Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all!

The Christmas Piggy

Recently, Our Little Mouse had a starring role as a Christmas pig in our congregation's Nativity program. She also wore the costume to a Sunday morning visit at an area assisted living center. She is definitely the cutest Christmas pig we have ever seen!

Distracted during the congregation's Nativity program, Our Little Mouse stares at a baby doll in a wooden crib. She was likely just wishing she had a doll like the one in the crib, but I like to think that she was pondering the birth of our Savior at this moment. 

And here is the Christmas pig, surrounded by visitors to the Savior's creche, pointing at Daddy to put the camera down and come get her off the stage!

And so, it begins

Overheard in our kitchen one week ago: "Homework is boring! Why do we have to do homework?"

Mind you, this utterance came from our 5-and-a-half year-old, who loves school. She said it in a mix of joking and seriousness. She was coloring in her homework assignment, and maybe she picked up the whines from older kids on the bus. I resisted so hard being that parent, the ones who chime in with thoughtful responses like, "Get used to it!" or "You ain't seen nothing yet." Instead, I just let the comment drift on the air.

In the future, I will gladly direct my daughter to this photo of her when her homework whines become less joking-around. Laughing it up in the library:

Frenetic

I am not sure about all of the factors making it so, but this impending Christmas season has felt like a whirlwind. In my ideal world, and even in a more realistic view which we have personally experienced in years past, the Christmas season is spent with family and friends in a well-paced, lingering-long climate of unhurried conversation, delicious meals, moments of quiet contemplation, and anticipation. Work of course takes a significant chunk of my daily routine, and that's totally fine. In fact, aside from an uncharacteristically meetings-filled calendar over the last six weeks, work has been terrific and hasn't contributed to my current state. 

The real reality of this approaching Christmas season looks like a patch-worked, loud, hustling blur. Scrambling to finish the kitchen renovation. Calls and e-mails to a slew of people for time-sensitive church meetings--many of which go unanswered. Delicious food pushed aside as I scramble for heaps of chocolate at work, egg nog at home, and junk food to offset the anxiety of yet another day and night full of items on a checklist. One of the biggest factors making it so frantic is the online course I am privileged to be teaching. I didn't have this opportunity last Christmas, so I am learning how to balance family, work, church, and teaching *and* moments of uninterrupted fun--moments when our little family really lives in the Christmas season.

I said "no" to a colleague's non-work related request yesterday, and truthfully, it was relieving. There was no way I could have given his academic request the time it needed. Last year, I probably would have lept at the chance. Maybe the rush and crush and busy-ness of this special season ebbs and flows year over year?


A part of me feels like December should be one long, well-paced celebration of Christ's birth and loved ones, with worship at church and gatherings with family and friends to reconnect, unwind, and unplug. I have long envisioned watching a Christmas special each night with my kids, reading stacks of books, and--yes, even this--going caroling. Becky will love to read that! She's been hoping for a caroling cavalcade at Christmas for awhile.

Yet somehow, each morning has been a mad dash of getting kids off to school and Joy School, and me to work. Each evening has been filled with kitchen stuff, checklist stuff, church stuff, teaching stuff, and absolutely pointless-waste-of-time stuff like following baseball deals. In short, each day and night since Thanksgiving feels like any day or night before Thanksgiving. The specialness and joy of the Christmas season is lost in the pace of days that feel much like any other. Sometimes, the only noticeable differences between, say, last Friday and any day in September are the temperature outside and our clothing.

And all of this plays out against a backdrop of stifling consumerism that I won't touch with a ten-foot-pole right now.

I can definitely step back and re-prioritize some things. I can stop checking ESPN and instead spend the time watching Christ-centered videos on LDS.org or BYU-TV--things that will bring in some measure of what I am really looking for, even if it's only for a half-hour or so. But our kids are routinely going to bed at 8 or later, and we try to join them around 10:30. There simply isn't enough time in a day, any day, for a balance, and I am left feeling like it will be December 26th before I know it.

I want to step back, break free, and let my kids' wonder, a slower pace, and quieter, deeper moments fill the passing days of the calendar.

As I am writing, I am grateful to have this blog.

In that last paragraph, I've commented on items that I have sought out and allowed to fill up what precious time I have. Instead, I would like to spend time doing some different things to capture the spirit of Christmas--whether in the fun and giddy excitement with kids, or in the slower-paced, contemplative activities with Becky or alone.

