Overindulge This Past Christmas?

He knows how you feel.

I Need a Beeper

Not a pager.  I need a beeper on my camera.  Something like my cordless phone where I push the button on the base and the handset beeps to tell me where it is hiding.  Isn't that a great idea?  I could use a beeper on purse, my car keys, and my sunglasses.  But the more serious problem at the moment is locating my camera.

It has it's own home.  Life is easier if there is a place fore everything and everything in it's place.  Simple concept.  I thought once I'd found a permanent place for my picture taker, I'd have no more problems.  But I do.  The problem seems to lie within my younger children.  Prince Charming has realized he likes to look at himself on the viewing screen and will push any and all buttons to try to get a peek at his sweet little mug.  He tends to leave it in places I would not think to look, like with his toys, under the sofa, or in a basket of books.

I have also found my camera filled with photos from the little girls after a photo session, so Prince Charming is not the only one to blame.  Close ups of eyes, ears, noses, you name it, those girls like to see life one piece at a time.  It may be they will one day photograph for a living.  But that time has not yet come.  I am not humored by the many up the nose or in the mouth shots.  Don't believe me?  How's this for proof?

Then there's my middle boys who have found that making videos of themselves, their siblings, their lego creations, or their clay sculptures is a great hobby.  I frequently find home movies taking up memory space.  Maybe they will be the next Ron Howard, Kevin Costner, or George Lucas in movie making and give me a comfortable life in my retirement.  But for now, there is nothing worse than thinking I am taking a great picture, a once in a lifetime award winning photograph, a photograph that could bring great riches and fame, only to hear, "beep, beep, beep" and read 'memory card full'.  

Did you read that?  It does have the ability to beep, just not for the reasons I'd like.  I need to call Canon and give them my idea of locating devices in cameras.  For now this will have to do, "Camera.  Cam-er-uh.  Where are you?  Come out come out wherever you are.  I have a few blog readers who'd like to see pictures of our Christmas." 

 

Christmas Tour of Our Home

Welcome to our home!  We are glad you could come for a tour.

This is the first thing you see when you walk in the door.  It is my newly painted and remodeled entry.  Hang your coat on one of the many hooks.  I hope you can stay a while.Before you come into the main part of the house, look at this cute window.  Jouster bought this for me for Christmas a few years ago.  It has it's own wall and stays up all winter...until I am sick of snow...at which point I hide it deep into a closet.
We found these old skis in the basement of our first home.  I could not resist using them as a winter decoration.  They also get hidden in the back of the closet when I am sick of cold weather.

I usually plan to get our tree up as soon as Thanksgiving is over.  This year we started decorating on the 8th.  This is how it looked outside  when we pulled out the boxes.  We were blessed that day with a light snowfall.  With Christmas music playing in the background the younger children and I were excited to get started. 
Putting up an artificial tree is no fun.  Here Squire is putting the final branches in place.  The King banned real trees years ago.  Not because of the environment...but because of safety issues.  He once saw a video of a real tree catching fire and how quickly it spread.  We've been artificial ever since.
Here is Squire.  They did a great job arranging all the branches.  I really don't like to do it because it hurts my fingers.  I've tricked the younger children into believing it is a fun part of decorating.
Duchess.  Always ready to strike a pose.

And Maiden.  Notice her choice of clothing.  Yes, it is winter here in Minnesota and she is in a sleeveless dress with bare feet.  Our old house is drafty and has some very cool spots.  She doesn't seem to notice. .

Our tree was passed down to us from my parents sometime in the 1990's.  My mom and dad had just moved to an apartment and didn't have room for it, so I asked if we could 'borrow' it for  the year.  It showed up by UPS a few days later and we've had it ever since.  I had bought it for them in 1987 when I worked at ShopKo.  I got it after Christmas when it was clearanced out for $27.50--It had been a $275.00 tree.  

Our tree is not a theme tree.  I gave up on that idea years ago.  Ours is packed with special ornaments that bring back memories to all of us.  Most of the fun in decorating the tree is looking back at our special ornaments from years past.

Every year I purchase an ornament for each of my seven children.  They all have a plastic shoe box container that holds all of theirs.  I have kept track of whose is whose by marking their names on the ornaments with a Sharpie marker along with the year.  I also have a note card taped inside the lid with a list describing each ornament and the year it was given to them.  Here are the two oldest boys' boxes.  My plan is for them to take their boxes when they move on--if they want. 

