Merry Christmas!

It’s the day after Christmas
And throughout the house of Cornell,
All the children are sleeping
So, for mom, all is well.

Well, I hope everyone who reads this can look back at the last couple of days and think, “Yeah, we had a great Christmas.” I know we did. As of today, we have participated in many Christmas festivities and spent time with pretty much all our family and had a good time with all of it.

We saw Santa land at our church in a helicopter 2 Sundays ago. As we watched him be fixated on the helpicopters, we asked Nathan if he was going to fly helicopters in the army. He replied an emphatic, "Yes!"

On her last day of school before Christmas break, Sarah's class did their Luke 2 play for the parents. I was able to break away from work for a few minutes to watch the play, but could not stay for the rest of their class party. It was incredibly cute and Sarah was an angel along with 3 other friends from her class.

We spent Saturday at my sister's house with my parents and all the cousins. The cousins all exchanged books and we had a good afternoon of baking and decorating gingerbread cookies and just hanging out together.

On Christmas Eve we spent the day cleaning and finishing up some last minute shopping, then went to worship service at our church and had dinner at our house with Mike's mom and sister. Nathan was such a big boy and sat (or squirmed as the case may be) with us during the entire service. We had fajitas for dinner and they opened gifts with Nanny and Brooke.

Christmas Day was busy. Mike and I woke up and got our showers early. The kids didn't get up until around 8-8:30. They got to see their Santa gifts (Sarah got a big bike and Nathan got a train table) and then we did our Happy Birthday Jesus cake before stockings and the rest of the gifts. My parents arrived and then a couple of hours later the rest of my family arrived for a late lunch. In the evening, my aunt and her kids + families came over and we were all together for the evening. It was wonderful having everyone there.

Oh, and let the record reflect that I baked a crackless cheesecake for yesterday.

So now, it's the day after Christmas. December 26th. Nathan has been coughing the last few days and we were out of albuterol for the nebulizer so I got him in to see a nurse practitioner today. Almost 2 hours later, we left without the albuterol perscription, but we had one for amoxicillin for his strep throat. Ugh! And we were around 9 other children yesterday.

As I look back over the last month (while sitting here and cleaning out all my email I haven't checked all month) I realize I didn’t do as well as I had hoped I would this year about all the things I wanted to do with my kids around the Advent season. We started out good… reading a prophesy about Christ from the Old Testament and it’s fulfillment in the New Testament each day. But in the busyness of work, musicals, preparing to spend time with family and just life, we were not as good about it as I would have liked. Goodness… in our house, baby Jesus was late to Christmas. We forgot to add baby Jesus to the Advent calendar yesterday, but he made his appearance there today. Whew!

Good thing he was on time that first Christmas when He came over 2000 years ago. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

Did you get that? The “time had fully come.” He wasn’t early. He wasn’t late. He was right on time. Something that I haven't been in a long time. Thank you Jesus! Thank you that You do not let busyness get in the way of your business. Forgive us, Lord, when we do.

It’s over, but it’s not

As I type this, I’m in the middle of rehearsal for our Christmas musical at church. I find myself incredibly thankful that my part is no bigger than it is. I’m watching all these people running around with multiple costume changes in a short amount of time. I have 1 costume change and I have several scenes in between my scenes. With starting work this year, I don’t know that I could have handled much more than what I’m doing.

Well, Sarah and I had the talk about Santa this evening. She is so okay with it all. Kind of like the tooth fairy. She still wants to do all of the seeing him and pictures and all of that like we did this evening at Chic-fil-a. So I think we’ll still have fun with it. However, after it first came up a week or so ago, I really began to think about it.

Not only did I not want to ever technically lie to her about it, but I also didn’t want her to hear words about something make-believe concerning Christmas coming out of the same mouth that is telling her the truth about Jesus birth at Christmas. I guess I became concerned that she might think that if I was telling her stories of a make-believe Santa Claus that the stories we tell of Jesus might also be make-believe.

So, she has this picture in her mind of Mike dressing up as Santa, kind of like me dressing in black to be the tooth fairy. It’s so funny what their little brains come up with. So, the wonder and amazement of Santa Claus is over for Sarah, but in a way, it’s not. And we continue to look forward to having a lot of fun for years to come with Santa.

Christmas is upon us...

5 December 2007

Christmas is upon us. It’s time. And I’m not at all ready. Well, I’m ready, but I’m not ready.

I’m not ready because I still have so many gifts to think about and buy. It’s stressing me out a little. I’m usually done with my shopping by Halloween, but with working this year, it’s just not done yet. It’ll be fine, but I’d be more comfortable if it was already all done.

I’m also not ready because we’re getting questions about Santa. We don’t want to perpetuate something that it is time to let go of, but I also don’t want to dash something she still may want to believe. It’s hard.

I don’t know if you knew this, but we never really had a tooth fairy. From the beginning she said, “I think it’s just you, mom.” Well, I can’t lie, so I confirmed that it was me (us) but it was a way for us to celebrate her getting older and losing her teeth. She’s great with it. In fact, she has in her mind that I dress up in a black dress and a black mask so that I blend in with the dark in her room. How funny is that?

