New Friends

I'm so excited!!  About 6 years ago there was a girl on TV in the UK with Moebius.  Emma had just been born, so to see this teenager doing gymnastics etc was a huge encouragement.  I contacted the BBC to see if I could get in touch with her, but to no avail.

Today I saw her on Facebook, on one of the Moebius groups.  Her name is also Emma, and although she is not the only Moebian in the UK called Emma, I knew it had to be her.

I friend requested her and sent her a message (so she knew why I contacted her!).  She accepted and we chatted a bit.  I let her know how encouraging she had been, and also what a beautiful young woman she had become.

She lives in Taunton, but is from Bristol (!) and is at university in Plymouth (!!).  (If that means nothing to you, don't worry ;)

Unfortunately she won't be over for the conference in DC this July, but maybe one day we'll make it back to the UK and can meet up with her!

Totally made my day.

The frenzy!

Merry Christmas

Let the festivities begin...

Loved doing the stocking the way I used to as a kid, not least because we were up til 2:30 getting everything else ready!

Immanuel - God with us

We've been preparing our basement to become a playroom for the kids.  We've taken it to a higher standard than originally planned - I'm thankful that Scott has a "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing well" attitude!  However that also means it's taken more resources than we had originally thought, and we started out with very little to begin with.

It was a leap of faith to start.  Plenty of other demands on our time and money, but the need for a safe place for the kids to play (no fence around are yard) and somewhere to run around in the winter (other than my living room!!) was weighing on us.  Couple that with a strong desire to invite people into our home and build relationships, and needing somewhere kids can play without tearing up the bedrooms, and we asked God to back us in this endeavor, committing to use it for his glory too.

And back us he did.  Much of the material we needed was donated by various tradesmen Scott works with (huge testimony to the heart of my husband in connecting with people!), and I don't mean scrap - decent stuff!  He worked on it when he could often after 6 day weeks, and then after church. 

As Christmas approached the kids were asking more frequently when it would be ready, stars in their eyes dreaming of this space for themselves!  And the dream of mine to have it ready for Christmas, to re-organize the house so that they have room in their rooms etc, just loomed large!

Scott handled the pressure [from me] with grace and continued to work as hard as he could.  I can admit I've been increasingly panicked and stressed out about the timing of all this!  With the carpet coming Tuesday our backs are against the wall.  Sunday after church we called on some friends who stepped in to help, but there was still more to do.  That just leaves today, to finish everything up and then get the gifts wrapped because tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we have church and who knows how much time left. 

So it's the day before Christmas Eve, a Monday.  (Remember we asked God to help us with this project.)  We both had work today, so it's all going to be after bedtime - not a lot of time.  Then Scott texts me this morning: "Pastor Bob is going over to the house this afternoon to paint."  PB is one of the best painters we know.  Today is also his day off, after preaching two services yesterday, and preparing to preach two tomorrow night!  There's not many people who would make time to help a friend in that way, much less at the busiest time of year (did I mention our church administrator is away?!!).  What a HUGE blessing.  

No one likes to have their back against a wall, facing huge odds and no visible way of making it.  But it is in those times that we are able to see when God shows up.

How appropriate to have such a vivid demonstration at Christmas.

Bunny Tales

The bunny has been renamed Benjamin (Peter Rabbit), and I let the kids hold him.

Toby was excited until the bunny tried to climb up him and scratched his neck!  He was terrified to hold him after that.  No, it wasn't a real scratch, just baby claws on skin, probably more fear than pain!

Emma was loving it and Benny seemed quite happy with her.

Next step: actual house training when he's in the basement!!

Merry (early) Christmas kids!

The kids met Clover Bunny this morning!

Early Christmas gift

We had our office holiday lunch today (here I am with Sharice, my friend and former boss of 15 years!)

So I got home late, just in time to put the kids to bed.  

It seemed a little odd that our bedroom door was locked but Scott gave me the look (don't ask!) and I let it go.  

