Christmas - part 1

Christmas traditions are in full swing at the Nichols homestead. Let's see...

Christmas tree - we got the tree a couple weeks ago. Donal, Bren, Geno and I went out to pick it out and cut it down. Got a nice frasier fir, although it looks rather skinny in comparison to some of my past very fat Douglas firs. Donal valiantly put all the lights on the tree and dealt kindly with my type A tendencies and insisting that the lights be wrapped on each branch. Sassy Pants the Christmas version made an appearance (see photo below). The decorating happened the day of the big blizzard so it was a cozy and fun way to spend a snowy afternoon (while warming up from the intense shoveling of the morning).

Core Team Christmas Party - great time with the gang. Highlights: Marie Shibata (soooo cute), the gift exchange- especially the armless, legless bunny.

Gingerbread (aka graham cracker) house making and decorating happened last Saturday, a good time was had by all.

Sunday I went to the Pannings for a Bavarian brunch, good times with cool people and bavarian food. Then on to work on the calendar for a few more hours, then finishing some other Christmas projects quickly before the Christmas eve gathering.

Beware...

Beware of starting family traditions... it can be very dangerous... once you start them, you can't turn back.

This year, once again, I am frantically trying to put together the family calendar for my dad's side of the family... and here on the day before Christmas eve at 10 pm realize I'm missing current pictures of a couple family members and that its after 10 pm the day before christmas eve and i'm just on June... sigh...

The family calendar... its one of my favorite things for sure and I always get rave reviews from the whole family who love it! but... its also a lot of work, that is easy to put off until the last minute. sigh. Okay, enough blog entry and on to July...

oh yeah, and finishing a couple other christmas gifts that are close, but not quite done (for tomorrow). procrastinators never prosper... and they certainly don't get an over abundance of sleep those last few days before Christmas :D

Merry Christmas Eve Eve my friends.

Rejoice

Last Saturday morning I got up and made frosting in several colors for the cookie decorating party. I should really go get those pictures developed for this post, because the pictures would say it all. Alas, the film is still in my camera, so the post will have to do for now. Yeah, so I had my favorite munchkins over (the ones old enough and close enough to even pretend to decorate cookies) from 10 am - 1 pm for a few hours of unrestrained fun. The crowd included Geno, Lucy, Ben, Ellie, and Anthony. I gave each kid a plate of undecorated cookies, a plate of frosting (different colors), and a paintbrush. They were thrilled!

The decorating went something like this: dip paintbrush in frosting, paint frosting onto the cookie, put brush in mouth to suck the remaining frosting off of it, dip back into frosting, put back in mounth, dip back in frosting, look at cookie as if to frost it, change direction and suck off frosting again... each kid went home with a plate of their own cookies, not to be eaten by anyone else because of the careful "decorating" process. After 45 minutes of said decorating, we all went to the living room and played toys for an hour, then lunch, then as we ate lunch they saw the remaining undecorated coookies, so once lunch was done, we "decorated" again for another hour before parents came to get them.


To summarize:
baking supplies for sugar cookies and frosting ... $5
time spent baking ... 2 hours of cozy goodness on friday night
cookie decorating wiht the munchkins... messiest and possibly grossest thing ever
clean up after decorating... 1 hour
a fun day with the kids ... priceless

My favorite quote of the day:

Anthony: Um Reenie
Reenie: Yeah Anthony.
A: Um, I have a good idea...
R: whats that buddy?
A: Um, I love you!

If Dogs Could Talk...

My nephew Ben is a very social little boy. As a general rule, he likes to constantly be talking and getting feedback from his audience, whoever that happens to be. Now, when the kids are over at my house when I'm home, there is always a lot of interaction with my dog Suzie. Not only is her cage right there in the dining room, but the kids all know where the treats are and there is a constant stream of treats coming her way whenever kids are over. This only enforces her notion that kids are the greatest things around (unlike Maggie, who is afraid of toddlers and usually spends her time in the basement when those scary little people are running around).

