Fun in the Snow

It's Really Not Thaaaat Bad

So, Sunday mornings are not always the easiest for ministry families, but yesterday had some added excitement. The kids are early risers and they play upstairs until I tell them they can come down for breakfast. Daddy was long gone by 6:45 when the screaming began. It was definitely a hurt scream, but I did not go running. We have hurt screams often and they usually amount to nothing. If said scream is followed by 'she is bleeeeeeding' as loud as possible from the oldest two, it requires more attention.

This one did, but I responded very well. There were no hysterics or fainting on my part. The laceration was just at the hairline of Samoosa's forehead, smack in the middle and the blood was already well below her nose by the time I got there. She had tripped and fallen into the large dresser in her sister's room. Her forehead was pretty swollen and the actual cut is relatively small and a little deep. Once I got the bleeding stopped enough to leave her alone, I decided that a home-fix would do for Sunday. Sweet friends agreed with me that the drama surrounding stitches really wasn't worth it. Uncle Derek came over to help supervise while I got everything sorted out and then we headed off to church. (Thank you, D.)

We stuck it out until today. String Bean had a well-visit appointment scheduled for early today, so Samoosa tagged along. Dr. Smoot, who I just love, peeked under the bandage and decided that glue would work better. Fabulous! No bandages. She used Dermabond to seal the skin back together. As she said, it is the best invention in modern medicine. No needles, no removal later, and it looks pretty good. The application brought a few tears as it took three of us to hold her still, but all in all, this bonk on the head is really not that bad.

Let it Snow in Houston!

Here is a sampling of our fun snow day on Friday. We were all so sad that Daddy missed it all because of his flights being cancelled. Yes, I did wake a sleeping baby for this. It's not every day that it snows in Houston. The older two had a blast all day and would have stayed out in it all day if I let them.

More pictures and video to come later.....we had some special guests join us for the big day!

Not Quite Sure

Our borderline OCD child was not so sure about the white stuff. She
stayed on the pavement by the truck for a good ten minutes and that
was only after I assured her that it was ok for the stuff falling from
the sky to be on her gloves. She wanted a napkin to wipe it off. She
got the hang of it eventually and loved putting snow all over my jeans.

This Afternoon's Project

With a 5, 4 and 2 year old......this should be interesting.

Times Have Changed

Technology sure has changed things.....sewing is a fine art shared by
few, hand-written love letters are scarce, my kids don't know what a
house phone looks like and surely not a pay phone, elementary math
curriculum includes 'texting', we never miss a show - thank you DVR,
and I could go on.....

That's what makes things like this so meaningful. A friend knitted
this cap just for our String Bean. She took the time to purchase
material and carved out enough hours in the week to do this. I am
thankful for her thoughtfulness and I have to admit, the girl is
pretty cute with those big eyes under the sweet cap. Thank you, friend.

Look at the Fire

Tonight we began our Advent celebration at home with the kids. This is something that I intended for us to do last year as we prepared our hearts for Christmas and it just did not happen. I can't even remember why right now. This year it is a priority. There are several intentional things we do to help our family focus on Christ during the busy season and this one is very easy. I have a wreath and the five candles set up among our decorations. Each week (for us it is Monday or Tuesday evening) over dinner, we will light the appropriate candle(s) and discuss what they remind us of. Tonight, Nathan talked about HOPE that was provided to us by God sending His Son to be the Savior of the world. His birth is our hope of eternity in Heaven. We keep it simple and not too long - memories are made - there are diversions like 'look at the fire' as the candle burns, but Truth is told. They learned a new word - advent - and know that Jesus Christ is our hope.