The Lord Will Provide

Luke 1:26-34, according to Lexi:

Once there was a lady called Mary. An angel came to her one day and told her that she was going to have a baby. Mary said, “But how can I have a baby? I don’t even know a man!”

And the angel said, “Don’t worry. God will find you a man!”

Random Thoughts Thursday

I love Christmas music.

I wish I knew where the socks were disappearing to.  My box of mismatched socks is overflowing.

Today would be a good day for cocoa and a good chick flick.  Baby, it's cold outside.

What?  Only one more episode of Glee?  What will I do while I fold laundry on Wednesday nights?

Apparently Belle the Disney Princess is all-powerful.  At least that's what Ellie says.  Sort of like Superman in a ball gown, I guess.

I just bought a new Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas CD.  And another generic Christmas CD.  Walmart has won another sucker.

I think I have two more Christmas presents to buy and I'm DONE!!!  (thank you amazon.com!  One stop shopping indeed.)

Why do kids love hot dogs so much?

I remember when I was a kid and Christmas seemed SO FAR away.  And birthdays.  Now I feel like the time goes so fast, but I'm glad I have my kids to help remind me that it's not that way for everyone.

Why won't the house stay clean?

It's a bit belated, but if you haven't read the infamous Thanksgiving Letter on Awkward Family Photos, you really must.  I'm so glad no one in my family is like this.

Shameless Plugging

I'm on the mailing list for the Imago Theatre here in Portland, and though we rarely ever go to shows there, we still think it's a great little theatre company.  This morning I got an email with a link to a YouTube video of clips from their show Biglittlethings.  Two years ago we took the older girls to see it, and it was amazing.  They put it on this time each year, and I highly recommend it.  So if anyone in the Portland area is looking for some great holiday family fun, this is a fantastic idea.

Enjoy!

Crazy Shopping Woman

I made it through my first ever Black Friday shopping experience uscathed.  I left the house just after 5:00 this morning so I could stand in the rain outside Best Buy, next to a friendly man in shorts (brrrrr...dude, it's 40 degrees out!) with an abnormally large umbrella that he was, thankfully, willing to share.  Once inside, I managed to get what I needed (woohoo!) while keeping my fingers intact.  No black eyes, no bloodshed, very little panic.

While I don't think this will be an annual event for me (I prefer my sleep, thank you very much), I did get enough of a rush from the good deals at Best Buy and the two other stores I visited in the dark that when I got home at 7am, rather than going back to bed like any sane person would do, I unloaded my loot and spent five more hours shopping.

But I'm almost finished with my Christmas shopping!

And now I'm really, really sleepy.

Random Thoughts Thursday

In honor of this Day of Thanks, I thought I’d forgo the usual Random Thoughts and instead share some things that I’m thankful for. I’ll do it randomly, though. It is Thursday, after all :)

Family. I have the most wonderful husband and the most beautiful daughters in the world. You can argue with me on that if you want to, but I’ll still be right.  And Chris and I are both blessed to come from amazing families.  My kids have the best grandparents, aunts, and uncles in the world!

Music. If you want to get a message across to me, music is the best way to do it. Nothing moves me quite as much. I don’t think I could live without it.

Chocolate. Something else I doubt I could live without.

The gospel of Jesus Christ. I know my Savior lives, and I know He loves me.  I am grateful for all the blessings He has provided me.  I hope I can live up to His standard.  I try.

Netflix. Fun and easy entertainment: the constant of our weekends.

Sunshine. Rare. Beautiful. Warm.

Traditions. We went bowling again today.  It was awesome.  It's the first real tradition our family has had that's separate from the families Chris and I grew up in, and the girls won't let us forget. I have some great pictures from today that I will post soon.

Harry Potter books on tape. It’s getting old listening to snippets of the same two books over and over and over and OVER, but they’ve gotten Lexi excited about books, and that’s definitely a good thing. I’m willing to make sacrifices to encourage the development of another book lover.

