Celebrating Christmas

As we progressed through the weeks of Advent, I plodded slowly through my Book Club's December offering: The Christ of Christmas, by James Montgomery Boice. Though the book proved more dry and theological than we had anticipated, I thoroughly enjoyed those moments of dwelling on the Christmas story from every Biblical angle. After chapters of dealing with topics of geneology, the virgin birth, the minor characters: those who missed Christmas and those who had awaited its coming, and historical accuracy, Boice concluded with a chapter on "How to Celebrate Christmas."

As my own little ones grow, this is a question often on my heart and mind. How are we called to celebrate the birth of Christ as believers? Having asked the question, the author interjected with a clear, important point. The best way to celebrate Christmas is to become a Christian! It is by becoming a follower of the Savior whose birth we celebrate. It is an amazing thing to watch the world celebrate Christmas without a knowledge or love for Jesus Christ. In Jesus' day, thousands of diligently waiting Jews missed the signs, missed the wonder, missed the miracle. So it is today in our American culture that substitutes Santa and reindeer for the manger scene. "The Bible tells us that the birth of Jesus was unlike all other births in that Jesus existed before birth as the second person of the Godhead and that He became man, not to provide us a sentimental story or as a theme for musical compositions, but in order to grow in maturity and then to die for our sin as the means of our salvation." Does that not take your breath away? Christ was born to save!

Boice stated (from the text of Luke 2:17-20) that we ought to celebrate Christmas in four ways: 1) telling others about it 2) to wonder at the event itself 3)to ponder its meaning and 4)to glorify and praise God for what was done there.

It is easy for me to get caught up in the tasks of Christmastime -- joyous tasks, but still a busyness that leaves little room for quiet expectations or wide-eyed wonderment. Our desire for our children to understand the truth of Christmas and the Gospel is my tether... and I have loved finding simple ways to keep our hearts quiet and focused on Jesus. And I find that as I share the wonder and the miracle and the humble majesty -- my own heart is filled and I do, with teary eyes and shaky voice, glorify the Lord.

Elisa is getting it. Not rote answers meant to pacify Mom, but real, thought-out responses that show she is beginning to understand. "God put the star over the stable so the wise men and the shepherds could find Jesus and worship Him." "We give presents to celebrate the best gift of all, which was Jesus, born to save us." "The angels sang to the tell the shepherds God had come to earth as a baby." Even Sadie, as we were leaving church on Monday night, said, "Jesus born, die on cross. I am safe." I know they don't understand all the depth of it, but I love hearing those truths become a part of who they are.

A few of our traditions include: an Advent tree. Each day, the girls and I have a devotional time and create a simple ornament to paste on the tree. We also have a countdown chain made of construction paper, and the girls take turns with each very important daily job - gluing the ornament on, or cutting the chain.

We have an Advent wreath, as well, and light the candles to remember that we are symbolically waiting for the birth of Christ. We no longer await His coming, but we remember the long years that the Jews prayed for the Messiah to come. And He came as a baby - the light of the world, sent to drive away darkness and free the people from the bondage of their sin.

We pray for all of you, as well, that Christ would light your lives in a wondrous way as we come to the celebration of this much anticipated day!


Our stack of Christmas stories for many hours of reading and snuggling

Advent candles

Our paper tree - this is definitely an every-year activity now. We love it!

Our gingerbread house -- not especially spiritual, but definitely a fun and memorable tradition.


Winter Fun on the ice! Sadie out for a spin with Mommy

Elisa's first attempts. Now she doesn't need a chair.

Erik - menacing, huh?

Our "real" tree

Egg Nog!

Yesterday I visited the doctor to check on this 28 1/2 week-old bump in my belly! We continue to rejoice that this baby is healthy and growing... I didn't take a picture, but I do think I am quite obviously pregnant now. I just carry differently than most pregnant mommies... long and high through my torso instead of in a compact bump that "pops" out earlier during the pregnancy.

I didn't catch the baby's heart rate. The girls were with me, and I was busy explaining to them the miracle of hearing the baby's heart beat inside me. They were duly impressed, but I didn't catch the numbers. :) I measure 26 centimeters... which is fine. I have always measured a few centimeters shy of normal, and my doctor won't be concerned unless I fall to 3 or 4 centimeters smaller than I should be. With Sadie, they did do a few extra ultrasounds near the end because I was measuring too far behind schedule, so he warned me that might the case this time, too. I think it's just the way I carry, because both girls were over 7 pounds.

