The First Night

Hanukkah

Hanukkah begins tonight and our home is filled with excitement and expectation.

Last night, after we had put the children in bed, we began to organize and wrap the gifts. We had them all laid out on our bed when the girls came knocking at our door screaming "N is throwing up! N is throwing up!" We quickly shut out the light in our room and closed the door so they couldn't see our gifts and got N out of his bed and into the tub. I took care of the mess in his crib while J washed N. I told L and M that they could go into the playroom because of the smell. A few minutes after that I noticed our bedroom door open and the lights on and the girls laughing quietly to themselves in the playroom. I asked J if he had gone into our room and quickly figured out that they girls must have. When questioned if they had seen any gifts they replied "No" So I threatened them. "If you do not tell me what you saw I will take all the presents back to the store" (thinking to myself.. please tell me so I don't have to take all the presents back to the store) They said they had seen the Pillow Pets, a Lady Bug and Unicorn. Man they were happy.

Good thing we were planning on having them be the first nights gift.

So the excitement of having Pillow Pets is in the air. We decided to forgo wrapping them since the girls know what they are getting. Maybe I will tie a ribbon around them. N is getting a tent tonight. Poor little sick boy! I hope he feels better soon.

I am excited. It is our first Hanukkah that we will spend the whole week at our home. Usually we have to travel during this time of year. I plan on cooking some great tasting food and spending some quality time with our beautiful children and my wonderful husband. I do work most of the nights of Hanukkah so we might improvise on the usual traditions and open gifts in the early afternoon before I leave for work. Then J will light the candles with the children after dusk.

FYI: We are not Jewish. We are just Christians who have decided to practice the feasts of Israel. It has been a learning experience and we are still in the process of learning the in and outs of celebrating these feasts and festivals. I'm sure we will still be adding and deleting here in there until we find a tradition that is traditional yet uniquely fits us.

Rhema Lights

A family tradition ever since we moved to Tulsa.

Christmas' gift

"Christmas is a gift of love wrapped in human flesh

and tied securely with the strong promises of God.

It is more than words can tell,

for it is a matter for the heart to receive,

believe and understand."

[Unknown]

Short Vacation?

J and I just arrived back from a four day trip without any kiddos. I wish I could call it a vacation but we spent our time in a class like setting from 8am-5pm two of the days and from 8am-12pm the next day and the rest of our time was spent flying on planes and sitting in airports. Wait a second. I won't lie. We had a very nice king bed suite at Holiday Inn Express that had a jacuzzi tub. There was a little relaxation involved. The bed was super comfy and there as no worry of being interrupted by a child needing something. We went out to eat- by ourselves. Watch t.v.- by ourselves. Got ready in the morning- by ourselves. No one needed me to cook their food or pick out clothes for them in the morning. It was nice. Breakfast was served to us in the morning, Continental style. Which means it was prepared by someone else and all I had to do was pick and choose what I wanted to eat and I was able to sit for as long as I wanted and eat my hot breakfast in peace. Nice. Really nice.

I will blog more about the Church Multiplication Boot Camp later. There is a lot to blog about. I am just glad now that I am home with my family. My loving children are a blessing. Even though they wake me up when I want to sleep in. Ask me for more breakfast before I've finished mine and make it 100 times more difficult to get anywhere on time. I miss them when I'm gone. I miss their craziness. I miss their loudness. I miss their unending needs.

I'm happy to be together again.

Mr. No

Little N is from this point on referred to as Mr. No. Everything you ask him the answer is "No". He might turn your body towards the fridge and say "cup! cup!"(meaning that he wants milk in his cup) and you might in turn ask him "would you like some milk?" His answer "No" But if you then walk away without giving him his beloved cup full of milk he will break out in a frantic "CUP! CUP! CUUUUP!"

He might be pointing at the bananas and you ask him "Would you like a banana?" and he says "No. Blyna(his word for banana)" You know he wants one so you ask again. He says "No. Blyna" You say "Say Yes" and he says "No"

"Are you N?" NO

"Is your sister M?" NO

"Am I your Mommy?" NO

"Are you hungry?" NO
"Are you poopy?" NO

"Can you say NO" NO

At least I win one.

Oh My L

My wonderful middle child will not attend her tumbling class. For the third week in a row we have dressed for class and she will not go. M goes. L does not. I don't understand why she won't. M is in the class with her. L loves all the new tumbling "moves" that they do. And I don't know what to do. It is frustrating that we are paying for the class and she refuses to go. I would love to force her to attend but then again I have never been one to make my children do things that they really don't have to do. I would rather un-enroll her from the class and just have M attend. But I know as soon as I get that process finished she will decide she wants to go. Oh how frustrating parenting can be. What to do? Her teacher told me the other week that she has had the same thing happen with other children sitting out for three class periods so I guess L is just normal?