Anyway, Ben has a fond relationship with Suzie and he believes that Suzie talks to him... i might be responsible for this interesting belief, in fact, becasue whenever the kids give her a treat, I always narrate for her. And as you can imagine, Suzie says a lot of the same things over and over. "Oh hi Ben! I'm so happy to see you." Or, "Oh thanks Ben, I love when you give me treats" and "oh boy oh boy, happy tail, i sure love tomatoes!" In my defense, i dont pretend that these things aren't coming out of my mouth, in fact, i know sometimes Ben is looking right at me while I narrate for the Suze, nonetheless, he firmly believes it is actually Suzie talking to him. Also in my defense, I narrate the things that I'm sure Suzie would be saying if she could talk, so none of it is a stretch.

So, a couple weeks ago Kathleen was cleaning my house and the kids were playing (I was at work). Ben goes over to Suzie's cage for his customary greeting and chat with the talking dog, Kathleen overhead the entire thing and was quite amused, although didn't realize the basis for Ben's beliefs.

Ben: "Hi Suzie" (suzie wags tail.)
"Arent you happy to see me Suzie?" (more wagging)
"Do you want me to read you a story Suzie?"
"Would you like a treat?" (more wagging)
He goes, gives her treat, no response other than wagging and chewing.
"Suzie, can you say, 'thank you Ben'?"
Ben turns to Kathleen, "She's a very quiet dog today Mom."

Last week I came home for lunch while Kathleen was cleaning, and happened to walk in the door just as Ben gave Suzie a treat. Naturally she thanked him out loud this time "Oh thanks Ben, I sure love you!" His whole face lit up! She's back!! My buddy Suze isn't quiet today!! He then spent the next hour while I was home talking to Suzie about everything under the sun... just totally thrilled that Suzie is his friend and is on speaking terms again :)

This past Saturday the kids came over for cookie decorating, and once again, Ben was thrilled to find Suzie quite chatty once again.

Ben: Hi Suzie
Suzie: Hi Ben. happy tail, happy tail. I'm so happy you are here.
Ben: Do you like treats Suzie?
Suzie: Oh yes, I love treats.
Ben: Oh good, I'll get you one!
Suzie (munching happily on treat): Oh thank you Ben!
Ben: Your welcome Suze. Do you like cookies Suze??
Suzie: (tail wagging) oh yes, i like cookies, but Reenie says cookies are just for kids, not for dogs.
Ben (leaning closer to the cage as if to keep it a secret): Maybe next time i come over...
Suzie was too busy giggling to respond to that one.

So yeah, the miracle of the talking dog continues to provide endless joy to so many of us!!

Happy Anniversary

Its amazing what God can do in 32 short years with a couple crazy and faithful people!!

The happy couple - Dec 19, 1975


The happy couple and offspring Dec 2006
(and this is last year's picture- there will be 2 more in this year's picture)

Pictures of Maine

A few pictures from my weekend ... gorgeous... i sure do love the ocean...





Me- good ole self portrait at the ocean

My friend Cheryl

thanksgiving pictures

the birthday boy in his new sweater (someone has awfully good taste)

Brothers... lots of them... although not all of them...

the love of my life

cousin Maddie and niece Jane

the turkey crew

In everything give thanks...

At times I struggle feeling like when someone asks, “So, what’s new with you?” I really have nothing to say. I don’t have kids to brag about (although I brag about my nieces, nephews, and friend's kids anyway), I am working the same job I have for years (and try to not bore people with the details), I am doing LT for going on 10 years – nothing that new about it, live in the same house, have a lot of the same friends who are mostly busy dealing with their own lives… yeah, the answer “not much” is kind of depressing when it sometimes seems like everyone else has so much going on. For a change, today I just want to acknowledge how incredibly grateful I am to be able to say, “not much” is new in my life.

In the past week, I have been a friend and support for several people who have a lot going on in their lives, lots of drama (the real life kind of drama). I am honored beyond words to be someone they can call when they need a shoulder to cry on, or a sympathetic ear, or a pan of brownies, or whatever. Nonetheless, it hit me today that I am profoundly grateful to God that He’s asked me to be a support during their drama, and that at this moment, my life has very little of my own drama in it.

So, although I know that my turn for drama will come- it always does- for today, I am very grateful for my boring life. (Just to clarify, by “boring” I don’t mean there’s nothing going on- rather, there’s a lot going on, but its of the normal mundane variety- housework, work work, de-icing the porch, Christmas shopping and preparation, Life Teen, etc).