I have been feeling well and enjoying getting out for some cold weather jogs -- something that never really felt good with the girls, and now does. Erik told me that with the extra exercise, I need to be making sure I cover the calories, so he "prescribed" a glass of egg nog a day. When I told my doctor that, he said, "You should probably have two."

Okay. I love egg nog. However, I don't care to feed my sweet baby any of the high fructose corn syrup, food coloring, or long list of additives and preservatives in the commercial kind, so I make my own. It is delicious! The girls call it a "milkshake" and the three of us sit down for a healthy, protein packed snack after our jog.

Here is the recipe: (this is exactly enough for the three of us to share)

2 cups of whole milk
3 egg yolks
splash of vanilla or rum extract
1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
teaspoon or so of cinnamon and nutmeg (I don't measure those)

Blend in blender on high for about 5 seconds.

I am not concerned about raw eggs, and I love sharing this with the girls as it provides them calcium, protein, and a "treat" (without any refined sugar!).

We have also been enjoying evenings on our frozen pond. We purchased some inexpensive skates for Erik and Elisa, and Erik fashioned a homemade Zamboni out of the riding lawn mower. Elisa is getting competent on her two-blade skates, and Sadie like to either putter in her boots or sit in a chair while one of us spins her. My old competition skates are a bit small, but I can still squeeze in to glide around the ice. I did one very cautious waltz jump the other night. :) I usually swap for boots halfway through and play goalie while Erik hurls pucks at me. I can usually only block about 1 of every 5 shots. I am pretty slow and careful.

We are having lots of fun making homemade ornaments for our little Advent tree each day, and continuing to bake Christmas goodies to share. This special season is definitely going quickly, but we are looking forward to heading to Oregon next Wednesday night.

Four Pounds of Butter Later...

If you have spent time in our home in the last few years, you know that Erik and I have become increasingly committed to preparing and eating "real" food - whole, nutritious, simple food. I should say the commitment is actually mine, not his, but Erik supports and encourages the small and gradual changes our household has made, and enjoys the fruits of my efforts in the kitchen. :) Our cupboards contain no boxed cereals, no packaged meals, no store-bought dressings or marinades, no chips, no industrially prepared baked goods, and (in the last month) no boxed macaroni and cheese... Instead, I shop the perimeter of the grocery store for basic ingredients, and enjoy involving the munchkins in the process of preparing healthy meals for our family and any one else we can get to share our table. :) They especially love baking.

Well, this week they have had lots of opportunities to help Mommy in the kitchen with baking. (And Mommy spent plenty of time there while they sleeping!) Since December 1, we have created:
-large batch of granola
-batch of Russian tea cake cookies
-four loaves soaked whole wheat bread
-four miniature gingerbread houses (for friends to decorate at a playdate on Friday morning)
-two dozen whole wheat "Scottish Baps" - prepared for Bible Study group to eat with BBQ sandwiches
-Snickerdoodles (also for Bible Study)
-cheese-garlic biscuits (delivered with elk stew to two weary new mamas)
-crescent rolls (for dinner with Erik's office-mate)
-apple-cranberry pie (also for company dinner)
-buttermilk pancakes made with whole wheat

and.... all the normal meals we prepare each week. :)

In the process of all this baking, we consumed in our kitchen:

-4 lbs of butter (I thought that would last all month!)
-1 1/2 gallons whole milk
-quart of cultured buttermilk
-5 lbs white flour
-7 lbs whole wheat flour
-2 canisters of oats
-quart of honey
-about a quart of olive oil
-jar of molasses
-3 lbs powdered sugar (frosting for gingerbread houses)
-approx. 2 lb granulated sugar
-2 1/2 dozen eggs
-bag of pecans
-about 1/2 cup of yeast

I guess it's back to the grocery store to restock for another week of loving Christmas baking and hospitality! :) Truly, we do love it. Anyone want to come over?

Ellie Skiing and "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up"

I managed to get this video uploaded, and wanted to add it to the pictures from yesterday. I'm sorry it's the wrong way... just tilt your head sideways! :)

Last night, I was relating a funny story of the day to my hubby, and amid his laughter, he said, "You have to put that on your blog tomorrow. It's a requirement." So - here you go.

I was out for a jog with the munchkins bundled in the Chariot, and Elisa noticed an airplane flying overhead. Here is the conversation that followed.

Elisa: "Mom, when do we get to go on an airplane?"

