The three H's for the Holidays

We went to the "Hanging of the Greens" service at church on Sunday. It was the first time we have been to it at our current church. Usually we have been traveling back from relatives, but this year we came back on Saturday and were able to go to the service.

It may partly have been because I run around a little bit tired, which makes me more emotional, and that things have been stressful this semester, which also makes me more emotional, but I was a bit teary-eyed for much of the service.
Christmas is my favorite time of year. This is partly because I have fond memories with my family. I love the familiar music. I love the colorful Christmas lights. The food and the music and the whole atmosphere just makes me think love, coziness, closeness. Many people are more likely to smile and say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays (especially if they see a toddler dancing into a store singing Jingle Bells)...but only if the people are not falling in to rushing around and thinking of the time as a series of checklists to get done before the holiday.
I struggle with that part of it each year and especially this year. I am dieing to get started on my holiday shopping. I know what I want to do and mostly what I want to get. I know many of the things that I want to bake and put up. I know that I want to drive around and look at Christmas lights with the kids. I know I want to keep up with the advent wreath and the advent calendars. I want to donate to Toys for Tots, get an Angel off the Angel Tree, ring the bell for the Salvation Army, and do so much more.

I also know that I do not have the time to do all of that.

When I was an undergraduate I would take my last final, go back to my dorm room and put on Christmas music. Then I would wrap my Christmas presents to take home.
I sort of miss those days when it seemed pretty simple and straight forward. At one point in my life all of my shopping was done by the end of October. That is far from the case now.

I know that right now it my life I have to pick and choose.

Really, for my kids, it doesn't have to be a big grand all out holiday. They will remember the things that I choose to invest time in and the rest will not matter. We can bake a few cookies, and put out a few decorations. It will not matter that I only put out half of the Christmas decorations. They will not miss it if I bake just three different kinds of cookies instead of four.
This is the first Christmas where Doug and Andy have specific toys they want...and I have already started to prep them that Santa may not bring them exactly what they want because Santa might think that there are better toys for them that have more play potential and more potential to stir their imaginations. They must learn to appreciate what they have because there are truly many who have much less. I purposefully found an Angel Tree child who was about the same age as my children so they would be forced to give away toys they might want for themselves.
This is a good Christmas for my children to begin learning about what Christmas is truly about. Christmas is a celebration of the fact that Jesus came and was born for us.

At the end of the Hanging of the Green service the whole congregation went out to the lawn where a fire was burning. We had holly leaves that we were supposed to toss in the fire after offering three prayers.
Andy had lost his holly leaf somewhere so I gave him mine. As I watched him make prayer hands and scrunch his eyes tightly closed as he prayed I realized that there are just three things I want this holiday season...three H's for me, my family, my friends, my community, and the world.

• Health
• Happiness
• Hope

I'm thankful

I am thankful for my loving husband.
I am thankful for my goofy children.
I am thankful for my great friends who support me.
I am thankful for my family who help me out when I am in need and who love me unconditionally.
I am thankful for the many blessings that God has given to me.

Play date

We had a play date yesterday. We had Doug's best friend from his class over and then another boy who Andy likes to play with from his class.

It is interesting to see the dynamics of a bunch of four-year olds. Even with my kids being used to having other people around to play with it is still different to have friends over.
We also have the issue that our house is large enough that there are a lot of different areas. We played a little bit outside but the kids would play for a little while in one spot and then move, and move again, and move again. This seems to be a symptom of having friends over as this is not a normal thing for my kids.

Josie just kind of did her own thing. She played with the boys occasionally, but there were times she seemed to think those boys were a bit strange.

The Dougs

Jim preached his first sermon today. He went through lay speaker training and then developed a sermon and preached it today. It went great!

We had some friends and family who came to support him. We went out to lunch afterward at a Chinese buffet place.

Through the whole meal I could see this couple looking over at the kids. I couldn't tell whether they were amused or annoyed at my children's behavior.

Then is turned out that the man's name was "Doug" and so apparently every time I would say "Doug...." the man would hear his name and look over.

My Doug still talks about the pizza delivery guy who was named Doug. It's just not a very common name anymore.

Scatter Brained

I feel so scatterbrained lately.
I can finally check comps off my list of things to think about. I had felt pretty confident after my major area comps but I was not so sure after my minor comps. I did get word that I did pass them. So that is one thing not to think about any more.

I also had Jim and his court case on my mind. Unfortunately something apparently came up with the judge and it is postponed until January. December will be the first month since May that we have not had a court date scheduled. I just would like some resolution on it.

