We call it Happy Friday

I know in some circles they call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday," but around our home its often refereed to as Fun Friday. In fact, the entire holiday weekend is filled with fun and traditions that we hold dear.

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There is the annual trek to the Scandinavian Store for Christmas treats, lunch out at a favorite BBQ joint with the grands, normally a football game or two to watch while we knit, play checkers and giggle over silly stories from Daddy's Childhood. Then to top it off, we head to the largest Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and gaze in awe at how beautiful it looks. Miss A commented that she liked the tree best with her eyes half closed it was almost like it was rocket ship and firecrackers.

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Maybe we should start a movement to change it's name to Fun Friday. Think of what that could do for the retailers too, happy and fun loving costumers are better spenders!!
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Thursday, as we looked over the ads in the paper and "planned" our strategy for Friday morning, P started putting them in piles by opening time. He talked of splitting up, making a map of the city, the girls leaving at 2:00 a.m to get in line at Best Buy the boys leaving at three for Target. Miss A was getting all excited, "I've never been up at 2:00 a.m before!" Mr C heard that we'd meet for snacks.

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My husband was loving it. Talking the big game. I hated to burst the kids bubble and tell them that we weren't really going. Dad wasn't really planning a strategy, he was just playing a game.

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There would be no early rising, no snacks.

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Not because we aren't buying Christmas presents this year or we don't love to save money. But rather we are both not willing to wait in line that long. We don't like crowds. It was gonna be cold and who needs to freeze to save $10. None of the stores were selling us the world so we didn't need to go.

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They were disappointed at first until they realized that if they got up at 2:00 or 3:00 they would have been too exhausted to enjoy our real "Fun Friday" plans. I think they got the better "deal" in the end.

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I know I did. I love the childhood wonder and awe at Christmas and Fun Friday just was the beginning!

Thanksgiving Cornicopia

Thanksgiving Day at Nana and Papa's House

It's not really Thanksgiving in our family until we witness the traditional Thanksgiving Play put on by the cousins. Finally, Miss A is old enough to actually read the script. This year's play was all about our blessings of faith, family and country. Miss M helped to write the play. Mr. C was in charge of the Citizenship Test that we took at the end, and Miss A was in charge of leading us in the pledge. She was hoping to have a "hat of flags," but settled with each of us holding a flag and she held the biggest one of all.

There were crafts and puzzles and great fun at N & P's house. We were thrilled that L was home from college, and the my in laws from the windy city were able to make the trek to town, too. It wouldn't be family Thanksgiving without "all" of us at the table. We are especially thankful that we can all celebrate together, and while we miss having Grammy at our table, she's not forgotten. Just ask Miss A about her little pink Christmas tree in her room!! I know Grammy would be thrilled that her great granddaughter caught the "pink" gene.

I love that our Thanksgivings are about praising God for the bounty and resting. No hustle and bustle, no pressure to outdo or perform. Instead, it is just about spending time with the people we love. There is something to be said for just setting aside one Thursday in November to pause and be grateful and I love that we don't try to rush over it.

Thanksgiving Night we might have watched a football game, but I'm keeping my mouth shut about the outcome. You could say, however, that I'm not thinking my honey will be as excited about the bowl season as he has been in the past.

Love ya honey. There is always next year!!

Gratefulness in the Midst of The "Storm"

I'm choosing to be grateful today. The windchill outside is -25, the kids are home "again" for another snow day, and we are all going a little stir crazy. However, I've decided to be grateful. I'm choosing to give thanks and see the joy and happiness in the situation.

Here's Why Today, in the Midst of Winter Storm #3, I'm Grateful

1. We have a warm house to stay in, plenty of food to eat, and a clean place to lay our head tonight.

2. The windows and doors are keeping out the wind. While it whips up my "huge piles of snow" and makes my back deck look like an ice skating rink, I'm bundled up inside.

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3. We finished part of our basement this year and the kids now have a place to go run around, watch TV, and play. Miss A has already moved her kitchen, baby dolls and Dora Tent into the area and made herself a little play zone. C has big dreams for a game table, but for now is happy to have room to practice his putting while Miss M has dreams of a chalkboard on the wall and a place to "hang out." What a blessing this is for the kids and mom too!

