Home again, home again, jiggety jig

*This is not our house, not our suit of armour. Just one I drive by on a regular basis!

Yes, we're back. The whirlwind trip to Manitoba in a little car is now a thing of memory, as is Christmas Eve in Saskatoon with nowhere to eat except the local 7-11 (due to everything closing at 7 pm). Just one of the many adventures of taking a roadtrip during the holidays! Luckily we knew where all the trucking stops were, so we were able to eat breakfast on Christmas morning before hitting the road out of Edmonton and getting back home to bare cupboards. Good thing the family party was on Christmas day - we made it there in time for supper!

Hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours. We are truly grateful for our loving families who welcome us with open arms. We thank God that we all belong to His bigger family and that the celebrating will not end someday. What a gift He gave. His Son. I cannot even fathom how painful that must have been. Merry (belated) Christmas!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

Saw this and fell in love with this acappella group. If you're reading this on facebook, you really need to go to my blog to see this video!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yes, Christmas has officially landed on our doorstep. Last week I went to a Secret Prayer Sister Christmas/revealing party on Monday (I was my best friend's prayer sister and my mom was mine! So cool for my first year!), a Baking Exchange party on Thursday (thanks Jana! My freezer's stocked.), Luke's work Christmas party on Friday, two hockey games on Saturday, and a quick trip down to Edmonton on Sunday to see Van Halen. I'm exhausted. Luckily caffeine is plentiful and I was able to stay alert on the snowy roads home this morning. I left Luke in Edmonton to write an exam so I had some serious alone time for five and a half hours - it's been a while since that has happened! I actually came up with a brilliant plan to tie the separate parts of the Sunday School Christmas play together. Now to write it up and get it sent out to the right people before Sunday! Wish me luck!

Making God sad

"Mom, Titus won't help clean up!"

It's a phrase I hear far too often. In the time frame of cleaning a room, maybe ten or twenty times. Needless to say, I get more than a little perturbed when I've heard it for the umpteenth time. This was one of those times. I stomped into the room. Caleb and Ethan were diligently picking up pieces of lego while Titus sat on his bed with a scowl.

"Titus, help your brothers clean up.

"I'm too tired."

"Well, you can have a nap after your room is clean."

"No."

By now my eyebrows are raised in incredulousness at his sass. I'm sure the steam was coming out of my ears, just like it does in cartoons.

"Titus, who's in charge?"

"You are," he says with a whimper.

"Clean this room now."

"Okay."

As I'm leaving the room he asks me one more question: "Mommy, are you in charge of everybody?"

"Yes, I am," I reply, not quite sure where this is going.

"You're making God sad. He's in charge of everybody."

I guess I can never say that he doesn't pay attention in Sunday School!