I'm not quite sure where I am at on my course work. I'm in good shape for the one traditional class I am in (traditional...well it is completely online but it does have definite assignments and due dates). I'm not where I want to be on the paper I have been working on. I keep forgetting about trying to get more responses to the survey I have to evaluate a program (I had to wait until a bit into the school year and...well...we're now a bit in to the school year). I am not where I want to be on my independent study.

At some point I need to work with Josie on potty training (we've been real casual up to this point but she is showing more signs of readiness), Andy will not have speech during December so he and I decided that we should work together, and I need to do a better job of holding the kids to their chores/responsibilities.

And that why my brain is in fifty million different directions.

Just have to vent!

I am experiencing the messed-up state of health care in this country.
During September and October while Jim was in between paychecks and health insurance I got the kids on the state Medicaid system. Jim did not qualify (there is virtually nothing out there for healthy men) and ironically because I did the responsible thing and got my tubes tied after having Josie, I did not qualify.
It sounded good because even though I didn't apply until September 12 the coverage started right after our old insurance stopped.
That said there are some things messed up about it.

1. I know they are busy and needed more information from me, but we did not receive news of our coverage and the cards until mid-October. This means that for a month and a half I had three children under the age of 5 whom I hoped would not need a doctor during that time period.
2. For every mailing that we get about it, I get three envelopes. So to me that means probably around a dollar could have been saved if all the mailings were sent in a single envelope.
   
3. The day before Jim started his job and a couple days before I got the Medicaid cards, Doug needed the three stitches for his chin. We went to the nearby walk-in clinic rather than the emergency room. Apparently there are only a few places that accept Medicaid and it turns out that the walk-in clinic is not one of them. So Medicaid will not pay or reimburse any of it. Some complain about people using the emergency room for health care, but the system encourages people to do it.

Hair Milestone

Here is the most recent picture I have of the kids. It was taken mid-October.
You might be able to tell that Josie's hair is actually starting to grow and thicken.
Perhaps it is trying to get to a feminine hairstyle that we have trimmed her bangs (since she will not consistently wear barrettes) but she still has yet to actually have a true haircut.
I will say that yesterday Josie and I went in to a store and a lady said "I envy that head of hair. I didn't have hair until I was two and people mistook me for a boy."
All I could think when I heard her say it was:Lady...she is two and she still gets mistaken as a boy, and perhaps Josie's hair really is starting to come in.
I simply said thank you.

Parental tips...

***Warning- not for the weak stomached out there

Gleaned over the "years" (really only 4 years) of raising multiple children (in other words twins gave us a crash course) here are some useful tip for dealing with sick kids....

1. Best advice my older sister ever gave me was that if a child has a fever but is acting normal don't worry too much but if a child is not acting normal (fever or no fever) then worry.
2. Children can run pretty high fevers so around here we don't panic (though we are watchful) until we get close to 104.
3. Best tips for knocking out a fever....use Tylenol or Motrin (my kids do okay on Tylenol but always respond to Motrin so that is sort of our default med), strip the child, cool wash clothes on the back and/or head, a luke warm shower is great, and Popsicles are a must to have around for bringing down fevers.
4. Viruses can last 7-10 days....that means that the puking/diarrhea/fever can last that long if that stomach bug is viral.
5. Kissing a forehead is a better indicator of knowing a child's temp then feeling with your hand. I also once met someone who reportedly could put her temple to a child's temple and predict the temperature pretty accurately...but I have not striven for that kind of skill.
   
6. Get to know your child's illness pattern. Doug and Andy I can always feel the fever on their forehead. Josie I have to watch it because her temples will get hot but not the front part of her forehead. Doug will stop puking and go to diarrhea, Andy will go straight from puking to normal. Andy will run a higher temperature than Doug and Andy's behavior is directly related to how high the temperature is. Andy handles snot better than Doug.
   
7. Call twenty advice nurses and you will get twenty different opinions about how to deal with the illness.
   
8. Kids throw-up. For a great variety of reasons that do not all involve being sick.
9. Handling your own child's puke/diarrhea is much easier than dealing with someone unrelated.
10. Water proof mattress pads are a must and while you are washing those mattress pads you can put a towel under the sheet to protect the mattress because children often do not know they are going to throw up until it actually happens.
11. A warm shower is a great way to get the snot out. If children are coughing due to post-nasal drip put them in a warm shower before bed or if they are coughing too much in the middle of the night.

If you have any useful tips I would love them. I'm really hoping that we are on the road to recovery around here because I am tired of having runny noses around my house.

This was the first day of school

That "was" in the title is in past tense....as in the first day of school was in August...and I am just now posting pictures.

Procrastinating on my assignments

Here are some more pictures to help me procrastinate on getting my actual work done...