Some years I take the children to the store and let them choose their own ornaments.  I have to limit this activity because some of my children have a 'bigger is better' mentality and their boxes will get filled too quickly.  We have to make sure that their boxes can easily hold all 18 years worth of ornaments.   I chose this year's ornament (notice the small size).  Everyone got a silver star that either had hope, joy, or peace engraved on it.  
Everyone has a Precious Moments ornament for their first Christmas.  All of our birth children have a "Baby's First Christmas" and Duchess has a little girl with the year she came home on it. Her first Christmas would have been in 2002, so if anyone ever finds a Precious Moment's (girl) Baby's First Christmas Ornament anywhere...please let me know!
Here are my special childhood ornaments.  I could not get the photo to rotate so you have to look at them sideways.  I still love my naked angel the best.  The gray kitten was hand painted and given to me by my cousins, The Sours...one of them being Frazzled Farmwife.  

The wreaths with the teddy bears in them were made for me by my Grandma Margaret along with the plastic canvas angel, mailbox, and the red and green ornament with eyes.  For years I kept those 'homemade' granny decorations hidden on the back of the tree--if I even put them up.  Not anymore.  Grandma's handiwork is now proudly displayed year after year.  I wish I could call her to let her know how much I appreciate the ornaments she made me, how they make me think of her, and how much I miss her every year when I pull them out.
Decorating takes more than one day.  I don't like to have anyone stop in unexpectedly during our decorating spree.  We have quite the mess of boxes, Rubbermaid tubs, glitter, fake green pine needles, and broken glass bulbs to clean up and put away before the house is presentable enough for guests.
This is my 'old stuff' display.  Not everything is old, but it looks old to me.
The tree on the bottom shelf belonged to my Grandma.  I remember admiring it every year as a child.  I was thrilled to have it given to me after she died.  The silver bowl with the handle (that really needs polishing) belonged to my mom's parents.  I fill it with vintage tinsel and old glass balls.  The elf boot was mine as a child.
This is a picture card of my mom and was sent to friends and relatives her first Christmas.  She was an adored and much anticipated child.  My grandparents were in their late 30's when she was born and the only child born to them.  I can only imagine their joy that first Christmas they were able to send out Christmas photos of their baby girl.
I love nativity sets and have a hard time saying no to unique ones I find in stores.  This is my chubby whimsical set.
And this set is my most treasured.  The King gave this to me one year for my birthday.  It has quilts and scenes carved onto all the pieces.  I could stare at this one for hours.

This is a set that reminds me of time that I had an ungrateful spirit and God had to put me in my place.  God wants us to have a grateful heart and to be thankful in all circumstances.  It is a bittersweet reminder of a time I needed to get my heart back in the right place.

This is a perfect set for a dusty bathroom.  Made out of glass clear glass it is easy for me to wash.  It is an exact replica of a set I made as a child from plaster of paris and molds for 4-H.  I finally had to throw that set out and was thrilled to find this set at a thrift shop.

I would like three more nativity sets.  One for outside (it has to be unique), a Willow Tree set, and a Fisher Price set to have set out for children to play with. 

Here's a fun idea.  I filled some old jars with red light bulbs and another with gold bells.  Did you notice our plate and cup for Santa?  We have never let our children think that Santa is real, but we have kids who like to pretend he is, so I play along.  They love it when I leave them a letter and take bites out of the cookies.  They know it's me...but they want me to do it anyway.  Do you think there's something wrong with them?
Speaking of the kids, let's go up to their rooms and check out their trees.  Here is the one in Squire and Scribe's room.  Nothing to write home about, but they like to have Christmas lights in their room at night.
 And here is Duchess and Maiden's tree.  It is a theme tree, filled with candy decorations.  I would think this tree would give them visions of sugar plums every night when they lay down to sleep.  The big guys, Jouster and Jester, had a bah humbug attitude this year and said they didn't need a tree in their room.
We are preparing ourselves for the true meaning of Christmas by reading Jotham's Journey.  There are certain candles that are lit for each week of Advent.  The younger children get to take turns lighting them so we haven't always gotten it right!  This is a great story and I read that the publisher is going to republish the next two books in the series over the next two years.  I am so excited.
Please sit down and stay a little longer.  We'd love to have you hear the next part of Jotham's Journey.  I can guarantee you will want to come back each evening to hear more!

I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Please come back soon.

Homecoming Celebration

Five years ago on December 4th, Duchess landed on American soil and became a part of our family. In adoption terminology we would call this her Gotcha Day, but she prefers to call it her anniversary.