Facebook (there, I said it). Thanks to my cave in several months ago, I’ve reunited with people I have had no contact with for over 10 years. That, if nothing else, makes it worth it and worthy of this list.

Friends. New and old. One is silver and the other gold.  I have friends all over the world, and each of you has helped me to become the person I am today.  You are an inspiration

Oh, and everyone who reads my blog! Am I cool enough that I can say I have “readers” yet? I don’t know. But I appreciate anyone who is actually interested in the life and thoughts of me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Drawing a Blank

I want to blog.

Or maybe just write.

I want to have profound and meaningful things to write about.  I want to leave my mark on the world.

I started a post tonight that wants to be all those things.  But I don't have the energy to finish it.  It involved pictures.  Lots and lots of pictures, and despite the ease of Blogger's new and improved picture uploader, it still takes effort, effort which I do not feel like putting forth.

I feel like the blog is being neglected.  I faithfully come back each Thursday, because I've discovered that Random Thoughts Thursday has some sort of magical powers.  It draws people in, and I like people reading my blog.  It makes me, in a very TAMN-like way, feel validated.  But the rest of the week doesn't have the same kind of draw, for any of us, and I've developed writer's block.

Either that, or mommy's loss of momentum.

Life is busy.  November and December are crazy months.  I love this time of year, but man, it's nuts.  I don't know if I'm at the point yet when I can say I'll be glad when the holidays are over, but a day or two of downtime would be nice.  (As long as that downtime is not in the form of another illness, thank you very much.  We're done with that now, okie-dokie?)

For someone who started this post thinking she had nothing to say, I sure do have a lot to say, huh?  I've got nothing to blog about, so I blog about nothing.*

I'm drawing a blank, and Ellie's drawing on the walls.

It's me, there on the left.  You can tell because of the short, curly hair.  I think she thought I wouldn't get as mad at her for using the walls as a canvas AGAIN if it was a picture of me.  The sad thing is, I didn't.  I didn't succeed in trying not to laugh, I took a picture and then I didn't even make her clean it up.

The way I see it is: at least I'm making a mark somewhere!

*10 points if you get the song reference

Random Thoughts Thursday

I've been stressing for the past two weeks that I insulted and/or offended people with my spelling & grammar comment.  I didn't mean to!  I'm just weird like that, but I don't sit around editing people's comments or blogs or anything.  Professional websites, on the other hand...

The cold that’s been moving through the family since the swine flu left us has finally made its way to me. Blech.

One day I will get a grasp on why the phrase, “Please clean up your toys” seems to hold no meaning for my children.

I need a good homemade Christmas ornament idea for this year. Good, cheap, and fun.

I did figure out, though, what the girls can give for Christmas to all their various teachers. It’s inexpensive, homemade, and pretty darn cool.

I really wish I could remember everything that’s happened in the last 11 Wheel of Time books. Book 12 would make so much more sense then.

Today’s motivation level: zero.

I’ve discovered that as much as I love being surprised, picking out my own Christmas present is sometimes the better way to go.

It would be nice if we had a month where there wasn’t at least four days off school. Hasn’t happened yet.

I am proud to say that I will be going to bed long before midnight tonight, unlike some other devotees of a film that shall remain unnamed. Yes, I will see it, but not until at least next week, possibly the week after. It’s how my friend Rachel and I tell ourselves we’re less crazed than everyone else.

Besides, I haven’t actually been able to stay awake past midnight in years. No point paying for a ticket and standing in line for seats for a movie I’d just sleep through.

I’m stressing about Christmas shopping. I have an awesome gift in mind for the girls, but I want to wait until Black Friday to see if I can get it for cheap. If I can’t, I have no idea what they’ll be getting. But I can’t really buy much for them until I get this sorted out. Stress!

For all my protest about Thanksgiving getting its fair due, I sure do have Christmas on the brain.

I just changed my Facebook home page language to pirate. It’s much more entertaining that way (thanks for the tip, Lori!)