We were at a birthday party the other day and a couple of other girls were talking about how Santa isn’t real. So, she asked and I put her off until later. I figured I would wait and see if she asked again. And she did, but not until the next day.

“Is Santa real?”
“Well, what do you think?”
“I think he is.”
“Hmm. Why is that?”
“Well, because we go and see him and tell him what we want for Christmas.”
“Okay.”

So, now I can’t decide if I answered the right way. Did I lie? I don’t think so, but I’m sure others would disagree. We really are amazed that she hasn’t put it all together considering the tooth fairy thing, but apparently she wants to believe it for now. So, we’re going to go with that and have fun with it for as long as it lasts.

However, I am ready for Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year. It is the one holiday each year that I specifically decorate for and I love it. This is the first year in several that I have been able to fully all-out decorate. In 2005 we were in temporary housing and didn’t have anything other than a tree. In 2006, we had a 1 year old and I just didn’t have it in me to deal with really thinking about it very much. But it was fun this year as he was old enough to help decorate the tree and begin to understand a lot more.

I have also been ready to do some more Christ related things with my kids at Christmas. I’m trying to really celebrate the season of Advent and not just the day. This year we are going through a different prophesy from the Old Testament each day about Jesus and how it was fulfilled in the New Testament. This is something that I am really looking forward to doing in some form each year going forward.

And as we approach this weekend, we have Christmas parties (btw, we are going to both our office parties Friday night), productions at church, recitals, school programs and parties… it’s going to be busy for the next couple of weeks, but I am so looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun.

I pray that you are able to have fun over the next couple of weeks as we approach Christmas Day and celebrate the glorious incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ our Savior.

What’s in a Name?

I love to cook. Do you? Oh, I do. I love to plan and execute an exquisite gourmet meal. But I also love baking chocolate chip cookies with my kids. I just love to cook. So, when I was trying to come up with a name for this blog, my dear husband reminded me that if I was doing it mostly to help my family keep up with things going on with us, then it needed to be something meaningful to my family. Naturally, being the good Texan Baptists that we are, anything and everything has to do with food.

The title “Cheesecracks and Fruit Salads” is a way for me to poke fun at myself and my family. You see, my family has a way of taking any little mistake or misstep and never letting go of it. You hear about it in one form or another for the rest of your life. For instance, my dear late grandmother, Nana Prewitt, who died this summer tried one time to pass off store bought rolls as her own. We even heard about it at her funeral. That’s the kind of family we are. It’s a little sick if you ask me.

So here are the stories behind the name:

• I was making a cheesecake one time at my sister’s house. Cheesecakes are finicky and they have to be cooked and cooled at just the right temperature. Well, Denise’s oven ran hotter than mine at home and it formed a crack wider than the Grand Canyon. Thus was born the name, “Cheesecrack” (thanks, Dad). Let the record reflect that I have only cracked one other cheesecake since then and that was because I went to sleep and couldn’t baby-sit it as it cooled.
• When we get together for holiday meals, we all bring at least one dish. One year, I told mom I would bring a fruit salad. Well, things at work got crazy and I just didn’t have time to make it to the store to buy the fruit. So, I planned to instead, just buy the fruit at the local grocery store after we got out to their house in Lindale. We got there, and unloaded the car and I told mom I needed to go to the grocery store to get the fruit and she said, “Oh, I’ve got fruit here. You just use that.” So, I did. And now the long standing joke when we’re discussing holiday meals is that, “Donna will make the fruit salad… if you provide the fruit.”
• And the web address… “way more homemade”? Well, there’s a story there also… We were at a dinner at church sitting at a table with several dear friends. Valerie, Andrea and I happened to be discussing different potato dishes that we liked to make. Valerie began to describe what she does and that she uses frozen hash browns and some canned soup or something. Well, I (without consulting the tact part of my brain) decided to say… you guessed it, “Oh, mine is WAY more homemade than that.” Everyone just kind of stopped. “Did that actually just come out of my mouth?” YEP, it sure did!

I recently began to think of how these stories and names can apply to my life. Here’s what I came up with…

Aren't we glad God doesn't keep that kind of record? In Psalm 103:11-12, God tells us, "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

In spite of all the cracks I create in life as I am sooo less than perfect… God can still use me. In spite of how I lack in so many areas and feel so unprepared… God can still use me. And in spite of my big huge mouth that seem to always jump in the action when it is least needed… God can still use me.

In spite of myself… God can still use me. I remember this as I pray that he uses this blog.

Double-Booked

And sometimes even triple-booked. Our holiday schedules are in and boy is it going to be tight. Both Mike and I have office parties that are scheduled for the same evening on December 7th. And, if one more thing gets scheduled for December 13th, I think I might scream. Not only do I have our Onelife Christmas production of "All on a Christmas Day" at church, but Sarah has a piano recital, and Nathan has a Christmas program for his daycare as well. What's a mom to do?

