icicles and snowbanks and persistant squalls...

The scene out my window is something from a Christmas card. The tree branches are snowy, everything is snowy. Snow is nice because it covers many inperfections in one's yard, such as ride-ons and badminton rackets that were left out. It also muffles sound, so when one ventures out, it seems so serene. It is also very very deep out there, so THIS one can only walk in the paths Paul so nicely shoveled and snow-blowed.

I took some pictures this morning of the Christmas-y-ness of our house, but alas, the cord that connects the camera to the computer is....missing. I ALWAYS put it back in the end-table drawer when I am finished with it....

So I will describe instead. Three lucky little children are here instead of in school. Suzanne, 9, Sonja, 8, and Jonathan, 6, got a day off. It was planned that way. Our weekend ahead is so so busy already, we need some nice down time, to make those cookies. I made the dough last night. Mirielle also made and baked the gingerbread pieces for her and some of her sisters' houses for the contest. I am so tempted to go make some and join in, but....anyway, I took pictures of the sixteen stockings hung, the tree with all the presents under it, of Rosie-The-Bad-Dog, who had a bath yesterday and has been brushed, she looks as so huggy and clean. If only she would stay like that. I took pictures of the kids, I like pictures of kids in the morning. They still have that freshness.....I have often wondered about the complexity of the brain in relation to these small details...what exactly do we detect when noticing that morning sweetness? Do their faces really look different, or is it my imagination? If I were to paint or draw them, how would I depict that aura of just-woken-up-ness? Anyway...I am winning my own game of Off On A Tangent this morning.

So tomorrow I am taking the big drive along the southern shore of Lake Ontario to pick up Benjamin. First of all, know this: Lake Ontario is a snow making machine. The winds come down from Canada, go across the lake, pick up the moisture, and dump snow in the "snow bands". And I hate driving in the snow. Oh, if it was coming down like it is now, like the snow in a snowglobe, no problem. But when it is coming down in those huge Lake Effect flakes, sideways, with wind blowing the snow onto the road, when one cannot see where the road even is...blah. I hate it. So here is the thing: I can take Emily's little Suzuki, which is all-wheel drive, but only fits four comfortably, or the minivan which seats seven. Either way, I am gonna break some hearts....Sam and Kathryn and Evelyn and Suzanne and Sonja and Jonathan all WANT TO GO SO BADLY, MOM! Add in Ben and I, and even if we take the minivan, someone has to bow out. Of course Charlotte Claire and Camille want to go too, but for some reason, I am not even considering them for such a long long drive.....

Joseph and Samuel helped me wrap some presents yesterday. The little girls were "helping" too, and I finally suggested to them that they go watch, "Curious George"....they are tape wasters....it is funny, Charlotte Claire understands the tape must touch the two pieces of paper to hold them together, but Camille is Tape-Happy, and she just puts the tape anywhere. Joe kept asking her if she really thought that would hold the paper closed, and she just said, "yes.". Anyway, wrapping with those two is an adventure. The present Sam wrapped...he spent more time on that than Joe and I on a whole stack of stuff...and it looked like, no offense, a student form the school for the blind wrapped it. Probably worse. He cut the paper too small, and instead of just starting over, he patched. It was the funniest thing of the day, really.

Dinner last night: boxed macaroni and cheese, which Suzanne helped me make, green salad with black olives, red and green peppers, and those little hot dogs, the cocktail weenies....we only have those around Christmas-time. It wasn't the healthiest dinner, but they LOVE that boxed mac and cheese. I don't buy it very often, but when I do they bug me to death to make it for them. There were 14 of us at the table, since Aaron was working at the little grocery store. I did remember to save him some dinner this time, though. I feel AWFUL when he comes home from work and asks what was for dinner, and there is nothing left.

Well, it appears we have a mouse in the house. Last night the girls discovered a small hole in the bottom molding around the cupboards in the kitchen, and when they peeked in there, could see mousie poops. Paul set a trap last night, but didn't catch it yet. I say "it" jokingly, I told them last night there is no such thing as one celibate little mouse. Where there are poops, there are lots of mousies. Many meece. Paul said not to be so pessimistic. Well....okay. Perhaps we have Father Mouse living here.

Lucky Charms and a cup of coffee is a healthy breakfast, right?

I am antsy to get started on the cookies...it is one of those areas where I have amnesia. It always seems like it is going to be so much fun, but when I am in the middle of it and there are cookies that need to come out, and the kids are up to their elbows in flour, eating the dough, and licking their fingers...and I realize that this is not fun at all. But I forget all about that when the next time comes along, so here I am, all excited for it again.....

Everyone has their trials, and one of my persistant battles is with my Control Freak-y-ness. I want thngs done a certain way. When they use the cookie cutters and waste dough, or when they dump way too many sprinkles on the cookies, rrrr. Why, oh why, after all these years, am I still so bothered by these things? I want, with all my heart, to be free from all these things that bind me, so that I can make it better for them, and more relaxed for all of us. I have noticed these things in myself, but really have done nothing about them, well this year, it is war! I shall not give in! God is so good and gracious to show me my sin, the least I can do is take it seriously. We have so many excuses for ourselves, but Today is the Day of Salvation!!! And really, what is salvation but to be cleansed from sin in every day situations? This does not mean, of course, that I will let them lick their fingers and keep frosting.....but the way it BOTHERS me, that has to go!

And I am finished with the preaching, for today anyway.