Christmas Eve's Eve

Today is Christmas Eve's Eve!  I have always gotten a kick out of saying that!  

The kids were great!

Seriously.  They both were great today.  They had some minor scuffles, but, for the most part, there was harmony in the Smith house today.  

We went to the hospital to eat lunch with Dad today.  Then we went to the doctor for Shaun's allergy shots.  Then back home where Jordan took at long nap.  

Chris got called in to work again tonight and the kids wanted popcorn, so off to the store we went.  They've had their snack and now they're in bed.  

Oh- and I made glazed chicken for dinner tonight.  The "glaze" was basil, honey, and balsalmic vinegar.  It was quite tasty.  

Tomorrow Chris and I will finish our Christmas shopping.  I haven't wrapped the first gift yet.  It wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't put everything off until the last minute, now would it?

Its 7:34 AM...

and I have already:

Cooked and eaten breakfast

Taken Jordan to the potty

Broken up 2 fights between my children

Started 2 movies

Folded a load of laundry

Cleaned the kitchen

Vacuumed

Scraped spilled eggs off the floor

Why have I done all this before 8:00 AM on the first day of Christmas vacation?  Because my boys are weirdos that wake up at 6:00 in the morning when they know they don't have school.  Anybody know any good day care centers?

Number Two

Today Jordan pooped in the toilet for the first time!  Yaaay!  I'm so proud.  And ecstatic. And seeing dollar signs because this means I'm a little closer to being in a diaper free household.  After he was finished, he said "I dropped it in the toilet, mom".  Um, Yeah.  Sometimes I think I'm going crazy living here with all these boys.  

PS- And no, I did not take a picture of him standing proudly beside the toilet with his poo still inside the way Kate Gosselin did!

Bring on 2009

So, 2008 is winding down.  Only a few more weeks.  Thank God. I 've been doing some thinking over the past few days.  I thought last year was  bad, but I can honestly say that 2008 has been worse.  It has sucked, and frankly, I'm glad to see it go.  

I remember this time last year.  I was pumped and excited, ready to take on the 30 Day Fast in January.  I was so certain that taking the time to fast and pray would turn things around and that I would indeed "Have a Great 2008".  Not so much.  Instead, this year has been the worst year of my life, so far.  I have lost relatives, lost friendships, seen my children suffer, and have cried myself to sleep to many times to count.  I have been disappointed in my marriage and have watched my finances suffer.  

Last week I had this thought "If this is what fasting gets me, I'm better off without it".  Really.  I prayed and fasted for my grandmother's healing.  She passed away anyway. I prayed for my Uncle Jeff's physical healing.  He passed away, too.  I prayed for physical and emotional healing for Shaun.  He's no better.  I fasted for my family's finances.  Don't get me started on this issue!  The list of disappointments list on and on.  

We're talking about the upcoming Fast at church already, and my initial decision was to just blow it off this year.  Then, I had a revelation.  First of all, God commands us to fast.  So Christians should fast, regardless of whether or not we reap any "benefits" from it or not. Secondly, I had the wrong idea about the fast in the first place.  Fasting is new to me.  I incorrectly assumed that if I fasted and prayed, nothing bad would happen and all the wrongs in my life would be corrected.  WRONG!  Bad things are going to happen.   That's life.  Once I realized this, I had a whole new perspective.  I started thinking about the GOOD things that happened this year.  The less obvious stuff.  This is what I found:

 1.  I lived through this year!  That is huge, considering all that has happened.  I lived through it and I'm still in one piece!  And I did it even after weaning myself from my Zoloft!

 2.  My marriage is stronger than it has ever been.  

 3.  I am closer to my family.

 4.  I have a better appreciation for life- I do not take it for granted anymore.

 5.  My faith has increased greatly.

 6.  I am closer to God than I have ever been before.  

 7.  My oldest son was Saved this year. 

 8.  His grades have improved.

 9.  I have become more content with what I have (and what I don't have).

10.  I have seen God use a tragedy to pull my family together.

11.  I have learned to comfort.

12.  God has given me the grace to forgive those who I once considered unforgivable.  

These are just a few.  I am really blessed, and I thank God for opening up my eyes.  I am still ready for 2009, though.  I can't wait to see what He's gonna do! 

Nativity

Well.  I wanted to post a picture of Shaun and the Nativity scene he arranged tonight.  But Chris re-arranged our office yesterday and now I can't find the cables for the camera.  Maybe next time. Shaun tried several times before getting it just right.  In the end, he decided that all of the characters (Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angel, animals, and Jesus) belonged in the little barn together.  Then he lined up the 3 wise men in front of the stable, one after the other.  Why?  Because that's what it looked like when we watched Nativity Story on Friday night.  Heh.  That's my boy!  He even took a picture of his work.  Man, I wish I could find that cable!

I'm about to turn in.  Chris is in CA tonight, so I'll have the bed to myself.  