The day of her arrival is so vivid in my mind. I had waited nearly two years for that moment. The King and his brother traveled together to India to while I stayed home with our four boys. The day they were arriving in the U.S., my sister flew in from Denver to see her new niece (she never left the airport and flew home just a few hours later). Some good friends also arrived with cameras to capture our special day on film. We all stood by anxiously awaiting the arrival of their flight. When the plane finally landed the time crept slowly by as we waited for them to get through customs. We were all very impatient to meet our newest family member. The boys and I stood, noses pressed to the glass, hoping each of us would be first to shout, "I see them!" I don't remember who was the first to yell those exciting words, but I do remember my eyes welling up with tears and the feeling of relief when I caught that first glimpse of my Indian princess riding down the escalator in her father's arms.

Close enough to finally touch her.

The shoes she came home in. They were the smallest size The King could find in India. I love that he put socks on over her tights!

They emerged through the doors and all four boys and I ran to hug The King and welcome Duchess. Oh, that first touch! I ran my hand across the top of her head and brought my hand down to caress her cheek. Her hair was surprisingly very course, but those cheeks were so very soft. She was more beautiful than the photos had portrayed her to be. Her huge brown eyes were filled with fear and she was anxious and unsure about what was going on. She was wearing her special arrival outfit I had purchased months before, a pair of blue shoes that were a size too big, tights, socks, and tiny glass bangle bracelets The King had bought for her in India. She clung to her daddy, pushing away any hand that tried to touch her. She was not impressed with her new family! The King was exhausted and his luggage had been misdirected. He handed Duchess to me so he could quick hug the boys and then was off to make sure his luggage wasn't on the next plane back to India.

"Hey Lady, you are scaring me!"

I was so in love with this little girl. I had been staring at her photos for six months. I knew every detail of her face by heart. I wanted her to wrap her little arms around me, and snuggle her nose into my neck. I just wanted to hold her close. I was certain that deep in her heart she knew that I was her mommy. Not so. I was a total stranger to her, and the only person she knew, was no where to be seen.

I will never forget that feeling of holding her for the first time.

She began to wail, and scream, scratch my face, and claw at my eyes. She reminded me of a wild kitten who was being held by human hands for the very first time. She was doing all she knew to do to get me to let her down. She wanted to escape and was frantically looking around for her daddy.

"Where is my Daddy?"

I walked away where I could be alone with her. She was very frightened by this time and fighting even harder to get away from me. She was scanning the crowd for her daddy while continuing to scream. We were drawing a lot of attention and I kept waiting for security to come and arrest me for kidnapping. I was actually kind of hoping they would come...I could have used some assistance with her. I should have known better. They are more interested in stopping terrorists than white women kidnapping Indian babies at the airport.

Her last attempt to attack me was by pounding on the top of my head with a closed fist about five times. I could not believe her resolve. She was one spunky little girl. I heard my sister burst out laughing when she saw my head pounding. I was not sharing in the laughter. Where was the little girl I had been dreaming of for two years? She was supposed to come to me and love me as much as I loved her. There was never a wildcat in my dreams. No one had prepared me for her reaction and I can honestly say I was wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. I was emotionally exhausted by the time my husband came back to relieve me of the screaming ferrel cat.

We sat down to wait for their luggage and The King thought that maybe I should bribe her with a little food. It was worth a try. I pulled out some Cheerios and she fell for it hook,line, and sinker. In minutes she was on my lap eating those little O's one by one.

"Who are these boys and why are they in my space?"

On the hour long ride home from the airport I sat in the back seat with Duchess. She would look at me with those huge dark eyes and soak me in. And I could not take my eyes off of her. I could not believe this day had finally come. About half way home, she smiled and reached out to touch me! My heart melted. From that moment on she was really my little girl. Not only in my eyes, but hers too.

Her first few months home she slept snuggled up tight in my arms. She became my little shadow. We did everything together. We went everywhere together. I had read everything I could about attachment disorder. I was going to make sure we bonded. We had skin to skin contact, I bottle fed her, I didn't allow anyone but our family members to hold her in the beginning. I even had the pastor of our church announce that while we worked on attachment, we asked that no one would try to hold her. I was going to do it all right with her. I had been told that it was best if she didn't have any other care givers for at least six months after being home...and I tried. But my mom died four months after she came home and we were forced to have a few nights apart from one another. She regressed and we had to start our bonding and attachment time over. Those were hard months. There were times I was afraid she would walk off with any stranger. She just didn't have the same 'boundaries' with people she didn't know as my biological children had shown. She was just a little too friendly with people for my liking. So I kept her reigned in and continued to do all I could to let her know who she could trust, who she needed to turn to when she needed anything, who were the ones who would always be there for her.

Our new and improved family!