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4. Tonight, the University of Texas plays in the Championship BCS Game and we plan to have a whopping good time. We've got Cowboy Calzones on the menu from Pioneer Women's Cookbook and some Queso and Chips for later. There will be hooping and hollering from the Dad in the house and the rest of us will be praying the Horns win.

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5. I went to my favorite knitting shop this past week and I have a new project so, even though it's cold outside, my hands are staying busy and warm. It's a secret or I would share the details.

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6. We are making some memories. Who would think that shoveling the neighbors driveways yesterday would be great times for the kids, but they loved it. It was warmer then and the snow was fluffy and white. It looked beautiful and. The fact that the neighbors thanked C and M with Baker's Chocolate Meltaways and a $5 bill was just an added bonus. It felt nice to do something to help someone else.

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7. Someday sooner than I can imagine, "Snow Days" will have no meaning around here. The kids will all be gone and the winter hats and gloves that fill our laundry room will have found a place somewhere else like college, office buildings and homes across the country. I won't hear loud cheers when our school district calls and says they will be closed due to dangerous weather conditions. It will just be me and my husband. I'm going to remind myself about this grateful thought tonight when the phone rings again and we are off tomorrow, too!!

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8. Finally, the spring thaw will finally come. March will be here before we know it and the 4.5 foot drift of snow on my yard will only be a memory. (Please God let this be true!) This is just a "season" a fleeting moment in time.

Traditons. Celebrating Once Again As We Did Before. Perfect.

We are creatures of habit and I think I really love it.

Thanksgiving has generally been the same around the "Faithful House" for the past 10 years. The in-laws come from Chicago on Wednesday, we pack up the sweet potato and green bean casseroles along with a plate of Norwegian Christmas Cookies, and head 10 minutes to my parents for Thanksgiving Lunch with the family.

Following lunch, we watch the traditional cousin "Play" written and directed this year by Miss M and performed by all the kids. It's comical, heartwarming, and fun to see them all "act" and ham it up for the parents and grands. Miss A announced earlier this fall that she was beyond being "Plymouth Rock", a part with no lines or movement. Instead, she did a great job "reading" her part with her favorite big cousin helping out!

It's wonderful! It is full of laughter. Our celebration is a big enough gathering to feel like a holiday, but no stress of the weird relatives from Cleveland. Not that we have relatives from Ohio. In fact, my entire immediate family counts up to 12 these days and we all live within a mile of each other. Thankfully, my husband's family adds another 6! Do you sense the crowd!

We joke that we hold a family reunion every weekend we are together in the summer at the Lake House. That's how small we are.

We have a great relaxing day watching football and working on the Christmas puzzle. I get to knit away without distraction. Perfect!

Friday, we learned to make Norwegian Krumkake Cookies with Bestemor's Krumkake Iron and, while they were not perfect, we did it and now can keep this tradition alive. They also tested quite good!

That evening, it was off to the Train Museum for the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and visit with Santa. C joked that he was going to ask Santa to make him taller and faster! Guess when you are 12, what else do you need. There were cookies with lots of frosting, fake snow falling everywhere, and a beautiful tree. It was perfect!

Saturday, we enjoyed a yummy lunch out at Texas Roadhouse and a visit to a quaint Scandinavian Gift Store not to far away. The girls brought along their American Girl Dolls in the Norwegian Bunard Outfits that Bestemor had made for them and the shop owner was quite impressed with them.

We didn't venture too far off course this Thanksgiving. It was pretty much a repeat of Thanksgiving's past. You know what though, it was perfect. We had much to thankful for and we were able to celebrate around the table with all those who mean so much to us.

That in itself is reason to celebrate and give thanks!

Doctor Visits, Surgery and Thanksgiving

Miss A is having surgery to repair a hole in her right ear next week. It's a hole that Tubes left in her ear and it's getting bigger rather than smaller. We've repaired it once when she had her tonsils and adenoids out two years ago, but the repair did not take.

Now we are going for the big guns; the best Ear Specialist in town, a more invasive surgery that should plug that hole and restore the 10% hearing loss that she has in that ear.


