Christmas, snow, and the last of 2014

This year was easily the funnest year so far in this Francl house.  I mean, there is no Christmas better than one you experience when you're 3 years old.  So. Fun!!!!  Here is how it went...

Christmas Eve - The Francl Side

On Christmas Eve, Chase worked 1/2 a day and then headed to his parents' house after Connor got up from his nap.  It was, perhaps, the longest 1/2 day of Lily's life.  We had been to Chase's parents a few days before, and she'd scoped out the presents under the tree.  There was a present for her, and it was wrapped in Frozen wrapping paper.  I think by the time we left the house at 2:30 on Christmas Eve, she had asked me at least 1,000 times when she'd get to open her "Frozen present."  We talked again, and again, and again, and again about exactly what would happen after Connor woke up and Daddy got home.  

But all that anticipation is part of the fun! 

We got to Grandma's, ate supper, and then it was FINALLY time!  See how excited she is:

(Just to clarify about the jammies she's wearing...  We always take the kids jams when we go to Grandma's house and stay till bedtime.  Often the kids fall asleep on the way home.  On Christmas Eve, as soon as supper was over and we were cleaning up in the kitchen, Lily volunteered to changed into her jams because it was getting dark.  I think that part of her thought process was that putting on jammies would help speed the present process.)

Connor enjoyed the fun and mayhem that is Christmas at Grandmas too, though without the intense focus on opening presents:

We are blessed to have family close by who we get to enjoy.  And we are grateful that we have the privilege of exchanging gifts as a way of showing love with them.  I feel like Christmas and presents often get a bad wrap - either they are accused of signifying the commercialization of Christmas, or they are a huge stress for the buyer to purchase and unliked by the receiver anyway.  And those things can be true and, sadly, often are.  But for me, for us, gifts are a way we show love to those dearest to us, just as God did that first Christmas when He gave us the ultimate gift: His Son.

Christmas Morning - The House of Francl

I love Christmas morning when it can be lazy, unrushed, and led by the kids.  At about 8, Lily woke up and came into our room to let us know she was up.  I asked her if Santa had come and filled the stockings.  She trotted out of our room to check and was back right away to let us know that, indeed, Santa had come!  I told her that was wonderful, but she needed to wait until Connor woke up before we could open them.

She walked back out to the living room to gaze at the stockings, and we heard her say to herself, "Happy Christmas Lily!"  :)  It was SO fun!

I remembered how much I hated the "waiting"time on Christmas morning, waiting for siblings and parents to get up.  It was SO HARD to wait! So I offered to let Lil watch PBS Kids on my Kindle while she snuggled in our bed until Connor woke up.

He got up at about 8:30, and the festivities began:

We started with the kids' stockings, and it was marvelous.  They sat on the couch together and Lily gave a running commentary.  "Oh!  I have another present in my stocking.  [As she unwraps it] I wonder what is in it? Wow!  It's a...."  Beside her, Connor would play with whatever thing was pulled from his stocking (I didn't wrap his things).  By the time they were done, Lily and Connor sat on the couch, surrounded by all manner of fun odds and ends, completely content.

We took a break for breakfast, and then headed back to the living to tackle the tree:

It was one of the funnest Christmases because of the kids, but also because of the presents Chase and I got for each other.  He got me a TV for our bedroom, a gift I didn't really know I wanted, but I have TOTALLY enjoyed since we got.  And I got him a step stool that he's been asking for for months.  (I got him a WiiU for his birthday the week before, so the step stool was very well received, and he admitted how oddly excited he was to finally have a step stool.)  It was just one of those Christmases where we nailed the gifts - things we wanted that we didn't really even know we wanted.

We were done with gifts by the time Connor went down for his first nap, so during the rest of the morning and early afternoon, we got cleaned up and ready for the next Christmas...

(Lily, sporting her new Frozen outfit - I can't even tell you how excited she was to wear it!)

Christmas Evening - Dad's

On Christmas evening we headed to my dad's house for Christmas with him and my siblings.  He always cooks us a great prime rib and all the fixings, and we stuff ourselves with way too much food.  Then there's gifts and games.

Being our 3rd Christmas in 2 days, Lily was well-rehearsed with the presents portion of the evening.  She "helped" everyone open their presents, and did a fantastic job taking turns and being patient.

