Joy

"Joy....Unspeakable Joy!"

Day by day

This little guy wanted to be by my side to help make toffee, he could have chosen elsewhere, but he choose by me, this was my joy!

Choosing to stop, be aware, take it in....accept the Joy!

Then he was having trouble sleeping and kept waking up. I was working on something for Christmas so he stayed up while I finished. Then right before midnight I decided to whip up our sugar cookie batter so it would be ready for the next day.  Once again, right by my side!

 

"Joy....Unspeakable Joy!"

Grace could fill all my empty places today"  (Voskamp)

Make room

I have all the necessary ingredients.

I don't have the strong belief in, "it's the most wonderful time of the year." But I do a little  i am still waiting for my bit of Christmas magic. My unspeakable joy.  A a few glimpses here and there. Lately I have been feeling some anxiousness, preoccupied a bit, not as peaceful   Last night, I made a resolve to really give myself over to these remaining days and just Be in them. Well this morning and all through the day I have had a searing pain in my neck I believe from sleeping on it wrong. Then dev was sick after school and slept off and on. Not the picture I had in mind.

I have all the necessary ingredients.   Only a few days remain.   I want to be a blessing to this little family of mine. To be in the moment, be spontaneous, be present. These are the gifts I want them to unwrap.   These are gifts I can give.   These give joy. But i realize as I write that I don't have It within myself, so I want to make room for Him in the Inn of my heart so he can prepare me to set a feast for my family and together as we celebrate Christ we will experience "unspeakable joy."

This is what He has been trying to tell me.....you have all the necessary ingredients, you just can't go it alone, make room....So I will.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

A Christmas Tea

We invited our new friends from China to a Christmas Tea.  They had never been to a tea party before and I knew their daughter Belinda needed a tea party as a little girl visiting the United States.

Bobo helped me to prepare and put his (wood) cookies in the refrigerator in preparation for the event.

We had yummy chocolate cake from Trader Joes (a favorite store for treats and special occasions)

Handing out his "special cookies"

Such a sweet family

The mama was leaving the next evening to go back to China as she has to go back to her job.  The husband and daughter will stay as he is a visiting scholar studying in Monterey and they would like their daughter to learn English.  My heart ached for that good-bye at the airport.

Deveraux performed her school songs for her Christmas performance 

We made a fun craft together

Theodore is so kind to Bobo.  He pursues my children and seems genuinely interested.  They are a delightful family to be around.  I look forward to sharing more with them over the next several months while they are here in the States.

Odyssey (Polar) Express

A borrowed idea...watch or read The Polar Express and then act like you are putting your kids to bed, surprise them with tickets under their pillows for the "train" then take off in your car with hot chocolate and go see Christmas lights.  Well last Friday night was our night!

Watching the movie...Bobo and dada

Not watching the movie.  I loved this pose of Deveraux...feet up, eating a sandwich and reading, she looked so old to me.  Deveraux has a strong sensitivity to movies with a very low tolerance and becomes easily scared and anticipates that she will be scared.  At times, I feel it prevents us from enjoying a movie together but I am also thankful for her sensitive heart.  So she chose to not watch the movie.  Drew and Bobo ended up only watching half the movie and then we all read the book.  I blew a train whistle and we excitedly told them to look under their pillows.  They weren't sure what all was happening but they were excited and willingly played along!  Hot chocolate with whip cream and sprinkles was waiting outside for them and we hopped in our van and headed out to see lights!

The ticket!!  New mugs!

tickets to the conductor...I have no idea why he had a ribbon around his head?? (Oh Drewy...I love my man)

"All Aboard the Odyssey Express"

Bobo calls it American Express whenever we refer to Polar Express

Candy Cane Lane in Pacific Grove is a neighborhood where all the houses are decorated and some elaborately.

Bobo was so excited.  I can just say he was pure joy!  A combination of surprise, hot cocoa, and lights made for one happy bouncing boy.  If anyone knows Bobo he had that skip run the entire time from house to house. 

Lovin the nativity

He had the cocoa on his face all night (he he)

We ended the night at a house with a light show set to a station you tune your radio to....so it is music + Lights = great!

"And to all a good night"....neither of them made it home awake!

It is quite easy to delight and surprise your kids and oh so much fun!!!!

A tradition continues

So I continued a tradition a couple of years ago with Deveraux following in my mom's footsteps.  Every year at Christmas, my mom would take me and my sisters out one on one to go Christmas shopping.  It was such a special evening for many reasons.  We went out a night (a rare occurrence), we had a treat out(rare), and we were alone with my mom.  It was special.  We would shop with our small funds for whomever was on our list.  I wanted to do this with Deveraux to carry on something very special. 

Well this year, Andrew took out Bobo at the same time.

Dev and I had a great night together.

Andrew and I were supposed to be on a date with each other but our babysitting was cancelled, so we took each of our kiddos and headed out.

I had that fun Christmas moment when I found what we wanted for Deveraux and it was on sale!  Drew and I were on the phone with each other, it was one of those fun moments of "yes!"

We have wanted to not overload on gifts this year.  Especially with Bobo as we know that he does not remember last Christmas, so we really begin to set a precedent of what Christmas "looks like" this year. 

Gift giving is fun, as a parent, it is a delight to find gifts for your children and enjoy their surprise and delight.  So we want to enjoy that aspect and not cut out gifts altogether.  Yet, not set an expectation that we have to "top" every year or that our tree is overloaded with gifts.  We don't want the main focus for the entire season to be on their gifts and what they are getting.  Each year, we have opportunity to learn how that looks and see ways to refine for the next year. 

A Night of Advent

We wanted to invite friends over to share a Night of Advent with us.

I still feel the need to learn how to take better pics esp. at night, but I loved how our house looked and felt this evening of Advent. 

We had several who could not make it, but we had a good intimate group. 

Deveraux and Anderson had their Sunday School teachers.

It was wonderful to have Young and Eugene play music.

We had a really hard day.  Deveraux was sick with a cold and just not feeling like herself.  Bobo had one of his rougher days of not listening and I think we had a record of about 4 time outs.  We had gone to a gingerbread making party in the morning and I think a lot of candy went into his mouth!  It was a day that "beat me up!"  But here we were gathered again for Advent and there they were on my lap.  I am glad it ended this way!

Judith was asked to teach a different Sunday School class so we have missed her!

A new fire truck for Bobo!

Young made me this sweet apron

I believe a new tradition has been born for us!