Well, first of all, as I type this I realize that I’ve got to find a babysitter for the office Christmas parties. We won’t go to both, but we will definitely go to one or the other. Then on the 13th, it’s likely that Mike will go with one child, his mom will go with the other, and hopefully I will be able to catch up via video later when I get home. But you know, I’m the mom – I’m supposed to be there. I’m not supposed to have to catch up later via video. Ugh. How did this happen?

I guess we are beginning to experience what so many other families have dealt with for a long time. You have multiple children involved in multiple things and before you know it; you’re double- (and sometimes triple-) booked. It kind-of makes me wish I had an under-study for my role in our Christmas production. But that’s not the case and I believe it’s what I’m supposed to be doing because if it wasn’t, I’m sure the Lord would have taken me out of it by now (as He has so faithfully done with other activities recently). So, we will work around the crazy December 13th schedule. Moving on.

Aren’t we glad that God can’t be double-booked, over-sold, or scheduled way too tight? He is infinitely able to meet all our needs. As much as I want to meet every need of my children, I am a finite human, and there are only so many places I can be at one time. In fact, I can only be one place at a time. But God, Oh God, is infinite and omnipresent. He IS and He is everywhere. Praise you Father.

This idea came up somewhat in my BSF lesson this week. Matthew 7:11 says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” It is interesting to note, however that Luke 9:13 reminds us that “good gifts” are not always something we can see. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

So, not only does this ring true and remind me that their Heavenly Father (not their earthly mother) will meet all my children’s needs, but it also speaks to me about good gifts. I want more than anything to give my children good gifts, especially as we approach Christmas. But I need to want so much more for God to bless them with the good gift of his Holy Spirit. I need to pray earnestly for them as they seek to personally know Christ that He will reveal Himself in such a way that they cannot turn away. That they will soon be compelled to invite Him to (as my friend Lisa says) be the boss of their life.

So, Lord, as I have failed so many times as a parent and I know that I have never been perfect, I know that YOU WERE. As I am unable to be everywhere for my children, I know YOU ARE. As I will never be everything to them, I pray YOU WILL BE.

Oh it's sad...

This was Nathan this morning, which is also pretty much how he looked when we went through this same stuff 3 weeks ago.

Pneumonia

Yes, you read that right. Pneumonia. Nathan started coughing again on Friday and I took him to Urgent Care today (Sunday) as he began to have a fever as well. I pressed the issue with the doctor, who was pretty cold to us at first, and convinced her to do a chest x-ray on him. Glad I did. I had to leave to go to a drama rehearsal, but Mike said that she was a lot nicer and almost apologetic after looking at his films. He had what was termed as “scattered” pockets of pneumonia which could mean that it is either the beginning of it, or it could mean that he actually had it when we went 3 weeks ago, it wasn’t diagnosed as such and therefore not treated as such and it could be flaring up again. So, that aside, now we know and can hopefully eradicate it completely from his poor little body and he can begin to get better. We’ll have another chest x-ray in a week or so to check our progress.

Training Wheels No More

Sarah is now without training wheels. I noticed how well she was riding recently and began to talk to her and mentioned the possibility of dad taking the training wheels off. Then, on Sunday afternoon while I was at rehearsal for our Christmas musical at church, it just happened. There was no holding on to the back of the bike or anything... she just went. However, she does have to start with her right foot... it's got to be just right. This video was taken the next day because unfortunately, I had the camera with me Sunday afternoon and it was completely dark outside by the time we got home and I could see her.

Life's Messes

Life is messy. There’s no way around it. Some messes are just what we have to go through to get to a desired end. Some are circumstantial. Others are messes we ourselves make. And boy, can we do a good job at it or what?

My house is a mess. From one end to the other, it is covered in dust and grime. Dust from the drywall work we’ve done and grime because I have neglected cleaning anything so that I can spend any and all extra time working on the living room to just get it done. One is just necessary to get to the desired end, the other, circumstantial and a result of trying to get to that same desired end result. Just to give you an idea…

However, there is hope. We were able to send the kids to Nanny’s house again this past weekend and we got a lot accomplished. After taking the rest of the wall paper off and priming the walls over the last two weeks, this weekend I textured the walls while Mike installed all the can lights. We also primed the walls and were able to finish painting on Monday. I have to admit, it looks good. And, this means we are at the end of the major dust creating phase and now I am beginning the great clean-up. There’s not much I can help with from here on as it is all trim work (other than staining the trim).

I have also recently made some major messes. As I have been dealing with some issues that are frustrating and stressful, I have behaved so poorly that I know I have hurt those around me. I have had to go back and make some apologies recently. However, as our pastor pointed out on Sunday, Christ is our great mess cleaner-upper. I can only look to Him to truly make things work for good.

Life is messy. Sometimes it’s literally dust and grime. Other times, it’s more ambiguous and dealing with emotions and attitudes. But, there’s no way around it.

A Princess and a Frog

I didn't realize how well Sarah and Nathan's costumes went together this year until I said outloud what they were dressed up as...

the princess and the frog.

Actually, the explanation of their costumes is much better coming from them...