My Christmas Wish---can you help?

My Christmas Wish is something that will take a lot of prayer....A LOT. Please help in this way.
My wish entails several things which all end with the outcome of a successful trip to CA. So here are the specific road hazards that make our trip stressful and interesting:

-I have a sick baby. Very sick. Super high fevers, very cranky, no appetite. After many doctor visits, it appears to be a virus going around. So you know the drill, wait it out. Wonderful.

-Possible icy weather conditions here in IN

-A 30 minute connection in Dallas (yep, you read it right) in which we are to get our whole family, to a different terminal (not quick) and on the plane before it takes off.

-Regarding the above, the chances that our luggage will make it to the other plane in that short amount of time are risky at best.

-The planes are full so our "lap" child has no chance of getting an open seat unless someone simply doesn't show up for their flight. Yep, the lap child is sick and fussy. 6 hours of lap time will be an enormous challenge for anyone. He doesn't ever fall asleep on us, but we're praying this is the one exception.

-If for some reason there are any delays and we miss our scheduled flight in Dallas, then the rest of the flights are either completely full or routed through Portland which would mean yet another stop as well as a very late arrival into CA. In my book, simply out of the question.

So I'm left feeling a bit overwhelmed this afternoon after returning from the Dr. Please join my in prayer as the only One big enough to smooth all of these sticky situations is my Father in heaven, who knows every need and every desire of mine. I need a well baby, good flights, and a lot of peace and patience.

The Night Before "Christmas"

Brian and I just finished wrapping all the boys' presents and stuffing stockings. Tomorrow Santa is coming to our house early since we will be elsewhere on Christmas morning. It all feels very official and magical since this is a year of firsts:

--First time we sent Santa a letter (and got a reply I might add!)
--First year to really talk about Santa at all
--First year to put out presents specifically from "Santa"
--First year that Noah has taken a real interest in Santa and asked many questions regarding the many Santas running around town :)

Brian decided a few years ago to give the kids 3 presents for Christmas to symbolize the three wise men and their gifts to our Savior. I really love this tradition but man is it hard to only buy 3 things! We are blessed people. Fortunately, grandparents, aunts and uncles made up for all the other goodies that are sitting under the tree right now. And then Santa of course left a snow sled for Noah and a large bear for Wesley. I can't wait to see their faces light up tomorrow morning. Merry Christmas to everyone out there! May you realize the true meaning of Christmas---JESUS-- and let Him usher you into the New Year. God bless!

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't posted this in awhile on the blog out of laziness, but if you saw the side of my fridge, you would see it posted up each week. Our Christmas travel plans are going to mean quite awhile off of kitchen duty. So I'm taking the next couple weeks to really cook a lot and try to use up every last crumb in this house (ok, not really). Brian did me the honor of cooking last night for us. He had an itch for this chicken cheesesteak sandwich he had during his post graduate work in Delaware and so he wanted to try to make a replica. It was sooooo nice to just play with the boys for a whole hour or so while he owned the kitchen. Thanks again, babe! So here's what our week looks like. Once again, I plan about 5 meals a week and then cook them as they suit our days. We always eat one meal out, and we always eat leftovers for another night. So really, planning 5 meals is no biggie. Getting the kids to eat them is my bigger challenge. :)

1. Smoked sausage with green beans and onions, side of brown rice, fruit
2. Homemade pizza, salad, fruit
3. Teriyaki chicken, stirfry veggies and brown rice
4. Taco soup
5. Chicken Pot-pie Empanadas , salad ( REALLY yummy and EASY. Even Noah (4) ate it!)
6. leftovers
7. dinner out

A Psalm I could of penned........

Psalm 39
v. 1-8

I said to myself, "I will watch what I do and not sin in what I say.
I will hold my tongue when the ungodly are around me. "
But as I stood there in silence--not even speaking of good things--the turmoil within me grew worse.
The more I thought about it, the hotter I got, igniting a fire of words:
"Lord remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath."
We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
My only hope is in you.
Rescue me from my rebellion.

"Rescue me from my rebellion".... Oh, I could repeat these words all day long.

Thoughts on Bloomington

A very long-overdue list awaits you.

1. It's COLD. :) The much anticipated winter has arrived. Yes, not technically winter yet according to the calendar, but the weather could argue with that. Bloomington got it's first big snow last Saturday. I think we got 1-2 inches. It was so beautiful. It stayed around till Monday. We get snow flurries a lot, but then they just melt away. We had 7 or more straight days of 30s or below as the high. The other day it was 15 degrees at 11 o'clock in the morning! It's COLD.