Awesome Weekend Recap

This past weekend was wonderful.  The Smith's had a lot of fun:

Chris had band practice Friday night, so the kids and I spent the afternoon and evening with Aunt Lori and the cousins.  It was a bit stressful, but we had a good time anyway.  We got home around 9:00, and the band was still going.  Luckily the kids conked out pretty quickly.  I got to relax in my room.  I watched a movie that wasn't great, but it didn't really matter.  

Saturday was long.  We all went to Shaun's sparring class.  He did a great job, as usual.  After class, we went to 3-D Life to get our Christmas Tree.  I just loving going to 3-D Farm.  They are a drug and alcohol rehab center for teen boys.  The entire group attends Free Chapel with us, so we see first hand the work God is doing in this ministry.  We went on a hay ride and cut our own tree.  Jordan's favorite part of the trip was all of the dogs on the farm.  Here are some pics:

We also went to a Christmas parade Saturday night.  It was freezing, and we almost froze our tails off, but we had a good time.  My nieces were in the parade- their ballet class had a float- so it was fun to see them riding down the street with all of the other little ballet girls.  

Sunday, we had a great service at church.  The kids and I sat in on Kidpak's 3rd service, and I got these shots of Chris showing off his awesome bass/vocal skills.  

It was a good weekend.  Very good, indeed. 

Okay, God...I get it!

God has really been speaking to me clearly lately.  I'm talking about BAM-in your face kind of clearly.  Since this doesn't really happen all that often, I get excited when it does.  Even if what He's saying isn't something I want to hear about myself.  

For the past several weeks, I have been stressed.  Not just the average stay at home mom stressed, but severely stressed.  So stressed that I've needed breaks away from my children several times last week.  I have been so short-tempered and grouchy with them.  One day last week, I think it was Tuesday, I came back home after dropping Shaun off at school and cried for 30 minutes remembering the things we said to each other that morning.  Now, my oldest child is no picnic to be around in the mornings.  Mornings are rough for us.  He has some health issues that rear their ugly heads when he first wakes up.  He can be downright hateful and extremely hard to deal with.  I am used to this behavior and we're working with doctors trying to figure out how to fix it.  Up until recently, this stuff didn't bother me all that much.  But last week it did.  I had absolutely no patience with him.  I yelled.   I screamed.  I spanked.  We both said some awful things to each other.  We made up on the car ride to school and I prayed over him before he got out of the car, like I do every morning.  As soon as the car door shut, I began to cry.  I kind of held it together on the way home, but once inside the house I lost it. I cried for myself.  I cried for Shaun.  I cried for Jordan, who has to witness all this drama every single morning.  Then, for the first time, I really began to pray for God to give me what I needed to be a Godly mother to my children.  I want them to see Jesus in me and in the way I treat them.  He told me to read the books of Timothy.  I have tried to read Timothy before, but have never gotten very far.  Wow.  What a message from God.  The thing that stuck out the most is that, as a Christian, I should learn to control my tongue.  For the longest time, I always related that to gossip.  For the first time ever, I saw that controlling my tongue also means that I need to get a grip on my tone of voice and my words themselves when dealing with my children.  

So, I prayed and apologized to both Shaun and Jordan.  Told them I would try to do better.  The scripture I read stayed with me and I've been dwelling on it ever since.  I got to church this morning, and guess what the sermon was about?  Yep- controlling your tongue.  It was like God was shouting to me- "Listen to me, Erin.  I know what I'm talking about, and you REALLY need to listen to me.  You NEED to do this.  Your mouth is keeping you from having a perfect relationship with me".  It was a great sermon.  I'll have to make sure I get a CD so I can listen to it whenever I feel my old ways creeping back.  

My mouth has gotten me in trouble so many times.  I know it will take a lot to tame it.  But I'm gonna do it.  My mouth is standing between me and God right now, and I'm tired of it.  So I'm making a vow right now.  Tomorrow morning is going to be better.  At least for tomorrow, Satan is not going to win.  

All by MYSELF...

for 2 hours, anyway.  My wonderful husband took both of the kids to Shaun's Tae Kwon Do class so that I could relax for awhile.  The house is quite- pure bliss!  

Ealier today, I fought the "nap-time fight" with Jordan...and won!  Whhooohooo!  He took about a 2 hour nap after he fell asleep watching "Casper".  This afternoon was much better than it has been for the past few weeks.  

Today is my Mamaw's birthday.  She would have been 75, I think.  I miss her.  I was depressed today.  We should be getting ready to go to her birthday dinner.  At least that's the way I feel, but God had other plans.  I wonder if God ever gets tired of me trying to tell him how to do his job?  

My aunt Nancy will be turning 50 this weekend, so my mom and her sisters have planned a surprise party for her on Thursday night.  Nothing fancy, just dinner at Papa's Pizza- but the kids are excited.  Papa's is one of their favorites!  It feels good to be celebrating something with my family.  I love them!