For all of you experiencing drama, I am praying for you!! And don’t forget these dramatic times so that during the slow times so you can be evermore grateful for those boring, mundane days.

Insights from life with the BOC

Seriously, someday i'm going to write a book called "Everything I know about God I learned from my dogs and digging in the dirt"... sometimes I do think its ridiculous how many spiritual insights I get from those oh so simple things in my life... and I am awed by a merciful God who meets me right where I'm at, in those simple things in my every day life.

Anyway, this week's inspiration came a few nights ago. It was a stressful week at work (which I'm not so good at), a cold week in Michigan- so the dogs wouldn't stay out for more than a few minutes at a time, meaning they were antsy and fighting in the living room (which I do not allow), plus I had been busy several nights in a row, so they were starved for some attention. I knew I needed a work out in order to work off some stress and thereby sleep that night. I arrived home at 10 pm and decided it was time, cold or not, to go for a walk with my antsy BOC. Naturally, the hardest part is between me asking them "Wanna go for a walk" and actually getting out the door because they are soooo excited its almost impossible to sit still long enough to get a leash and choke collar on. Anyway, after an excited and unproductive few minutes, I managed to get collars and leashes in place, scarf, mittens and a hat on myself, and we headed out the door amid wagging tails and grinning pooches.

It was a clear night and I enjoyed seeing all the stars in their glory - they feel so close and yet so far away. Breathtaking. We walked around the block and to the road behind my house. It was a very dark and very still night, with few streetlights along our route and no traffic on that bypass road. As we passed the football field (directly behind my back yard) I decided to let the dogs run for a bit- hoping they wouldn't go too far or run away. They raced back and forth across the football field, zooming in the darkness. I couldn't really see them at all, until they zoomed by me (something about black dogs in pitch darkness doesn't really work).

Now I'm certainly aware that nearly nothing is as exciting for the dogs as freedom and space to run- particularly in places they usually have to be leashed. An open football field is much more exciting than my fenced backyard, duh. I'm also aware that although we do work at it, my pooches are not impecably trained or always obedient. Nonetheless, I wanted to test the system and see if they'd come when called, even in the excitement of zooming across said football field. So, I knelt on the cold ground (trying to get a glimpse of their locations in the light by the distant parking lot light). "Maggie, Suzie... Come" (very excitedly). Out of nowhere, Suzie comes racing to me, full speed, and hurls herself into my arms, licking my cold face, ecstatic!! Maggie, on the other hand, was busy sniffing a culvert. I knew she had heard me, but clearly she had more important things to do. I called her again, she stopped sniffing and started walking my direction, stopping several times to sniff the ground, before coming all the way to me. Meanwhile I didn't give up, I continued to call her name and encourage her to come. Several times in the next 15 minutes I repeated the exercise, and each time, Suzie would come racing to me the minute I called, while Maggie would continue what she was doing until she was good and ready, and then she'd come at her own pace.

And suddenly it hit me... how often do I hear God calling my name and instead of running to Him as fast as I can, I finish what I'm doing, explain that I can handle this, "be with you in a minute Lord" and then go to Him once I've finished what I consider to be important?? Hmmm. Jesus, help me be more like Suzie* and run to you at the sound of your voice, ecstatic to be Yours, to be called by name, to be invited into your arms.

*and by praying to be more like Suzie, i mean just in those things- not in the licking my butt, peeing when I'm nervous, or licking stranger's faces things. :D

Winter

I am so not ready for the arctic blast!! Winter is the hardest season for me by far... and it appears to be here to stay. Since I am working on being grateful for all things, I'm going to list what I like about winter, and not the many inconveniences and instances of being cold that get me down... ahem... Things i like about winter:

• sweaters


• fuzzy socks


• slippers


• cozy nights in sweats and wrapped in a warm comforter


• a good fire in the fireplace


• crafting or sewing projects in the evenings


• a fresh snowfall (excluding the shoveling and clearing of the car)


• hot chocolate, hot coffee


• cutting down the christmas tree


• christmas


• baking and the warm kitchen that follows


• the season that comes after winter


• the season that comes before winter


• finding a warm spot


• suzie sleeping on my feet and keeping me warm

What do you like about winter??