Who Jumped Who?

On weekends, Annalee has a tendency to walk quietly into our bedroom - the only sound is of the carpet moving under her feet. She comes around to my side of the bed and asks if she can watch TV. After this happened a number of times, oh, at say, 6 a.m., I started telling her the night before if she could or couldn't watch TV.

So, Saturday night, as I was finally turning in, I realized that I hadn't talked with Annalee about TV viewing for Sunday morning. In anticipation of her morning arrival, and thus a God-awful-early wake-up for me, I wrote her a note:

I laid this on the floor of her room near the door. I figured that when she woke up she'd see it and go right into the family room. I was pretty proud of myself, too, for getting the jump on her.

So, I was shocked and almost incensed when Annalee came padding into our room with a 'booklet' for me - at 5 a.m. Ron told her to go back to bed because 'it's only 5 o'clock.' I echoed Ron's sentiments.

Annalee persevered and handed me the paper, which I stuck on the nightstand. Then, she padded out of our room. And, since Mommy had 'told' her it was ok to watch TV, she went into the family room and turned it on.

I thought this was insane. I couldn't let her start watching TV at 5 a.m., so I jumped up, marched into the family room and told her to go back to bed. It was only 5 in the morning and that wasn't what I meant when I said she could watch TV. Then, I added that if she couldn't sleep, she could read in bed. Which she did. And, then she fell asleep until about 7:45.

I, on the other hand, lay awake for another hour before I could fall back to sleep, thank you very much, Annalee.

When I was coherent at about 8, I picked up that 'booklet' Annalee had given me oh so early.

And, on a separate sheet of paper stapled to the back:


She had been so thrilled by my note that she just had to thank me. And, it was so important to her, that she had to give it to me in advance of that TV viewing. I felt about this big. I shared the booklet with Ron; he laughed and asked me if I felt really bad about it. I did. Of course.

And, then I wondered...

What time did Annalee actually wake up that she found two pieces of paper and a red Sharpie, sat down to write her note and draw the heart, use the stapler and then show up in my room at 5?

A Christmas Blessing

Last evening (Christmas Eve) as I rocked Zelda a short bit before bed, tears filled my eyes as I realized I would never spend another Christmas wondering when we would have our second daughter home with us. She was here, in my arms, and we will spend the rest of our lives together. Having her, and Ron and Annalee are my blessings this Christmas. The many presents under the tree and in the stockings were just tasty frosting on the cake.

We attended the 4 p.m. children's service at church yesterday. All the children were invited to sit up in front of the altar as our rector told the story of Jesus' birth. At intervals, the congregation sang Christmas songs as individual children were invited to bring different statues up to the front of the altar and create the manger. Zelda was among the first children to approach. With help from Rev. Aimee, she carried a sheep. Once baby Jesus was put in the straw, Zelda decided to pick him up, study him and carry him back to her seat. Our rector just carried on and easily transitioned Jesus back to his appointed place on the altar.

I have to say, I think Zelda looked magnificent in her little silver sparkly gown and matching sweater; and she just looked so at home wandering about on and near the altar. Annalee, too, looked gorgeous in a black velvet-topped dress with a burgundy satin skirt. (Pictures will come soon, I promise.) Truly, I reveled in having my family - and not just Ron, Annalee and Zelda but our friends who have become our family - around me to enjoy the beauty of the day and this season. And, we're blessed to have Ron's dad here with us, too, this year.

So, from our house to yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas and peace to you all today and throughout the coming year.

The blessing from church on this holiest of days is as follows:

May Christ, the Son of God, be manifest in you, that your lives may be a light to the world; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you always.

Amen.

A Picture is Worth...

I have so many different posts to write that I thought I'd just capture recent events here in one long blob (sic).

First, here is a slightly blurry, yet very good picture of our tree so that you can see all the colored - and white - lights. I admire our tree every time I walk through the living room, which is often, since we have a circular flow to our ranch house.


Last week, Annalee, Maia and I made Arabian hat cookies. Zelda was very interested in the peanut butter, so I gave her the mostly empty plastic jar of Jif. She REALLY liked it!


Last weekend, I tried so hard to get a beautiful picture of Annalee and Zelda. You know, one picture with both of them looking great - and at the camera. This was the best of them. It's not perfect, but neither is life. I think they look beautiful.


Yesterday during Zelda's nap time, I was thrilled to haul out my five cases of jams, jellies and pickles that I have made since June and actually label each one. I ordered custom labels from Label Creations, and I'm quite pleased with them. I'm happy to report, too, that only two of the jars were a mystery to me. I think they're Bumbleberry Jam, but I'm not positive. So, I labeled them Berry Surprise.

If you're on my Christmas list, you may just find one of these in your package. Even more exciting for me was actually packing up four teachers' gifts to send to school with Annalee on Monday. I feel so organized!


Our friends Dianne and Bill returned home from China today to the sheer joy of their youngest child, Maia. In addition to their family, they were greeted by four families from their first travel group to China (us included). Maddie was a year old in November.



