Christmas

Ok, ok.  I'll do a Christmas write-up.

Our Tree:  We don't have a "theme tree".  I have colorful, warm, cozy lights that remind me of my childhood and the magic that was Christmas.   None of my ornaments match and I love it.  They all have a memory or were a creation of my children.  Sometimes I look at other trees and think maybe mine looks a little messy, but that's how I like it.  A messy, colorful, warm tree.  It's magic.

And, to make you all faint, I'm throwing in a picture.  That there is the tree.  And when I was taking pics, Brynja's cute antique-ish Radio Flyer rocking horse happened to be in front of the tree.  Kinda fitting.  (And this is me messing with my new camera off of auto-mode, but I don't have a tripod so flashless pics are tricky as of yet)

Christmas Eve was a mellow thing this year.  I usually find myself shopping for a few last minute things that day, as well as trying to make cookies or treats of some kind for neighbors and friends.  I managed to get all my shopping done beforehand and I thought, perhaps, I'd be baking or something that day, but I decided I wouldn't do it until I had cooked the chicken noodle soup (homemade noodle kind... takes forever) that we were planning on having for dinner.

I got the food done and had no time to make anything for neighbors and that was completely ok with me.  (sorry friends and neighbors!  next year...)

The morning of Christmas Eve, I had the choir practicing the Christmas program that was scheduled for the next morning (Christmas) at 10:30 a.m.  The practice when FANTASTIC and I felt, for the most part, completely ready for the program.  And it was good.  Good, I tell you!  Tears were shed during the practice as stories were read and songs were sung.  It was fabulous.  

So, back to the afternoon... Had dinner ready and went to my mom's house.  My mom was feeling not-so-great at the time.  She had been in the hospital earlier in the week... Sunday through Wednesday... after dealing with serious pain in her chest.  It wasn't a heart attack, but pericarditus that she's been battling ever since her heart attack in September.  So, Christmas festivities were kept very low-key, which suited all of us just fine.  We ate soup and bread, laughed and talked with my parents and my brother, Taylor, and his girlfriend, Cherryn.  We did our version of the Nativity which is pulling out the pretty ceramic pieces that my mom painted years ago and telling about the role each figure played in the story of Christ's birth.  It's a nice time to reflect on why we celebrate Christmas.  Then I read a few Christmas stories and we called it a night.  Low key.  Perfect.  

We got home, did the Christmas pajama thing and sent those excited kids off to bed.  

And then Dustin and I started the Santa process.  We had a very frustrating time trying to assemble a toy.  It took more than an hour and it DIDN'T WORK when it was all put together.  We were freaking out.  I was so upset.  We ended up writing a note to Ella from Santa telling her that his elves must have broken the toy while assembling it and that her parents would get her something else.  (The note was really for the benefit of Rohan.  Ella inquired as to the true nature of Santa a month or so before Christmas and learned that it is her mom and dad who act in the name of Santa and the Spirit of Christmas.)  It was disappointing, to say the least.  It was compounded by the fact that I didn't feel very well.  I was agitated and SO INCREDIBLY tired.  All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but we had things to wrap and stockings to fill.

Aside:  My kids and husband had been shuffling the flu between them for the week previous.  Brynja was sick, throwing up and feverish, the previous Saturday night and spent all of Sunday completely miserable.   Next came Ella and Rohan on Monday and Tuesday.  They shared their sick day.  Poor Ella threw up over and over and over.  I bet she threw up every ten minutes for four hours straight.  It was terrible.  And then it slowed down to every 30 or so minutes for the next, oh, six or so hours.  Rohan had it coming out both ends.  Not as much puking as Ella, but he made up for it in other ways.  (Think 1 a.m., 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. baths...)  And I forgot that Dustin shared this sick day with Ella and Roh as well.  Lucky.

Mac waited until Thursday/Friday and he was miserable too, but his manifested a little less severely than the other kids'.

As for me, I told my body that I was healthy.  I didn't have time for anything otherwise.  I couldn't spare a moment to succumb to the bug that plagued the rest of my family.  And I didn't.  And I was proud of myself because I really and truly felt like I kept it at bay by sheer force of will.  

Pride comes before a fall.

Usually, as we finish up laying out Christmas for the big morning, I go wash all the dishes, clean up any extra stuff in the living room and make sure everything feels good in the room before I go to bed.  Not this time.  By the time we were wrapping up, I was really feeling weird and I was scared about it.  Over and over again, I did my mental exercises  to fend off illness.  And it got worse.  There were dishes in the sink and some clutter on the table, but I decided I didn't care.  Not even a little bit.  I went to bed at about 1:45 or 2:00 a.m.  