By the time we made it through dinner, presents, and a game, the kids were spent from all the excitement, so we headed home with one Christmas left on the horizon.

The day after Christmas - Mom's

Christmas at Mom's with my siblings usually starts with a big brunch in the mid-morning.  It couldn't come soon enough for Lily.  And then the poor dear had to wait through brunch until her brother woke up from his first nap.  Fortunately, he didn't sleep very long!

Mom does stockings for each of us, and then gifts under the tree, too, so it is pretty exciting and takes awhile.  By this time, even Connor knew the drill and really enjoyed the whole thing.

Lily, was clearly excited. Also she was the one with the most presents under the tree.  In my my mom's defense, Lily was SO easy to buy for this year!  She is developing and learning so much, and the things you buy for her are, well, cheap. So it really looked like she got a lot (and she did!).

Connor thought he had a pretty good haul too.

After presents, we all just relaxed all day until we had cheese fondue and chocolate fondue for supper. Then we packed up and headed home.

Wrapping up 2014

One of the gifts Lily got was a snow shovel, and she was thrilled with it!  But there was no snow to scoop.  The forecast had chances of snow in the couple of days following Christmas, and we have had more fun with that little shovel than any other thing she got this year:

She does dink around with the shovel some, but Lily is actually really helpful with it too.  She scooped the sidewalk 1/2 way to the neighbor's house.  It takes her a little while, and it's not quite as clean as if Chase or I did it, but it's not bad!  She did all of the scooping in the picture below herself:

And if you have snow and have to scoop it, then you really ought to sled!  So we did.  We met up with cousins and uncles and grandpa who had arranged for the side-by-side to drive us back up the hill.  Lily and I did one run down the big hill that ended in a spectacular head over heels wipe out (including many tears, though no real hurts).  After that, I pulled her around on a very shallow slope on a sled and we watched the cousins fly down the hill and wipe out.  Until Lily's toes got cold...

The only solution for cold toes is huddling in the truck to warm up.  So that's how we spent the second 1/2 of the sledding experience.  But by the time we left, Lily was warm and agreed that she had fun!

The last Sunday of 2014, we got to celebrate the baby dedication of dear friend.  He's the little guy right next to me in the picture below.  In my current network of friends, these 3 girls are some of my closest and dearest friends.  They know my schedule, keep me accountable, call me out when I'm being ridiculous, and support me when I can't keep going on my own.  These girls are amazing and I hope you have friends like them in your life.  And you'll notice in the picture that each of us is holding a little boy.  In the span of about 18 months, each of us was blessed with a little boy!  And in another 3 months or so, we'll have a 5th boy - the girl all the way on the right is just starting her 3rd trimester!  So fun to raise our families together and learn and grow in this stage of life together!!!

There is one more story from 2014 I want to share, but I'll save it for another post.  To close this one, I'll just share this little gem (I can hardly take the cuteness!!!):

2014 wasn't perfect, but it definitely had its high points and blessed the socks off of we Francls.  Cheers to 2015 and all that it will hold!

The Bible according to Lily

Tonight Lily had her little picture Bible out and was reading to Whitaker while I was changing Connor.  She started at the beginning and each page got a sentence or two.  I was pretty impressed!  She got a lot of it right, and over all it was just adorable:

God made the sun.  It was very beautiful because it was warm.
God made Adam and Eve, and they were not married.  They disobeyed God.
There was a man with a magic sword.
Noah told God to build a big boat.
[I interrupted here and asked if she meant that God told Noah to build a big boat.  I was corrected - "No.  Noah told God!"]
He filled it with all kinds of creatures.
It rained for 40 years.
Then the sun came out and all the people came.
Adam and Eve were there.
And Mary and Joseph came.
There was a bush with fire.

I have lots of Christmas to share, but will save that for another day.  Happy weekend!

The Eve of the Eve

It is the day.  Well, actually, it's the day before the day.  Or, to be more precise, it's the day before the day before the day!  What I mean to say is that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the beginning of the official Christmas celebrations in the House of Francl.  And I'm looking forward to it more than ever for two reasons:

Reason #1

Reason #2

It's been a full run up to tonight.  But let's be honest.  We're all "busy."  All the time.  And then in the days leading up to Christmas, it's even more BUSY.  But busy is blessed because it means we have things to do, people to care for, places to go, ways to get there, and so many things for which to be thankful!

