“Come thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee.”

It seems that is was not too long ago, when I was sitting down to write last years letter. How the time does pass, with now 3 little ones in the house to keep up with. I can’t say that I actually ever feel like I’m caught up with them, but I certainly do try!

That said, the biggest news this year in our family, was the arrival of our baby girl on April 27, named Elise Meredith. She was overdue, so we spent a few days anxiously awaiting her arrival. We had a doula (birthing coach) with us this time, and her birth went so much better than the boys did. I’m still not sure that I’m used to having a girl yet, as I was just starting to get comfortable with the thought of boys. So far no girl traits have shown themselves, other than massive quantities of pink around the house. She is trying to crawl these days, but I’m hoping that she doesn’t succeed until the Christmas tree is gone for the year!


Luke is now a big 4½ year old. He is a typical first born (pleaser, thinks he’s an equal with Dad and Mom) and keeps me challenged. As a middle kid myself, I don’t understand him much of the time, but Greg does as he is also a first born. Luke is excited to learn anything, and we’ve been working with him on various subjects. We plan to home school, so are using this year to review curriculum and learning styles to see what will work best for our family.

Our James is 2½ and there is never a dull moment with him around. The best word to describe him would be “random”. You just never know what to expect, and usually he is unintentionally making us laugh. He’s been a late talker, so is just starting to put words together. His sentences consist of words like “none coal ucgh” (he doesn’t want any ucky coal in his stocking). He gets his point across quite clearly, despite his limited vocabulary. He dotes on Elise (he calls her NaNa) quite well, which pretty much always makes her cry because he’s so “in her face”.

This year we have delved into two new areas that we haven’t been before. Chickens and wood stoves. They both have involved much learning, and we are still eager to learn more. The chickens now give us plenty of fresh eggs, and we may expand the numbers next spring to include broilers (meat chickens). The wood stove has given us plenty of work to do, as well as toasty radiant heat. The stove has a window in the door, and we love just sitting in front of the fire all evening and watching it flicker (the kids pretend it‘s TV).

We also were able to purchase a full size truck (needed mostly for the wood) and now plan to go to Arizona for Christmas where we have also acquired a camper to bring back with us. We’ve had many camping disasters with kids and tents, so are hoping this will help solve that problem. The price was too good to pass up, and now it gives us an excuse to head for sunshine when it’s at the rainiest here. We’ve been here 4 years now (in the Pacific Northwest), and I feel like I must be finally getting acclimatized. The other morning I woke up to a gray day, and wasn’t even disappointed. That had never happened before. So, we’ll see what my thoughts are come March, but right now, it’s all okay! (oops, change of plans...my Grandma Staudinger passed away, so we'll be headed to Alberta, Canada for Christmas instead. Feeling sadness for the loss of her, but rejoicing that her battle here is done, and that she's gained the victory through Christ!)

Much love to you now at Christmas time, and may God richly bless you in the coming 2010!!

Greg, Rachel, Luke, James & Elise

Giving Gifts

I've been pondering about what to give my kids, since they don't really need anything, but it definitely is fun to give them something. I thought back to my own childhood, and although I would have liked a "trendy" gift to show off at school after Christmas break, I'm thankful that my parents bought practical and fun things (ice skates, purses, etc). Now as a parent I've tried to set some guidelines that help me choose what to get for my own kids. I like A's idea on facebook about 1 fun, 1 spiritual enriching, 1 item for the body (clothes), just as the 3 wise men bought 3 gifts for baby Jesus.

My "rules" are these:
-something they won't fight over and be jealous of each other for
-equal in value for each kid
-useful and fun, something that will last for years (rather than weeks or months)
-bought used at the thrift store/garage sales if possible. (which I was an idiot and saw the perfect gift at Goodwill in about September for my boys, and didn't buy it because I thought it was too early in the season, then had to pay full price now in December) Lesson learned !!
-(this year only because we have a long road trip ahead) something small and non-annoying that they can play with for hours in the car. We did this last year going to Florida, and the toy kept the boys happy the whole flights there and back, as well as the whole trip (and are still played with daily!)
-something I won't be tripping over and grumbling about in the near future!

Last year I filled their stockings, and they didn't appreciate it at all. They just kept digging and tossing things aside over their shoulder. This year, only 1 item will go in the stocking and maybe a few candies or an satsuma orange (which is what we always got), and it'll likely be a consumable so we don't have to deal with it in the future (markers, craft items)

As for the baby, they usually love the box, but I did find something to give her. Usually baby just gets a new teething ring or chewy book, but I wonder if I even need to do that. They are just as happy with the wrapping paper left lying around!

Here's a few pictures of the boys at the Christmas Program, and Luke saying his verse. James' verse was supposed to be the answer to "who was born at Christmas?", but he got too distracted and just smiled at everyone with his "Snuggle Monkey". I was unaware that the Wise Men carried monkeys with them, but J insisted that they did (since the Shepherds had sheep)!

I love watching the kids do their verses, and think back on all the programs I was in as a kid, and the excitement, but also nervousness involved.

We're going on a trip, in our favorite rocket ship...

I've been busy these days trying to get the Christmas stuff done. You know- cards, food, this morning it was a Shepherd and Wise Man costume for the Christmas program. So, the kids have been keeping busy as well, playing Little Einsteins alot of the time, when they aren't helping me. This morning they were going to Minnesota (one of Rocket's favorite places, I was told), so here's a picture (a.k.a. bunkbed). From left to right, Annie, Quincy and Leo (I'm June). Annie chews on the map (an old dead calculator), Quincy operates the GPS (a cd player), and Leo drives and calls out orders. I hear alot yelling "HELP" "WOW" and "OH, NO" from Quincy with his limited vocabulary coming from the Rocket. And alot of bossing from Leo since he's the oldest and does the driving. Annie comes along on special missions, but can't be trusted too much, so June always has to be present when Annie wants to go!

