Christmas 2009 Blizzard: Memories galore.

Well Christmas Eve Day the winter storm that the weather men had been predicting was quickly approaching us. It rained all night long and then the morning was more rain, then about 2 hours of sleet and then finally the snow came...and did it ever. We eventually ended up with about 8 inches...but then so did most of Oklahoma. It was considered the biggest state-wide blizzard ever. There was snow from the far west in Guymon all the way across the state reaching the southeast in Idabel.

We went outside for about 10 minutes during the blizzard, but the wind was blowing about 40 mph and the snow was stinging Micah's face, so we went inside and warmed up with some hot chocolate. The kid's sure liked that. We ended up watching the rest of the snow from the warmth of the inside of our cozy cottage.

On Christmas Day, our events started early...2am early. Alexis has been battling some kind of infection/bug and hasn't felt well and was awake at 2am needing something. After we got her back in bed, the little snowman was awake wanting to be fed..so my Christmas morning started at 4am. I brewed some coffee and then laid on the couch and waited for MicahMan and the Princess to awaken from their slumber. MicahMan stumbled in around 7:30 and Princess followed around 8:00am.

Santa was pretty good to them and brought them some nice gifts. Santa was even watching his budget this year, so he had to make the gifts count. MicahMan got a Lightning McQueen rolling tool bench and Princess got an EasyBake Oven. In addition to their main gifts, their stockings were full of sweets and other treats.

Christmas Day was spent eating, watching movies and playing with the newest toys. We were snowed in, so there was nothing else to do, but spend time indoors and stay warm. It also was spent outside frolicking in the snow.

The day after Christmas we built a snowman before the sun melts away all of the white stuff. MicahMan loves the snow and definitely does not want to go inside to warm up. He could stay out all day if you would let him, but his little hands and toes would be numb and red.

We have had an enjoyable Christmas Break and it saddens me to think that it is almost over and that I must return back to the office. As much as I enjoy being off work, I do enjoy getting a paycheck to provide for my family. The new year 2010 will be here in less than a week and I am looking forward to the many blessings and memories that we experience. 

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... just like the ones I used to know...where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow. A very good song by Bing Crosby and a good movie as well. Today is Christmas Eve morning. It has been a fun week thus far and cannot believe Christmas is upon us. We were going to go to Tulsa today to celebrate Christmas with Michele's parents and her brother and his wife.....queue up Winter Storm 2009....for the last several days there has been a lot of talk about the potential of a major winter storm that would hit right before Christmas. As we got closer to the day, the forecasts continued to change and almost promised some snow. We were awakened early this morning by rain beating on the air conditioner.

Michele came in and asked me to get up and make a determination of what we were going to do for our trip. I felt the need to ask the Lord what we should do. I hadn't seen any reports yet, but felt a check in my spirit to ask Him. I didn't hear anything real clear, but did feel the check in my spirit. Michele asked me what I thought and I told her I didn't think we should go. Not more than 30 seconds after that, she received a text from her mom saying that it wouldn't be good for us to come today and try and make it home tonight with a newborn baby. Thank you Lord for speaking to me and confirming. The Lord does speak...we must be still and listen. So we have decided to wait until Saturday to go up there and celebrate.

It definitely looks like we are going to have a white Christmas. They are forecasting us to get up to 6" of snow, but also ice before the snow arrives. This past week we have done several crafts and have spent quality time together. Monday night we made a toilet paper roll Santa for Micah and an elf for Alexis..they had a lot of fun doing that.

On Tuesday night we decorated a pre-built gingerbread house that was purchased at Walmart. The kids really enjoyed doing this and Micah seemed to enjoy eating the candy just as much as decorating. I think it turned out nice and I enjoyed it as well. Not to mention, I had the pleasure of putting the frosting on the house and got just as much on my hands as I did the house. :)

Wednesday evening the kids made sugar cookies with Michele and I was out getting new glasses; my old ones had been broken for a few weeks. I am glad to have a new set of eyes finally. Thank the Lord for insurance! So we are going to brace ourselves and see if we really are going to have a White Christmas.
Not to mention...today is my Dad's 55th birthday and the eve of our Lord Savior's birth. Blessings!~

Oh Holy Night and the case of the missing gift card

Last night at church we had our Christmas celebration and talent night. The night was filled with celebration, candles, choruses and Christ. There was a mixture of solos, dancing and reading of scriptures. I would say it was one of the most memorable Christmas services I have ever been apart of. I sang an acapella version of Oh, Holy Night and boy was I nervous. I have never sang acapella in public before and didn't know how it was going to go. We sang several of the most popular Christmas songs and lit our candles during Oh Come All Ye Faithful and walked to the front of the sanctuary and then sang Oh Holy Night. The presence of the Lord was evident and I know that He was smiling down upon us.

