christmas traditions

A few years ago, the realization hit me. Jared and I had started a new family. And our family was different from any other family. I realized that establishing our own family traditions was now our own job.

Ah, I remember the Christmases when I was a kid. Some of you won't understand what these mean to me, but my family will smile when they're reminded. Springerle. The best knoepfle ever. Too much tinsel on Oma and Opa's tree. Santa Claus somehow mysteriously coming down our chimney which was no bigger than a 5" pipe. A tiny advent calendar with cardboard doors. Sister #4 crying because tinsel was stuck in her crack and it hurt. Mooty Man with big black boots, a black fur coat, and foil (can't forget that). Opening presents to the light of the tree. Silent Night in German. Wrapped chocolates in dishes planted all over Oma and Opa's house. Endless supply of chips. Endless supply of pop. Loud Schwabisch conversations...and then loud translations for us kids. Lebkuchen. Hazelnut cookies. Hard, gray, star-shaped cookies that were gross but always there. Buckeyes...and more buckeyes.

Now that the kids are old enough to understand what the true meaning of Christmas is, we have begun to establish our own Christmas traditions. It's been easiest doing this in the form of an advent calendar/box. Most of these ideas were stolen and adapted from Sister #1.

1— put up the Christmas tree and decorate

2— tell the Christmas story with nativity scene

3— color Christmas picture together

4— sing Christmas carols at the piano

5— bake and decorate gingerbread men

6— nativity scene sticker activity

7— decorate sugar cookies

8— make apple-cinnamon tree ornaments

9— color paper Christmas ornaments

10— string popcorn

11— go to the bank open house

12— make stamped nametags on cardstock for presents

13 — open a little pre-Christmas gift: A Baby Born in Bethlehem book

14 — make hot chocolate (fancy, with whipped cream and sprinkles)

15 — make Christmas cards for people

16 — watch a Christmas movie

17 — cut out paper snowflakes

18 — make and decorate brown gift bags (idea from Nancy)

19 — sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

20 — open a little pre-Christmas gift

21 — make presents for cousins
22 — go on a Christmas treasure hunt
23 — eat a candlelit meal
24 — read the Christmas story out of the Bible, open one little gift
25 — open family’s gifts

I know there are so many other good ideas out there, and I'd love to hear them. Rachel, some day I'll get the guts to do gingerbread houses. Lisa, I wish I could think of some awesome ornament to give our kids each year; the pick-ups are so cute. Trains came to mind, but I think our kids have enough trains. Nancy, I heard about a cake that you make, but I can't remember the whole story.

The kids have enjoyed opening each door to see what daily verse and fun there might be. Each year will probably be a little bit different, but hopefully from now until they have a family of their own we can build lasting Christmas memories.

home again, home again

jiggedy jig...

where there's a steady quiet

where the stars shine bright

where you can watch the moon's 180-degree path

where laundry hangs on the line

where 'regular' begins to return

where friends are only a knock away

where family is always there

where you must wipe hay out of the washer

where you hear a tail wag slapping on the garage step in the middle of the night

where you find a random cow hoof in your lawn

where Farmville has lost its luster

nature center

Earlier this week, we decided to check out the San Angelo Nature Center. It was interesting to see what animals they had in this miniature zoo.

One room was full of snakes. Most were rattlesnakes, but there was a case of boa constrictors and one with this black python. This disgusting python was several inches in diameter. The Plexiglas separating us from him just didn't seem sufficient.

a dip in the pond

We met a Kansas family! James and Katie and their three girls are from Meriden. They arrived in San Angelo a month ago for a six-month training. What a bummer that they weren't here the whole time we were. Last Saturday, we went to their house for supper (and to watch KU lose). What a great family! The kids hit it off real well.

Yesterday, Katie and I decided to go to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts where kids can do free crafts on Thursdays. We did our crafts and went out back to play near a fountain and a small tiered waterfall/lily pad pond.

Now if you read my title, you can already guess what happened. And you can also probably guess whom it happened to. Katie and I were talking and chasing after their 1-year-old daughter, leaving the four older kids "fishing" in the tiny minnow pond with grass poles a few paces back from us.

Our conversation was interrupted with screams from the little girls. Carly was frantic as she yelled, "ISAAC FELL IN!" Isaac has made mistakes like this before, so I didn't go temporarily insane like I did the first time two years ago. However, my parental instincts kicked in as I dropped everything I carried and was there to rescue him within a second. He had fallen in feet first, so the top of his head was still dry - but still, it was 3 feet deep. The rescue probably could've been done without me having to join him in the fish pond, but it was easier for me to just jump in too. This time, he didn't cry; he just came out with a puzzled look on his face and said, "I was kicking my feet! I was!" I guess he didn't understand why this wouldn't have helped him stay afloat.

