Our Quiverfull - Some Christmas fun

Dec. 9, 2007

Some Christmas fun

Well, I warned the other day that if I didn't post for a couple of days, it would be because I was having too much fun - and sure enough, we have been as busy as beavers trying to fit in lots of our Christmas traditions right now while Noah is home.

Friday we spent mostly just doing regular daily stuff in the morning - chores, homeschooling, etc. After lunch we dedicated the afternoon to making having fun, including making Christmas cookies. They weren't anything fancy at all. We took all-natural "ritz" type crackers from Whole Foods. The children made sandwiches with the crackers and natural peanut butter, then we dipped them in melted bittersweet chocolate and the dc sprinkled them with white, green and red colored sugar. (If anyone is looking for naturally colored decorations, we found a lot at www.squirrels-nest.com ) I knew that I had more decorations including some little white snowflake sprinkles but I couldn't find them anywhere. After some investigating we figured out that Hannah, in an attempt to be diligent, had gathered all of the Christmas candy and decorations and put them in a Walmart bag and tied up the top to keep out the little ones. (Not that Sarah would EVERY sneak anything LOL). She put the bag on a low shelf near the kitchen garbage can, where apparently someone bumped the bag and knocked it onto the floor. Matthew, in an attempt to be diligent, saw the tied-up plastic bag next to the garbage can and, thinking it was garbage, threw it away - the day before Thanksgiving, so it is long gone. Jeff and I were sick. Any of you who need to buy only natural treats know that they are very dearly priced and they are a big treat for our family. Since no one was at fault, (but both offered to pay for the treats) we decided to bite the bullet and replace the items. I'll go to Whole Foods when I take Noah to Greenville on Tuesday and am hoping they still have candy canes.

Anyway, the cookies were easy enough for everyone to do and we made a bunch of them. They are really very yummy. I'm planning to do gingerbread men Tuesday and frosted sugar cookie cutouts on Thursday. We'll see . . .

After the cookies were made and duly sampled we sat down and watched a really neat pyramid documentary from Netflix. We very seldom sit down and watch a movie during the day, so that was a treat in itself.

Yesterday we did a lot of work and had a lot of fun. Jeff and I lazed around in our room for the longest time just watching Noah sleep in the morning. The children kept tiptoeing in to watch him sleep too. (Who needs TV when you can watch a cute baby making sweet faces while he is sleeping??) I never did get around to our Great Playroom Clean-Up that I had planned several weeks ago, so we did it this weekend. The dc took turns choosing their favorite toys or sets of toys and removing them from the playroom. Once most were removed, we winnowed through the rest and got rid of all of the the things that were outgrown, no longer worked were missing pieces, etc. Then every single tub of toys was gone through and all of the pieces that didn't belong were duly sorted back to their proper places. (How do duplos end up in the Little People tub and Playmobil end up in the train tub anyway??) This was a big job, so we took a break late morning for milkshakes, then took a break late afternoon to go to the tree farm. We don't buy our tree there (we buy it from a stand that gives all proceeds to charity), but each child got to select an ornament.   They took a hayride and played for about an hour at the petting zoo. There were bunnies, a calf, goats, sheep, etc. It was so nice out - mid 70's - and they had a great time running around and enjoying the animals. Noah was particularly impressed with the calf, but overall he has seemed very tired and spent most of the day with his head on someone's shoulder. He didn't really try to pet the animals except for the calf whose nose seemed very appealing to Noah.

We headed home to continue working on the house, then when it got dark we went to a local Children's Home for their annual Christmas program. They had a huge petting zoo including tiny baby bunnies which Noah seemed to like, horse-drawn carriage rides, and a great live Nativity presentation. It had cooled off just enough to make the bonfires and hot chocolate appealing and we had a wonderful time there. My wonderful husband decided that I had worked too hard all day to go home and fix dinner, so we wrapped up the day with a trip out for pizza.

We got every last bit of the playroom done today but didn't have time to decorate the tree. Jeff doesn't have to go work until mid-afternoon tomorrow, so we're planning to have a special breakfast of sweet rolls, bacon, eggs, and OJ then decorate the tree and watch a Christmas video. The children are obviously very excited. :-)

Noah has really taught us to seize every moment and to do the most important things first. We don't know hour to hour if he is going to be well or headed to the hospital, so it has been VERY important to me to get these special traditions done as early as possible. It makes me feel better that if he does end up back in the hospital this month, at least the other children wouldn't have been robbed of their special annual activities. We also finished wrapping all of the Christmas presents except for a couple of items that haven't arrived yet.

Noah has been very subdued, and we aren't really sure why. He was wide open the day we came home from the hospital but hasn't wanted to do much or play much since. He spends most of his awake time snuggling with someone, usually with his head down on their shoulder. He played a little bit this evening while I wrapped birthday presents. To be honest, I was hoping that the petting zoo visits and hayride/carriage ride and the Christmas lights would be big treats for him, but he was very solemn most of the time. When a little baby bunny was placed on his lap he sat up and patted it a few times, then wanted to lean back again. He briefly patted a donkey from the nativity scene, and patted the calf's nose, but apparently didn't feel up to doing any more than that all day yesterday.   He doesn't want to eat either. He takes food eagerly into his hand and waves it around, then drops it. The only exception was the piece of Christmas cookie we gave him after lunch today - that little guy really enjoyed the chocolate and we loved watching him relish it. I'm hoping that he was just tired and will perk up this week. There isn't anything so clearly wrong that we can take him to the doctor, at least at this point. If he is getting sick, I am sure we will know all too soon.

I am adjusting to his medication schedule bit by bit. We did have to turn around on our way to church and return home because I forgot one of his pumps. It is a major mental workout for me to keep on top of everything and it was very challenging to time yesterday's outings so that we wouldn't have to change between TPN and IV medications (different pumps) while we were away from home. I did have to switch over and then back again during church today, but it was worth it to be back in church as a family!!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers. I just can't tell you how good it felt to do these special things as a family this weekend. I'll never take these special little moments for granted again.   I can honestly say that there is no where on earth I would have rather been than right here watching my children get chocolate all over their hands and faces, or squealing over the adorable animals, or exclaiming over the Christmas lights during our carriage ride, or or finally collapsing into bed and watching a great old black-and-white movie with Jeff last night.

Love,
Kate

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Dec. 9, 2007 - You are a blessing!

Posted by Anonymous

You bless me on a regular basis with your faith and praises in the midst of all you experience, but today it was especially nice to receive this uplifting update! My mom attends New Life Church and they have been terrorized today, so my day has been spent with an ear tuned to the tv for updates and on the phone talking to relatives who couldn't get a hold of my mom. Thanks for the Christmas cheer! I really needed it!
JA in CO