Me: "Not for a long time, punkin, but Daddy is going on airplane when he goes to Kenya in February."

E: "I want to go with him."

Me: 'That would be fun, honey. I wish I could go, too, but we can't go. His trip is only for engineers."

E: "Can only boys be engineers, Mom?"

Me: "No, sometimes girls are engineers. But Mommy didn't choose to be an engineer; I chose to be a nurse and a mommy."

E: "Do I get to be a nurse or an engineer?"

Me: "You can be anything you want, Ellie. You can be a nurse, or an engineer, or a teacher, or a missionary...or anything else you want to be."

E: "Then I think I'd like to be an ambulance driver."

Me: "That's a great idea! It's an important job to drive an ambulance. You would have to get some training to help sick or hurt people, and then you would take them to the hospital."

E: "I think I wouldn't help them in the ambulance, I would just drive them fast to the doctor, and the doctor would help them. Then I would hurry and go pick up more sick people."

Me: 'That's true, but they might need some help before you can get them to the hospital."

E: "But, Mom, if I was up front driving, I couldn't help them in the back."

Me: "You would have helpers in the back."

E: "Sadie, do you want to be my helper? You can give the sick people medicine and help them breathe while I drive. You can put on the band-aids, too."

Sadie: "Umm.... yeah. I help."

Me: "That means Sadie would be the paramedic."

E: "Okay, Sadie is the paramedic. And Mommy, then I would call you on your phone, and tell you to meet us at the hospital and you would be the nurse to take care of the sick people. And we would all work together, helping."

M: "That sounds great, honey."

For the next two hours, my wise three-year-old proceeded to fully develop this plan for her adulthood. Even as we drove to church for Awana, she was still saying, "Mom, are you so glad you can be my nurse helper when I drive the ambulance?"

Erik thought this story was hilarious, and "awesome." Hopefully, you enjoyed it, too!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Erik and I were able to host a group of friends (21 - counting children!) at our home on Thanksgiving Day. We were up early for a breakfast of whole grain gingerbread pancakes (delicious) and began preparations. The 20-lb turkey was in the oven by 9:00, and an array of other food had been prepared the day before. We arranged our dining table and a borrowed folding table side by side and carefully arranged place settings, including some little place-cards the girls and I had made earlier in the week. My mom had sent a beautiful centerpiece, and I loved the way the dining room looked before 11 little girls descended on it. :)

When the morning's work was done, Erik and I bundled the girls up for a run. They snuggled in for early and short naps, and then our friends arrived at about 1:30. We had a wonderful time of eating, sharing thanks, having a brief time of worship and hymns, and the boys even played football outside while the mommies cleaned up the kitchen. We felt blessed to have so many friends to share the holiday with!



The rest of our weekend included shoveling the pond to play hockey (Elisa is a pretty good puck-handler),



and taking a spur of the moment day trip to West Yellowstone to cross country ski. We left at 6:00 AM, arrived at 9:00, and skied from 10:00 until 5:00 - with an hour break for a picnic lunch at the car. Elisa tried her new (used) skis out for the first time. The expression of mixed determination and exhilaration on her face was priceless. She loved it, and wants to ski every day once "God gives us more snow in the yard." It was hard to get her back in the Chariot to let Erik and I ski for a few hours! She skied three times, each for about half an hour. I think Sadie will be ready to join her next year. It's amazing how easily little ones pick up new things. They don't worry about looking awkward or falling - they just do it!





On Sunday, we loaded the kids up again and headed out to the woods to chop down our Christmas tree. We found a tree quickly and tried to interest kiddos in sledding. They both took one run with Daddy, but the snow is not deep enough for a soft ride, so no one wanted a second turn. We returned home and shared some turkey barley soup with friends. We had a fabulous weekend as a family -- but this little baby and I are tired! :)

With Child

I know my sisters and mom would like to see my growing tummy, so I am going to post a picture, in spite of my hesitations about doing so. I've never actually taken a "belly shot" in my previous pregnancies, so this is a new and somewhat vulnerable experience! :) I had Elisa take the picture this morning after my doctor's appointment. I thought she did pretty well at actually snapping the photo while Mommy was centered in the viewfinder. It is a little blurry,but my tummy actually made it into the shot! Maybe we have a future photographer?
So -- here it is.
Gestational Age: 25 weeks, 4 days


Other Pregnancy Stats from this morning: (I am following in the footsteps of my big sister and friend Hannah by giving you all the nitty gritty details)
Fetal Heart Rate: 158
Blood Pressure: 124/76
Fundal Height: 24
Weight Gain: Hmm... maybe I'm not quite that brave! :)