When it was all said and done, Isaac and I both shlopped back to the car, leaving a drip trail everywhere we walked. The whole scenario was somewhat funny, but the more I think about it, the scarier it gets. Praise God for protection!!

crazy love, pt4

The last of Crazy Love...

I can finally say now that I recommend this book. My reviews on this blog didn't do it justice. Chan writes in the last chapter, "By now you're probably wondering, What in the world does this mean for me?" He reminds us that the first church responded with action: repentance, baptism, selling possessions, and sharing the gospel. "We respond with words like Amen, Convicting sermon, Great book... and then are paralyzed as we try to decipher what God wants of our lives." Chan challenges us to hold nothing back, putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises. Our purpose is to serve a holy God and to love.

Yesterday, the kids and I went to Cartown Hyundai to get our Trailblazer serviced. (This is the dealership where we bought the car.) While we were waiting, I read the last chapter of Crazy Love. I remember thinking that it would surely be an interesting conversation should someone see this book and inquire about what I was reading. I thought to myself, I could even give this book to the person if they asked about it. But nah, I want to keep it. It was really good, and I would love to read it again some day. So, in the back of my mind, I had selfishly decided that this book was all mine.

I finished the book, and the kids started getting restless. After a bag of M&Ms and a couple stories, they told us our car was ready. I payed and we left. When we got back to our apartment, I realized I had forgotten my book. It was still sitting on the table at Cartown. A part of me wanted to go back and get it, but I don't think I will. People don't typically chuck out books, do they? For $10, maybe, just maybe someone will pick it up and read it. Isn't it great how God works? And isn't it funny that just a couple weeks ago, we'd bought a second copy of the book with the intention of giving it to someone? Maybe we still will. Or maybe this second copy can be ours. Or maybe we'll leave it somewhere accidentally.

getting out the tubs

We've been counting down for weeks, and the chain is down to 11 links. Time seems to be standing still, yet the weeks go by quickly. Now that doesn't make sense, but it's true.

Little by little, I've been clearing the walls, packing boxes, weeding out junk. I'm torn. We all want to go home so bad. Responsibilities await. But part of me is filled with guilt for leaving Jared down here alone for the 3 weeks following Thanksgiving. That's the biggest con of leaving now.

Over the past 3 weeks, I've gotten to know our neighbor girl who lives on the second floor across the sidewalk. Giovanna's a girl from Colombia who speaks very broken English. She just had a baby girl three months ago. What she said the other day made me realize the second biggest con of leaving. "We just find a gut neighbor, and here you will have to leave." Jared and I knew this would happen; we knew relationships would just be beginning as we had to leave.

And the one con that has us humbled the most is the fact that our San Angelo church people put time and effort into loving us and investing in us. At times I'm sure it seemed pointless for them. What would they get out of it? Eternal rewards. So it wasn't all for nothing.

Despite the cons, we ARE looking forward to:

• seeing you
• returning to "normal" life, whatever that is
• listening to Casey's sermons in person and being a physical part of our church, rather than just hearing the laughter, good times, and trains through an mp3 file
• chopping wood
• seeing Lucy, as annoying as she can be
• doing chores
• having the freedom to walk outside where there are endless possibilities of things to do. I guess there are endless possibilities outside our front door here too, but they're not the same.
• not having to listen to "I wanna go home!" several times a day now. (We've resorted to telling the kids to hop on their trikes and bikes and start out. We'll catch up with them in a few days.)

The list could go on, but I've got some things to put in the blue tubs.

flu shots

Flu shots are free for military families, but we'd been putting it off. I didn't want to deal with the terror and wailing that typically accompanies the shot. The kids despise them with a passion. After each flu shot, Carly is so mad, she refuses to take the measly sticker the nurse offers her, and she stomps out the door, whimpering (that's after the wailing has stopped).

Last week, I told the kids the ever-dreaded news. "Kids, we need to go get our flu shots." The whining started. In an attempt to start comforting the kids before we even left the apartment, I told them that maybe we'd be lucky this time and get the flu mist squirted up our noses instead of the shot, because that's what they give Daddy. Carly started getting a belly-ache from worry. I stuffed my pockets with Smarties for a post-shot prize.