Yesterday I was overwhelmed by all that I didn't get done while Chase was away at work.  Namely, about 9 loads of laundry that had been waiting [I don't want to admit how long, so I won't] to be folded.  It was the only thing on my "To Do List," and I didn't even come close to getting it done. I think I managed to get about 8 shirts folded by the time Chase walked through the door.

Sure I accomplished other things.  But I was so frustrated with myself.  Ashamed that I couldn't manage my household well enough to even fold the laundry.  I mean, it should have been folded the day it came out of the dryer, not [I'm still not telling how many] days later.  Not to mention all the other things that hadn't gotten done.

It's the struggle.  The daily-ness.  And it sounds so stupid as I sit here and write it.

This season, it's not about the daily.  Or maybe it is.  It's about a day that was so different than any other day in the entire course of history that God himself sent his Son to this earth to make His debut.  And then, because He was so proud and because it was such a miracle of an event, God sent a crazy-ton of angles to fill the sky and announce the amazing thing that had happened.  I get that - the day my kids were born, I wanted everyone to come see, I wanted to show them off, I wanted the world to know how very lucky it was to have my baby in it!  Imagine how God must have glowed as the Heavenly Father that day.

And because that one day that was so different from any other day ever before, every day after it holds not simply the promise of Hope yet coming, but instead holds Hope itself.

What a gift.  What an amazing time in which we live.  And what a shame that I get lost in my own expectations of myself and crabbed around my house over some [no longer] stinking [even if it wasn't folded] laundry!  (To put your minds at ease, it's all FINALLY folded.  At times like this I vow to never let it pile up on me like that again fully knowing at some point it's painfully inevitable.)

Not again, or at least I'm going to try not to be a crab again even if/when the laundry piles higher than Everest.  There is so much I didn't get done this season.  The daily countdown calendar I was going to do with Lily says we're still 9 days away from Christmas; there are cookies that will never get baked; I still haven't watched 2 of my favorite Christmas movies; and you wont' be getting the Francl family Christmas card until after Christmas.  BUT...

But there's Hope.  Thanks to that babe so many years ago in that manger.  That babe who left perfection and came to... well... to us.  And let's just be real here - I'm not perfection in the least.  That anyone would leave perfection to come down here for me?  That's a miracle.  And God happens to be in the business of doing miracles!  Praise His name!

So while we were not folding laundry this last week, here are some things we WERE doing, and I think you'll agree, they were way more fun than laundry.

We took Whitaker to the vet, which the cat didn't particularly like, but we non-cats enjoyed.  In the picture below, you can see how Whitaker rode on the 20 minute ride to the vet (see him behind Lily's hat).  He stayed there the whole time, peeking out the window over his girl's shoulder.  And on the 20 minute ride home, he sat curled up in the lap of Lily, his girl.  They fight, they pick on each other, but those two entertain each other for hours and they love each other dearly.

We went to the library and (finally) returned our overdue books. And we had a great time.  Our library is a wonderful place - they have tons of books (can you believe it!?!  Just kidding.), toys for Connor to play with, and an adorable puppet theater.  Lily is at the age where she's pretending and making characters talk to each other.  They have wonderful little conversations and here she is putting on a puppet show for me and Connor.

And speaking of Connor, he doesn't stay in one place very long.  He's developing and learning and growing like CRAZY.  When I watch him play and explore the world around him, I can just see the wheels in his little head turning and processing.  He likes things that make noise, especially if they make noise when he shakes or hits them (like drums or maracas).  He learned to clap recently, and we hit most things to see what kind of a sound they make.  Except the cat and dog.  We try not to hit them.  Or the sister.

A couple of days ago, he was doing his little "worm" crawl across the living room where Chase and I were talking and Lily was playing, and Lily all of a sudden broke into our conversation.  "Mom, Connor sat up by himself!"  And sure enough, he had!  From his worm crawl into the sitting position all by his big self.  :)  ...aaaaaaand the big sister noticed it first.  She's 3.  And she noticed it.  And she knew it was a big enough deal to interrupt our conversation and notify us.  *sigh* We have great kids!

And today, he chased this pink balloon all around the living room, including all the way around and behind the recliner.  And that hair, compliments of his nap.  Isn't he great?!?

Hope.  And not just Hope for the sake of hope, but Hope for Eternal Life.  Merry Christmas.