Obedience

The other night 5 of us Canadian girls that live around here got together for our annual Christmas "evening". We are all at the same stage of life, which is mothers to small children. One of the topics of discussion was about getting kids to obey. The question was, "should we explain to our kids why or why not we decide yes/no when they ask if they can do something?" There were many pros and cons to the subject, as we each voiced our opinion. My son L always wants to know the "why Mom?", and sometimes I explain, but then I feel guilty if I don't explain it. Deep down I feel that I am the parent, and shouldn't have to explain my reasons for deciding what I do. And there always is a reason, as we all know. No conclusion was made, but today enlightenment came.

We are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the kids, and tonight here is the excerpt I found significant, when Laura and Ma went to milk the cow.

When Laura walked behind Ma on the path to the barn, the little bits of candle-light from the lantern leaped all around her on the snow. The night was not yet quite dark. The woods were dark, but there was a gray light on the snowy path, and in the sky there were a few faint stars. The stars did not look as warm and bright as the little lights that came from the lantern.

Laura was surprised to see the dark shape of Sukey, the brown cow, standing at the barnyard gate. Ma was surprised, too.

It was too early in the spring for Sukey to be let out in the Big Woods to eat grass. She lived in the barn. But sometimes on warm days Pa left the door of her stall open so she could come into the barnyard. Now Ma and Laura saw her behind the bars, waiting for them.

Ma went up to the gate, and pushed against it to open it. But it did not open very far, because there was Sukey, standing against it. Ma said:

“Sukey, get over!” She reached across the gate and slapped Sukey’s shoulder.

Just then one of the dancing bits of light from the lantern jumped between the bars of the gate, and Laura saw long, shaggy, black fur, and two little, glittering eyes.

Sukey had thin, short, brown fur. Sukey had large, gentle eyes.

Ma said, “Laura, walk back to the house.”

So Laura turned around and began to walk toward the house. Ma came behind her. When they had gone part way, Ma snatched her up, lantern and all, and ran. Ma ran with her into the house, and slammed the door.

Then Laura said, “Ma, was it a bear?”

“Yes, Laura,” Ma said. “It was a bear.”

[...] He didn’t hurt us,” Ma said. “You were a good girl, Laura, to do exactly as I told you, and to do it quickly, without asking why.”

Ma was trembling, and she began to laugh a little. “To think,” she said, “I’ve slapped a bear!”

The answer is right there. When (or if) you get in a situation where you need your kid to obey, you need them to do it NOW, without asking why. I do recall a story where a family's house was on fire and the dad (on the ground) told his son on the second floor to jump out the window and he'd catch him. The boy disobeyed and said he'd go down the stairs through the burning house. The father never saw him again. I'd hate to be the parent that when I needed my child to obey in a time of trouble and they didn't. Prayerfully we can teach this concept to our little ones, because it's so much easier said than done.

A Day in the Life of a True Outdoorsman

My sister A and her husband N live a much different life than us. It involves everything outdoorsy. I like to think we 'rough' it a bit, but compared to them, we're city slickers. N is one of the few outdoorsmen left who actually could live off the land. When he hunts, it's not with all the new fangled gear and gadgets, just a gun and himself (no camo even). And he gets more animals than anyone I know.

The other day an older couple they know called them up to say that a there were 2 deer fighting in their field, and they didn't know what to do. Apparently the deers antlers were locked together, and they were unable to get away from each other. The couple had called Fish and Wildlife, but were unable to get ahold of anyone, so they called N, since he was the only hunter they knew. N and A went over to their house to investigate, and found what they said was true, only the one deer was dead already. When N got closer yet, he found that both deer's antlers were tangled up in a roll of twine, and so getting them free could be a challenge. Hunting season is over up in Alberta (where they live), and N only had a tag for a different kind of deer this year anyways. The old lady tried to convince him that it would be okay to kill the deer, seeing the circumstance. N told her that it was still illegal, so he would only kill it if he absolutely had to.

The people lived near a river (frozen at this time of year), so N was able to "steer" the deer down onto the ice, where the buck had less footing and was less likely to charge him, and then N could try to cut the twine and break him free. So, he got down there, and cut as much as he could from as far away as possible, but then did have to wrestle the deer a bit it finally get all of it cut. The deer was pretty tired from dragging the other dead deer around for who knows how long (it was partially eaten by coyotes, so the alive deer likely had to fend off the coyotes himself too), but still was quite a challenge and charged N a few times.

In the end, the deer was freed, and there were no injuries. N got his exercise, and A got her heart attack scare for the day. And the old people who called in the first place were very appreciative of his good deed. A got a bunch of pictures, so I'll post some if I can get her to send me some.

PS. N is also the one who has hounds and hunts cougars, if you've seen my pictures on Facebook.

Today...

The past few days have been extremely exhausting, to say the least. E has had a fever for 4 of them, with no apparent cause. So, that meant much mommy-baby time, and little time for anything else. When I finally got back into life today and turned the computer on, I found this link that was very encouraging to young mothers. Just what I needed, as I had gotten rather overwhelmed with it all. Putting God back in the center, instead of being bombarded with details that really don't matter. So, baby is better, and so am I (and hopefully the rest of the family) This link is a friend of a friend, so if you want to buy anything, it's locally (WA state) hand made with care. Enjoy!

http://www.whispersofjoy.com/1/post/2009/11/article-from-revive-our-hearts.html