We drove to the clinic on base. Carly desperately tried to fall asleep on the way, thinking this would make her exempt. Isaac did the same. When we got to the pediatric wing, Carly's expression was grim. When they called us in, she walked slow almost protesting. As soon as the nurse told us we would be getting the flu mist, relief flooded over Carly's face. She didn't have a clue what the flu mist even was, but SURELY it was better than the shot.

All went well. And this time, Carly even picked out a sticker.

images

The kids decided they wanted their own homemade costumes. Daddy dressed Carly, and Mommy dressed Isaac.

New news from the Hartter household: Carly can ride a bike. She told us she'd try without training wheels when she was 5. A few days after her birthday, we asked her if she wanted to try riding with the training wheels off. She said, "No." Isaac exclaimed, "I DO!!!" even though there's not a chance in the world he could balance. This response from him challenged Carly a bit. She said she'd try. We took off the wheels and off she went.

kid stories

A treasure I found today is a story Carly told me when she was 3 years old. I had written it down word-for-word.

Once upon a time, there was Suzy and Lucy and Mary and they had some mommies. Mimi and Doo-Doo, their mommies could be. They fighted over the toys and so Doo-Doo and Mimi said, "Little girls, we have to put them in time out," said Doo-Doo and Mimi to the little kids. They fighted over the crayons and the pencils, and so Doo-Doo and Mimi said, "We have to put the pencils and crayons in time out." And then they went with the stroller to the park because maybe they have a white stroller just like these two white pencils. They played on the playground. Then they went to their house and went to bed. You know, they all have nightgowns to wear to bed. Lucy and Mimi and Suzy and Mary and Doo-Doo - they all have nightgowns. The End.

I wondered how Isaac's storytelling might compare, so here's the story he told Carly and I tonight:

Once upon a time there was a house and some people and there was a book right on a roof of their house. Then, there was a train coming on the top of the roof and it wrecked on top of the roof. Then it went home, but soon a hotdog come walking on the street and an icecream and some cake. There was a lizard and a smiley-face and then a orange paper comed, and a blue paper comed. They comed on the roof, but they were a long ways from home. And there was a . . . . (Mommy stopped recording because Isaac started getting silly.) And that was all that comed. The End.

long-lost lists

We did some cleaning and weeding out today. I was so excited to find two long-lost lists. Here are links to them.

50 activities to do with your kids

100 ways to love your husband his way

fall fun

We call this post 'fall fun' because I think Halloween is the dumbest holiday, thus making the title 'halloween' the dumbest title. The past few days have been spent thinking about whether or not we should participate in trick-or-treating. Every bit of research I've done on the origin and meaning of Halloween has just verified my stance.

Okay, okay, I remember trick-or-treating as a kid, and we had a blast. Dressing up, driving from house to house, knocking on doors, eating candy,...it was all fun. One old lady in the A.C. Home apartments didn't have any candy, so she sprinkled a few pretzels in our bag. To this day, we call her "pretzel-lady." Halloween was fun and games back then.

And now, I'm an old geezer who has a humbug attitude about it all because I know where Halloween comes from. There were several resources I used in researching this 'holiday,' but here's one from MacArthur. This year, we will not be trick-or-treating. But instead of being snotty neighbors with our lights turned off, pretending like we're not home, we will be handing out candy to other kids. We even have a jack-o-lantern. And here's why:

I found this fun story online about how a Christian is like a pumpkin. Visit the link for the full version. We went through the analogy while we carved the pumpkin this afternoon. We are like pumpkins in that God picks us from the patch and brings us in. He cleans us out, and sticks His light inside of us to shine for all the world to see. Here are a few images.

And here's a little bit of fun we had last night:

Since we saw the $6.00 sign for funnel cakes at Sea World, we've been hungry for them. We decided that we could make our own funnel cakes for $2.00, so we did. (These funnel cakes cost us 25 cents each. Sea World's $6.00 charge?! What a rip off!!) A piece of advice for you funnel cake lovers out there: fry them outside, so when you're sick to your stomach from eating all those funnel cakes, you won't have to smell the greasy fumes that stay in your house for days.

polishing off #3

(Jared ate most of #1 and #2.)

Funnel Cakes

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 c. milk

2 c. sifted flour

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2-4 c. cooking oil (I used part Crisco.)

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and milk. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to egg mixture; beat until smooth. Heat oil in 8" skillet to 360 degrees. Cover bottom of funnel with finger. Pour ½ c. batter into funnel. Remove finger and release batter into hot oil in a spiral shape. Fry until golden (about 3 minutes). Using a wide spatula and tongs, turn cake carefully. Drain on paper towel; sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve hot. Makes 4-8.

ewe wouldn't believe...

