12 Days of Christmas 2014 (Part 1): The humbling continues....

I have often promised myself that our family would never be like those crazy people Kevin Lehman and James Dobson warned me about in their books and talks who over schedule their families and create stress and chaos for everyone, especially during the Christmas season which should allow plenty of time for worship and reflection. Knowledge of what one should do + good intentions - discipline = FAIL!

In addition to 12 hours of gymnastics a week, school work, church, Agape ministry leadership training, Access (special needs) ministry at church, and our mother/daughter Princess Kiss Bible study, our daughter's calendar during the 12 days before Christmas includes 10 Christmas performances (plays, skits, music concerts, etc.).  Our son has four concerts on the calendar, while my husband has three concerts at the big concert hall downtown (Meymandi Hall) not counting his weekly choir/praise team commitments.  The rehearsals for these events have been long and frequent.  It's been the busiest Christmas I can remember since....well since last year, I suppose, since we moved the weekend of all these concerts last year.  Of course, I wasn't teaching or tutoring last year and it doesn't help that I'm learning the subject only one to five days ahead of the students and writing all the curriculum myself and probably getting it mostly wrong.  But alas..tis the season...

Here are some glimpses and highlights from our lead-up to Christmas...

Late Night Dress Rehearsals

Our evening attire the week before Christmas

Tux for him, yoga pants & top for me

2nd Grade Christmas Concert

My boy is grinning at his mama when he probably should be watching his teacher

Kids making a joyful noise unto the Lord (Gift #823)

O Come All Ye Faithful

Here is a snippet of the concert since a snippet is all Blogger will let me upload.

You know two boys are pals with more in common than their looks when they both have Dunkin' Donuts crumbs in the same spot on the same side of their mouths.

Post Concert Party

This boy was so excited to have me in his classroom that he ran up and gave me 3 hugs on 3 separate occasions when all the other kids were watching. Of course, this is the same boy who wants me to hang mistletoe in the house, so I fear he could be a lot of trouble when his mama isn't the only girl he likes. For now, I will treasure the precious mommy moments.  (Gift #824)

School Christmas Play

Our daughter's teacher assistant forgot to insert the flyer about auditions for the Christmas play via the drama club into her Monday folder, so by the time we found out about the play, auditions were over, and parts had been assigned.  Our daughter was so disappointed, so she scheduled another audition to at least be in the chorus, but then our girl had pneumonia and could not sing for the audition.  So, the drama director, remembering our daughter from when she played Ermegarde in The Little Princess this past summer, gave her a free pass into the choir. (Gift #825 =grace) Still our girl was disappointed when her friends got speaking parts, and she did not.  We assumed that since she was only in the choir, she would have fewer practices and could juggle both gymnastics and the play.  After all, the practices were before (6:45 a.m.) and after (2:30-4:00) school.  But she ended up being required to attend almost every rehearsal, and on rehearsal days, she would arrive at school at 6:45, stay until 4:15pm, and then rush to gymnastics from 4:30-8:30, eat dinner with the family at 9:00pm, and then study until 10:30pm. It made for some long days in December for all of us.  She performed in four performances of that funny play and sang in a quartet during intermission.  We were not allowed to take pics during the play, but here is one right before it began. 

School Play: A Slapstick Comedy Christmas Pageant

One of my students played the part of the choir director, so she and my daughter enjoyed getting to know one another.  I want my students to view me as a person, so time with my daughter had to have helped. (Gift #826)  The drama team really helps new students feel like part of the school family.  (Gift #827)

Here are some pics the school just sent me:

Agape Play:  A Night in Bethlehem

Our church has a fabulous leadership/service program for 5th graders called the Agape group (Gift #828).  Those in 5th grade who commit to the program assume various responsibilities in the church such as serving as greeters, directing visitors to children's classrooms, passing out donuts (our daughter's favorite), and leading youth corporate worship times.  The group put together a Christmas play entitled, "A Night in Bethlehem" and performed it during the different worship services and at Rex Nursing/Rehab Center.  I invited dear family friends to one of the church performances, and we found seats right up front in the worship center to watch her play the part of Mary in the skit.  When she did not do the skit during the time designated and the pastor began delivering his sermon, I sent out texts to find out where she could be.   Apparently I had misread the emails, and they were performing in the fellowship hall.  So, I had to get up in the middle of the sermon (how rude) and make all my guests get up as well and rush out of the worship center to get the fellowship hall just as the play was beginning.  What a blessing that they started late so we were able to get there in time (Gift #829), but how embarrassing for us all.  After church, friends came up to ask me what was such an emergency that made me exit church like that.  Yes, after just writing a blog post on how I humiliated myself last week, I managed to humiliated myself once again!  Such things happen when one over commits.  Let's hope I learned that lesson well this year.

The back story behind this play is rather amusing.  Our daughter is a drama queen who loves to be the star on the stage, so she naturally wanted to play the part of Mary until she learned that Joseph was supposed to put his hand on her shoulder, so she and "Joseph" both insisted that they remove that part. How much longer do I have until she no longer objects to boys being so close? Ten more years of this would be nice!

In the beginning of the play, Mary also serves as the narrator, setting the scene and quoting most of Luke 2. My little girl memorized a lot of lines for this play, while also prepping for four other venues, so I was proud of her for her efforts. (Gift #830)

Another girl really wanted to play the part of Mary, so during the 11am service, our daughter took the low place, playing the part of a shepherd so that this other girl could get a chance to play Mary.  Normally, our daughter is a limelight hog, so I was pleased to see her happily give up her role for that one performance with grace and dignity. (Gift #831)

December Sunset

I consider every sunset I get to see a gift (gift #832), even if the view is blocked by new tall buildings.  Those two new buildings to the left have significantly altered our Christmas season sunset views, but at least they are owned by a company that plans to fill them by bringing 1300 great jobs to our area.

