Gingerbread Nativity

This Christmas season, every time I was at Walmart I would look at all the gingerbread house options.  Frozen, Paw Patrol, Mario, Minions, classic, village with 4 small houses instead of one big one, etc.  I just couldn't decide which one I wanted to get for the kids to make.

Then the week before Christmas I saw that they had this one, a Gingerbread Nativity.  I snatched it up right away.  Perfect!

It depicts the Wise Men visiting the Christ child at the stable, which didn't really happen. (They visited the family after they had returned home, and Jesus could have been as old as 1 year.) It's a pet peeve of mine.  Still, though, I really liked finding another way to center the Christmas season on the birth of our Savior.

Homeschooling Means...#31

...Mom's idea of a funny prank is to try and convince the kids that the day after Christmas is a school day.  They did NOT like that idea. 

(This series is meant to be mostly lighthearted and fun.  Some may be serious, but most will be silly, braggy, or of the keepin'-it-real variety.  Not every homeschool is the same.  And some of these things could be said by public school parents.  This is just to highlight MY experience with MY homeschool and MY children.  Enjoy these little insights into our life and feel free to share your own "Homeschooling means..." in the comments!)

Be Happy!

One of the kids in my 5 year old Primary class at church has cancer. He was treated for it before he turned 3 and thankfully it went into remission. Sadly, it's now back.

Nephi (*name changed) is the most upbeat kid you will ever meet!  Even with all the endless appointments, needle sticks, and host of other negative things in his life, he's often quick with a smile and an optimistic word. It's a blessing to know him!

Last Sunday as part of our lesson, I shared a story of Elder Featherstone when he was a little boy. Elder Featherstone's family was very poor and could not afford new shoes for him. He contemplated skipping church rather than wearing embarrassing hand-me-down women's nursing shoes. Thankfully he chose to go and no one made fun of him for it.

The main point of the story was that we should make the right choice to come to church and worship the Lord on the Sabbath no matter what. The secondary lesson that I wanted my students to understand is that they should never tease anyone who comes to church, no matter what they look like!

To help them gain a little more understanding and empathy, I asked them, "What should you do if you see someone come to our class wearing a dirty tshirt instead of a button down shirt? Would you give him a dirty look or tell him he shouldn't wear that here? What if a girl came with messy, tangled hair? Would you point and laugh? How would you feel if someone did that to you?"

I could tell they were really connecting with the message so I continued, "What about if someone had a tear in their dress, or breakfast stains on their clothes, or holes in their shoes, or-"

At this point Nephi chimed in with a big smile, "Or no hair! Or a funny hat!"

(Nephi had come into class earlier wearing a red apple-shaped knit hat and whipped it off to show off his shaved, patchy head. Then he excitedly explained to us that his hair was falling out in clumps.)

As everyone giggled, I seized the moment and asked, "Yeah! How would you feel if someone laughed at your hair?"

Nephi: "It would be fine because it's funny!"

Me: "Ok, but pretend that it really bothered you. Pretend to be really sad that I'm calling your hat silly."

Nephi: "But it is silly! I can't pretend that! It wouldn't make me sad at all!"

He is such a good example to me. Never get down about the way you look or what other people think about the way you look!

The world needs a few more Nephi's!

I Cannot Wait for New Years Eve!

November and December are crazy busy months for me. Aside from the normal way that the holiday season fills up calendars and to-do lists, it's also the busiest time of year for my small home-based business. Every weeknight I stay up past midnight to fill orders and prep for craft fairs. I'm utterly exhausted and stressed out!

During this time of year, when I'm tearing my hair out with stress and kicking myself with the guilt of not spending enough calm, quality time with the kids, I look forward wistfully to December 31st.

On Dec 31st, Thanksgiving and Christmas are over. All the big family meals are done, dishes cleaned, and leftovers eaten. The presents have been bought, wrapped, unwrapped, and put away. The Christmas tree has been put up and decorated (and if we're lucky, also taken down and packed away again. I have no more craft fairs until the spring. The family, friend, and church parties are over and the calendar is suddenly so much emptier.

December 31st, New Year's Eve, means that I can finally relax and take a deep breath.

Every year we spend New Year's Eve with my brother's family. The kids run around inside and out the house with cousins, we eat junk food until we pop, and play plenty of games. And above all, we hang out and make memories.

 It's a very low pressure holiday.  Exactly the kind of holiday I need!

I Stopped Dreaming

When I was a kid, my mom would frequently talk about her "Sky Castles."  These were dreams she had for improvements on the house.  An in-ground pool.  A second living room (the "add on.")  Turning the covered patio into a big bedroom with a second story loft area.

Those first two Sky Castles were realized before I was a teenager, but not until after many years of dreaming, planning, discussion, and saving.  And now that five of her nine children have moved out of the house, there isn't much need anymore for that third wish.  I'm actually not sure if she still talks about it.  Though I'm sure she has some other Sky Castle in her mind.

So I guess you could say that my mom taught me to dream big.  But somewhere along the way, dreaming became painful for me.

When Hubby and I were first married, we would talk constantly about our future house.  We would read or hear about something cool and turn to each other and say, "Can we have that in our castle?"  An indoor swimming pool.  An intercom system in every room so we don't have to shout at each other to come for dinner.  A slide from the top stories to the ground floor.  A mall-type food court in the basement.

Some of the features of our castle were just ridiculous and of course we would never be that rich. But it was always fun to talk about and dream.

But then financial difficulty hit.  We watched our savings account start to drain.  I would watch our 3 little ones play in our 2 bedroom apartment and just cry and cry that we would never be able to afford anything better.  I was insufferable with all my whining and ingratitude.  All that savings was supposed to be a down payment on a house!  And now it was gone and I could not see the future.  Would we ever have a sufficient income again?

And so I stopped talking about the castle.  It would just remind me how poor we were.  I can't imagine living in a castle when I can't even afford food.  It's too painful.

It's clear that for the past 8 years Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me to have faith and patience.  Some days are better than others.  But I definitely have significantly more positive days than I used to.  I'm not perfect, though I'm making progress.

Now I can finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Hubby has completed all of his schooling and takes as many substitute teacher hours as he can.

And yet I still fear for the future.  There's still too much uncertainty.  Until I feel secure, I still can't bring myself to dream.

I don't dream but I do hope that the future will be better.