Merry Christmas 2008!

12-17-2008
Merr-e-Christmas! I’ve been awake since 4:00am, so if the contents of this letter sound slightly delirious, it’s because I’m on my third cup of coffee. Sleep deprivation has a way of making me crazy! And no, I didn’t wake up at that early hour because I’m super-mom. One of the kids had the sniffly-sneezies in the night, and I was unable to go back to sleep! My Christmas list was going around in my head - only a week left – and I still have most of my shopping to do! But then my thoughts turned to our friends and family, and since it has been a couple years since I wrote a letter, I figured I’d update everyone.
We just came through the first blizzard of the season, and I must say we enjoyed it quite a bit. We stocked up on groceries, books and movies from the library, and bought a new shovel too! We spent the time (Saturday evening through Monday morning) cozy and warm by doing some extra baking, tackling a few odd jobs, and lounging around the house. I made a turkey dinner on Sunday and the little ones thought it must already be Christmas, with all the cooking and extra goodies in the house! But, come Monday morning the party was over, and the hard work of shoveling all that snow began!
Our family picture this year was taken at our Civil Air Patrol awards banquet. Kyle, Alicia and Mitchell are all CAP members. Kyle won the “Senior Member of the Year” award, which all the cadets vote on. It was quite an honor for him.
Kyle is still working for the Fargo Jet Center as a line technician and web content manager. He’s also keeps busy teaching an adult Sunday School and Children’s Church class, as well as classes at our church’s Bible college. For the most part, his activities keep him out of trouble. He still loves spending time at home the most, and can usually be found doing something with the kids. He’s their greatest teacher.
Alicia turned sixteen this year. Kyle and I are still recovering. Sometimes I look at her and think, “Who are you, and what have you done with my little girl?!?” She is a sophomore this year, and is still a voracious reader and enjoys knitting and quilting. She’s my right-hand-man, so to speak, and does a lot for our family by helping with all the stuff it takes to run a household. She’s much more capable than I was at that age! She is looking ahead to college – possibly nursing school, or perhaps even a career in cosmetology. She is leaning towards the latter at this time. We’ll find out in a couple years!
Mitchell is fourteen and we’ve all been enjoying the adventure of his voice changing. Even he pokes fun at himself! He is currently gainfully employed by a family friend who manages apartment buildings. He cleans the common areas – hallways, laundry rooms, entries, etc., once a week for a large 5-building complex. He also kept busy mowing lawns last summer for different neighbors here in town. He is currently in 8th grade and is still leaning towards a career with the military.
Kaylee informs everyone that she will be thirteen (!) on her next birthday. I’m resisting having three teenagers in the house! But time will march on, no matter how much I wish to slow it down. Her favorite things are purses, cell phones, and Dora the Explorer. She has graduated from Barney, although he still holds much fondness in her heart. Our darling girl is indeed growing up, and informs everyone who will listen of that fact!
Jessica is eight this year and is rapidly becoming a young lady. She loves to style her hair, Kaylee’s hair, the neighbor kids’ hair, my hair – anyone who will sit still long enough to get braids and pony tails and all sorts of other styles. Jess has been enjoying learning some cooking skills - she can make a mean hot dog! She also proudly knows how to operate the microwave (with supervision of course) and is becoming more and more helpful with household tasks. She still loves anything to do with Princesses – she’s our girly-girl.
Justin, our baby boy, was five in May. I’ll tell him, “I love you more!” and he says, “I love you the whole wide world, the whole wide sea and the whole wide space!” He loves to draw and color, create things with Lego’s and Magnetix, and anything else he can stack, arrange or put together. His little mind is constantly going and he keeps our whole family laughing with his little comments.
As for me, I hate to brag, but…I turned 4-0 this year. Impressive, ain’t it? For my birthday I got new wrinkles, gray hair, more aches and pains, and some memory loss. Oh, and one less tooth! Are you jealous yet? Actually, it has been a good year for me. I had weight-loss surgery in February (which went great) and since then I have lost almost 80 pounds. I’m feeling better than I have in years and I’m more than half-way to my goal weight. When I reach my goal I’m sure you’ll hear me shouting!
We are still homeschooling, active in our church with various ministries, and as you can see from our picture, as good-lookin’ as ever! ;)
Well, I hope this letter finds you healthy, safe and warm, and enjoying Christmas with the ones you love the most. We are still in Hawley (and loving it here!) so if you happen to be in our neck of the woods, stop by! We’ll put on a pot of coffee and if I don’t have anything baked the kids can run down the street to get some Carl’s Lefse!
To conclude our letter I leave you with this scripture verse: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
In His Care ~ Kyle, Beth, Alicia, Mitchell, Kaylee, Jessica and Justin

An Irritating Scam, and A Wonderful Blessing

If you have read my blog for any length of time, you are aware that I tend to use writing as an outlet for my frustrations. During the first portion of this post I am going to "vent". It's soapbox time, kids!