Happy Day

I just finished a blizzard from DQ.  A celebratory blizzard.  Chase told me that it's only celebratory if the people whose excitement you're celebrating are with you.  I disagree.

Today started out as a good day.  I got to spend it at home with my kids, and despite my exhaustion from not nearly enough sleep last night, it was delightful.  It only got better when friends stopped by for a play date.  And then...

And then some dear friends of ours shared some amazing news, news we've been praying for, begging for, yearning for, for more almost 9 months. This news has had our friends on a crazy roller coaster with wonderful highs and heart wrenching lows.

But God moves.  And He moves in ways we don't see coming.  And He moves where there seems to be no way.  And He blows our minds!

Our friends still face so much ahead on their roller coaster, but today, this day, I'm celebrating.  Bits of the grief, exhaustion, frustration, and anger I have felt as we have walked beside them these last months melt away as I enjoy the elation of marvelous news.

The news is not mine to share, so I won't.  But cheers, my dear friends - I simply could not feel any more joy!

These are a few of my favorite things

In no particular order...

1. A dark home with a lit Christmas tree.  There is nothing so peaceful and warm.
2. Bells on kitten collars.  Genius.
3. Pacifiers.  Whoever invented these should be given a Nobel Peace Prize.
4. Flannel sheets.  Add to that a flannel duvet cover and you're basically sleeping in a heavenly cloud.
5. Dishwashers.  You have no idea how much time they add to your life until you don't have one.
6. Great conversation over hot drinks.  I don't know why, but hot drinks make conversation so much better.
7. Cards.  I know their origins and uses aren't all pure, but a deck of cards and a few friends make for a fantastic evening!
8. Grandparents.  I am blessed to STILL (at age 30) be enjoying all 4 of my grandparents - they are such mainstays in my life and I am so grateful for them.
9. Dirty things like clothes, dishes, floors, and bathrooms in my home.  Dirty clothes in the laundry basket mean we have been active and have other clothes to change into; dirty dishes on my table/counter/in my sink mean our tummies are full; dirty floors mean many feet (human and dog and cat) have trod through and I'm grateful for each one; and dirty bathrooms mean that I get to use a toilet, a tub and a sink and I get to use running water to clean them.  I don't always think of these things this way, but it sure helps my attitude when I do!
10. Naps.  I stink at napping, usually, because I need a LONG time to take a nap to make it worth while.  Except when I'm barely human because I'm so tired, like this morning.  Then I (and the rest of my family) are thankful for naps, whatever length, because I needed one.  Bad.
11. Toddler minds.  They are so creative and amazing.  Fishing lures (sans hooks) = hours of entertainment.  Elephant starts with "L," or at least it should.  Riding bikes all the way to the park so we can play fetch with our dog (which we could have done at home, but it's so much better to at the park, evidently). Dance parties, coloring books, kitten toys, Christmas lights & ornaments, gold fish, chalk, everything is exciting and new and wonderful.
12. Bedtime.  Why don't kids like this time of day???  

Lilyisms lately

Lily's latest thing (this started Tuesday) is that she thinks our van is too empty when we get in it.  I think it's because on Tuesday, her babysitter borrowed my van and hauled Lily, Connor, and 2 other kids in it.  So here's the conversation we had today on the way home from Mom's house.

L: Mom, we need more kids in the van!
M: We do?
L: Yes, we need more brothers and sisters.
M: More brothers and sisters?  How many do you think we need?
L: 5.
M: 5 brothers and sisters?!?!?  Do you want just brothers, just sisters, or both?
L: We need both brothers and sisters!
M: *gulp* Really?  Ok.  Who could give us more brothers and sisters?
L: God gives us brothers and sisters!

A few good things about this conversation are that she WANTS more brothers and sisters so having Connor didn't rock her world in a bad way; she knows that babies are a gift from God; and she isn't particular about gender so she wants brothers and sisters.

I'm just hoping that her sweet ideas don't come true too soon.  I still have a baby for goodness sake!

Speaking of which, my baby turned 8 months on Thanksgiving Day.  He'd been a bit cranky in the few weeks leading up to the holiday - he'd had a runny nose for a couple of weeks and a fever off on and on.  On Thanksgiving he cut his 4th tooth and he felt so much better that he was even more charming than usual.  See what I mean...