...the fun we had with this project.

Yesterday, we drove around downtown looking for the 23 ewe statues in San Angelo. The kids thought finding 11 was enough.

pecan harvest

Well, not exactly. The kids and I drove around Goodfellow Air Force Base looking for pecan trees. And do you know what we found? Pecans! One tree kept us busy for an hour.

I'm not sure how to easily shell 2 gallons of pecans. We're taking Wikipedia's advice and soaking them in hot water for 5 hours before we start this nut-crackin' party.

Come join the fun!

crazy love, pt3

the hardest chapter: serving leftovers to a holy God

Chan said this chapter was the hardest one for him to write. It was hard to swallow, too. He writes, "As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there's no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are 'lukewarm' are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven." And he goes on to give his reasoning (Revelation 3:15-18, John 14:15, James 2:19, 1 John 2:3-4, Matthew 16:24-25, Luke 14:33), which accurately backs up what he claims. I look at myself as this: either I'm growing or I'm not; I don't see how becoming a Christian and then sitting still can really exist. "Habitual sin" is a term Jim used in Sunday School once this past year. We all have lukewarm tendencies, and we all sin, but are our sinful tendencies habits without repentance?

Jerry Bridges writes a chapter on the proof of love in his Transforming Grace book that went well with Chan's leftovers chapter. The section on Law and Grace had a good explanation of obedience, failing, grace, legalism, etc. His question: Under the reign of grace, is the moral will of God, considered as a whole, a request or a command? And his answer: The word request connotes desire; whereas the word command connotes authority to require. We are commanded to obey. Obedience is not optional, rather a response to our salvation. And lukewarm partial-obedience doesn't sound like it can still be called obedience either.

Chunks of text from Chan:

God wants our best, deserves our best, and demands our best. From the beginning of time, He has been clear that some offerings are acceptable to Him and others are not.

It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left.... God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing. A mumbled three-minute prayer at the end of the day, when we are already half asleep... [The priests of Malachi's day] assumed God was pleased because they had sacrificed something. God described this practice as evil. Leftovers are not merely inadequate; from God's point of view (and lest we forget, His is the only one who matters), they're evil. Let's stop calling it "a busy schedule" or "bills" or "forgetfulness." It's called evil. God is holy. In heaven exists a Being who decides whether or not I take another breath. This holy God deserves excellence, the very best I have. "But something is better than nothing!" some protest. Really, is it? Does anyone enjoy token praise? I sure don't. I'd rather you not say anything than compliment me out of obligation or guilt. Why would we think God is any different?

God wants to saturate us with Himself. Am I allowing Him to saturate me? Am I giving Him every part of my day, my mind, my life, or just the leftovers?

tis (almost) the season...

...for gingersnaps.

3/4 c. butter

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1/4 c. molasses

3 (+ 1/2) c. flour*

3 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. cloves

1 t. ginger

1/2 t. nutmeg

additional sugar

Cream butter, sugar, egg, and molasses. Sift together dry ingredients and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Chill at least 1 hour. Roll into 1-inch balls and dip into sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes or until set.

*These cookies turn out different every time I make them. This time, they were flatter than my half-inch-thick standard, so I added another 1/2 cup. The last time, I added too much flour and the dough was crumbly. I fixed this problem by adding 2 T. heavy cream. That seemed to do the trick.

sea world

We took a quick trip to San Antonio this weekend. One great advantage of being military is they let you in free at Sea World. We didn't spend a dime, except for parking and gas. And our hotel was free because of Jared's Marriott points he earned in May when he was back east. Now, THAT'S what I call a vacation...when you don't have to pay for anything. ;)

fountains in the hotel pool

one last dip before winter

images from Sea World:

Carly wanted to ride the scariest roller coaster, but she was four inches too short. She had to settle for this ride and a kiddie roller coaster. She LOVED it! I SO look forward to riding the Mamba with her! :)

shows from the day:

AMAZING show!

After we watched this show the second time, we saw a couple who had chosen to sit in the splash zone with their two kids. The kids were wailing because they were drenched. We just laughed and laughed because we knew that's exactly what would've happened to us, had we not run out when they started splashing. The couple was laughing too, wiping their poor kids down.

celebrate Carly

She's been looking forward to this day for a long time.

FIVE years old!

We gave her the choice between cake and fluff, and she picked fluff. PURPLE fluff with pink cream piped on top...and in her mouth.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARLY!