time with family, time with friends

After the first time we got to spend time with baby Sweetness in the NICU, I told DH that if we had to turn around and drive home right then, it would all have been worth it.  He agreed.  So pretty much everything else in the trip was icing on the cake!

I'd have to say, though, that while meeting Sweetness was the highlight of the trip, the next best part was our accommodations there in the Springs.  We got to stay with my dear Susan, and the time with her and her family was just truly wonderful.  They welcomed us even though half of their family was recovering from illness.  They made us feel completely at home. Our children played so well together that I did not hear ONE FIGHT the whole WEEK we were there.  I mean, every now and then a child got overwhelmed or tired and was not at his/her best, and there was the occassional misunderstanding easily cleared up--but no squabbling over toys, no temper tantrums, no exclusionary games, etc.  Just sweet friendship and fun, which seriously meant so much to me.  It is not every family that would take in a family of six for a week without batting an eye, and little things like kids continually squabbling would have easily turned us into the proverbial three-day-old fish.  (I made sure to tell the girls on the way home how proud I was of them, and when we got home they each got to put one straw in the manger for every day of the trip, since they did so great!)

I loved having so much time with Susan, one of my oldest and dearest friends.  Someone asked me later if we had good conversation, and I had to think.  No, actually, I don't think we did!  That is, not the deep soul-sharing stuff I love. But we just hung out together, which is a true girlfriend luxury.  (And Luke indulged me with a friendly, borderline-intellectual--on my part--political discussion, which I confess made me feel refreshingly adult.) And Susan totally encouraged me in the whole bread-making thing, showing me her method and effortlessly baking up fresh loaves of gorgeous, delicious bread almost daily.  We even got to join Susan and Luke in their weekly dinner with two other families, with whom we were close when we lived in CS and who are delightful people.  It was such a great week.

The only downside at all to the visit was that my family did, eventually, come down with whatever stomach bug was circling the Springs, but even that worked out well, because while DH got a fever for a day or two, he fought it off without other symptoms, and managed to time it well between our visits with his sister and brother-in-law.  Then Merry and Smiley were next, but they graciously waited until the day before we were going to leave anyway, and so we just left one day early (which turned out to be perfect for the turn-around here at home before heading up to spend Christmas with DH's grandma and family up in Chico).  And nobody threw up in the car or had diarrhea, and Susan gave Smiley a couple of toy cars for the road (his current favorite) and the girls some Disney princess coloring pages and so all the kids were happily occupied for the two days home.

(Really, my kids are fantastic road-trippers, but to spend two whole days contentedly coloring?  Priceless.)

If there was one disappointment in our trip for me it would be that we did not get to spend much quality time with DH's sister and her husband.  Because of their daily hospital "cares" schedule, and because we were trying to be careful about when and how we saw them, so we did not pass along any illness to them (illness which might make them unable to tend to their precious baby in the NICU!), it was surprisingly hard to get together with them and our kids, but we managed quite a few meals together, and one lovely time hanging out and chatting in Susan's living room, with all the kids nicely occupied elsewhere.  That was really the only time we got to really talk with them as adults--when you are eating with four young kids, it is sometimes hard to get a word (or a bite!) in edgewise.  But I'll be thankful for what time we had, and just look forward to the next time, whenever it is. 

I can't believe I did not get a good pic of the kids with their Auntie N. : (  But we were trying to keep the kids away from close physical contact with N and S, to keep them from catching sick germs, and we planned on getting pics when we celebrated our early Christmas together that last day, which we then had to cancel because of sick kids.  In this pic, Uncle S is, against my chiding, allowing the little germ-breeders to climb all over him while we were out to dinner. 

It snowed just enough to get to bundle up the kids and send them out for the rare experience of real winter.

Just enough to have fun in

Thank you, dear friends, for the lovely time.

the La Posada Hotel

Just want to make a short post about the marvelous hotel we discovered in Winslow, AZ, which is just about half-way between our home and Colorado Springs, and which will now be our favorite stopping place:

One corner of the ballroom at the La Posada hotel

I won't go into the history or details here, since you can read more about it here.  But it is truly unique, and fun, and beautiful, and friendly, and if I have to pay someone to give me a bed for the night, I would much rather pay a family of artists and peace-mongers than whoever owns the Quality Inn.  And as the La Posada website tells you, it has been "rated as one of the best places in the world to stay by Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler," and "rated as #3 in the entire U.S. for bargain hotels by Trip Advisor."