I fell asleep for about 15 minutes and then bolted out of bed.  I was well and truly sick.  I had it like Rohan, coming from two directions.  I was so cold.  I would go in and lay on the hardwood floor in front of the heater in between my special times in the bathroom.  I had this little tiny fleece blanket that I would try to squeeze my body under as I laid by the heater.  

I know I fell asleep several times and was continually awakened by my body trying to expunge the virus I had previously eluded.  It was the most intense illness I've ever had.  

All my kids were sick for a minimum of 24 hours.  I started throwing up at about 2 a.m. on Christmas morning.  Here's where I was freaking out.  You recall that I direct the choir in my church?  And you recall that we do a big Christmas program every year?  And this year happened to be on Christmas Day?  I was totally clueless what I should do.  I was most likely going to be sick until at least the next morning at 2 a.m.  Should I call my bishop in the morning and tell him I wouldn't be there?  Me, the director of seven of the nine songs and the soloist singing the eighth?  What would they do?  Could Sandy lead them all?  Should they just sing congregational hymns?  Would they cancel the whole thing?

Amid puking and other things, I had these thoughts floating around.  I couldn't believe that I chose THIS time to get sick.  Seriously?  But when I say the thoughts were floating around, that's really how I felt.  This illness was so intense and I was so tired that I was fairly delirious.  I might have even passed out at one point.  I don't really know what happened except that I remembered sitting on the porcelain throne and then the next thing I remembered was pushing myself off the floor because I needed to sit there again.  And throw up.  At the same time.  Lucky me, I had a bowl and lucky me, I had the toilet paper holder to hold up the weight of my upper body because I couldn't hold myself up.  But I don't know how I got on the floor in the first place.  So I either passed out, or fell asleep and laid myself down with my pants still down.

It was violent.  It was delirium.  It was horrible.  And it was short.

I had, without much recollection of getting there, laid back in front of the heater on the hard floor and fallen asleep.  I'm guessing I left the bathroom for the last time at about 4:30.  I woke up to the sound of my kids coming through the kitchen to wake us up.  I exploded off the floor (don't know where the energy for that came from) telling them that it was too early and they needed to go back to sleep.  My kids informed me that it was 6:30 and I replied that it was still too early.  They had to wait until 7:00.  They grumbled until I told them I'd been throwing up all night.  Then they felt bad and acquiesced.  

I went and laid in my bed next to Dustin.  He told me how sorry he was that I was sick.  As I lay there in my bed, I did a "body check", so to speak.  An evaluation of what was going on.  I discovered that I didn't feel like I needed to use the toilet.  Good news.  And in checking on my stomach, I discovered that I felt.... HUNGRY.  Hungry?  I was shocked.  Who feels hungry when they've been throwing up?  Only people who are on the mend.  I allowed myself to hope and I ate a saltine cracker.  

Dustin had gone downstairs to hang out with the kids for the half hour they were required to wait.  I slept a little bit and then we all got ready to go see what "Santa" brought.  I just sat on a chair through the festivities and tried not to move my tender stomach.  

As time went on, I felt a little better and a little better.  At about 9:15 I went and showered and got myself ready for church.  I was shaky and weak, hollow feeling and tender-stomached, but I managed to get ready and go.

As I led the music and the program progressed, I seemed to get more strength even though I was exerting more energy and had only had a few crackers and some water.  Things went very well.  My solo was kinda disappointing, but considering how I felt, I was happy I was able to do it at all.  So I took the mediocre assessment and decided instead that it was pretty great.

And then it was over.  

And that was my Christmas miracle.  The Reader's Digest Version of the flu.  Two hours instead of 24-36.  

I was so grateful for that gift, and I just took it easy the rest of the day.  

Here are more pictures so you can faint again.  (don't worry, I didn't take any selfies of me barfing or similarly engaged...)

 On my bed, waiting so sweetly.

 The magic moment of walking into Christmas.

 Mac got a nice digital camera.  (The shark was the toy that didn't work.  MEGA disappointing)

Dustin and Rohan... opening something.  (proof of Dustin's presence.)

And me... trying to enjoy myself on two hours of sleep and shaky, hollow, sick-recovery-ness.  

Ella made this pillow for Mac (with help from me).  She was so excited! 

Rohan opening a gift I made for him... and I'm kinda proud of it, so....

Here it is.  It's a suitcase that I got from a thrift store and made a dinosaur habitat inside.  

It has a volcano and a cave and "water" (painted).  And then, when he's done playing with it, he closes it up and it's just a suitcase!  :-)  It's cool.   

And Ella after opening her art stuff that I spoke of a few days ago.  She was SO excited.  

Brynja was so cute.  She loved this doggie that Rohan gave her.  She snuggled it for a long time.  

In spite of the wild flu-ride, it was a great, low-key Christmas.