Recently while perusing Craigslist I came across an incredible deal, one that I could hardly believe existed. (In hindsight, that thought alone should have been a red flag.) Someone was selling a baby grand piano that looked like it needed minor repair and cosmetic work for just $250! They said all the keys worked, and that the foot pedals would need to be re-attached. I spoke with the person who placed the ad, and we exchanged emails and more pictures. I informed them I was very interested, but I would not have the money until January or February, and that we would not be able to see the piano or possibly make the purchase until then. (The people supposedly live several hours away from here.) I also told them I would understand if they got a buyer before then. I set the whole idea on the "back burner" of my mind, but did make it a matter of prayer. I figured if the Lord wanted us to have this piano, He would make a way. Well...today I got an email, the buyer claims he has received several phone calls and emails informing him his piano is worth between $3,000 and $5,000 and he was going to "hang onto it", unless I was of course able to offer him substantially more money. Now, I wasn't born yesterday. As one of my friends likes to say, "I didn't just fall off the turnip truck!" I had done a little research on this piano, and if it was fully restored, repaired and tuned, it might fetch as much as he claims. But it's not worth that much money in the condition it is in. So, I sent him back an email, expressing my doubts and concerns. I guess the moral of this story is that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. The hard part is that this potential opportunity really tugged at my heartstrings. You see, my parents had promised to buy me a grand piano one day, if I continued to take piano lessons all through high school, but they were never able to afford one. Up until last year I had my childhood piano, but when we put our belongings into storage prior to moving here, I gave the piano to my sister. I could not bear putting the piano into storage - I knew it would damage it. It was a good thing I didn't too, because some of our belongings were water damaged, in spite of the storage facilities owner assuring me they'd "never had water problems". Anyway, I have really missed having my piano, and this seemed like such a good opportunity. I could envision my family gathered around the grand piano, singing together, giving my children piano lessons, enjoying the sound only a grand piano can make. *Sigh* Oh, well. It stinks to be scammed. I am very thankful that I didn't "fall" for this person's claims. The main reason I know it's a bogus situation is that he reposted his original offer (which I initially saw a month ago when I first contacted him) just this morning. I wonder what is missing in a person's life to cause them to scam someone else? I will need to remember to pray for this person.

On a more positive note, we received an incredible, awesome blessing this week. We have had a major need, something we have been praying about for quite some time now. God met that need this week, and I want to give Him praise and thanks for this abundant blesssing!

Our Christmas Cantata is this Sunday, provided we don't get the awful winter storm the weather service is predicting. If you are local, and we don't get snowed in, I hope to see you there! It's at the Fargo Baptist Church, at 6:00pm - and Kyle, Peachie, Pickles and I all have speaking parts. I'm nervous! There's something very nerve-wracking about having that tiny microphone attached to my ear. I wonder if I have a phobia? Please pray it will go well - and that we'll remember all our lines! I hope you have a safe and warm weekend!

In His Care ~ Beth ~

Update Shmupdate

It's been awhile since I've posted so I thought I would write an update for y'all.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We drove "up north" to spend the day with Kyle's mom and his family. The meal was great, and it was fun to see his brothers and their families again. The kids had a grand time playing with their cousins!

We decorated for Christmas last weekend, and I love walking through the living room and seeing the lights. I don't do much - just a small tree, the manger scene, some lights on the banister, and a few "Christmasy" decorations around the living room. A couple of them (a bell-shaped candy dish and a candle-holder shaped like a yule log) were ceramic pieces made by my Mom. I remember sitting at the dining room table when she painted the yule log/candle holder, watching her skillfully wield the paint brush with green and red, brown and black. She loved to do ceramics and was very good at it.

I've been cleaning the house "FlyLady-Style" and plan to go through every drawer, closet, nook and cranny before I have family visiting the week after Christmas. I have a lot of bags of clothes to take to the thrift store for donation. I also plan to re-arrange and thoroughly clean the basement. We recently had drain tile and another sump pump put in - so basically everything we had stored down there got piled along the center of the basement. It will be a good opportunity to get rid of more stuff! I also hope to rent a steam cleaner for the carpets and some of the furniture. Nothing like a family gathering to prompt me to thoroughly clean and declutter!!

Not much else is new. It's getting cold up here in Minnesota and I told Peachie yesterday that I truly understand now why people head south in the winter! If I could, I might too!!

Stay warm! ~ Beth ~