Snow Days

The day after my parents arrived, we had a huge snow storm. I think we got about a foot of snow, and it had collected nicely on the trees and sleigh on my front steps.

The snow was beautiful, but the roads were treacherous (they closed the highways here!), so we were thankful that my parents had arrived the days before.

All Done

Yesterday, we tore the house apart.  Not literally, well, kinda.... Let me explain:

We usually take down all of our Christmas decorations - tree and all, on Boxing Day.  This year, Art sister ended up spending a few days with us (yay!), so we decided to spare her the pain of seeing the house in pieces, Rubbermaid bins everywhere, while we tore down the house...or at least all the decor.

So, at the crack of dawn (or 10 am, when I actually got up), I went downstairs and we started.  We put the little slaves to work (who better to take off the tree decorations), and all 6 of us working got everything taken down in 2 hours.  2 HOURS!  Here's where I have the issue.  Why is it that it takes 2 WEEKS to put up all my decorations (actually, it took 2 full days this year, but I had issues...and a deadline!) to put everything up, but all  of our (my) hard work comes undone in 2 hours?!  It's not right, I tell you.  Not right!

Anyhow, after taking everything down, of course, all the "re-decorating" starts all over.  Finding a special something to fill this corner, or the mantle.... You know how it goes!  I haven't quite finished all of that, but I did get my house clean, which it desperately needed after being pillaged!  It still feels fairly empty and dark...no little lights twinkling all over the house.  But here's the good news: we won't have to sell another child to pay our electric bill next month!

And all of this is done just in time for Hannah's birthday party tomorrow.  I can hardly believe my firstborn will be 10.  Double digits, baby! 

In the midst of all of my slaving (and shopping - I had to go the city today to check out the deals), I am in the process of making her birthday cake request: 
 

Chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting.  No more barbie cakes for this girl.  She has become high maintenance and very grown up in her birthday cake request.  Usually it's about how I can decorate the cake.  Not this one!  I made this cake for Art's birthday a few years ago, and she has never forgotten it!  She figures, it's her turn now!  Ah well, I think that it is less work for me....

Baby, It's Cold Outside

When my parents were here, we had some issues with our septic tank (yuk!!), and so the men had to go outside to check our tanks.  Of course, I think that night it about about -30, so here they are, suited up!

Don't you think my dad looks cozy and warm?!

Art was doing his token, "Deer in the headlights" look...

Yup, I'm a lucky lady....

All I Want for Christmas

On Christmas Eve, Molly and Abby were playing...something.  Anyhow, Abby has the end of a tie from a housecoat in her mouth (I think she was a puppy), and Molly pulled it.  Abby didn't let go of the tie, and out came 3 teeth.  They had all been loose (I think), so apparently this just helped things along!

After the weeping and gnashing of teeth, her theme soon became, "All I want for Christmas is my 3 front teeth!"

She wrote a very nice note to the Tooth Fairy (yup, we do that too!) explaining what happened, and that she could only find 2 of the 3 teeth (we think she swallowed the other one), and asking if the Tooth Fairy would please take them.  So, we had a busy night at the Goerzen house - the Tooth Fairy and Santa came!

It's Over

I am always surprised at how much work Christmas is....and how quickly it passes.  The season that we all look forward to, all the events leading up to it, the planning and preparation, and then, *poof*!  It's done. 

As always, Christmas with kids is the greatest experience.  It's so fun to see them excited about Christmas, anticipating Santa's arrival (yes, we do the "Santa thing").  And then, in the morning, the excitement of stockings and presents.  It's priceless!

This year, Art's sister Elfrieda joined us Christmas Eve, just in time for dinner, and is staying for a few days (yay!).  We watched Christmas movies, played with new toys, ate (and ate and ate!), and relaxed.  Here are a few pictures of our festivities...

 pj's from Nana and Grandpa

 Christmas Eve dinner

 pj's opened on Christmas Eve.  They say "Daddy's little Cowgirl" or "Too Cute too Boot"

 Art reading The Christmas Story...in his new pajamas

 Art's present - tickets to the PBR event in Edmonton in January

 Ellie Mae and her new American Girl, Elizabeth

 Abby and her new American Girl, Josephina

 Hannah with her Kindle....after she realized that it can hold 3500 books!  We recorded Molly opening her new camera, which she was every excited about!  She has been "taking care of" an old, broken camera that we had for 3 months to prove that she was old enough to have a camera.  She even left it out with Santa's cookies for him to see....and Santa left a note saying, "Good job, Molly, on taking care of your camera!"

 The table set for dinner

 My studly husband, carving the bird

 Chill-axin' with Auntie Frieda, watching a movie

 Christmas Dinner

The Girls in their Christmas dresses

What a great Christmas we enjoyed with our family.  Hope yours was great too!

It's Christmas....almost!

Well, it's finally arrived...almost.  The day my Girls have been waiting for all year.  Christmas Eve.  All the planning and preparing will (hopefully) pay off as I work my tushy off today so that we can enjoy tomorrow. 

The groceries are all bought (which I was a genius, by the way.  I drove to a small town about 20 min. from here to do my shopping...not a line-up was to be found, and many people to help me navigate my way around an unfamiliar store!), the presents are all wrapped.  The turkey in unthawing, and my little family is all around.

Tonight we will have appetizers and play games and open one present before the Girls go to bed (pj's, of course!).  Tomorrow morning, we'll get up and start breakfast cooking while we open stockings, and after breakfast we'll read about the reason why we celebrate Christmas, taking a moment to reflect on the Perfect Gift.  Then, watching the Girls open presents is always a highlight.  Hanging out together is how we'll spend the rest of the day, enjoying turkey dinner and all the fixin's.

It will be a quieter Christmas - only Art's sister is joining us.  But it will be good.  And I am thankful.  For family.  For friends who "see" me and love me.  For a warm home.  For an abundance of food on my table.  For clothes to wear.  As I look around, I see the abundance of what God has given us.  And not only abundance, but extravagance.  And I am thankful.

Merry Christmas, everyone.  Enjoy this magical season with the ones you love.

Sweetness

It was Christmas at our house this past weekend.  My parents were out for a few days to celebrate... We went sledding, skating, swimming, shopping, did LOTS of baking and playing games.  It was good times, good times. 

Check out the sweetness that my Mom bought for me from my most favorite store, Anthropologie...

She also got me another vintage, calico apron that is oh, so sweet.  Some of you may know that I collect aprons, so these were a very fun addition!

Sitting....

....by a crackling fire.  I don't know what it is about a fire, but it instantly adds ambiance and a warm cozy feeling to a room.  Since rearranging out living room to accommodate our Christmas tree, our couch looks directly into this loveliness...

And I must say, friends, it's fantastic!  We sit and talk and eat chocolate and stare into this little scene....and I love it.  With my whole heart!

A New Experience

Every year, Art's sister graciously agrees to babysit our Girls for a Saturday in December so that we can go and do all our Christmas shopping.  In a day.  It's a fantastic was to go!  This year, she had a great idea of asking The Girls if they could have a sleepover at her place.....um, yah!!

So, Saturday morning we headed out to drop them off.  We of course, had to stop at Tim's for a very healthy breakfast.  When we drove up to pay, we found out that the car in front of us had paid for our food.  What a great way to start the day!

We dropped the Girls off at about 10 am, and didn't have to pick them up until the next day around dinner.  So, off we headed.  We did our Christmas shopping, meandered around, have fun conversations with complete strangers, went for a yummy dinner at the Keg, did some more shopping... It was pretty much a perfect day.  Well, my feet didn't think it was perfect, but that was minor!

Our oldest daughter will be 10 at the end of the month, and we had never been home without them for a night, or evening, or really any amount of time!  It was quite a bizarre feeling, really, but one that I totally appreciated!!  The funny thing is that as much as we all want a "break" every once in a while from our (wonderful) children, when we are apart from them, all we end up doing is talking about them!   

The next day, we slept in and lazed around for a bit, and them went for a drive down some backroads that we've never driven.  I love driving around the country, because you never know what you'll see!  Look at this beauty!

An old well pump, maybe?  Anyhow, I really wanted to take it home, but we all know that my conscience sensitive husband wouldn't let me steal it....how rude!  Just kidding...I wouldn't have taken it, probably!

After our leisurely drive, we headed back into the city to pick up our Girls, where they were exhausted and elated to have had such a great time with their beloved Auntie.  Thanks, Auntie Frieda...from everyone!  Hopefully, she's recovered!

We're Done!

Earlier this week, I told the older 2 girls what they needed to do to be done school until the new year.  Well, low and behold, they both decided that they wanted to be done sooner rather than later.  Both Hannah and Abby worked throughout the day and into the evening the last few days in order to be done. 

I had to head into the city this morning with the Girls, but since Art was sick, he stayed home with them.  They were so excited to be able to stay home and finish up their last few lessons of school.  The first thing that they said to me when I got home was, "Mom!  We're done our school!!"

I was awfully proud of my little ladies - they had a goal, and worked hard to accomplish it.  And now, hooray for Christmas holidays!  No more school until next year!  I don't know who was more excited....me or them!

Pizza

The other day, Ellie Mae and I were at the grocery store, and I asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner.  Her response was, of course, "Pizza!".

I asked her what kind of pizza....and she said, "Apple pizza!"

Years ago, we used to go, every once in a while to Pizza Hut for their buffet.  And on the buffet the kids used to love their dessert pizza.  So, I looked on the internet, found a recipe, and after we had 'real' pizza, I made an apple dessert pizza.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  It was good!  Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was impressed....!

Really, how can you go wrong with apple pie filling, oatmeal and vanilla icing?!  The real question was, "Is it better fresh or the next day, served cold?"  Well friends, we've got a hung jury on that....

Little Trees

Years ago, I bought little Christmas trees for each of The Girls.  Every year, we let our Girls decorate them. All. By. Themselves. I do not fix them up (although, I must admit, it about kills me!), and they do everything. I always pop some popcorn for them to make garland out of, which is fun...and a bit dangerous (needles are sharp, people!). Although this year, Molly was the only one who pricked her finger....once.

Some of the popcorn gets made into garland, and lots gets eaten while we decorate.  This year, I even made some caramel corn like my Grandpa Letkeman used to make.

I don't understand it, but Ellie Mae and Molly always hang pretty much every ornament from the same 3 branches!  They get to pick their light colors and fight over the decorations, but it is a good time for everyone!  When the trees are done, they get to keep them lit up in their rooms until Christmas.  I've found this to be a great compromise - the Girls get to decorate all on their own, and so do I!

Another Little Thing

The same week that my ring arrived, my uncle from Calgary was up in the area and asked if he could stop by.  It seems, he had a little somethin'-somethin' for me:

Yup, she's a beauty!  What a great week!  A new purse and a new ring!  Can it get any better than that?!

A Great Package

You may remember that a few months ago, I lost my wedding rings.  I was devastated!  We looked and looked and looked, but to no avail.  So, we went through the (long and drawn out and extremely frustrating) process of an insurance claim to replace the rings.  Well, this week, look at what the FedEx man brought me:

 A nice little padded envelope.  And inside the envelope was another one, and another one, and finally, a nice little white box.  With a ribbon.  I told Art that it had arrived, and he made me wait until he got home to open it.  I didn't even peek!  I think that I deserve a metal for that!  Or maybe, a diamond?

 And here we are....my replacement ring!

I am also getting 2 bands to go on either side of the ring, but they needed my approval of the wax moulds first.  So, they have been sent back to the jeweler, and once they are done, I will get another padded envelope.  It's hard to get used to wearing a new ring!  You know how it is, right?  Something that you don't even think of, but become so accumed to the feel of, and once it's gone or replaced, you end up feeling kind of naked!  Anyhow, the new ring is lovely, and it's nice to show the world, once again, that I am a kept woman.  Spoken for.  Taken.  Unavailable. 

Decoratin'

So, I'm pretty much finished my holiday decoratin'.  Here's a few shots of the end result:

I love the end result!!  I didn't do quite as many decorations as last year, but am still thrilled with the results...

Loads

I have so much to say, yet nothing to say.  Much on my heart, yet the words will not come.  Many friends and family dealing with loads....of stuff.  Yucky stuff.  Sick kids stuff.  Sad stuff.  And what can I do?  Pray.  Pray lots.  Pray without ceasing.  Cast my cares upon the Lord.  Lay my burden down.  And so, this is what I attempt to do. 

In James 1:2 it says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...."  I always seem to forget that the Bible says when, not if.  We will have trials.  We will have problems.  But in the midst of it all, God is a jealous God who longs to draw us unto Him.  And it's through these trials that we have the choice to become better....or bitter.  I don't know about you, but I want to become better.  And I want those whom I love to become better.  Everything comes from His hand, every blessing, every trial.  And so, once again, I choose to trust.  To trust that God's got our lives in His hand.  And He's working things out so I don't have to.  But I will ask.  Again and again.  For healing.  And health.  And wholeness.  And life.