Homework, the drive to crazy, Advent & More

A few weeks have slid by since I wrote something, and mainly because I have not had a fully functioning brain. At least, it appears this may be the problem. There are days when I can say that a busy schedule, sick child or little sleep has compounded the problem (and you girls may read this & had assumed that I have always been this way). I seem to remember a time when my brain functioned at top speed - as Abi would say. Unfortunately this is not the case lately. In the midst of all of this, 'normal' life has proceeded & with it some great, funny, & frustrating moments. Here are some of those moments.Stella, you are not much of a talker, but you LOVE to sing and you are FULLY engaged in all Dora, Diego & Little Einstein videos. It truly is fun to watch you sing, answer Dora's questions, & pat-pat-pat with Little Einsteins. You are also taking on the role of big sister with Chloe & Claire, and it is ALWAYS in their best interest to follow your plan. You are quite 'persuasive' with them - praise God we are not an Italian family with Mafia connections. You are pretty attached to me when you have not found something to do, and as much as I LOVE to snuggle with you . . . having you literally attached to me all day long gets a bit draining. So today as I peeled you off of my leg for the 20th time I said, "Stella you are going to drive me crazy!" Jillian overhead and asked, "When are you going?" "What? Where?" I responded. "Crazy" was her reply. Ahhhh, mommy needs to be more careful with what comes out of her mouth!Abi, you are so amazingly smart, and I CANNOT believe what you are learning as a first grader. You have homework every night, and I'm amazed at what you know. But I have to admit that there are some nights (usually involving math) where I just don't think I can take it. I know I'm not the most patient woman (no laughing please), and it's not like I'm homeschooling (no judging please), but I'm not sure it's a good sign that I end the homework time perspiring & a bit sarcastic. Granted, having Stella bust in every 5 minutes to 'experiment' on the computer or Chloe & Claire banging on the door with toys can be a bit distracting; but number patterns & graphs have never been so difficult in all my life.
Chloe & Claire, it is truly amazing to see how quickly you girls have grown. The funny thing with 3 older sisters is that you want to play with all of their toys - forget the baby stuff. You also want to play how they play - including Stella - who LOVES to tackle. So Chloe has taken up chasing Claire, and tackling her. Surprisingly, you actually like this Claire - until Chloe lays on you. Then when you try to get up and can't, you b/c annoyed & begin to yell. Chloe lets you up, begins to chase you, and the cycle continues. It is incredible to watch how you make each other laugh, and it is incredible to watch how you steal each other's toys. Ahhhh, all day long.

Chloe your new 'thing' is to sing part of the Messiah. Yes, Handel's Messiah. I am practicing it for our church choir, and it is often playing in the background. So there is a part that goes, Wonderful, and the next line is, Counselor. Yep, Chloe you sing Counselor. Ok, it doesn't sound exactly like Counselor (I didn't say you were a musical prodigy), but you get the notes right on - pretty impressive I say.

A few days ago I got down all of our Christmas decorations. You girls are SUPER DUPER DUPER EXCITED about the lights and Christmas. It actually hasn't been too hard getting lights up . . . I never took the outside lights down from last year. Yep, we are one of those families who keep their Christmas lights up ALL year long. Who really notices? Besides I think laundry kept taking precedence over climbing onto the roof. Actually Tia Kelly put them up for us last year, did such a good job that I didn't need to take them down. Sweet!
Girls, we have entered into the season of Advent. Basically means we are preparing to celebrate Jesus' birth. I have to confess that I am still learning how to do this. Grammy bought the Veggie Tales Nativity Scene, and I thought we would set it up, each day in advent discuss a piece until we get to the baby Jesus (or baby asparagus in this case). But the pieces are already scattered around the house. I seem to work well having a plan of action, a goal, a book to read, a devotion to follow, a ritual to complete. Now, none of this is bad - but at times I get so focused on . . . the plan, that I seem to miss the awesome simplicity of this season. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. That whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." Pretty awesome, huh?
God may the expectancy of celebrating Your Son's birth permeate everything we do so that there is a deep overflowing joy, peace, fellowship, and service in all we do!