THE END.

What's Been Happening...

.... around Clancy's house? 


Well, I'm not redecorating!  And you know what the funny thing is about that statement?  I'd have to have already decorated to be "re"decorating!  I've never really done the first phase.  Just what was here when I moved into my house... the wall colors, the curtains (both of which I hate now!), and added my own bits here and there.  Someday....


So, as I mentioned yesterday, I'm going to try to blog more.  Try to "get my groove on" again.  We'll see.  It might just be ramblings and randomness, but, wait, isn't that what my blog has always been?  :-)  For now I'll start with what I've been up to.



For the months of November and December I spent a fair amount of time dipping pretzels.  I guess I should say the months of September, October, November and December.  It's been four months of dipping, really?  Well, I guess that takes up some time.  I've been less inclined to grumble about the whole dipping thing this time around.  I don't know why, but somehow I enjoyed it more than I usually do.  I was more cheerful about it overall and that, my friends, is always a good thing. 

Dipping ended, quite literally, on Christmas Eve.  I had a biggish order come in on the 23rd, and since it was for a very good friend of mine, I did it.  I don't normally do things that close to Christmas, but this was an exception.


I have grand plans every year of making "neighbor gifts" for my friends and neighbors.  More like "neighbor treats", I suppose.  I like to make a plate of yummies and bring them around to those I love.  Most years I end up scrambling around, stressed out and crazy trying to get it done.  This year was going to be the exception!  I had the best intentions of making the treats on the 23rd and then delivering them in the morning on the 24th.  But...between the last minute pretzel orders and trying to sew my kids pajamas for Christmas, I ended up not making any plates to deliver.  There were a lucky few people who, if they caught me at home when they dropped by their own goody plates, got a plate of pretzels, caramel corn and caramel pecan bars that I had on hand from my last minute order!  So, to all those who've gotten a treat plate from me before and did not this year, please forgive me.  It was a very conscious decision to let that one go this year and I even allowed myself to shed all guilt surrounding the issue.  And I'm happy about it.  And I still love all of you who didn't see me with a plate of treats.  (The guilt was eased knowing that most of you, like me, had an abundance of treats to tempt you during the holidays and mine would likely not be missed)

There's always next year.

So, I mentioned that I decided to sew my children PJ's this year.  I always get my kids jammies to open on Christmas Eve.  Lots of people do this tradition.  As a child, my mother always sewed our Christmas Eve pajamas and this year I decided that I would too.  I started in plenty of time.  I suppose plenty is a relative term... it was plenty of time for me, the great procrastinator.  It was a good week and a half before Christmas and THAT is a LOT of time for me!  I could only work on them at night after my kids were in bed because my sewing machine is out in the open of our living room/dining room area and I wanted them to be surprised about the fabric they were getting, if not the fact that they were getting homemade pajamas.

Let's just say that what started out as me having lots of time to sew one of the simplest things there is to sew, ended up being one of the more nightmarish projects of my illustrious sewing career.  I was up sewing until 3am on the 22nd and until 2am on the 23rd (and more nights than that, but those were the winners for lateness).  I'll just say that if you're ever buying flannel to sew on, plan on a LOT of shrinkage... so much that you might have to change the whole layout of the pattern for cutting which might cause you to need more fabric, which the store just might run out of a mere two days after you bought it... which might cause you to have to buy a whole different fabric, which by now you realize you'll need extra fabric for shrinkage, but how much extra might be out of your realm of comprehension and you'll STILL come up short which, by this time, it might be December 23rd at 11:00 at night and you can't get more fabric because the store is closed and the darned PJ's need to be FINISHED, WRAPPED and UNDER the tree by the next evening (but you can't sew when your kids are awake).  *big gasp of air*  So, you might just have to spend an extra TWO hours adjusting the pattern to make the amount of the !*$#@$ shrunken fabric work for what you've got, which will make you VERY frustrated indeed.  Not to mention a myriad of other strange problems you might encounter with the other TWO pajamas you're making. (yes, that story was only about Ella's PJ's... Mac's and Rohan's had their own set of "issues" that were very special and cry-worthy.)

So, yeah.  I had a wonderful, nostalgic time sewing PJ's for my kids. (are you sensing the sarcasm?  it's hard to pass on through a blog)  But the important part is that I made it work, got it done and they LOVE them!  Rohan is always so sad if his "monster" jammies are dirty and he can't wear them.  And, actually that statement is true for Ella and Mac as well (aside from the "monster" part!).

So, the weeks before Christmas I was exceptionally busy.  I can't remember what I was doing aside from dipping and homeschooling... oh, and trying to get all my "shopping" done.  I was actually fairly well prepared in that arena this year.  I was almost done shopping a good week before Christmas, which is UNHEARD of for me!  I was proud of myself for that one.  I even got most of the presents wrapped about two weeks (maybe a week and a half!) before Christmas.  Usually our tree is barren of presents until about the 23rd or sometimes the 24th.  Go me!

I had been up too late for too many nights and pushing myself with the sewing and the dipping and the homeschooling and the whatever-elseing and by the time Christmas Eve rolled around I was exhausted.  Regardless, we had a nice quiet Christmas Eve.  We went over to my mom's house.  I made Thai Noodle Soup, my mom made potato soup and we had little baguettes of bread.  It was a simple dinner followed by hot chocolate, shortbread and our tradition of pulling out my mom's nativity set.  Each piece is wrapped in cloth and we take turns pulling them out and telling the story each person played in the birth of Jesus Christ.  We did this same thing in my growing up years and it's special for me to have my kids experience it too.  Especially because it takes the focus off of the commercialism that is ready and waiting to happen the next morning and puts the focus, quietly, simply and sweetly back on the birth of Jesus Christ and the gift that he was and is to the world.  It was tender and it completely suited my exhausted but content state of mind and body.

An observation that we make every Christmas Eve is the fact that the children start telling the PARENTS it's time to go home.  We usually have to pull teeth to get our children to leave my mom's house.  They never want to go.  But Christmas Eve, they were putting their shoes on and telling Dustin and I that it was time to go home.  And we, of course, obliged them.  Home we went! 

Upon arrival, all three of them ran in to brush their teeth as quickly as they could.  (again, a once a year occurrence.)  They forgot, in their haste to reach their beds, to open one special present (homemade with much love and sacrifice!).  I reminded them and they came and ripped open their special Christmas Eve presents.  They oooohed and ahhhed appropriately and I felt very good about my efforts and all the metaphorical hair I lost during the sewing ordeal.  (I never ACTUALLY pulled my hair out in frustration, but I wanted to.  A lot.)

Mac loved his dartboard jammies, Ella loved her big dots (that was NOT my first choice in fabrics, but by the time I had to buy replacement fabric, it was slim pickins!), and, strangely, Rohan threw a fit about his monster jammies.  He didn't like them and he didn't want to put them on.  After a little coaxing, he finally did and then he was upset (as was I) because the elastic was too big and the pants were falling off.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.  I measured both of the boys' waistlines while they were asleep.  It worked on Mac, but not my skinny little Rohan. 

Never fear!  I have a seam ripper and my sewing machine was still out.  So, in about 5 minutes I had the seam opened, elastic adjusted and sewn in place, the seam sewn shut again and a happy little boy.  Suddenly his monster jammies were cool (his fabric was my favorite by far!) and he ran off to go to bed!

We tucked in our little munchkins and got to work doing the things parents do on Christmas Eve after their children are nestled.... which, in this case, involved watching the new Harry Potter.  ☺  Really we were worried that the kids would be awake for a while and so we sat down for a bit and killed time with the DVD player.  It only took about 15 minutes before the three little ones had visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads and we got to work.

And, amazingly enough, I was in bed before midnight.  That's NEVER happened on Christmas Eve.

I woke in the morning to the sound of the shower.  Dustin had been awake for a long time and decided to take a shower hoping that the kids wouldn't wake up while he was in there.  Of course, that slight shift in the noises of the house must have woken the kids because within minutes they were upstairs surrounding my groggy-I-wish-I-could-sleep-more self.  We made them wait, as parents do, in our room while I went and turned the tree lights on.  We made them brush their hair... well, Ella and I did anyway... and we gathered and said a prayer and talked for a minute about the why of it all- Jesus Christ's birth.  It was neat.

Rohan, Mac and Ella waiting to go see if Santa did, indeed, come!

Then, the wonderful madness that is Christmas morning ensued.  It was very fun.  We had a wonderful, magical, toy-filled time and I felt gratitude for my little growing family and the amazing people I'm blessed to have in my home.  And here are a few little pics for the picture hungry!

 Dustin was very irritated with the people who package children's toys.  They make them iron-clad stuck in those packages!!! :)  Isn't he cute?  It became a personal vendetta for him to get this toy opened completely before we could proceed with unwrapping presents!  I ♥ Dustin.

Those cute little monkeys in their new jammies.  

 Don't you love Mac's face?  It's so Christmas morning!  Ella is so sweet.  

