Bye Bye Bar

There has been an eyesore in our basement. The former owners of our house were heavy drinkers. You can tell by the stories our neighbors tell, the bottle nooks in our cupboards upstairs, the unused portable wine racks left for us in the basement storage room, the cocktail tables by the horseshoe pits outside and the gigantic bar in the basement. Since we don't drink, the bar didn't do anything but collect dust, odds and ends and spiders. It had to go.

Thankfully, today it said good-bye with the help of Taigen's hammer, drill and sheer determination. It's amazing how much room that behemoth took up in the middle of our (very rough) family room, but once it was gone, we cleaned up the area and put down a few more carpet remnants (to match the rest of the basement carpet theme, hee hee) and it made it a more roomy space for us and less of a hotel for spiders!

It's not going to win any decorating awards (yet), but I have my eye set on stripping off the glorious "inspirational" wallpaper and border soon, painting it a brighter color and one day getting matching carpet for the entire downstairs, but at least this frees up some space until our we're able to save our pennies to get the bigger project done.

The Unusual Weekend

As many of you have seen in the national news, New England really got pounded in this recent storm. We've had many, if not most, of our congregation without power. The church was also without power for a couple of days. Taigen was keeping tabs on the building and also studying here at home.

On Saturday, we went in to church to meet the Sneedens. The Sneedens were going to be presenting their church planting ministry to us on Sunday night. They had just come from Dublin and had been roughing it there with the help of many blankets and the occasional generator. Taigen and I were thankful our power was back on so that they didn't have to rough it at our place.

We enjoyed our time with them immensely! Unfortunately, our church was still without power on Sunday morning, so we planned on the Sneedens sharing their ministry with us in our living room. Our friends, the Perdues were still without power so we told them they could come as they were, meet the Sneedens and then stay for a hot lunch with us.

Whether it was the coziness of the living room, or the size of the group, we really had a wonderful time getting to know the Sneedens on a more personal level than we would have if they had been in the auditorium.

After a leisurely lunch with the Perdues, we headed up to Scarborough, ME to see their annual Christmas program. The Sneedens and Gicks went with us. About 3/4 of the way there, we got a phone call from a lady in our church saying she had just driven by the church and noticed that the power was back on! We were so thankful.

Cornerstone's program was superb! It was called Ring Out the Joyful News. It was so very nice to see "old" friends (young AND old) and all the kiddies! My! how they have grown! I have to be honest and say that my favorite part was the children's choir ("Why Do Bells") and then the hand chimes ringing at the very end.

We came back home and had munchies with the Sneedens before turning in. Even though the weekend was not as we had planned, we enjoyed the extended time getting to know them.

A Huge Welcome to Winter

On Thursday evening, Toni Hafler arrived from Concord to speak for our ladies' Treasures meeting. We were a bit concerned about the roads, but she assured me that she thought things would be okay. I told her that if she got here and couldn't return the guest room was ready for her.

The meeting was at our house this month and we were going to do our annual cookie and ornament swap. A huge storm blew through New England covering everything with rain and then ice. Ladies were calling me left and right to let me know that they weren't coming, but we still had a good turnout. What a blessing to have Toni speak! I was so thankful to hear what the Lord laid on her heart regarding Patience/Longsuffering. Little did we know we'd be applying that challenge to our hearts within a matter of hours.

As the ladies left, I encouraged them to drive carefully. Most cars were encased with ice and Toni's 15 passenger van was no exception. Toni pulled out and didn't get 15 feet before her van did a 360! She pulled back into our driveway and said, "I guess I'm staying the night!" I'm so thankful she took me up on the offer. It afforded me the opportunity to talk with her at length and it kept her safe and off the roads.

On Friday morning, our power went out at about 9 o'clock. Thankfully, both Toni and I had just gotten done with our showers and the house had gotten a head start in heating up. We ate breakfast by candlelight.

Looking outside, the world around us was frozen in time! Everything was coated in ice, and trees were bending toward the ground. Usually this is what causes the power outages. Our cell phones were affected by the storm as well so we had no coverage.

Toni took off for Concord as soon as she could since Steve was at home taking care of six children (home from school!) and recovering from having his tonsils taken out. Poor guy!

Electricity was off at the church in Dover, so Taigen came home and studied in the guest room. It was not a difficult day other than not being able to connect to anyone via phone or email.

