Only Mercies and Pictures

When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!

Johnson Oatman, Jr. 1897

I will give You thanks, for You answered me; You have become my salvation. Psalm 118:21

538 delightful: watching popcorn pop in a pot with a glass lid

539 the sound of it popping

540 then a memory: mom always made popcorn, no such thing as the microwave kind, and I always thought it funny when a few more kernels popped after she took it off the stove...and I liked how the top of the pot would rise up when she'd put a few too many kernels in...

541 Christmas cards coming in the mail

542 boxes arriving with surprises in them

543 vitamins

544 CA: Mommy, wuh you pawk my heh? (will you part my hair?)

545 Kindness of strangers - stopped to get hot chocolate at Starbucks (salted caramel - oh my!!), planned to buy one for CA and LC to share. Came away with my drink, plus two little ones - I don't think he charged me for theirs...what an uplifting moment that was, what a kind man...

546 CA: why is he putting soap in da dwink? (on seeing the Starbucks man pump flavor into a drink)

547 the bronze of the sunset sun on bricks of our house

548 EG's popcorn and cranberry chains for her school Christmas party

549 CA: I wish I could fly up today da sky with wings on my back. (to BB when he took her on an errand)

550 a new shaft of winter sunshine - I lost my summer beam of light that used to blaze into the kitchen in the evening, and suddenly I realized there's a new one through the opposite side of the house, streaming down from our entryway for an hour or so in the midmorning. Heavenly! Great for photos, too!

551 watching a movie together last night - we aren't sure when the last time was

552 watching a good movie - Temple with Claire Daines

553 confirmation from the Lord, after watching the movie, that some of my parenting decisions, just little things really, are a good thing for my girls

554 that on Tuesday I was able to get the right things in the house to get the kids ready for their last day of school, which was yesterday (artsy supplies, a costume, etc).

555 that yesterday was their last day for A MONTH

556 a happy surprise: the big two don't have homework over the break, thanks be to God! There is much afoot, and I also need time to focus more on LC's schooling

557 a hard, hard week

558 wise, counsel and comfort from faraway friends (and near ones!) over the past few days

559 watching God do the impossible

560 visiting with dear friends over dessert in our home, when we could hear ourselves over our extremely happy and active children, that is

561 finding costume pieces for EG at the thrift store that didn't require sewing on my part

EG's class read Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and each year the fourth grade has done a really lovely Victorian Christmas party in connection with that. She volunteered these chains, and I was nervous, having a memory of trying popcorn chains as a child, with the popcorn crumbling badly. She proved my concerns wrong, whipping together about 10 feet of chains in quick time!

Meet Bob Cratchit's wife. I ran into her in a parking lot the other morning, as she carried her cut glass plastic bowl of nuts and tangerines. She was on her way to a party at which Ebenezer Scrooge was to be the guest of honor!

You can see Tiny Tim, a couple of the Spirits of Christmas, and of course Scrooge and other guests from the Christmas Carol crew. EG's teacher is seated.

Even little kids can't resist the cheeks!

The kids even learned part of a Victorian era dance! They practiced it in the tight quarters of their classroom, apparently! Just ignore the non-Victorian garage door there in the background.

So sweet. I love this still-uninhibited age. All of them seemed to love the dancing. EG was glad she did not have to dance with a boy. Lucky for her, Tiny Tim is really Tiny Tina in this case.

Okay, okay, one more EG photo. Making a Christmas tree ornament.

MK's class party. I love it how the younger siblings are so totally included!

My sweet, sleepy, drooly baby. And my hair never looks that stylish...or stylish at all, for that matter. I'd just come from a haircut. You know how that goes...you come out with pretty hair you can't imitate once you get home.