The fireplace in the same room.

More importantly to me, they did not make a listing on the National Bed Bug Registry.

It was reasonable for us because the kids are just small enough that they all fit on one queen-sized bed--lined up long-ways. : )  DH and I took the other bed and had a good, comfortable, quiet, night's sleep. 

There are trains to watch, and art to admire, and table games to play, and local hand-made treasures in the gift shop, and outside gardens that are just the right size for kids to explore safely with minimal supervsion.

So, consider this post a travel FYI, in case you happen to ever need a hotel near Flagstaff!

a month of special Christmas blessings: the wrap-up begins

Hoping all of you had a very Merry Christmas!

I have not written much recently because we have had a whirlwind month.  It feels like our Christmas started three weeks ago--when DH's two week vacation began and we headed out on a roadtrip to Colorado--and is still going strong today--thanks to new toys and the leftover gingerbread boys we brought back with us from Great-Grandma's last night and the Christmas specials we have not yet had time to watch! It has been a wonderful couple of weeks, full of family and good friends and special moments and focusing our hearts and minds on Jesus--all the best parts of Christmas.

So I will give a few updates in the next couple of days, just to share some of the good times with you all.  Even though I have not been writing, I have stayed current with the blogs I read, and so if you are a blog friend and have not yet done YOUR post-Christmas summary, just letting you know I'll be looking forward to it! : )

Tonight I'll start with the reason for our trip to Colorado in the first place:

Yes, we drove out to meet our new little niece, baby S, whom I wrote about before and whom I've decided to nickname for this blog.  So, baby Sweetness is really doing well overall, but is still struggling with issues from being such an early preemie (born at 27 weeks gestation, now at 34 wks) and with such low birth-weight (she is finally up to 2 lbs 10 oz!  whoo-hoo!).  Her lungs are the greatest concern, as they are having trouble developing and are being scarred by the high oxygen content and pressure they have to keep her on most of the time. She is really precious, and I was in awe the first time I got to be present during her  "cares" (when they change her diaper, tubing, etc.).  I did not cry, though--until I saw her little hands and realized they were exactly like her mommy's, except in miniscule proportion.  She has her mommy's hands!  And her mommy's jawline, although you can't see it in this photo.

I also took this video that same night:

The image quality is poor because the light was so low there in the NICU, to protect little eyes--and my camera sometimes decides to auto-focus while I am recording.  But it is good enough to see the sweet, tiny girl a little.  She does not look very small in the video--until you see her mommy's hands over her, and realize one of her mommy's fingers is almost the same size as each of her arms.  And her mommy has smaller hands than me!  Sweetness is so tiny, but just a perfect little baby.  Those of you who have been praying for her, thank you.  It means so much to us.

More of our trip to come!

UPDATE: anyone having trouble viewing the video uploaded above can go watch it here.

hideous holiday sweater contest--vote now!

One of the blogs I read weekly is having a family contest--who came up with the ugliest holiday sweater.  It's a fun idea for families with older kids who are looking for a new, creative, family-oriented Christmas activity--the pics are great.  They are soliciting votes from their web communities, and voters will be eligible to win a $25 gift card from Barnes & Noble!  So go join in the fun!

So, tell me, what are you dying to know?

Reader Gabe just make a request to my last post, asking when I am going to get around to writing more about how we successfully live as a homeschooling family of six in such a small home.  I am glad she asked, because I have been meaning to do that for a loooooong time.  So I think after Christmas, when I should have a little down time and the chance to blog more (ha! well, here's hoping!) I will make that a writing goal. 

So as I start thinking about what ideas to share, how about you all let me know what specific questions you are dying to have answered.  Nothing is off limits--you can ask away.  Living in such a small space does really make us get creative with stuff, storage, personal space management. . . so anything you would like to know, just ask in the comments and I'll do my best to address it as I write.

ALSO, for those of you who have been waiting patiently, I'll also be giving you all the virtual home tour!  (Oooooooohhhh, ahhhhhhhhhhhh!) So now you can satisfy all your curiosity about us and how we live, and  I guarantee you will leave the tour loving your own comparatively huge space and being thankful for what you have. : )  

Christmas dresses!

