I love prolonging the cozy winter festivities of Christmas.
I think it brings out the best in winter.
I had to say good-bye to my tree earlier than I'd planned this year. A few strands of lights went out.
I came up with a bit of a compromise. A winter mantle... WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!
I had the opportunity recently to get away for a couple of days on a sort of working mini vacation. Since I coordinate our county's fair queen program, I got to chaperone our fair queen to the state fair queen contest. Additionally, I attended the state fair convention.
As a mom, I was looking forward to the trip quite a bit. I mean, a room I didn't have to clean with a perfectly made bed? It was like serenity was just waiting for me to arrive!
I packed lots of books, whilst Blossom1 looked on and remarked, "You know you're not gonna have time to read all those, right?" I grinned sheepishly and took out one book. I like having options when the opportunity to relax presents itself. Snatch those moments, I say!
It's been a busy week around here. The slower holiday snowstorm weekend was just what we needed.
The girls had their annual 4-H presentations. I'm always glad when we have that out of the way. Their topics are interesting and sometimes a bit amusing. They get to choose, but I have veto power.
I must say, there isn't much that's cuter than a pixie eight year old Blossom4 standing in front of everyone talking about Jeeps.
I enjoyed Blossom3's observations on the differences between hatchery chicks and hen-raised chicks.
Blossom2 tackled the regulations of selling home raised meat and eggs.
Blossom1 spoke persuasively on the long term benefits of reading classics.
They all showed progress in their speeches this year. That's all I want. I measure them against themselves and I want to see their best work on their projects!
After the presentations were over, Blossom1, the club president, also had to run the meeting, while Blossom2 took care of her secretarial duties. It was a great meeting, I'm happy to say. I hope we have more productive meetings like that. There's something invigorating in watching twenty kids get excited about affecting change in their fair and community. My new motto is MOBILIZE. I hope I can help them make their ideas come to fruition, even though the results don't always look like what I imagined. It's not my club though, I'm just a facilitator.
This week, I'm also preparing for the State Fair Queen convention. It's a fairly new endeavor for me to be spear-heading our county program, instead of just assisting as I did before. Secretly, I think they wanted me on board because I have four girls and maybe that would mean built-in contestants in future years. I'm looking forward to the convention and I'm hoping to gain insight in how to improve our program.
Maybe these opportunities don't seem like your average Christian outreach, but we can't look at life like that. I follow God's leading through all the doors He opens for me.
A young woman asked me to be on the fair queen committee a couple of years ago. It caught me totally by surprise. It just wasn't something I was previously interested in. I asked lots of questions and realized through it that
Christians need to shine their lights everywhere,
in all our interactions with people of all ages.
Work with the county fair queen program seems to fall right in light with that vision. Now, when God opens a door, I've learned to walk through it.
Jake and Rory are a little unnerved that I'm getting ready to go somewhere. I took advantage of the warmer weather today and gave them baths. It's a highly entertaining process... for the neighbors. Seriously, I think it resembles something between Cinderella and WWF. Nonetheless, the rewards are worth the self humiliation. Plus, I can count it as a workout.
Meanwhile, Tom is basking in his daytime naps, thanking his Creator that cats are far superior and clean themselves. Since he still slays mice in the nighttime hours, I'll forgive him his superior attitude.
Nobody wants to be a pest.
Nobody wants to be nosy.
Nobody wants to be the person that makes others wish would just leave them alone.
Is that really what we're doing when we shoot a text over asking how your people are feeling?
Is that really what we're doing when we ask, "Do you need anything?"
I overthink it. I check the time and worry that it might just be too many daily texts. I type, backspace and retype again. I put the phone down, walk away, come back and retype again. I don't want to get into people's business. Symptoms and sickness can be such a touchy topic right now.
The thing is, when I follow through, it seems like many of those little caring nudges come from the Holy Spirit. When we pray or lend practical help, it's shouldering another's burden with them.
Loving people is shouldering burdens together.
Mamas, I'm ready to stop letting the overthinking keep me from shouldering another's burden. It's keeping me (and maybe you too) from obeying God.
PS - To my friends who may now feel bad that they overthought things in the past and maybe missed opportunities to shoulder a friend's burden. I know you love me and and mine. Let's just trust God to lead us in the future and not worry about the past.
Blossom3 LOVES games, so at co-op a few months ago, I asked around for new game recommendations. One lovely friend recommended "Splendor." I was intrigued as I'd never even heard of it.
We're particularly enjoying the fact that Splendor is easy to learn. Blossom4, age 8, all the way up to the Rugged Mountain Man can easily enjoy it. The girls have lassoed cousins and grandparents into it as well. What a win!
Blossom1, who is a reluctant game participant, enjoys this game, as it is not a game of chance. There's plenty of fun strategy involved. This has surprised us! Each of the Blossoms has won, proving that various strategies lead to success. The strategies are simple enough for Blossom4 to beat us soundly and complex enough to hold the attention and challenge all skill levels.
Besides, I love the fact that the whole game is centered around buying and selling with gems!
Dominique
You'll find the idea of customizing plain white Walmart shoes all over Pinterest.
I'm pretty sure those of us born in the 80s painted white canvas shoes from Walmart too... we just didn't have Pinterest to tell us it was cool. Nonetheless, I searched the internet high and low for the exact Walmart shoes featured on Pinterest in all the tutorials.
In the end, it was searching for "platform sneakers" on Walmart's web site that landed me in the right place. The Time and Tru brand was sold out but the No Boundaries brand was still available in most local stores - in girls' and women's sizes!