Rohan LOVED his remote control car.  In fact he still loves it and he's actually a really good little RC driver!  (And look at his extra cute PJ's!  The child will NOT wear a shirt to bed.  Somehow he's decided that's the way it is and once he's decided, he's not easily swayed.  So, he is shirtless.  Saved me having to sew a top, so I won't complain!  ☺)

At Dustin's company work party we had a white elephant gift exchange.  We ended up with these goofy-yet-cute sock monkey slippers.  We weren't sure what we'd do with them, so we wrapped them and gave them to Mac.  He thought they were the coolest and Rohan and Ella were quite jealous.  They both inquired why THEY didn't get sock monkey slippers.  Anyone know where to buy these silly things?

We acquired a gigantic box Legos from a friend of mine.  It's HUGE.  My kids (and I!) love Legos more than any toy and were SO excited to see this massive collection unveiled with the tearing of the wrapping paper!

 I even made Dustin take a few pictures of me, since last year there was not a single shot of the mother of the family in the family archives.  So, I remedied that this year.  See?  Don't I look all sorts of Christmas-morningy?

We went to my mom's house later in the day... about 4:00 and we ate snacky food and opened a few more presents.  It was relaxing and wonderful to have nothing to do but be together.   

And I will end my Christmas Chronicle at this point because I am going to bed now.  I'll tell more later.  (It's really not as late as the time stamp shows... I'm publishing this later so it will be "tomorrow" when it posts, because it makes me feel better.  It's really only 10:30pm and I am treating myself to my bed and my pillow and some rest!  Just FYI, if ever the time stamp says 12:08am, it was a scheduled post.  I always set posts that I want to publish later to come at 12:08am.  Don't ask me why it's 12:08am... just one of those quirks.☺)

Rant

I love my sister.  Dearly.  She is wonderful, creative, thoughtful and fun.  She has a knack for making things beautiful.  She also has a weakness for Webkinz.

For any of you who might not know what a "Webkinz" is... a Webkinz is simply a stuffed animal.  Upon purchasing said animal you open a little thing attached to their ear, neck, leg, waist... (I don't really know what part it's attached to because, unlike my sister, I avoid Webkinz at all costs)... that has a code on it.  This code gets you into a "virtual world" for your new pet.  My sister's darling children have owned a Webkinz, or perhaps several Webkinz pets for a few years now.  My sister thinks it's great fun and loves to help her children take care of their "pet" in the "virtual world". 

For several years (probably since she bought her first "pets") my sister has told me that I should get these for my kids and I've resisted in every manner possible.  I have even told her that I don't need any other reason for my children to want to get onto some think-for-you, creativity-sapping electronic device (in this case, the computer) and exisit, even for a little bit, in some non-physical plane that is NOT reality (ie., the Webkinz world).  They get enough of that with our Wii that I don't let them play very often.

So, mid-December, my sister called me several times while I was in a movie theater.  I had my phone on vibrate, so I didn't hear the calls and my phone was in my purse so I didn't see the calls either.  When I got out of the theater, I noticed her missed calls and called her back.  She told me that she had been in a store and they had Webkinz for only $5 and she was wondering if she could get one for a gift for each my children.  She remembered that I didn't really want them for my kids, hence the calling, but since she couldn't get a hold of me, she made an executive decision and bought them anyway.  I'm not gonna lie, this announcement made my blood boil a little bit.  I suppose I could've told her she needed to take them back to the store, but that's not my style.  It's a gift, after all, and she loves them but doesn't understand why I don't want them in my life.  So, I conceded.  The gifts were given this last weekend. 

My children flipped out.  They were so excited.  I was not.

Their cousins helped them log on and set up their world.  They played on it some while they were at my mom's house over the weekend.  Whatever. 

This year I have suffered a severe post-Christmas crash.  I pushed myself beyond my limits for several weeks, trying to do too much and not getting enough sleep in the process, not to mention the fact that I'm growing another human being in my body, which tends to sap energy.  I have felt groggy every morning (including Christmas morning) and felt as though I could sleep until noon each day.  (I haven't, but waking daily has been a serious challenge) 

With that preface: Ella, upon waking this morning, came and climbed in my bed.  This is normally a sweet thing.  I love to converse with her in the mornings.  But I was downright grumpy today as she tried to talk to me.  And one of the first thing out of her mouth was something about how she needed to get online and feed "Marci" (her Webkinz) or Marci would die.  Seriously?  Your stuffed animal's electronic persona will die?  I had no tolerance for it.  I told her she better wait until I was a little more awake (like in a non-horizontal position) to talk to me about that. 


Grrrr....

I guess this is where I get to assert my position as "Mother" and just tell them too bad.  Your little pet will have to live on whatever they get with a "once every couple weeks" visit online. 

And, just for the record, I'm not mad at my sister.  She made her choice to give them to my kids and I made my choice to NOT tell her to take them back.  I now get to choose to be a "mean mom" who let's virtual pets go skeletal with malnutrition and neglect. 

I just feel better for the telling of the story, so thanks for listening, Blog. 

