for God’s mercy in moving her into our lives on a daily basis. We have so much to be thankful for on a regular daily basis, and sometimes I fail to be as thankful as I should be. My heart is filled with selfish tendencies that tend to outpour of me and into our children. Whew- if ever I see my shortcomings, it’s when I look at our children! I want them to be like Jesus, but so often I fail to point them to Jesus. I do know that He is the only One that can change hearts, and I have a child that I am find myself praying for more often. These teen years can be hard, and did you know that by the time a child is fourteen they will have mostly decided what they will believe in for the rest of their lives?! I have no time to waste, as I desire to help our children grow in their personal relationships with Jesus Christ.   I am thankful for Roger. He’s a faithful and patient man, who loves his family with all his heart. He sacrifices for us on a regular basis, I am so thankful for his consistency. I am blessed to be his wife. 

Thanksgiving is behind us now, and with just a mere three weeks til Christmas break, it’s going to be a wee bit crazy! The older I get, the faster time seems to fly. And I just want to hang on to all the memories, but it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. I’m doing an Advent devotional book with our family, and I’m praying that our children will grasp the importance and significance of this season. There’s a lot of shiny, sparkly babbles dangling in front of us every day during this season, but I want to make sure that we spend time with Jesus. 

The post below was written on the way TO Wisconsin: 

Here we are almost through November, and it’s been a crazy busy month! Although to be fair, I feel like that is often my opening statement when I’ve gone a while without writing a post! I would love to do a better job of keeping up, but the truth of the matter is that I am often tired after a day at school- shocker! 

In the past month, Roger and I went on a cruise with some dear friends of ours; we had dear friends from Wisconsin visit us; we started basketball season, hosted a book character day at our school library, made lots of lesson plans, started some Christmas baking, and did a bunch of other things that I have no hope of remembering! 

The day that the boys wrapped up their soccer season is the day that Roger and I left along with Laura and Justin for a six night cruise in the western Caribbean. Some would say that it’s not ideal to cruise during the hurricane months of September and October, but I’m here to say that we had a fantastic experience! We had beautiful weather, the cruise was much cheaper because it was during hurricane season, and the ship was a great one. I’d definitely cruise again during hurricane season. Yes, I know that some people do have rough seas experiences, and that definitely could have happened to us. But since our anniversary is at the beginning of September, and we usually can’t get away to celebrate til after soccer season, I’ll just continue to take the cheap cruises and pray hard for nice weather! Roger and I are the most un-loyal  cruise line people as we don’t base our trips around cruise lines, destinations, or the ships. We base it off  what is cheapest around the time we’d like to go! This time we cruised with Carnival Cruise Lines, and for this particular cruise, it was nicer than the Royal Caribbean cruise we went with last time. We visited the ports of Ocho Rios, Jamaica as well as Grand Cayman and Cozumel, Mexico. My favorite stop was at Grand Cayman. It was very clean on the island, and it felt like a very safe environment. We did not book any excursions at any of the ports because this was a trip on a budget, but you don’t always have to have a plan to have a fun time! I kinda wanted to go snorkeling at one of our stops, and we were able to do that at Grand Cayman. We got off the ship and wandered around, and about a half-mile from the port, we came across a little dive/snorkeling shop. Justin asked about the cost, and the cost was $15.00 per person to snorkel for as long as we’d like. Yes, please! The water was beautiful and warm, and we saw so many colorful fish! It was one of the highlights of the trip for me, and I wouldn’t mind going back some day. Has anyone ever cruised with Margaritaville at Sea? They offer “free” cruises for emergency responders, which Roger is, and I’m tempted to check into it.  Dreaming of my next cruise is always a fun things to do, but meanwhile, we are back in the thick of reality! 

We came back from our cruise on a Saturday, and we jumped right back into the craziness of the winter sports season. The following weekend after our cruise, we had our friends, Jared and Beka, come for a visit for a few days. We don’t see them nearly often enough, and it was so good to catch up on each other’s lives for a bit. The hours went by way too quickly, but it was a reminder of how dear these friends are to us. 

Our school library hosted a “Book Character Day”. This is our third year doing this event, and it’s always a fun one for the students. The students that are in fourth grade and up have to bring their book along with dressing up as their character. The younger students just get to pick a book character. The character can be real or fictional, and it’s so fun to see their creativity. I was “Anne of Green Gables” this year. We have the students go around in a “parade” on the outside of our school building, and the parents get to see all the costumes. It a fun, quick event that is relatively easy to do! I’m thankful for my library assistant, Jennifer. I know she’s taken on a lot this year as it’s been a challenge to balance lesson plans for both art and library. She’s been a blessing to me this year, and she has stepped up many time to help me prepare and plan for our library lessons. 

Of course we also had a very important presidential election that took place in early November. This was Garett’s first time voting, so that was a special moment for him. His one question after doing early voting with me was “Why can’t the people writing the referendums use plain and simple English?” Haha! Well, I’ve also wondered that a few times over my voting experiences. Most of the time, not all the time, but a lot of the time, I feel like I can safely vote “no” on the referendums. I don’t want anything that states “ a million dollar bond over x amount of years”…that’s code for “your taxes will increase to pay for this”. Although, there was a referendum this time that we did want to vote “yes”on (at least in my opinion). I do think that you should need to be 18 years old to vote and that you should be a citizen of the United States of America. I’m very, very thankful for the opportunity to vote, and I think it’s a privilege that many American citizens take for granted. Garett has put in a request via the Senator’s office to attend the Presidential Inauguration, but I’d be shocked and amazed if he was able to get tickets to attend. But I think it’s pretty cool that he wanted to attend. We will see. 

One person that I am also thankful for this Thanksgiving season would be my art assistant. Kaycee has put up with many, many crazy ideas as we teach art to 230 kids on a weekly basis! It’s important to me that our students realize that Christmas is not all about “getting”, so we try to help our students create an ornament that they can give at Christmas. This means craziness as we mixed up salt dough for our kindergartners thru second graders to make ornaments! But Kaycee supports me in this crazy adventure and just smiles and mixes more dough for each class. I didn’t know who would be my art assistant when I took over teaching art two years ago, but God brought Kaycee into my life. I pray that I’ve been able to pour into her, support her as she raises young children, and pray over her and her marriage. As I teach my students the names of God, or tie in Scripture to art projects, Kaycee and I have had many conversations about God and His Word. We need people to mentor us, and we need people to pour into. There are days when I know I exasperate Kaycee and drive her crazy, but I am thankful for a great co-worker. Sometimes it’s easy to feel not included as “just a specials teacher” as someone recently told me, but yet God gently and kindly points me back to what matters right in front of me and that’s pointing my students to Jesus on a daily basis. 

In closing, we have much to be thankful for on a day to day basis, and when we take time to reflect back over the last year, we wouldn’t be able to remember all the goodness that God has bestowed upon us. May we have a grateful heart this season, and I’m praying for opportunities to show others the love of Jesus in tangible ways this Christmas season. I’m open to suggestions! 

I know that I shared this song in a post not long ago, but I really have enjoyed this song.