Month: December 2010

It Was the Year Everything Changed

It was the year of fire… the year of destruction… the year we took back what was ours. It was the year of rebirth… the year of great sadness… the year of pain… and the year of joy. It was a new age. It was the end of history. It was the year everything changed. Babylon 5

There may not have been fire and destruction, but 2010 was definitely a year that everything changed for our family.

The biggest change was, of course, Ryan’s new job. He had been at CPH for four years, so it was an adjustment for him to have a job elsewhere. It was also an adjustment for that “elsewhere” to be at home. When he is home, that is–because another change that came with his job is a lot of travel. He spent about five weeks on the road this year, which isn’t a lot for many business travelers, but was huge for us. He even traveled internationally, which was also new. His job has been a great blessing to our family, and the fact that he no longer has a commute, which means less money spent on gas, and our ability to downsize to one car, has been awesome.

The aforementioned downsize to one car has also been a big change. It doesn’t sound like it should be, with Ryan working from home now, but there have been times where he would need to go one place, and the children and I would be wanting to go somewhere else. Or two children with activities in two different places at the same time–how’s that supposed to work? But it has mostly worked, and it’s actually kind of a relief to only have one vehicle to worry about.

Turkey really changed his mind about reading this year. He’s been a good reader ever since he learned how, and he hadn’t minded doing it when it was required, but he never really chose to do it for fun, either. Sometime over the course of the year, though, he realized that reading can be a fun way to pass some time, and even realized that just because there are a lot of words (and no pictures!) on a page, that doesn’t mean that the book is intrinsically more difficult to read. This was a great relief to me, because I was worried he would never want to read “just for fun.”

Bunny had to change levels in Girl Scouts, which doesn’t sound like much of change, but was big for her. She loved being a Daisy, but only got to do it for one year, (they go by grade level instead of age, and I didn’t realize that in time to have signed her up back when she was in Kindergarten). So, she only got to be a Daisy for her First Grade year, and she was kind of reluctant to become a Brownie once Second Grade started. It didn’t take her long to realize that being a Brownie is just as fun as being a Daisy, though–and sometimes even more fun, as there are more activities available!

It was a year of great change for Moose, too. He goes to school in the afternoons this year, instead of in the mornings like he did the previous two years. He also has a new teacher this year, which is a yearly change he’s just going to have to get used to. But the biggest change is how much continued improvement we see in him. He’s a regular little chatterbox now, so much so, that it’s hard to remember that just two years ago, he couldn’t talk.

Ladybug also saw a big change this year, as she got glasses. Now she can actually see, and we’re beginning to realize just how much trouble she must have been having before she got them. She also stopped looking like a baby, and now looks more like a big kid–it hurts my mommy heart a bit, but time marches on!

As for me, well my biggest change was realizing I can handle things when I need to. From mowing the lawn, even when Ryan is out of town on business, (which is no easy feat when also trying to supervise four children!), to handling things when he was in the hospital (which I hope to never have to do again!), I found strength and ability in myself I didn’t know I had.

It’s been a crazy, busy, wonderful year–and I can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in 2011!

Hymn of the Day–“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone,
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Soon bears us all away;
We fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last
And our eternal home! Lutheran Service Book #733

My Favorite New Year’s Tradition

I don’t really like New Year’s Eve. It just reminds me that the holiday season is winding down, and I hate that. It’s the “most wonderful time of the year,” after all! But we have developed one tradition that I do actually like–we always watch Apollo 13 on New Year’s Eve.

That story always reminds me of how very small I am, compared to the vastness of the universe, and especially compared to God. And I think that’s a good way to end one year, and begin another–remembering just how big God is, and how much He loves us, even though we are so very small in comparison.

That’s one part of New Year’s that even I can get on board with!

The Top Three

This year was kind of a turning point for my blog. Up until the summer, I kind of figured I was mostly talking to myself, with the occasional comment from someone else popping up here and there. But then, in August, I realized that people were reading (and talking about!) some of the things I had written. This, of course, had positives and negatives, but it did reinforce the fact that I’m not only talking to myself–there are other people out there who will stumble across what I’ve written, for whatever reason. And it’s interesting to see just what people have stumbled upon; what’s been read the most. And so, here are my three most-read blog entries of 2010:

  1. Children in Church
  2. Soup Recipe: After-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup
  3. What’s Happening to Lutheran Schools?

Quote of the Day

Turkey’s and Bunny’s favorite line from A Christmas Carol:

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.

Quote of the Day

I think that Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, sums up my feelings on Christmas pretty well in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol:

There are many thing from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say. Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time when it has come round–apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that–as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

The Magic House

We went to the Magic House today. This was a questionable decision, as there were approximately one zillion people there. Even though I thought *I* was going to have a nervous breakdown trying to keep track of all of the children in the crowds, they all still had fun. A favorite activity for all four of them was “fishing.” There’s a small “stream” under plexiglass that runs through the children’s village, then dumps out into a little pond. Small magnetic fish travel the stream, and when they end up in the pond, children can “fish” them out with specially designed fishing poles. After you get your catch, you can go back to the other end of the stream, and “throw them back,” then follow them back down the stream until they come out again. It’s always a fun activity, and this time all four of them were able to do it, and they enjoyed showing off their “catch!”

Dr. Bunny

For the last few years, Bunny has said she wants to be a doctor when she grows up–a pediatrician, to be exact. Today at the Magic House, she got the chance to pretend she was, and she loved it! I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she reaches this goal someday–she’s just that driven and dedicated. And if she does, I’ll have this picture with me when she graduates from med school, as proof that she achieved her dream!

Quote of the Day

We read through A Christmas Carol this year, and we watched different movie versions approximately one zillion times. After watching all these different productions, one line by Bob Cratchit describing Tiny Tim at church on Christmas Day really stood out to me:

Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.

Hymn of the Day–“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”

My very favorite Christmas hymn:

Of the Father’s love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.

Oh, that birth forever blessed
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.

This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.

O ye heights of heav’n, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing,
Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Ev’ry voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.

Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore. Lutheran Service Book #384