And One More Time

Mormonwoman.org has been kind enough to publish this post that I did last year about my church Christmas program. 

Rereading that post makes my eyes smart with tears with the remembrance of that overwhelming day.  I am grateful for my calling in my church as choir director.  I've been known to whine a bit because I've been doing the same thing for close to five years, but I really love it.  I should just keep my mouth shut about it because it fulfills me in ways I forget to remember until I'm actually doing the job of leading those willing and stalwart members of the choir. 

We had our Christmas program just two days ago and, while it was not as thought-out as last year's program, I was very pleased with the way it turned out.  Last year I arranged to have choir pieces, a vocal soloist with a violin, an INCREDIBLE piano solo, organ/piano duets with choir and congregation singing, a vocal trio and some children singing.  It was quite the array and quite the program.  This year I have just been too busy with homeschooling, pretzel-dipping, pregnancy-exhaustion and general Christmas mania and I didn't get the chance to find performers for some of the music that I wanted performed in smaller groups or solos.  Nonetheless, the songs that were performed were BEAUTIFUL and my stress level was much lower this year, an element for which I am grateful.  That may have something to do with the fact that I did last year's program as well as our Stake Fine Arts Night in May... I'm getting some experience under my belt, which allows for lower stress during such an event.

To any who participated in the program who might be reading this, THANK YOU!  Emily, thank you for augmenting Away in a Manger with your violin and thank your husband for playing the piano.  Diane... I don't think you read this blog, but I'll say it on here anyway... my gratitude for you knows no bounds.  You did the very most in the whole program, as you played in every song and with nary a word of complaint!  I realized the other day, that you've been playing for the choir far longer than I've been choir director!  I have no room for complaint!  THANK YOU!!!

The end. 

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking?

Not this time.


Just now Rohan came downstairs and asked in a very loud voice, "Mom, do you know Santa's phone number? Cuz I've been waiting a WEALLY LONG TIME!"

We only put our tree up last night.

It's going to be a long month for that four year-old boy....

Tue Pose a Question

Notice anything interesting and weird in these pictures?



Yes, I know Ella's face is the classic Christmas-morning-look-of wonder (click on it and make it big for the full effect), but that's not what I'm after.


Yes, Rohan and Mac love their new scooters and they are the most adorable snowman-pajama-laden boys ever to walk the earth, but that's not what I want you to notice either.


I know... Ella is loving her new stroller and her doll and she is a total girly girl with her purple snowman PJs, but keep looking...


Pure cuteness, but keep looking...


That crown, or halo, or whatever it is! That's gotta be it, right? (She wore that all the live-long day and looked so stinkin' adorable) No... she's cute as pie, but keep looking for something...


Wow! What a lucky guy! His very own MP3 player!! His wife must love him a lot to get him the very thing she wanted for herself!!! Keep noticing...


Cute, cute, cute...


Ella's face is classic, yet again, but what else do you notice?


Mac is growing up, I know, I know... but I want to see if you notice something else!?


We already covered that he's growing... I know he looks like such a young man, but have you noticed a consistent theme yet?

Girly-girl and halo/crown... what a character. Keep looking for it!


Oh, look! My brother! He would never have been so excited to get a set of sheets before he moved out of my parents house. But then he realized he can't just take everything with him that he wants because it's really my mom's... but now... look at the thrill of Egyptian Cotton!



My cute mom and her total surprise of a new sewing machine... something she would never buy for herself but her sneaky daughter notes every word that comes out of her mouth and found a deal on Black Friday...

That's the end. Did you notice? No, I'm not wondering if you noticed that we had a wonderful Christmas. Nor am I wondering if you noticed my kids are freakin' adorable. Did you notice who was missing from every single picture? Do you think that my children will wonder, as they look at pictures that document such events as this, if they had a mother? I tend to be the one who takes pictures, if they get taken at all. My face is, therefore, absent from most of the pictures in our lives. I know I am not alone in this phenomenon. I've heard other mother's blog about the same thing.

I just want my children to know that they, indeed, have a mother. Even though their mother is absent from Christmas morning pictures, she was sure to document her incredibly awesome bed-head a few days after Christmas! The one two days earlier was better, but the camera was full of Christmas carols and by the time I uploaded them, the hair had returned to a more normal state.

Hi, My Name Is Clancy

Ya. Remember me? I'm Clancy, the writer of this blog. I've been a little inattentive with this, here, blog for the last week, but I'M BAAAACK!!! It's been a nutty-bar kind of week for me.

Monday I did NOT feel well. I just stayed home and stayed quiet. I think I was crashing after my "big choir day" the day before. I wrapped presents for about 10 hours. (part of that was organizing the presents and making sure all was "even" and I was up and down between wrapping and making PBJ's and breaking up fights. We didn't really have 10 hours worth of presents to wrap!) I did manage to stay in my pajamas all day and it was delicious.

