Consequence

This is what happens when you chuck an egg at your kid, unexpectedly, to see if they can catch it...but then realize you grab the raw eggs and not the hard boiled oens.

On a side note, we need to work on our kids catching skills.

Christmas is Up!

The weekend after Christmas we completed decorating the house but I think this angel is the cutest decoration of all.

Sophie wearing our tree skirt as a..well,...skirt!

I've also spent the past couple of days helping out at our church receiving and logging in nativities and artwork for our community's annual nativity exhibit.  It is always so fun to work with people I don't usually see often or even know because they attend church in another congregation. It's fun to hear the stories attached to the items that come in. I always learn something interesting and gain new acquaintances, if not friends, by the end of my time volunteering. Not too bad!

So something happened the first day during the checking in of nativities that got my feathers all ruffled. There were just too many cooks in the kitchen trying to deal with one person's items which the computer system had mixed up and we were all trying to straighten out but in different and often in conflicting directions. Meanwhile, the woman lending the nativities was becoming anxious and needing to leave.

In my evening prayers with my Heavenly Father, I shared that I felt unsettled about the moment, that this moment stuck out from the others that day. While I pondered on it with His help, I came to understand the part I played in it. I also felt He wanted me to address it.

The next morning, at the start, I approached the ladies involved and said I wished to apologize for the inappropriate manner in which I handled the situation the day before. I explained that I had become anxious, felt concern for the lady's time, and instead of expressing this verbally or removing myself from the situation, I let my foolish pride take over and tried controlling others even though the end result of logging the nativities would be wrong. I told them that Heavenly Father had helped me to see this and I was sorry.

The coolest thing is that they had all felt similarly and it opened up a conversation not about who was right or wrong but providing solutions and mutually deciding what we would do so it would not happen again. I felt the Spirit return to our interactions, even strengthen us, and the rest of the day was great. And good thing too, because Heavenly Father must have known how slammed we were going to be that second day with more than twice the amount of items coming in the first day!

This is why I value my relationship with Heavenly Father. If I will give Him my time and humility, He helps me understand the bigger picture and what things I might try without making me feel like garbage. Even when I mess up, He sees the good in me and helps me learn, grow, heal. He gives me opportunities to repent and use Jesus' atoning power. It reminds me of one of my favorite verses, Hebrews 12:6, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" This is just one personal example of how I know Heavenly Father is mindful of us and is concerned with the details of our lives. His love and guidance is often manifested in the small and simple, day to day experiences of my life and I love Him for it!

Thanksgiving Week

Our plans to camp 3 nights this Thanksgiving week were canceled due to the other two families having to cancel and Rhys' arm break. We still had a good week--planning Thanksgiving dinner, jumping n on a couple service opportunities, and putting up the outdoor Christmas lights.

I raked the backyard so the kids could be kids in the leaf pile, we got out to the Perot Museum, and on Thanksgiving day, we hiked some trails, ate, and watched Elf. Pretty good week if you ask me.

Rhys Makes A Break For It!

So I got off work a couple minutes early so I went home to change into more comfortable clothes before picking up the kids and got a phone call saying Rhys had fallen off the play equipment and his arm was in a bad way. Fast forward and Neal and I are in the ER at Children's in Plano because we alread learned from his first break (right arm) to not use our local ER. After some drugs and x-rays he had a diagnosis of a broken radius and was splinted up to be put in a cast later.

A big thank you to our friend Kari and her mom, Kim, for taking my Sophie at a moments notice so I could focus on Rhys. A big thank you to awesome bosses who let Neal leave work to join us at the hospital.

Neal taking a photo to share with his boss!

On the following Monday, we were to have him put in a cast (he'd already chosen Christmas colors) when the orthopedist said it was a very small break and he was more concerned with the swelling as he believes Rhys momentarily dislocated his elbow but that it had snapped back into place by the time the x-rays were taken so...no cast but it's still a break. They want him using the arm so it doesn't get frozen up. He's not in any pain and is doing fine. We just need to have him wear his sling when in public so others don't rough house with him while he heals.

Just Serve

We wanted to do a service project as a family again so we checked out JustServe.org and found that a local homeless shelter was in urgent need of adult blankets and cold/flu medication. We made a Facebook Event and at the end of two weeks, and because of the compassionate people we are surrounded by at church, school, family, and in our neighborhood, we were able to collect and deliver 41 blankets and 40 over-the-counter cold/flu medications just as the cold weather entered the season! With the donations coming in, our hearts were really warmed and we felt it was great way to kick-off this season of gratitude and love.

Our first few donations!

Final result

Aunt Kira and Uncle David Visit

We love when Uncle David and Aunt Kira visit and we're not just saying that because Kira's the only one who reads our family blog (Yes, you!). We hung out, did a puzzle, visited a fire fighter museum, hit the Dallas farmers market, chased a hot air balloon, pulled it's chase vehicle and trailer out of mud, tried roasting chestnuts, played games, and just enjoyed being together.

Newly engaged!

Until next time!

Camping

We've had so much rain that camping has been a gamble lately. We got out this weekend though and enjoyed cool temperatures and being together as a family with the Hancocks. We tried out our new 0 degree sleeping bags and found out we needed to patch an air mattress and repair a cot. We also tried veggie sandwiches for dinner when we found that the meat had been left in the freezer back home. It's what make camping exciting.

The next day we packed up and took a long stroll through the woods. There were so many kids of fungi that Tyler and Neal decided to catalog them all. There were at least 22 kinds of fungi, beautiful colors of leaves, and beauty berry at the end of it's season. After lunch, the park, and a peek at the lake we were on our way.

Asp - to touchy!

Halloween Happenings

This year Sophie decided on unicorn and Rhys wanted to be Ash from Pokemon. I bought shirts and ribbon from the craft store and created his top with my minimal sewing skills. We enjoyed Trunk or Treat with our church family and were happy to have the McCrea family join us.

Forest in her Dia de los Muertos costume

I got a Halloween puzzle because I just couldn't wait for puzzle time at Christmas.

"Helpers"

On Halloween, the kids got a fun breakfast and lunch. We headed out to trick or treat with friends and neighbors and ended the evening with Harry Potter themed fun at the Hollingsworths who served up butter beer (not beer) and pumpkin juice.

Ham sandwich, small dill pickles, and sliced peaches