My Hero...

Hossna...

Yeah... we don't know what it means either. Other than Zack tells us that hossna is snow in the fall. When he was four, he announced that the biggest planet in space is Aurtro. It's a giant white planet. There is life on that planet. Scientists sent a probe. He was so very convinced that we ended up googling Aurtro... you know... just in case there might be an invasion. Wanted to make sure Will Smith was available to kick some alien tushy if needed.

Anyway... what we have here is a picture of the Hossna ball: the first snowball of the season, born in the fall; therefore NOT a snowball. It's a hossna ball.

If he ever finds out about Festivus, we're in trouble.

Enough for a snowball fight...

11/21/08
5:57am

Mom, are you awake?
Not yet.
Mom, it's snowing.
Where?
Outside my window.
Here?
Yes.
Are you sure you're not dreaming?
Yes. I got up to see if it daytime yet and it was snowing.
Seriously?
Yes!

Looking out the window @ 5:59am...

Dressed... little dawn light...
Wow! It IS snowing!

6:40am-

Is school canceled?
Are you kidding me?
Do we have to go?
Yes.
Can we have a snowball fight before we go?
Sure! Let's start the car so it can be warming up...

To Do List - 11/22/08
1. Winterize the pool

Oops.

Snowball fight!

Splat!

Loading up for one more round @ 6:58am...

7:05am ... off to school!

What a nice way to wrap up a LONG fall stretch without a break...

Pepper goes viral...

About today...

First of all... Seven Arrows... Me too! Whew! So glad someone else does that...

Woo Hoo!!!

It snowed today! Well... more like flurried. Here's a picture of the giant snow bucket that poured randomly onto our fair town. Virtually nothing in the world makes me as giddy as snow, but today... today was a special day... A monumental day... A day of epic proportion...

Today... Dah Dah ta dah... Dah Dah ta dah... Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah Dah... TA DAH!!!
Today it finally happened!

Distinguished guests... I am proud (and mondo relieved) to present to you... THE SHIELD!!!

*roar of applause, cheers; some faint*

Somewhere a photographer is crying over the quality of this shot. But I couldn't wait for the correct lighting or the perfect shot. I'm just way too excited. I wish I could write all the stories that went into this. Not the actual subjects of the articles, but the stories of the writers and designers who poured into this product in near-heroic ways. Education is a journey. I never thought I'd want to go down the high school road again as an educator. But this fall, something clicked. And I'm lovin' what I do at the moment.

Many, many thanks to our staff. "Y'all rock" barely begins to touch how proud I am of you all. And a debt of gratitude to KB, for letting me play with all the cool kids.

But most of all... all praise and glory to the Father ... the Most High ... the Creator ... and to His One and Only Son ... the Living Word!

Celebrating Christmas!!!

Our little spin-off project from Holidays Fit for the King is up and running.
Celebrating Christmas is a gathering of friends sharing ideas for crafts, decorating, entertaining, reflecting, studying, and celebrating, all the while making Jesus the focus of the whole holiday season.

We have several friends who are lending their talents in writing and photography to the blog. The plan is to post daily (and sometimes there are a couple of posts on one day) from now through January 6th, Epiphany/Old Christmas. If you are one of those friends... you know I can never thank you enough. Know that I'm praying the Lord will bless you in such a big way that there's no denying it's directly from Him.

If you're a friend out there who has been meaning to send something but just not gotten around to it yet... it's not too late. Email me your post. There are 39 days 'til Christmas and then we're posting through Christmastide (12 Days of Christmas) and on Epiphany. That's a whole lotta posts!

Going back to this morning... Susan and I were blessed once again this year to share about Advent at HFFK. As usual, we had a blast! Anything that necessitates an afternoon chatting at Caribou Coffee with a BFF in order to plan... it's a very, very good thing! Once again, I walked away in awe of her elegance and grace. And determined that at some point before my children leave for college we're going to eat off the fine china at least once. If I can find it!

One of the things I most look forward to about Celebrating Christmas is hearing from other ladies. I haven't been able to be in an organized Bible study this semester because of my new job... uh... ministry opportunity to high schoolers. I miss the fellowship of Bible study so very much. I know that I am doing exactly what the Lord has called me to do, but still... there are costs to ministry. But God is faithful. And the whole closed doors and open windows concept certainly applies here.

That said... toodle on over to Celebrating Christmas and join in the fun! Looking forward to hearing from you there too!

Wait... what am I supposed to be doing?

Apparently, I have exchanged one stess-coping mechanism for another. I used to eat an entire bag of Hershey's kisses, one at a time, by holding each one in my hand until it just started to melt. Then I'd unwrap it, put it in my mouth and let it melt the rest of the way.

But now... I blog and Facebook. Yep, I did it. I used Facebook as a verb. Somewhere a college professor is gasping for air.