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Orange Belt Testing

Serious expressions are nothing new for my daughter and husband, but I have never seen my dimpled boy look so fierce.

I waited over three hours to see my three loved ones punch, kicking, and spar for three minutes.

They all passed despite our hectic schedule and fewer practices (Gift #833), so the march toward the black belt continues. 

It seems the kids may be offering to chop firewood for Christmas this year using their feet!

Semester Exams

This week is "dead week" at our school.  That means that teachers cannot introduce any new material (hallelujah - that means less prep for me!) for the first three days.  Instead we need to help students review for the semester exam.  Exams are given on Thursday and Friday.  Seniors who have an A average for the first two quarters are exempt from the semester exam and do not need to attend classes from which they are exempt during dead week.  Yet, at least one of my exempt students has been attending my class anyway to help the others and possibly because he likes my class and wants to review for the AP exam.  He's amazing!  He wants to be a teacher some day, so he is happy to help me teach this week.  I'm floored by his willingness to help others at the sacrifice of his own free time. (Gift #834)

Dead week is also the week that students apparently give Christmas gifts to their teachers.  Since these seniors have at least 10 different teachers including electives but not including coaches, and since their time and money is typically more limited than during any other grade in school, I have been shocked that they would be so thoughtful with gifts. (Gift #835)  Many of the gifts have been delicious baked goodies, so I'm beginning to wonder if first year teachers experience something like the college freshman 15.  Am I going to gain the new teacher 20?  At this point, I feel like I have worked so hard that I can reward myself with all this yummy goodness, for teaching has worn me out.  Before this year, I had not napped in at least 25 years..not even when I had a newborn.  But this past semester, and even last week, I would get home from school, grab an apple for a snack, sit down to eat it, and then wake up 90 minutes later with a half eaten apple on the floor and sofa pillow creases in my forehead.  When will I finally adjust to the new workload and schedule?

Muffin's Musings

This year is Muffin's first Christmas, so she still isn't quite sure what to make of all the decorations, the tree or the presents underneath.  Yet, she still seems discerning enough to look for a package with her name on it.

I'm really trying to incorporate more yoga and pilates into my workout regimen as much as I despise doing both. If I ever want to run again, I've got to gain more flexibility so my knees will cooperate again.  Muffin likes to lick my neck and face or brush her whiskers against me just enough to tickle me silly when I'm trying to concentrate on the new movements.  She's a rascal.

Muffin has received lots of personal shout-outs from friends after receiving our Christmas greetings and well wishes.  So she wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas back(wards).

Merry Christmas from Muffin

Muffin is applauding you for so kindly remembering her.

Kids' Comments

During dinner on Sunday, I was telling the kids the three attributes of a great gift and comparing those attributes to the greatest gift ever given, Christ the Savior.  I told them the gift should be something the receiver really needs or wants (we need salvation!) which is why it's so hard to buy gifts for their grandparents.  The gift should also be costly, requiring significant sacrifice of time, money, thought, and/or energy.  (God gave up his only Son,  His most costly treasure.)  Finally the gift should be long lasting.  (God's gift of new life is eternal!)   

So my son said, "Well, I guess I need to come up with a new Christmas gift idea for my sister.  I was going to clean her room for her as that is something she desperately needs and would cost me many hours of labor, but it would not last five seconds!  But Mom, you can still give me hugs for Christmas."

"But hugs don't last very long either," I replied.

Then he climbed into my arms and said, "We could try.  Let's start with an hour long hug right now." (Gift #836)

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My literal little lad saw the CVS sign that read "One Hour Photo" and asked, 'What kind of camera takes a full hour to snap a photo? Who would want to pose that long for a picture?"  So now I'm thinking CVS should pay a little more to add the word "processing" to the end of their sign.

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My 8-year-old read these words on a box of Cheez-It crackers, "Made with real cheese", and said, "That must be false advertising because if they were made with real cheese, Mom would buy them all the time."
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As if childish giggles over lame potty humor isn't bad enough, our kids burst into fits of hysterical laughter over a simple sign over a Christmas tree sales lot that read, "Booger Mountain Christmas Trees". After finally composing himself, my son asked in all seriousness, "Couldn't they have picked those trees from a different mountain? Who would buy booger trees?"  (I don't think he recognized his pun.)

When I told them, "You may think it's funny, but it' snot."  They burst again into belly laughter.  What is it with kids and how they think body parts and bodily functions are so funny?

Fitness Industry

When I first started this blog, one of the four primary topics I had planned to write about was health/fitness.  I had planned to become a personal trainer and did start writing a health column for an internet news service.  I purchased a study plan to become a trainer but never found the time or motivation to complete it.  I really wanted to help others enjoy healthier, fuller, more functional lives as a fitness trainer but was not willing to sacrifice modesty, self-respect, or moral convictions over what fitness should be about as opposed to what the industry was promoting. So I was so pleased to read this piece by Tosca Reno. (Gift #837) http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/…/bikini-fitness_b_5610782.html

Perhaps the industry will be redeemed at some point to promote functional fitness that celebrates what the body can do instead of focusing merely on what the body looks like, particularly while wearing ridiculously skimpy workout wear or next to nothing at all.