We couldn't look more different but I can see myself so clearly in her mannerisms and in the things she says. I can see areas of my life that need improving just by watching her. She knows who her family is. She is secure with us. She is not perfect, nor are we. She is very demanding of attention and likes to control conversations...even those she is not a part of.

Her first night home. Look at that smile. We had so much fun with her that night.

Sleeping with the big brother (Squire) who prayed three years for her. He wanted to show her around the house and this is how I found them later.

I am often asked if she knows she's adopted. We talk openly about it, but only when she brings up the subject. We answer questions as they present themselves. It began when Prince Charming was born and she started to talk about when she was in my tummy like he had been. She was sad when I told her that she did not grow in my tummy, but that she was in another mom's tummy in India. I told her that she is special because she got to grow in my heart instead. At this time in her life, she is very proud of the fact that she is the ONLY one in our family who is adopted.

She has recently asked why her India mom didn't keep her. I was glad that I had thought of an answer for that one ahead of time because of another adoptive family that I had met. They had told their daughter that that mommy was very poor and couldn't care for her. I had thought that I would use that explanation for Duchess, but then I thought about all the times I tell her no when she asks to buy things at the store. I usually say, "No, we don't have money for that right now." I don't want her to ever think that we can't keep her if money is tight, so instead I told her this: "She didn't have a husband and it was very hard for her to find a job and take care of a baby without a husband, so she took you to a place where they take care of babies. That's when God helped us to find you." It must have been a good enough answer because she hasn't asked again. I pray that God will always give me the words I need when she asks questions I don't really know how to answer.

I overheard her telling a friend one day that she didn't have a dad in India so that's why she 'got adopted'. Her friend came up to me and asked, "Is she really adopted?" I thought it was funny that her little friend didn't notice there was a color difference between Duchess and the rest of us.

She frequently makes comments about her color. She says she wishes she could be white like me. I tell her that I wish I could be brown like her but I that I am thankful for the way God made me. I did tell her once that I used to lay in the sun to try to get more brown when I was younger. "You did?" By her expression, you would have thought I'd hung the moon. I always tell her I love the color she is and so does God. We wouldn't want her any other way.

A few weeks ago she came up with something that I think is very sweet. She told me she wished she had skin like Maiden's. I told her that would be very sad because I love having a little girl with brown skin in our family. She said, "Yeah, if you didn't have me you wouldn't have a chocolate girl. It's a good thing I'm from India so you can have a chocolate girl and a vanilla girl. If you didn't get me, you would only have a vanilla girl." And I agreed. She has definitely added flavor to my life!

Happy Anniversary sweet Duchess. You are a true blessing from God!

Makin' Bacon

Warning: This blog post may be disturbing to those who do not believe in naming animals they plan to eat.

Thelma and Lorraine Before:

I don't know if it is wise to name animals you intend to eat, but since we moved out to our farm nine years ago, I am getting more and more used to it. The first year we butchered sheep, my stomach turned when we were eating lamb chops and one of the boys asked, "Do you think we are eating Moses or Aaron?" Not only did I have to push my plate away, I had to get up and leave the table.

I did grow up on a farm where we ate meat. I don't know where I thought the meat came from, but we always had a freezer full of it. We showed calves for 4-H and I remember telling my mom and dad that I could never eat a pet cow I had spent so much time working with. They told me not to worry, they had no intention of butchering sweet Bambi (and others whose names I can no longer remember), they would just sell them at the sales barn. I believed them.

How gullible I was. They didn't haul those sweet 4-H calves to auction. Year after year they sent them to the butcher and quietly hid the evidence in the freezer. They let me think those roasts we used to have for Sunday dinners came from a grocery store and not our precious pet cows.

Thelma and Lorraine after:

No, the girls are not Thelma and Lorraine. Thelma and Lorraine are all wrapped up nice and neat in that white freezer paper. Brats, bacon, ham roasts, ham steaks, sausage, pork chops...you name it, we've got it. We had to try the bacon right away. Within hours of picking up the meat, this is what we had for lunch:

I don't know if it was bacon from Thelma or Lorraine, but it sure was tasty. Did you notice the eggs within those sandwiches? They are also from our farm. Here they were before they hit the frying pan:

Aren't they pretty? The Araucanas (or Ameraucana's since I'm not sure which one of the two breeds I purchased) are the ones who lay the eggs in shades of blue and green. We love our colorful eggs. Duchess and Maiden are the egg gatherers here on our farm and we never get tired of marveling at the beautiful colors they bring in each day.

And just in case you are wondering, my kids do not think that meat came from a grocery store. They are tough. Unlike me as a child, they can handle the truth.