Connor hung out with Great Grandpa Gordon on the steps.
GGG taught him to put one foot in front of the other, so now
he is ALL OVER in his walker!

Connor snuggled with Great Grandma Jewel.
He's only 8 months old, and almost as big as GGJ!

Lily has been learning about how to teach our kitten, Whitaker, boundaries.  For example, Whitaker isn't allowed in the Christmas tree.  Chase taught Whit that by shooting him with a nerf gun the first two times the kitten tried to go after ornaments on the tree.  It was shockingly affective!  However, the next day, I had to put the nerf gun up.  Additionally, kitten isn't allowed on the table or counter.  He gets a swift swat when he does that.  Lily is learning to NOT spank him when he's NOT doing anything wrong.

Generally, she's doing so well with him, and he's doing so well with her - they really are best friends. This morning when I fed Connor at 5am, I put him back in his crib and looked over to Lily's bed. Whitaker had snuck into her room and was sound asleep curled up next to her on the bed.

Lily carried Whitaker all the way from her room to the kitchen
in dolly's car seat. Whitaker seemed to like it!

In addition to Lily being best friends with Whitaker, kitten-Whitten is good friends with Connor too.  It's amazing to me the sense that animals have around kids.  Despite that Connor grabs Whit's ears and pulls his tail, Whitaker hasn't ever left a scratch on Connor (I've helped so that that's true, but still...) and he'll come lay down right next to Connor just to hang out!  And can you blame the kitten for wanting to hang out with these two awesome kidlets?

In closing I'd like to commend whoever came up with the idea of race car shopping carts.  I think you deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.  And I hope you earned a lot of money for your invention!  There are moms all over shooting up silent prayers of thankfulness for your good work so we can shop in some semblance of peace.

Thanksmas 2014

Every family has its unique make up, its traditions, its quirks, (its skeletons), it's own character.  One thing that makes my dad's side of the family unique is the annual Thanksmas celebration.  My dad has 4 siblings, each having at least 3 children.  

Those children (we, the grandchildren) are in the age where we're becoming young professionals, marrying, having kids, moving, traveling, etc.  So the crew is getting pretty big and spread wide and far.  Branches of the family can be found as far east as Virginia, as far west as California, as far south as Texas, and as far north as Nebraska.  

But we all try to make it back for Thanksmas.  Fortunately for my family (since we moved back), the celebration is just a few miles away.  This year it was held back at Grandma and Grandpa's farm, a delightful change from the community rooms where we'd been having it.

The day started with the essential thing for any good celebration: food.  The spread was spectacular.  It was your typical Thanksgiving/Christmas fare of turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, beans, vegetables, gravy, salads, rolls, pies, cookies, cakes, candies.  That we all managed to waddle around after lunch was a miracle in itself. 

Perhaps the funniest, most unflattering picture of each individual in this
picture that I've ever seen.  Clearly an unexpected snapshot, and I love it for that reason!

After we ate, we were praising the Lord for the beautiful weather, so we all headed outside to enjoy it.  There were all kinds of things to do: play football, blow bubbles, ride bikes, shoot guns, chase kids, talk with adults, and generally just enjoy the great weather.

This picture documents a few things: (1) the crazy good weather we enjoyed
on November 28, (2) Great Grandma Jewel enjoying blowing bubbles just as
much as 3-year old Lily, (3) the incredible amount of vehicles it took to get us
all to the farm, (4) the huge farm yard capable of holding that many cars without
feeling cramped.  Unbelievably blessed!

The activity that occupied the most people for the longest time was
the impromptu gun range set up on the edge of the farm.  Since the cousins
are (for the most part) older, we can enjoy activities like this together.
We had a great time.  The clay pigeons, not so much.

It was quite an impressive show of fire arms and marksmanship!

Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the grandchildren who were present.

The whole family.  If I am counting correctly, there are 34 people
in this picture, and we were still missing 12 people.  And my count might
be off... I know everyone, but it's seriously getting hard to keep track of the count!

After an afternoon outside, we headed in for the annual game of "GIFTS" (bingo) where winning means a trip to the tables full of all manner of goodies and useful items.  Then we all (somehow) managed to make room for another round of food for supper.  The day ended slowly as we trickled out a carload or two at a time.  

I don't know about the rest of the family, but this was my favorite Thanksmas in recent years.  So great to be back at the farm, though we missed each one who couldn't make it.