Afterwards we socialized and ate finger foods and dessert. Once the evening was over, we proceeded to leave for the evening. Alexis has been begging me to take her to Walmart to spend her Christmas giftcard. We have been trying to put it off for a while and I decided it would be okay tonight. She is set on purchasing Hannah Montana: The Movie. I am okay with this purchase because we actually liked the movie as well. We strolled to the electronics department and she found her movie, it was actually cheaper than I thought it would be. Soon we were at the self check-out stand and Alexis was about to get her gift card out of her purse when she said, "It's not here!" We looked all through her purse and sure enough it wasn't there. We put the movie aside and walked back out to the car where tears began to stream from her eyes and it was followed by the wails of sorrow. My heart broke for her too as it seemed the gift card had either been lost or stolen. I said a prayer with her asking God to help us find it and we were on our way home. On our way I decided to pass several homes lit for the season to get her mind off of things; it worked.

We arrived at home and I informed Michele of the situation and it was determined that we would check her room for the gift card, but were not going to promise we could find it. We did a thorough cleaning of her desk and still nothing. Earlier in the week, Michele had a women's ministry at the house and several kids came and were watching movies in Alexis' room. I texted one of the mom's who had kids over and her daughter said she saw a gift card on her bed and she put it on her headboard shelf. That gave us a great clue, but still nothing after looking there. I received another text from the mom who said Micah and his "girl friend" were jumping on the bed. With this clue we immediately thought it had possibly fallen behind her bed. Michele suggested we check under the mattress first and as I lifted it up, there it was...the missing gift card. Case solved! It wasn't stolen...just had been misplaced and then misplaced again. It definitely made us all feel better and the gift card was soon placed under the protection of mom and dad until further notice.

Have a wonderful Monday. Only 4 days till Christmas. Remember, JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON.

It's a wonderful life

Tonight I decided to break out an old classic that I haven't watched in several years. I decided to fold laundry and watch "It's a Wonderful Life". I can relate to Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, now as I have aged and experienced more of adulthood. I have faced many trials and tribulations that it seemed that there was no end in site, but when you call on God, all things are possible. George was searching for answers and didn't find the truth until God got his attention. When George finally received his wake up call he was finally appreciative of what he had. I felt that way after coming home from Israel for 2 weeks. I had taken a lot for granted and then when I began to think about my family the Lord began to minister to me and show me how good I have had it and what I had taken for granted; my family.

This movie is definitely a classic and I enjoyed watching it. It took me back many years to when I was younger and was living at home with my family. There isn't anything better than wanting to spend the holidays with your loved ones. It made me miss my family and want to be gathered together watching it on Christmas Eve drinking hot wassail with the kids asleep on the floor awaiting the arrival of Santa Clause. Even though I won't be able to spend Christmas with my family, they will be in my thoughts and prayers. I am blessed and I have a wonderful life indeed!

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Today is December 12th and it marks 12 days until Christmas Eve and I am going to have fun with my children this year celebrating what the Lord has done for us. So each day we will do something special to recognize the reason for the season - the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This may be the reading of a story, a special craft or a random activity. Stay tuned to see what we do. It is my desire to not get lost in the shuffle of materialism and commercialism but get lost in the true love of the season. As for this blog, I will ensure that the activities are captured and provide tidbits of information.


On the First Day of Christmas my true love gave to me....A partridge in a pear tree.
The partridge represents the courage and devotion of Christ dying for his people. A mother partridge will lure predators away from her chicks, even sacrificing her life for them. The pear tree symbolizes the wooden cross upon which Jesus died.    If a partridge and a pear tree were to be purchased in today's market it would cost well over $100 US Dollars.

Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters.


Alexis and Micah coloring their first picture for their 12 days of Christmas book we are making! Stay tuned for more pics and details.

Baby, it's cold outside

While I know it is not as cold as some places, but by golly 12 degrees is stinking cold when you have to get out and go to work. I have been out in colder, but man, it is cold outside. Yesterday it was 18 degrees outside, but with a -3 degree windchill. That was too cold for anyone and my poor wife had to take Alexis to school and get Micah and Aiden out in it. Then she had a doctor's appointment and ended up taking both of them with her to the doctors. So she was out in the bitter cold for most of the day yesterday. She is such a trooper and I wouldn't be able to do it without her.

 So, today, I accidentally turned off my alarm clock and we heard Aiden crying...it was 6:45am when we woke up. Yikes! I didn't want Michele to have to get all the kids ready and go back out in the cold, so I got ready and took Alexis to school to help her out. Yeah, it makes me get to the office 15 minutes later than I would like, but it does help my wife out in the process and keeps them warm. I miss taking Alexis to school everyday, it was a special time for us and I look forward to any opportunity that I can do it. I am looking forward to nestling down with my family tonight for some warm hot cocoa and Survivor on tv. It may be cold outside, but we will warm up inside. And the weather man said the weather in Oklahoma is set to warm up a bit, so that makes me happy.

So if you must get out in this weather, bundle up, baby, it's cold outside. And then, enjoy some nice hot cocoa or a hot cup of joe.

Have a Terrrific Thursday.

Blessings.

