My Remarkable Daughter

My birthday was today. When you have a birthday so close to Christmas you sometimes get lost in the shuffle. That is why I swore I would never have a child in December but what did I do-I had a child in December. . .and now he is having a child in December.



This year for my birthday my daughter fixed me dinner. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, zucchini, corn, and bread. We also had cake and ice cream. She did all this after working all day-I didn't work today since it was my birthday.



The other reason my daughter is remarkable is that she does everything she can for others. She has such a caring spirit and she has chosen to be involved with children who have cancer. She endlessly volunteers for Camp Quality, a camp for children with cancer, a camp where children can be children for a week. She raises money, she keeps in contact with families, and she does everything she can to ease the pain and burden for these children and their families. I love her so much and I admire her for all the time, energy, and love that she puts into this.

Liz

No Decorations This Year

For the first time in 30+ years I do not have any Christmas decorations out. I had intended to put up the tree but decided not to do even that.

I have tons of Christmas decorations and I love decorating for the season. Even last year between surgeries and company I managed to get all the decorations out. This year we were gone for Thanksgiving and upon returning my husband went out of town. I thought that this would give me a lot of extra time but other things got in my way. Then a whole week went by and nothing had been done.

Since we are going to be leaving December 20 to go to Houston to await the birth of this grandchild (if it doesn't come sooner) I just didn't see a reason to get all of the decorations out and spend a week decorating and then only be able to enjoy it for a week. So-there will be no Christmas decorations this tear. That means that next year when I get them out then it will more exciting.

Liz

A Little Different This Year

Our family is no different than most families at this time of year. We usually buy several gifts for everyone and enjoy giving them, BUT I had always felt that we should be doing something else. We had tried to do things through church but to me it felt like it wasn't a family effort.

Now that both of our children are grown and married I thought that it was time to try something else. We decided that all of us were very blessed and there wasn't anything that we really needed. We decided that we would draw names. That in itself is not unusual-lots of families do that. We added another element to it and hopefully it will be something we do every Christmas.
We decided that we would contribute to a charity and that one family would choose the charity for each of us to donate. We also decided that my parents would be the one to make the choice this year and that it would rotate on a yearly basis. The amount that each person would donate would be totally up to them, we would just send our checks to my parents and they would forward them to the charity.

This year my parents chose Lighthouse for Christ (www.lighthouseforchrist.com). This is a charty that has doctors go to Kenya and perform eye operations for free. The doctors donate all their time to perform these surgeries. They also dispense glasses. This organization also talks with people about Jesus as they are waiting to be seen by the doctors. This is an impressive organization and I am so pleased that this year our donation will be going to them.

Liz

Our Fun 2007 Christmas Eve

Last year on Christmas Eve afternoon our son, daughter in law, daughter, my husband and I went to the mall. I had told them that we were going there to have fun. I know that they were thinking how much fun can you have at the mall on the day before Christmas where everyone is scurrying about trying to find those last minute gifts. I also think that they thought I had lost my mind.

Upon arriving at the mall I gathered them around and gave each of them $5.00. I then gave them the instructions: they each had 1 hour to spend the whole $5.00 (I forgot to tell them that they would have to pay the tax) and then we would meet up at that same spot to compare the things we got. The person that did the best won-all they won was the honor of saying that they had won.

I went to lots of stores to look and I found lots of things but nothing that I felt would be a good use of my money. I finally found a display of small tools that were less than $5.00. I bought about 4 things (one of them cost $2.00) and started my way back to our meeting place.

We compared the things that we had bought: a gummy rat plus some other candy, some light up earrings, and other useless items. Our daughter won-she managed to spend hers in the first 5 minutes and then spent the rest of them time wandering around. She could only bring back a picture of her choice. She had donated her money to Salvation Army and took a picture of the bell ringer and the money going into the slot of the kettle.

I think that everyone agreed that she had made the best selection. We all had fun and it was an enjoyable afternoon at the mall.

Liz

A Unique Gift

Last Christmas our son asked that we give them one of our favorite books as one of their gifts. As much as I enjoy reading it was difficult to select a book. I also had my parents give them as well as our daughter their favorite gifts.

For our son I chose Walk Across America (see my shelfari) and for our daughter I chose The Secret Life of Bees (see my shelfari). My husband chose to give our son White Fang/Call of the Wild and our daughter was given The Long Walk (see my shelfari).

I knew that my father would say that his favorite book was Ferdinand the Bull so I found a copy for each of our children. My mother gave our son Feet in the Fire and she gave our daughter the autobiography by Ben Carson.

I really thought that this was such a unique gift. We wrote in the book why it was one of our favorite books. I felt that it was such a personal gift and one that would share a memory. Sometimes the best gifts are simple and meaningful.

Liz

My Favorite Advent "Calendar"

When my children were young I started a Christmas countdown. I would take 50 (25 per child) small bags (the size that you would use for a sack lunch) and number them. Inside I would put a little toy, some change, candy, a snack, etc. Each day they opened one bag until Christmas Day.

When I first started this it was easy to fill the bags. They were happy with a quarter, a candy cane, a Hot Wheels car, anything that was small and inexpensive. As they got older it was harder to find things that I could fill the bag with. One time when they were in high school I found some bubble gum that was shaped like crayons and came in a box that looked like a crayon box. That was a big hit, especially with my son.

I continued this until 2 years ago. By then my kids were in their 20's and it was extremely difficult to do it. I had done this the whole time my son was in college and had even done it when he was first married. I had thought of stopping it a few years before that but the kids mentioned how much they liked their bags so I did it for a few more years.

In a few years our grandchild will be old enough that I can start doing it again. It will be fun and I am looking forward to finding those inexpensive little things again.

Liz

It's December

It is hard to believe that December is already here. November came and went quickly.

Our long Thanksgiving weekend was good. We spent the day with my parents and then the next morning we were off to Houston, where it was very warm. I have a hard time seeing people in shorts when it is this close to Christmas.

Our time in Houston was busy. We helped L&K put together the crib. Thank goodness the baby will now have a bed to sleep in. I made the valance for the window and a bed skirt for the crib. We had taken a rocking chair down but I brought the cushions back to recover them.

My husband helped L fix the leaky toilet, cut down some branches from a tree that was damaged by the hurricane and helped L mount their TV on the wall. They also moved a dresser into the baby's room.

Three weeks until this baby is officially supposed to arrive. L&K won't tell the name. They say that way we will have to like it. I tried to find out but I didn't have any luck. They are so excited about this and it is fun to watch them. The baby's room will be so cute when they have completely finished everything.

Right now we are planning on going back to Houston on December 20-the official due date and L's birthday. Of course we could be making a quick trip down there if this baby decides to come early.

Liz