(click on each photo to embiggen, if you so desire)

These are Mom's latest creations, just in time for Christmas.  When I was out in IL for the reunion last summer she showed me a pattern she wanted to make up for Sunny, and a piece of fabric she had on hand. . . a few days of excited brainstorming and fabric shopping, we came up with these combinations.  Coordinating, but not matchy-matchy; old-fashioned but a little euro-funky, sweet and practical!

Thank you, Mom.  We love them!  Almost as much as we love you.

Let Freecycle Play Santa!

Oh, my dear friends, family and readers, I am feeling lots of joy and goodwill towards humankind this morning.  I have written before about freecycle, so you all know how awesome it is for blessing others with your unwanted stuff.  But this weekend we are experiencing the other side, that is really special at this time of year--receiving gifts of generosity from complete strangers.

Last year I saw how our local freecycle group was suggesting people could post "Dear Santa" lists--which is pretty much no different than the usual way of asking, except that the "Santa" element suggests an added element of holiday spirit, and I think people might consider responding to those lists with an extra generous spirit.  We have to be careful with our finances this year, as most people do these days, and as always most of what we will be giving the children is something they need--on the list this year, for example, are a new bike helmet, a child's leather belt, new shoes, a raincoat for the biggest girl, etc.  But we also try to get a few fun, good things that we think will be enjoyed.  For example, for over a year Happy has been wanting to learn to play the ukelele.  So cute!  But when I looked online earlier this year for a "real" one, and not just a toy, I was discouraged because the ukeleles I found either looked like junk, or were hundreds of dollars! 

But when I saw the announcement the other day from our local freecycle group about the "Dear Santa" lists, I thought I would try.  So I made a simple post:

Dear Santa,


We would like a nice ukelele to give to our daughter for Christmas. One that is meant to be played as an instrument, not a toy.


Thank you!

A few hours later, I saw I had received in my inbox this response, from a lady named Diana:

I have a uke you may have.  I bought it about 12 years ago for $75 & I never learned to play it.  So it would be wonderful if it could bless someone instead of hanging on my wall.  It would be great to know that someone was playing it m& having fun with it.  It is a Hilo model 2651 & it has the serial # inside as well.

I am going to meet her this afternoon to pick it up.  How cool is that?!

And then last night, after DH and I finalized the gift list, I made this post:

Dear Santa,


We got some tracks, but need some trains! We are looking for the trains that fit the Thomas/Brio sized wooden tracks. We prefer wooden or die-cast metal, but plastic would be fine too if they are in good shape. Santa, maybe you know of a child who has outgrown his? We would give them a great home!

And this morning I found this response in my in-box, from a lady named Mary:
 
I have a bag of these I picked up at a yard sale.  Some pieces seem to be metal, some plastic and some wood.  There are also some wooden track pieces.  My plan was to buy more tracks and gift them to my great nephew, but I looked at tracks at a toy store and they're expensive!!  So, this bag of goodies is all yours if you want it. 
 
I'll be picking these up today as well. 

Some people don't think giving used gifts is appropriate; I think it depends upon who you are giving to.  My kids get used things all the time as gifts, and they are growing up seeing the value of the thing, not whether or not they are the first ones to take it out of its package.  Now, if the toys are really banged up, I might not choose to wrap them all up under the tree--we would just wrap up a few pieces in good condition or put them in the kids' stockings.  The rest we would bring out later.  Whatever we will give the kids will be clean and nice looking, no matter where it comes from. : )

Used goods save money and don't add to our carbon footprint--frugal and green, two of my goals for more healthy living. Of course anyone asking for free things has to use her judgement, as some things would not be good to ask for--old baby toys that might have phalates or lead, for example. But as my day attests, freecycle can not only be a great way to get some very cool gifts, but can also generate all kinds of Christmas cheer in your community!  And I am ALL about spreading the love. : )

UPDATE:
Picked up the things. Ukelele is beautiful wood, looks new.  Trains are mainly plastic, but they are "Thomas" pieces so they are cute and look brand new!  So happy with these FREE things.  Now I just need to offer something on freecycle in the same spirit, and keep the love going!

God is trying to tell you something

Estranged daughter, long-hardened father, repentant husband--all because of God whispering to hearts through the power of the human voice lifted in praise. One of the best moments in movie history, ever.

What is God trying to tell YOU this morning?