Dad the Monster and the days of Christmas

Tonight when I got home from work I decided to spend some quality time with Micah Man and Princess Pumpkin Petals, those are my the nicknames that I have given to my two oldest. After eating dinner I decided to play with them and began playing monster with them...they love when I do that. I make funny, weird monster noises and chase them around the house pretending I am going to eat them. They laugh and laugh and squeal and scream. Even though they know I am going to be lurking around the corner or behind the bedroom door it still doesn't keep them from screaming at the top of their lungs in shear, delightful terror. Of course they never like when I stop, but I can't do it all night or else nothing would get done. :) I did enjoy myself and know that I need to do more of this with them and more often.

After I got them settled down, I drove to the mall to do some Christmas shopping for Michele. I felt rushed so I didn't get a chance to really look well, but was able to come away with some things that I hope will make her happy. I ended up running into about 8 different people from church and spent some time talking to them all and enjoyed our conversation and am blessed to have the relationships that we share. While out and about, Michele sent me a text asking if I could rent Julie and Julia from RedBox. It came out today and we have been wanting to see it. I will say this, I know my mom and grandma would both enjoy this film. It isn't really a film that I am enjoying, but is worth watching at least once; especially since I used to watch her when I was younger. Bon Apetite!

Until next time.

Stretch

attack of the nutcracker and demise of the snow globe

Yesterday we finally got around to putting all the trimming on the tree. Last weekend we were so busy and we decided to put things up in phases. We were successful in putting the tree up, but then due to some issues with the pre-lit bulbs, we decided to wait for the other phases. It turns out that 1 entire section of the tree will not light because of some reason or another. I then proceeded to take every bulb out of the top section of the tree to inspect them for burned out bulbs in hopes of finding the culprit. Much to my dismay, I was unable to find the bulb and it was then decided we would just string our own lights around the tree. We didn't get around to doing this until this past Sunday.

I finally got the lights wrapped around the tree and Michele began to unbox all of the ornaments and decorations out of our storage containers. Of course the kids love this part because they see all the cool ornaments to put on the tree and want to do it "now". As I was wrapping the last bit of garland on the tree, I hear Micah scream. Now please keep in mind, this was not just a normal scream, Micah is a 2 year old boy and his screams are ear piercing. We hear him scream and as I turn around to see what was the matter, I see one of our Nutcrackers come flying towards the couch and hit the ground.

Micah, whose vocabulary is still being developed, is known best for his non-verbal communication. He proceeds to show us what he was doing and finished it by chomping his mouth a few times. Basically, he was showing us that the Nutcracker's mouth opened and closed while he was holding it. He didn't realize that he the one controlling the movements of this wooden monster by the arm in the back. It took him a while to calm down and understand what the Nutcracker was and I proceeded to show him that he had the ability to control the mouth movements.

A while later, Micah was obviously dreaming of a white Christmas as he proceeded to play with two of the snow globes that Michele had received in years past as a token of merit for braving the crowds on Black Friday. He has an obsession with balls and of course these were colorful balls full of white flakes and he was enjoying himself even after Michele had warned him not to hit them together. A few minutes go by and Micah was again clanking the snow globes together and as quickly as he had begun to enjoy this excitement, it was over. Much to my surprise shards of glass, white flakes and liquid soon covered the rug in the living room. After ensuring Micah was placed out of harms way, I grabbed the vaccuum and cleaned up the remnants of the snow globe. No harm, no foul. I like the quote that Michele used later in the afternoon, "I guess the kids are clearing out the extra stuff we don't need anymore."

So amidst all of the excitement, we did get all the decorations and lights on the trees and the end result is beautiful. I will be posting pics later. Also, I will be writing on our adventures that occurred yesterday evening.

Till then,

Blessings!

What's in my pocket?

"What's in my pocket?" A line from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This was the question Bilbo Baggins asked Gollum to distract him and prevent him from being eaten. He was very intelligent in using this trickery to prevent his own demise. Nonetheless. I have decided to take on a new blog with a fresh touch and feel. I have blogged many times before and they end up like many of us do in our lives. We leave our childish ways behind and trade them for adulthood and an overkill in responsibilities. Many of my blogs have been left behind because I have allowed myself to get too busy doing other things and I don't focus on the important things in life as much as I should. An example of this would be my children. My children have been entrusted to me by the Lord and it my responsibility to train them up in the ways of the Lord. I will ultimately be held responsible for what happens/does not happen to them.

I feel that the Lord wants me to push through the gloom and the muck that I have allowed to bog me down and allow the passion of writing to come out again. It has been silent for too long and it needs to come up to the surface and breathe in life again and have the fire restored. I refuse to have this gifting silenced and left for dead. The Lord has given me this gift and I need to use it. Mom has always thrown hints around to me that I need to write children's books. She is probably right, but you have to have an idea and passion to do it before you can make it happen. I know that I can do whatever I put my mind to and I am going to move forward with a renewed passion and desire to write my thoughts and the things that I am apart of on a regular basis. I want to write down everything and compose a manuscript of my life and then publish it. How about that?

So...what's in my pocket? A lot of things that haven't been out in a long time. I am ready to shake the lint off of them and let them shine in the sunlight again. Our lives are but a vapor on this earth and I want to make every day for what its worth and not waste anything. I will not say exactly what is in my pocket until I decide to bring it forward and share it.

Blessings!

Anthony