2. Neighborhood streets become ghost towns in the winter. I truly hadn't prepared myself for the contrast of talking and socializing daily with my neighbors to not seeing any living body for a week straight! It's not because people are too busy, or sick, or gone. Once you run into them at the library or YMCA, everyone has the same response: it's just so dang cold. Everyone just stays locked up in their homes. Suddenly the mall becomes VERY crowded even on week nights because everyone is trying to feel a little more extroverted during this strange season.

3. Seasons mean so much more to me here then ever before. All the pictures that have ever been painted for me in art or books of winter now make sense! Everyone walking around in big coats, hats, gloves, with pink cheeks; snow and ice accumulating everywhere, Christmas lights shining off of the precipitation, chimney smoke floating above all the houses, the squeaking of wet boots in stores.... you get the idea. It is magical. The town square is painted in lights with a giant Christmas tree. There's a specific area there to drop your letters to Santa off and I've even heard that certain requests are answered by mysterious secret santas. Summer was energizing, Fall was refreshing and gorgeous, and so far, Winter hasn't disappointed. I realize there is a lot more winter coming that won't seem so endearing, but just let me be for now. :)

4. The friendliness factor of people here consistently outshines any other trait. There is such a mix of backgrounds and personas here. I love it. I've always thought I lived among a lot of diversity, but I'm not sure anything compares to here. In the end, everyone I meet is friendly... so curious about eachothers beliefs, upbringings, careers, families, etc. I'm constantly learning something from just about everyone I meet. In preparing to move here, I was told that midwesterners are more guarded and take time to open up. So far, that tale has not held up in this town.

5. Wealth takes a different form here. This is something I observed almost immediately but wanted to give myself time to know if it was true. In general, people don't flaunt their wealth with expensive cars, posh clothing, or giant mansions. In fact, I can honestly say that in 6 months of living here, I've seen less than 10 cars that bear the name Lexus, BMW or Mercedes. Seriously. And if you know North Texas at all, you can just imagine how shocking this is. In fact, the drive from the airport to my sister's house for Thanksgiving just 2 weeks ago became a shocking reintroduction to how much money is running around Dallas/ Fort Worth. Or atleast the illusion of it. :) So where does the money in Bloomington go, you ask? From what I can tell so far, a LOT of it gets given away. People are very charitable here. Volunteerism is a town principle and nothing reserved for only churches. People are also very hardworking and somewhat frugal. The president of my husband's company is a great example. He is #68 on Forbe's list of America's most wealthy people. Impressive, yes. However, the man just finally got his first garage built on his property last year and continues to live in a modest area of town---the same house he and his wife have lived in for a veeeeeeeeery long time. Even though it isn't true, I get the feeling here (as I did all through my childhood) that everyone is pretty much the same. Just living life together, working hard and having fun.

6. I'm running out of steam. :) No really, I have so much to say about this town, but I'm getting tired and the laundry is shouting my name. But I'll give you one more for now. Everyone here is very loyal to this town. You don't hear people talking about it's faults or disadvantages. No matter how long someone has been here, they seem to talk of Bloomington with those fresh eyes of someone like me. People. Love. This. Town. Here's an example. One of my babysitter's, Jasmine, had this story about her family. They are from Indianapolis (1 hour north--big city). Her brother came to school at IU and after some time, told his family that he loved it so much and he knows they would too. He begged them to think about moving here. After some exploration, they decided it would be a great idea. So they hauled the family down here and opened up Bloomington Running Company on the main town square 2 years ago. Now Jasmine is a sophmore at IU and they all love this city. Another example is a couple we met in Malibu last year who live there and work at Pepperdine. They happened to pass through Bloomington for only 4 years during the husband's PhD program. They said they would move back here in a heartbeat if they could. Really? They were dead serious. Coming from SoCal, I didn't imagine someone would ever say they preferred a small town in the midwest over Cali...especially the stunningly beautiful, Malibu.

It is fun to live in a place that people are passionate about.

(NODGE-ULS)

Washing dishes in the kitchen. Noah is in the next room talking about his hot chocolate.

Noah: Ya, this hot chocolate might be too hot for me. This could, like, burn my noggle off!
(pronounced as spelled)

Me: Grin. Your what?

Noah: Um. My noggles.

Me: What are 'noggles'?

Noah: Well, you know. Sometimes you and daddy say that we can freeze our noggles off. So hot chocolate could maybe burn my noggle...s.

Me: Trying to sustain my laughter. So where are your 'noggles'?

Noah: Ummmm. I think it's like pieces of your BRAIN. Orrrrrrr..... no, it's like all your parts. Ya, that's where they are.

Priceless. Man, I love this kid. And my dad is going to LOVE this post because he taught me this word that in our family, is pronounced as the title of this post.