This blog post was mostly inspired by the frenetic pace of life right now. But playing another influential role was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's 2010 talk "Of Things That Matter Most." The word amazing is bandied about far too much in our uber-celebrity-obsessed culture, but this talk is amazing. Here is but one gem:

"It is good advice to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions."

Another terrific talk he gave, that same year, has helped me at least think about how to make better priorities over the next two weeks:

"We know what the Christmas season ought to be. We know it should be a time of reflection on the birth of the Savior, a time of celebration and of generosity. But sometimes our focus is so much on the things that annoy and overwhelm us that we can almost hear ourselves say in unison with the Grinch: 'Why, for fifty-three years I've put up with it now! I must stop this Christmas from coming!But how?' While it's true that we can find materialism and anxiety in Christmas, it is also true that if we have eyes to see, we can experience the powerful message of the birth of the Son of God and feel the hope and peace He brings to the world. We, like the Grinch, can see Christmas through new eyes."

I can't think of anything else to add. More whines after President Uchtdorf's instruction, unbecoming. I can almost feel the frenetic pace slowing down, right now, as I sit in our living room, with our kids all asleep in one room, our little Christmas tree shining before me, President Uchtdorf speaking on my laptop, and Becky out with one of her closest friends.

It's a gift. I am going to go focus on it more now.

Kitchen remodel = Done!

Our kitchen renovation is completed, friendly readers! It was just over two months from the time we started ripping up the floor. It was over six months since the time I came home from work in April to find that Becky had ripped the old, nasty linoleum off the kitchen floor and decided, "Since we've come this far already, let's ditch the idea of replacing the floor and overhaul the whole kitchen!" We are thrilled that this project, the biggest non-having kids and non-buying a house project we have ever undertaken, is over.

You might think of me as a Christmastime Grinch of sorts, because the photos that follow aren't 100% just about the done stage of the renovation. In fact, most of the photos show a kitchen remodel that was still in the construction phase. These photos are the most recent ones that I have access to. So, bear with me.

Showing off the new floor, also known as our kids' newest speedway. That beautiful island in the middle has turned into a sweet obstacle course for our kids, especially Mr. Moo. He can navigate his sisters' pink-and-purple 4-wheeler around the island with military precision! The photo above was taken before the doors were re-framed and before the appliances were delivered. It obviously looks even better now. Come and see for yourself!

Ah, there is our new microwave, properly re-positioned to fully open. That only took me and our contractor Roy four hours to manipulate. But hey, it was much, much better than our originally dire thought that we would need to shift the entire bank of wall-mounted cabinets--all to accommodate a 3/4ths of an inch need for space to allow the microwave door to open all the way.

And here is our entertainer extraordinaire, the Mouse! Any as-yet-unfilled hole in our kitchen remodel became a wonderful place for hide-and-seek. In the photo above, she has parked herself in our undermount sink's basin.

Hamming it up for the camera! We needed more of her laughs during this process.

On the first Saturday in December, Becky and our girls celebrated the opening of our fully functional new kitchen. We built a gingerbread house in the afternoon, right on the new counter top, while Mr. Moo napped. The kitchen has been a winner in two regards:

1. It is modern, with all new appliances. It features our very first dishwasher. Having such a device after years of going without must be tantamount to all of the millions of people who got their first taste of freedom after decades of suffocating conformity and oppression behind the Iron Curtain. Okay, well...not even close. I was just being dramatic. But the dishwasher has been a great new addition to the family.

2. The new kitchen has become our new family hang-out. We didn't anticipate this, but it's true. And we love it. We eat meals in there. We read books in there. We hang out with friends in there. Becky and I talk once the kids are upstairs in bed in the new kitchen now. That's also meant that our dining room has become less cluttered. It feels like that room has somehow expanded, too. Awesome!

A few views from different angles of the kitchen. The ladder above was set up for our good friend Hugh, who worked over a couple nights and mornings to totally re-paint the whole space. So, you know, these "done" photos are still showing works in progress, but these photos are the closest ones I have handy, showing our kitchen in its nearly-complete stage.

We are excited to start having friends over for dinner again. It has been a really long time since we've had dinner guests. And it's a terrific feeling to have the biggest non-having-a-child life whirlwind behind us.