Earlier this week, we experienced the joy of the first snowfall of the season. Annalee and I were so excited to share it and show it to Zelda. Despite the extreme cold, we bundled up and made our first snowman the first day it snowed. (I didn't realized the camera lens had fingerprints on it, hence the smudgy looking picture.)

The following day, an even colder one, Annalee came home from school and begged to go out and play in the snow. We were in the middle of a beautiful, peaceful snowfall with about two inches already on the ground. So, I bundled up her and Zelda and helped them waddle out the patio door into the yard.

It was this picture, below, that made me stop. And smile. And say to myself, "These are my children. My two beautiful daughters. I have TWO children. How cool is that!?!"

Annalee showed Zelda how to make her (presumed) first snow angel. Zelda just followed Annalee around the yard. I'm not quite sure she knew what to do in the snow. But, she made the most of that white fluffy stuff. You can believe they both slept well that night.

Lastly, I'll leave you with this picture of my family. Yesterday was Ron's birthday. When he returned home from work, the girls shouted with excitement and followed him to the bedroom while he changed into lounging clothes. Then, he carried them, laughing all the way, to the kitchen. I spotted them through the family room doorway coming toward me, which gave me time to get the camera ready to take this picture. Zelda's becoming a daddy's girl - and very quickly. Obviously, Annalee already is (most of the time, anyway).

Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009

On the first Sunday of Lent, we had a guest priest give the sermon. It focused on the meaning of Lent and what this season is really about and how easy it is to lose sight of that in all the hype of Santa and gift-giving. Among her closing words were, "Stay alert, stay quiet and be aware for soon a child will be born...He will show you the glory of the world." That message has stayed with me this week as we prepare for Christmas - and all the excitement of the season.

This week's blessing:

Holy eternal Majesty, Holy incarnate Word, Holy abiding Spirit, bless you for evermore.

Amen

Oh, Christmas Tree

The title of this post needs to be said with some exasperation, the way my aunt Minnie used to say, 'Oh, Jackie' when she just didn't know what to think about something I had just said or done.

That's because this was the state of our pre-lit Christmas tree when it came out of the box on Saturday for it's fourth season.


Pretty, isn't it? I wish the picture had come out better. But if you look hard, you'll notice that only about a sixth of the tree is actually lit up. Thankfully, I anticipated having to light it up myself - again - this year, it's final year. We figure at this point, it doesn't owe us anything, since we bought it on clearance after Christmas when we decided to go artificial several years ago.

Doesn't that sound like we went 'green' for Christmas? Well, after spending too many holiday seasons feeling sick from allergies, I thought it might be the tree. One year, when we dragged out our live tree and I felt better within 24 hours, I figured I was on to something. So, we do the fake thing now, and, truthfully, I don't miss the mess of needles. I miss the smell of the tree, but I can buy that in a box.

In buying the artificial, I even made a big change, going from the colored lights to white lights. When we went to the store to buy the tree, the colors of the colored lights were so vibrant and obnoxious. To me, anyway. I had grown up with these lovely, faded kind of colored lights. I even still had boxes of them that I had collected during the after-Christmas sales for years. I was always ready with a new strand when one or two of the old ones were bound and determined not to light each year. (I still can't figure out how that happens. They were working when they came off the tree, got wrapped up and put into the box. Then, they come out the next year and are dead.) So, we skipped the bright, nearly fluorescent colored lit trees and went for white.

Our first Christmas with the tree was very cool. I was so tickled to pull four parts out of a box, snap the posts together, spread the branches and plug it in. Beautiful. The white lights really highlighted all the ornaments.

The next year was a little touchy. The first time everything got plugged in, one section didn't light. A little jiggling took care of that. Then, last year, things got ugly. About 1/3 of the tree didn't light. I was livid. I ended up running lights all over the tree - colored lights, mind you, because that's all I've ever owned. After I calmed down, I got to the point where I could find amusement in the tree and it's crazy lighting.

This year, we knew what we were up against before the tree even came down from the attic. Zelda and I ran out to the store Saturday morning while Ron and Annalee put the tree together. I came home, walked into the living room and just laughed. Then, I turned around, went into the garage and found the Christmas box labeled 'Lights.' And, I got to it. Wouldn't you know it? Three strands from last year didn't work this year. Go figure.

The girls and I also put all the ornaments on. Well, truthfully, we started to do the ornaments, went to take a break for lunch and got distracted when Zelda bit Annalee in the waist, so then we stopped. I ended up finishing the tree in the afternoon when Zelda was napping and Annalee was at a birthday party. I was so at peace.

Here is where it ended up:

I love it. I even put all our new Chinese zodiac ornaments on the tree. Each one of the 12 has long red tassles.I'm still working on taking a picture that really shows the lights in all their glory.

So, now, when I walk through the living room, I say, 'oh, Christmas tree!' with a bit of excitement - and a little pat on my back - and I feel a sense of admiration, joy and wonder. Perfect for the season.