With the kids out of the way he let me in the room and showed me this

We had been talking about pets increasingly but I don't like cats and a dog is a huge long term commitment.  My suggestion - a rabbit!

My first and only four-legged pet was a rabbit I got when I was 22!  She lived with me until I came back to the US, and she moved in with my parents.

They can be house-trained, make little noise, can't jump on furniture and can be kept in a cage!  

With the basement almost ready for the kids playroom, it will be a perfect space to let a rabbit out to play.  There won't be any electrical cords or nice furniture to chew or hide behind.  

I can't say I wasn't very shocked, but once I dealt with the spontaneity, I got pretty excited.  We let it (no idea on gender, and we'll let the kids name it) run around the living room for a bit!

I have a feeling this will be a tough gift to top!

Day of rest

Emma had a restless night last night and woke up this morning with a temperature.  She was feeling good so we all went to church.

Scott delivered a great monologue on the nativity story from Joseph's perspective

I guess she was under the weather because when I picked her up from Sunday School she clung to me and had been crying missing me!

I was headed to lunch with Katie (chicken tikka masala, oh yeah!!) and Emma, distraught at me leaving, tagged along.

And the biggest sign of all, she did not want to eat (gasp) and laid down and fell asleep!

When we got home, she went back to sleep

Toby and Scott crashed out too, so we put a hold on working on the house for today.

Emma didn't wake up until 7pm!  Friends were supposed to come over at 4, but we cancelled and when she found out she was so upset.

She soon regained her appetite though!

In other news, Katie gave me a really nice scarf for Christmas!!  She's heading back to Nebraska for Christmas, so we'll miss her!

Emma's School Christmas Pageant

Emma did great in her first school pageant and Toby and I were in close proximity.  

Check out some of the songs...



Watch the boy next to Emma on this one, I was cracking up!

Toby's First Christmas Pageant

Today was Toby's show.  Emma, Pops and I had a front row seat...

Toby did not look up the entire entrance!!

Despite standing next to best buddy Nick, Toby did not smile the entire performance, and hardly sang.  We made encouraging gestures to no avail.

Unfortunately Scott could not take time off work.  I don't know that his presence would have made a difference with this shy boy.

Santa showed up without warning, so Toby shook his hand, but was too scared to get a picture with him.

Emma was not!  She had asked to meet Santa and I denied taking her to the mall and doing the whole lap thing.  This was a perfect compromise.  The fact that she decided it wasn't "the real Santa because he doesn't wear glasses" was a bonus!

After a couple of errands in the car the little guy was tuckered out!

I'll try and get the videos up soon.  Stay tuned for Emma's show tomorrow!

This the view from our basement window...

I love snow (when I don't have to go to work)!!!

Snow day!

School is closed and in just 15 minutes the road is already covered!!

So glad I'm not working today, but so much for my dentist appointment and Toby's school show is postponed til Thursday!

Nothing to do but paint the basement!!

Snow time for playing!

As we came from the car to the house Toby fell in the snow, so I had him remove his pants (trousers) on entering the house.  He opted not to redress, but lay in front of the heat vent, in the kitchen!!

We hunkered down in the warm for lunch, but when Scott went out to shovel our 3 miles of sidewalk (!) the kids wanted to go too.  

We tried the electric (!!!) snowblower that our neighbor gave us when she moved...

It worked great, but the power cord did not drag well through the 6" of snow!  But hey, it was free and still saved a ton of time!

Emma did not last long, but Toby was all about the snow...

Unfortunately I was caught unawares this year, and the kids did not have snow pants or boots yet.  By the time Toby came in, his pj pants and sweatpants on top were caked in snow and his extremities were cold, "FREEZING!" To be precise...

Yes, I the kind of mother who takes a picture before rescuing their child, but only when it's safe to do so!!

No word yet on school tomorrow, probably open late, but no such deal for parents!