Tuesday I watched my friend Rachel's kiddos for a bit and I went shopping for the finishing touches of our Christmas. I also did other things that I can't really remember, but I felt crazy.

Wednesday I made treats for neighbors and friends and delivered them, cleaned my house and made soup for dinner (I was done with our dinner soup by about 10:30 am. That's a noteworthy accomplishment for me. I don't usually even think about dinner until about 5:30 or 6:00... or 7:00 depending on the night). We went to my mom's at 5:00, ate dinner and went Christmas caroling to two old people who were alone for Christmas Eve. My little old friend cried and cried and hugged me for 5 minuets straight while I sang Silent Night and Joy to the world in her ear with my family singing harmony behind me. I was VERY glad we went to her and sang. Her joy was my favorite of the Christmas presents I recieved this year. My heart still warms at the memory.

During all these days I was trying to finish up a few last minute pretzel/apple orders and I was trying to sew stockings. For some crazy reason on Friday I decided to make all of us stockings. Rohan didn't have one, Mac and Ella's were falling apart (I had gotten them at the dollar store when they were little) and mine from my childhood didn't match. So I went shopping and picked fabric and of course couldn't just do the pattern as written... I had to make it hard and change parts of it that I didn't like. So I had to re-invent some things. But I like how they turned out. I need to put names on them or initials or something, but I let myself off the hook on that one cuz I was sewing until 1 am Christmas Eve. Here's a little pic of the finished products. What you can't see is on the other side I wrote all of our names on a little scrap of paper and pinned them on. It looks dorky, but then Santa knew who's was whose.
They were fun to make, and I was proud that I got them done and was in bed by 1:30am. Last year I think I stayed up until 3am and I wasn't even sewing! :)

So, let's just pretend that I wrote the following part of this post on Wednesday or Thursday when I had planned to:

Merry Christmas to all you lovelies! I hope you have a wonderful day full of the joy of family and the warmth of the Savior's love. Here is a little Christmas message from my family to yours. Please don't judge us as we didn't really practice, we just wanted to sing you a Christmas carol or two.

Manic Monday: Tree

The tree boughs were sagging with the weight of the white blanket that the sky gently laid down. They looked tired. I stared at them for a long time wanting to go and give them a good shake to relieve them of their burden. I smiled because that's just how I felt- relieved of my burden. The funny thing was, I didn't even know I carried the load until I woke up dreaming bad dreams about today.

I dreamed that the program was starting. I was in charge and I was at the back of the chapel. I thought that I was supposed to be there, but then I realized that I was in the wrong place and I needed to be up front. Strangely, as I realized this, the chapel was suddenly about two miles long and I knew I'd never make it up there in time because it had already started and the pianist was waiting for me to cue them to start.

I panicked, so Dustin and I ran outside and he drove me to the front of the chapel (which had become an ultra long trek). When I ran in the door, the Primary Chorister had brought all the Primary kids up to the stand early since I wasn't there to coordinate it. The pianist (Maria, for real) was playing the intro of Joy To The World over and over waiting for me. As I got up to where I would lead, the Primary kids were in the way and the pianist and the organist couldn't see me. I moved them several times, but they just kept drifting back in my way and I hit them with my arm as I led the song. I woke up in a panic and everytime I'd fall asleep again, I 'd dream something else bad. Finally I gave up and got out of bed at 7:30 on a Sunday morning... unheard of for me!

Needless to say, I was nervous and felt the weight of coordinating and carrying out my church Christmas program. Had I thought of everything? Had I miscalculated the time? Would the speakers go on too long and make us get out late? Would I remember to stand the choir up before they sing? Would someone bump my music stand in the shuffle of singers and send my music flying with a loud crash? Would I forget the cut-offs?

I was so busy worrying that I couldn't even enjoy it or tell if it was going smoothly or not. It felt choppy and disjointed. Don't get me wrong, there were tender moments... hearing the speaker talk of a Christmas in her childhood when she got a single stuffed bear for Christmas and her joy was full... hearing my brother sing with tender strength about Joseph guarding the baby Jesus... seeing my little Ella and her friends Emma and Angie sing "Away In A Manger" with their sweet, little, child-voices... hearing Maria's piano solo and letting the beauty of that performance make me feel buoyant and light... but those tender moments were constantly buried by the bigger worry about the clock, the time signatures and the cut-offs. Was anybody feeling the spirit and the message or were they picking up on my freaky-worried vibes? Was that a blank, bored face I just saw, or was he just absent from his body as the music carried him to a place only he could see and experience? I was neurotic. I was a roller coaster.