This week, we've been to the eye doctor for a follow up on her lazy eye. Great news! The glasses are doing the work and we are clear for a visit until next year. She loves her new glasses and does a great job wearing them. We've also been to the Pediatrician for a pre-op physical. She's in great health and cleared for the procedure.


I got such a kick out of A's explanation of what's going on next week. She's going to "her hospital" which is the one with the great cafeteria, play room and french fries and she's probably getting a toy out of the deal, too!

This will be A's third surgery in five years. All for relatively minor things such tubes, tonsils, and now ears. She's been to more doctors, specialists and hospital rooms than our other two children combined. We call her our Health Care Spending Account Child! But she doesn't seem to mind.

She takes it all in stride.

She's happy, joyful, and funny as all get out and takes these visits to doctors as just the normal thing you do. While I realize she has nothing to complain about with all the health care issues that others are faced with such cancer, chronic illness, pain etc, she is still only 5. She could fuss or cry or scream.

Most of our visits to waiting rooms and doctors offices are filled with books, snuggle time and giggles. She thinks the eye doctor is hilarious with his little Burger King toys to watch go back and forth. She asked me why he kept asking what the letter was on the wall. Doesn't he know his letters?

Our pediatrician makes her smile when he taps her legs for reflexes and she thinks it so funny he never remembers which ear has the hole in it. Can't he see it from outside the ear?


She's our child who took Mono in stride at two, Tonsil infection upon tonsil infection with a smile, and now she's going back to her favorite Hospital just for a little visit.

She lives life with gusto. She takes what is given to her and makes the most of it.

I feel so privileged to be her mother and witness all of this along our journey together.

Today is Pregnancy Loss and Remembrance Day. Almost fourteen years ago, we lost our first baby at ten weeks. It was just days before Christmas and we were heartbroken. For months after I wondered if we would ever have children.

Never did I begin to believe that I would now be the mother of three wonderful children. Children who have forever changed who I am as a person and enriched my life so deeply.


Seeing A take this next challenge of ear surgery on with such strength and courage is just one of the blessings. I am forever grateful.

I'm praying today that God can give other mothers and fathers who are mourning the loss of babies a measure of this joy! That He can turn their mourning into dancing. That they will know that not only did that child they lost through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death matter, they matter to God. That whatever God's ultimate plan for their family is that they will be able to find joy.

With Grateful Hearts

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. There was great feasting, plenty of rest, time spent with family, carrying on of traditions, and creating memories to store up for the winter. We've officially entered that crazy month of December, but first I wanted to reflect on a great November.











At the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at our local History Museum.

We were thrilled that once again that my in laws made the trek to visit us from Chicago. It wasn't just the great Norwegian Christmas Cookies that Bestemor made that made my kids smile. They were just thrilled to have them here for a few days. Snuggling, craft time, looking at scrapbooks, and a few loud games of Apples to Apples made for a wonderful long weekend. Tears were evident Saturday night before bed when we said good-bye to the grands knowing we would not see them again until springtime. What a blessing it is to have two sets of grandparents involved in our lives passing on traditions and memories. One of the highlights for the kids was our trex to the local Scandinavian Shop. How thrilled they are with their Norwegian Heritage and the fact they are just the second generation of their family to be born in the United States.

Their mother needs to do a better job of passing on some German and English traditions, too!











Bestefar and the kids looking over the Birthday Calendar we made with photos of our Minnesota Vacation this past summer. It was great to relive the fun we had on that trip.

Things I want to remember:
* The smile on all three kids faces when the Grandparents arrived on Wednesday.

* The thrill when they realized that cookies had arrived too.

* C teaching Bestefar how to play football on the Play Station

* M and A coloring and making crafts at the kitchen table with Bestemor

* Laughs and Giggles in the family room when A played judge for Apples to Apples. Her knowledge of history and people is really lacking. What do you expect from a 4 year old!

* Christmas Tree Lighting at the Train Station and driving through the lights downtown. The oohs and ahas from all were well worth the fighting in the backseat.

Thank you God for a wonderful time this Thanksgiving. Time is a wonderful gift and I'm grateful that we were able to share this time with all of our family.