I love being pregnant. I don't love heartburn, or the constant cramping in my ever practicing uterus, or the backaches. But I love carrying life inside my belly. This morning I waited at the doctor's for about an hour, perusing all the pregnancy magazines on the waiting room tables and wishing I had not left my book in the car, but not quite willing to venture into the cold to retrieve it. I was amused and a little offended by the trendy use of the slang terms "prego" and "preggers" in those hip magazines. To me, being able to nurture a life is so much more precious and frail than those slang words make it seem -- a gift not to be taken lightly or belittled. I prefer the old-fashioned terminology: being "with child," or "expecting." I am grateful to have a tiny child with me every moment of the day, and I am eagerly expecting God to fulfill His miracle of life by allowing this child to be born healthy and whole on the day of His choosing.

Praising Him for growing life!

A Birthday Party

Yesterday, Sadie turned two. She woke up in the wee hours of the morning in order to go potty, and never quite settled back to sleep, so she spent the day a little bit sleepy and snuggly. I had made whole wheat cinnamon rolls the night before (our family birthday morning tradition) and those baked while the girls and I sipped our morning decaf tea and let Erik sleep in. :) We had decorated her chair with pink ribbon and placed a construction paper crown and her present at her place. When Erik came downstairs, we shared breakfast with "Princess Sadie," and let her open the gift -- a collection of Paddington Bear stories.

After early naps and a family run in the afternoon, Sadie's friends came to celebrate with us. Three other families brought the child count to nine -- not including three-week old Megan, who slept soundly in her carseat throughout the whole party. The kids made teddy bear puppets, ate homemade pizza, ran around wildly through the house (our house is great for running in circles), and then sang "Happy Birthday" while Sadie got a little help from Mommy to blow out the candles on her teddy bear cake. She was pretty mellow... preferring to cuddle Mom or Dad rather than chase her friends. But she did like her cake - pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum!

She loved the refurbished antique doll bed from Nana. It's adorable, and was the perfect present. Twice today, she has tucked baby Faith in bed and sang, "Jesus Loves Me" to her sleepy doll. Now, we have four "daughters" to tuck in their cozy beds at each nap or bedtime, since Elisa's doll Abby sleeps in the old American Girl doll bed I saved up for as a girl living in this same house! She also made a grand production of tucking Grandma and Grandpa's stiff and shiny $2 bill in her piggy bank, and wearing the new fuzzy clothes from Uncle Adam and Aunt Kristen.


Blowing out the candles!

"See cake again, Mama. See cake," was the afternoon refrain.

Plates of pizza and lots of little girls. Believe it or not, nine girls and one lone and brave little man.

This is actually from today, but I am not good at rearranging the pictures I upload. Erik went for a long run in the snow this afternoon, and came back with a frozen beard, and in Sadie's words, "Covered snow, Dad. All-covered snow."

Happy Birthday!

Things we love about our Sadie --

~She is silly.
~She is sweet.
~She is a snuggly girl.
~She can say her ABCs (most of the way through; she tends to skip HIJK and go straight to LMNOP)
~She can sing entire songs unprompted, and dances with actual rhythm.
~She is timid about new experiences, but usually loves them. For instance, walking in the snow!
~When you give her correction, she cocks her head and says, "Oh," or "Sorry," and then (usually) changes her behavior.
~She is sensitive and receptive to instruction. She definitely has a hint of Wachob stubbornness, but the times of outright rebellion to our direction are few.
~She adores her big sister. If Elisa is still napping when she wakes up, she asks repeatedly to go "wake up sissy, please." However, she has also been known to pinch her big sister when big sister is not responding as she would like. We're working on that one.
~She loves "God-books," and will actually leaf through my devotionals and Bible for quite some time with interest.
~She is excited to be a big sister. When I weaned her a few months ago, I told her she had to stop nursing because the baby in my tummy needed the milk. She instantly stopped, and will often reach down my shirt and remind herself, "Mommy's milk, for baby." That might be more info than you wanted, but I think it's darling.
~She is becoming a more adventurous eater. In fact, tonight, she ate a tiny piece of banana pepper off Daddy's salad. Even I won't eat that! Her favorite foods are still waffles, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, pizza, and peanut butter - on anything.
~She loves her big girl bed, and has made that transition seamlessly.

We celebrate you, little two-year-old!