Sorry I have not written in a long while! I have been so lost in all the Holiday events and travels! It has been a bit hectic, but I have enjoyed every minute. I love spending time with our families. It sure beats sitting at home! The week before Christmas we headed to Springdale to spend some time with my mom. We played in the kitchen making sweets. Jonathan even got in on the action with a cherry pie/cake concoction that was delicious. We headed home for the weekend. Jonathan did music for a Sunday breakfast in Warren before we headed to Little Rock for Christmas at my brother’s. We stayed the night with my Aunt Gail and visited some more.

Chistmas Eve night we hosted our annual Christmas Eve Chinese feast. We usually go to a favorite restaurant in Crossett, but my mom (and the puppies) was visiting and we were going to be going to Hamburg the next morning, so it was going to be too much running around. So, we decided to host a Chinese potluck instead. It was very tasty!

Christmas Day we went to Hamburg for lunch at Jonathan’s Mamaw’s house. We had a yummy traditional holiday meal prepared by Jonathan’s mom. Micah loved the sweet potatoes and almost refused to eat anything else once he discovered them!

My mom went home the next morning and went back to Hamburg that night for dinner with Papaw at Aunt Lisa’s house. Micah enjoyed crawling up and down the steps to the den!

You would think with all that excitement, we would be done, but we aren’t yet. Today we are heading back down to Hamburg for Christmas at his parent’s house. All the siblings will be there tomorrow and we will have a tasty (lasagna) lunch together and open presents. Jonathan is also filling in for the music minister in Hamburg that morning. That evening, he is doing a short concert in Crossett. Yep, we have a busy weekend planned! I love it! There is nothing better than spending time with family!!

I was recently emailed to respond to this list. Rather than email it back, I thought it might make an interesting post. I usually don’t respond to these things, but…well, I am getting better.

Four Things You May or May Not Know About Me -

Four jobs I have had in my life:

Sales at the Disney Store

Phone telemarketer on behalf of insurance companies seeking medical records

TCBY Yogurt girl

Children’s Museum “host” and activities assistant

Four movies I would watch over and over: (only four?!?)

The American President

Notting Hill

Holiday Inn

Sense and Sensibility

Four places I have lived :

Waco, Texas

Longmont, Colorado

Little Rock, Arkansas

Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Four TV Shows that I watch: (when I get to…currently without TV)

Pushing Daisies

Grey’s Anatomy

Deadliest Catch

Jack’s Big Music Show (well, more like listen while I work and Micah is entertained briefly!)

Four People who e-mail me (regularly):

Mom

Mom2

Christina

MyPoints

Four of my favorite foods:

Chinese

Mexican

Italian

Dessert

Four places I would rather be right now:

Disney World

Germany

With Family

Disney World

Things I am looking forward to next year:

A New Start

A New Home?

A Better Routine ( I am working on it)

A Closer Relationship with my Savior, my husband, and my family

How about you???

I must say that my obsession with traditions is rooted in needing predictable events in my childhood. Things weren’t always routine in life and I think my affection for traditions helped make things a little easier.

One tradition I had every year was to set up the nativity with my granny each year. My brothers sometimes helped, but they weren’t as interested in it. My granny made and painted them in a ceramics class before I can remember. We has a nice cardboard creche and a Gideon Bible to complete the scene. When I was young, Granny would hand me the Bible while she unwrapped the pieces. After that, we would read the Christmas story together as I set up the nativity just right. I always wanted the shepherds, wisemen, and animals in their proper place. It was a fun time for me and I always admired our “work” during the whole season. I remember on a few occasions that I would sneak in there and play with them like dolls acting out the story. As I grew up and headed off to college, I would come home and see that it wasn’t out. I would ask Granny why and she would say no one even noticed. Then, we would get it out together. I secretly think she was waiting on me. Then, my grandad died on Christmas morning and the holiday got harder to celebrate for Granny. As I married and moved away, I would notice the nativity (and sometimes the tree for that matter) didn’t come out. If I was home early for the holidays, I would talk her into getting them out. Our roles reversed a little with me reading the story while she unwrapped and put everything out. I cherished that time together.

She was the reason I was in church all throughout my teenage years. She made sure to drive across town to get me and drive me back. She would make sure there was money for lock-ins and conferences and activities to keep me involved. My parents wanted me going to church, but Granny made sure it happened.

At some point, Granny began to get sick and wasn’t really our family center anymore. I always felt a little lost without her planning and all the regular things that happened when she was well. She continued to worsen and rarely recognized family or friends. So when my daddy said I could take the nativity home with me after Christmas one year, I was filled with mixed emotions. I wanted it for it’s meaning and for the tradition it held, but it was sad to see that tradition with Granny fade.

My Granny is gone now and I now set up the nativity in my home. As Micah gets older, I look forward to starting over the tradition that meant so much to me. Something so simple meant the world. Now, it is time to start traditions for my little family that will become treasured and special. More on some of my ideas and thoughts later.

Every family should have traditions. They make the mundane feel meaningful. They help you cherish others and the time you spend with them. They help build memories. They give a family something kindred and special to treasure as the years fly by.

Jonathan’s family has a tradition that is too much fun for the tummy! They make fruitcake (not what you are thinking of at this very moment that could survive almost any torture put on it) together. This recipe is a no-bake roll of graham crackers, melted marshmallows and butter, cherries, dates, and pecans. We would always grind the graham crackers in the old meat grinder. Each person had a package to grind before the fruitcake could be made. Funny enough, Jonathan liked this tradition even though he never ate the fruitcake. Now the grinding is beginning to fall to the younger generation.

This weekend, we planned a second annual cookie/candy baking shindig. The girls started it last year as a way to spend time together and share goodies. We used every pot and pan in the house to make fudge, cookies, gingerbread houses, and other sweet treats to divide up and take home. This year, Noah and Saylor (my nephew and niece) ground up the graham crackers. Noah was very proud of his work. Lori (my sister-in-law) and I had to make a run for extra ingredients. When we returned, he told us all about his grinding. I smiled inside as I remembered the first time I was invited to grind my first package of crackers.

Traditions are something I seem to have an unexplained attraction to. I guess I like predictable and routine. I am not fond of missing out on a tradition. I even like starting new traditions. I am looking forward to the traditions that will be formed in our little family as Micah grows older and possibly other siblings come to join him. They are treasures in my heart.

Next post, I will share more on traditions old and new…..

In Jonathan’s hometown they have a beautiful town square that is where all city events and festivals take place. Jonathan’s parents currently own a furniture store on the square and we are always there if we come home. This week, they had the annual Christmas tree lighting and parade. They began the parade a few years ago and also began a Little Red Wagon Parade for the kids that happens before the big parade. The little ones all load up in their red wagon (some elaborately decorated, others not) and parade from the First Baptist Church to the square and all the way around. It is such a cute idea, every small town should have one! The kids really enjoy it!

We didn’t really decorate Micah’s wagon…I just had an idea that came together 10 minutes before the parade. I knew I wanted to do something with Charlie Brown Christmas. We had a little tree that fit the bill. We brought Charlie Brown PEZ (of course!) and borrowed Snoopy from Mimi’s toy collection from the attic. We also had a mini wagon that Opa(my dad) gave Micah for his birthday (my mom, Grammy, gave him the big one). We came up with the idea of pulling the little wagon in the last minutes and it was a hit!!

We came down for the festivities and bundled up our cute one for the event. It was warm the day before and after, but on the parade day, it was cold! We had to work hard to get the boy to keep his hat on his little head. It took two hats to keep them on, but it worked. We had fun with the cousins and even went out for the big parade afterward and gathered tossed candies. Simple joy!