Today I have somewhere in the vicinity of 1.357 million things to do, with tomorrow being my sweet hubby's birthday and all. And the final tweaks of the school magazine due in ... oh ... a couple of hours. So what am I doing? I'm looking at Christmas pictures. And blogging and Facebooking. Of course.

But I found one photo that perfectly captures Christmas Eve at our house, once the children are nestled all snug in their beds. The Nativity at the center of everything. The traditional family-favorite movie on the TV. The presents. The tree with the Christmas train running around it and no unifying decorating theme other than every ornament is a treasured memory of family or friends. The red toile tablecloth I cut a slit into to make a Christmas tree skirt big enough to fill in the area between the trunk and the track. The mix-matched quilted stockings we don't have the heart to update to matching splendor because each one arrived in our home with a story.

I think I can actually smell cinnamon as I write this post. Ah, Christmas...

Psalm 145:4

Last post I wrote a little bit about the weirdness that is having a whole passel of boys staying under our roof for the weekend. But this time I want to say thanks to they guys who were here doing just what the theme verse for the weekend says... commending the works of our great and glorious Lord from one generation to another. And we're not talking those 40 year generations here. We're talking those generations of church youth groups.

So... props to the guys who are modeling what it means to be a man of God to our boys...

Logan...
leading the troops in for ice cream on Saturday night.

OK... so this is what happens when you forget to put out the whipped cream at the beginning of the ice cream snack. Evidently, as long as they get it, they're good.

James... leading with shock and awe.

And maybe a little bit too much whipped cream.

Yep. Definitely too much whipped cream.

And Tyler and Tyler. The one on the right is the college ministry guy who is leading Group A. The one on the left is in Group A and will someday be leading a youth group as a youth pastor. Take my word for it. It's in his genes.

And Brentice... B-ice...

And though Jimmy's not in the shot, he's talking to the guys, thanking them... Logan, Jame, Tyler, and Brentice for leading the 7th grade boys. And the 7th grade boys for leading Zack. They were so kind and encouraging to him. They are his heroes.

Thanks for all the prayers for Meta '08 and our hosting BOTH 7th grade boys' groups in one house. It was absolutely amazing! Not only did we survive, but we can hardly wait for next year.

Thanks guys!
For loving Jesus and serving Him by ministering to our boys!

Meta...

That's short for Metamorphosis. Each November, our church youth group holds a weekend "retreat" that is actually in town. The kids gather at the church for large group sessions, complete with some of the rockinest music in the area and some mighty fine teachin' and preachin' geared for teens. But they don't sleep at church. They stay in host homes, divided by grade and gender.

We are a host home. 7th grade boys. All of them. There are actually two groups, one with 7 guys and 2 leaders and the other with 8 guys and 2 leaders. That makes, for those of you who love numbers, 15-7th grade boys and 4 leaders. All for a grand total of 19 people sleeping under our roof, 18 of which do not normally sleep under our roof.

Ah, Meta.

Can I just say this? ... Boys are more active than girls. And they smell bad. God's provision for my survival of this weekend as the lone human female in the house is that Logan is one of the leaders. Logan is a Marine. Thank God. I mean that literally and very, very sincerely!!!

I am not going downstairs where all 19 guys are sleeping because... well... they scare me. But Jimmy tells me that within minutes Logan had the sleeping bags arranged so efficiently that everyone fit downstairs. Then they covered the rules. Then he went over the shower schedule, assigning morning guys and evening guys time slots for getting cleaned up and announcing that no one was going to stink up the place while he was in charge. Logan was Zane's leader at Impact this year. Their cabin was immaculate, so I'm told. Yep... I'm grateful.

The other leaders are great too. Two have asked for coffee in the morning. :-D They have such hearts to see these 12 and 13-year-old boys grow into men of God. That is cool. Totally. As a mom, I am so very thankful for young men who pour into the spiritual growth of my boys and model what it means to love and serve Jesus.

Group A has settled down into their discussion now, although after hearing the racket that came for downstairs earlier, I wasn't certain they'd ever settle down. When they moved from the sleeping quarters downstairs to the living room behind me on the main floor, the discussion leader began with the question, "Have you ever read Lord of the Flies?" Yeah... uh oh! There was talk of a conch. I was sitting here hoping there wasn't a chubby kid with glasses in the group.

But it's all good. This weekend is about the Gospel. The news just doesn't get any better than that!

50 Days!!!

OK kiddies... Just 50 days 'til Christmas!

If you are willing to contribute a post (or three or five) to the Celebrating Christmas blog, please email them to me. My address is the one on my profile for this blog (Smellin' Coffee).

We still need everything, so whatever you have on your heart to share... share! Devotionals, favorite verses, pictures, decorating ideas, family traditions, craft ideas, gift ideas, recipes, etc...

Thanks y'all!

The blog goes live on November 15th. There is some stuff there now. If you want a sneak peek, click here. It is a work in progress. Truly. I am going to be tweaking. A lot.

Election Day 2008...