Then... the final cutoff came. I listened as the prayer blew threw my wind tunnel ears... I couldn't hear it, but it didn't matter. It was over and I was relieved. Relief was something I expected. What I didn't expect was fulfillment. There was a need in me that had somehow eluded my awareness and was now making itself known.

As person after person came to me with tears in their eyes expressing the beauty of the last hour, tears began to fill mine. My own aunt hugged me, crying, and told me that I had "saved her Christmas". Someone else told me that was the best church Christmas music program she had ever experienced. Another person held my face in her hands as she thanked me over and over. And yet another held my hands and told me how perfectly wonderful it was and how it was just what she needed. There were more... my mom, my dad, the Bishop, the Bishop's wife, a few choir members... they just kept coming and I was totally overwhelmed.

I really didn't do that much... except shoulder some responsibility, execute a plan that I had a lot of help with (thank you), and listen to other people make beautiful music.

It was the spirit of the music, the people and the Savior, Jesus Christ, that did all the work. It was touching to so many people and, even though I was too busy worrying to notice, I was bombarded with feelings joy and gratitude and service when it was all over because people shared how it touched them. I couldn't believe that I missed their joy and that I actually wondered if people were bored and thinking "Enough music, already!".

And then, as I went home, I was overcome with gratitude to my Heavenly Father for giving me the gift of arranging all of this, participating in it, and working with the many people who helped pull it off. I was overcome with the Spirit and I felt joy and love pulsing from me like a heartbeat and I thanked Him for my joy and my experience.

I feel humbled and gratified in a way that was so very unexpected. The world will never know, but for this little bit of my blog, the gladness of my heart and the magic of song, season and service.

The True Meaning

Click here for one of the loveliest versions of the true meaning of Christmas I've had the privledge of encountering.

(I happen to have insider information and know that you can order prints of this beautiful image. Leave a comment on the blog or email me for contact info... clancyinidaho{at}live{dot}com.)

Manic Monday: Light

This is what we did tonight.... it's always *my job to put the lights on. That's just because I'm a picky sunuva and I can't have the wires strung all over the place or the tree looks like a spiderweb.

*self-appointed position because Dustin likes to think he's a spider


Isn't it lovely? Seven strands of rainbow wonderfulness. And notice the tree-skirt that I made last year? Yes, I'm asking for praise and recognition. Shameless...



In my quest for light subject matter, I came across the following quote. It doesn't say light in it, but it feels like light to me. I like to think of myself as trying to live my life like this, for the most part:

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.
~Anthony J. D'Angelo


And this has nothing, whatsoever, to do with light, but here it is anyway. My first apple pie. My vent holes got a little... ok... a lot retarded because I forgot the butter and had to shove it into the pie after it had already been baking for five or ten minutes. :)

Say 'yes' to randomness!

Be sure to visit Mo for more Manic Monday fun!

A Favor?

I have a favor to ask of someone who talks to my husband in person. Please refer him to my blog and tell him that this is an idea for me for Christmas. Or this. Or this. Or these. I would just tell him myself, but that takes the fun out of it for me... and for him too, for that matter.

He might read my blog, he might not. He does sometimes. I never know when, though. Although, working out of town, he might be reading it religiously because he misses me so much! lol! (could happen...)

So, honey, if you are reading this... don't tell me... surprise me. I'll probably forget about it by Christmas... except for the fact that I look at your bank statements about 99% more than you do... so I'll probably know. You'll have to be covert. ;)

Christmas Madness!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already. Life is moving too fast. We had a fun holiday! We all stayed up way too late Christmas Eve... kids til 11:00, Dad til 1:00(ish) and Mom until 3:00! Lucky for us our kids didn't wake until 8:00, except for Rohan who we woke up at 8:00 with the others, but he was a total grump and didn't "get it". Finally at about 8:30 or 8:45 he woke up enough and realized that this was all very fun! (I think the ripping of paper was what got him) They were thrilled with their presents... Ella got to have fuzzy velvet posters which could have been all she got and she would have been happy. Mac got a wallet... which was thrilling for him... and a book and an RC helicopter which broke on day one (mom's glued it, but it's already come unglued). Rohan got cars and a Fisher-Price car garage and a Spiderman toy. The family got a Wii which Mac literally fell over when he saw. Someday maybe I can figure out how to upload the video of that one on here... it's pretty funny. Dustin got a ShopVac and some other stuff that I won't mention... (it has to do with making hats for everyone in my family!) It was a great day of family togetherness which is the most important part of all. And to make it all the more special... Christmas Eve blanketed us with about 10 inches of snow which was fabulous! Very fun! For some strange reason, I didn't take one picture. I did take video, but no snapshots. Weird, huh?