We had a cold dinner instead of the ham feast we had planned with all of the deacons and their families. In order to make the experience fun for the kids we said we were camping in Africa and came up with horrendous names for our meal: like roasted rhinocerous sandwiches with smeared snails (turkey salad and cheese), toasted elephant ears (crackers), pickled eel (carrots), and giraffe milk! We even had marshmallows leftover from when I made fudge and we attempted to roast them over our candles (just didn't taste the same). We made up stories while snuggling in the living room and then went to bed.

I dozed, but didn't ever fall into a deep sleep. I wanted to be sure to hear the kids if they called in the night. I did hear the utility truck working its way down the road and saw their yellow lights flashing. I must've fallen asleep shortly after that because the next thing I knew, the kids' bathroom light and fan was on as well as all the Christmas lights. It was 1:10 am. I got up and turned everything off, powered up my phone, got my messages, pulled off the pile of blankets off our bed and then crawled in. Taigen never stirred.

The house feels so good this morning and my hot coffee is delicious. The world outside is dripping and defrosting, but still so beautiful.

Tracks

On Tuesday in school the kids learned about animals and the different tracks they make (that's why Mrs. Lawson's dog, Maggie was brought into the classroom). During the entire morning, snow was falling outside and all the kids could think about was going out and making tracks.

After gym class, I allowed them to go outside and walk in the snow. Then, they got out their brand new shovels that they got from Mr. and Mrs. Bowman and attempted to shovel the driveway and sidewalk for Daddy. It was so cute!

It's All In the Details

It never ceases to amaze me how different the twins are. The pediatrician forewarned me of the differences in personality between a boy and girl and we've enjoyed seeing that he was so right. Now that the twins are in school, we're seeing those differences more and more. The fundamental difference? It's all in the details...

Here is Marshall's entry into his Memory Book at school today. He'll explain what took place in Mrs. Lawson's classroom:

Footprints
We found a print on Mrs. Lawson's rug. The doorbell rang. Mrs. Lawson discovered that nobody was there. It was her dog, Maggie. Mrs. Lawson made her footprint. It matched the footprint on her rug.
(short sweet and to the point)

And here is Shaylen's:

Animal Footprints
Mrs. Lawson spied an animal print. The animal print was on the green rug. She heard the doorbell ring. She discovered that nobody was there. But then, she looked down. Her dog Maggie was there. She had found her dog! She opened the door and brought Maggie in. She picked her up and put her on her desk. She got out her play clay and put Maggie's foot down on it. It matched perfectly like the one on the green rug. Then she put Maggie outside the door again.

Too funny! It was hard not to laugh out loud as the kids dictated their stories to me this morning.

The 11th Annual Joos Psychedelic Cookie Decorating Marathon

"It's the most wonderful time of the year..."

We look forward to decorating our Sour Cream Cookies every year. Can you believe that Taigen and I have done this for 11 years?!?!?! It's a highlight of the season and now that Marshall and Shaylen can help, it's even more memorable. We did two batches to start off with. Taigen punched them all out and baked them. I edged them in white frosting after they had cooled. While those sat, Taigen made Chocolate Crinkle cookies (which I have never had. I can't wait to try one). Before dinner I was also able to make one batch of Grandma Rutledge's fudge and three batches of my grandmother's recipe of banana bread. Boy does the house smell wonderful.

After dinner, we cleared off the table and prepared for The Main Event! Taigen decided on several bright colors, but my favorite ones this year were "Aztec Blue" & "Lime Green!" Don't gasp...it's what makes them our fun Psychedelic Christmas cookies.

While the Christmas music played, we drizzled out the frosting, dumped on the sprinkles and made a glorious mess of the dining room. It was so much fun!

Post-Birthday Bummer!

Poor Marshall fought a headache all day on Saturday. He started complaining about it around late morning. By the afternoon he had developed a fever and was looking pale. Poor guy. In the middle of the night, his fever had spiked. I gave him medicine hoping it would help. It was not to be. He cried out at 4:45am and I went in to feel him. He was very hot. After I gave him more Advil, he went back to sleep and I went in to inform Taigen that Marshall and I would not be able to go to church. It's a rare thing indeed for one of us to miss church, but I didn't want Marshall to share whatever it was he had with the rest of our congregation.

He had a very laid-back day filled with lots of snuggles, books, listening to Anne of Green Gables, working on a craft, taking a long bath and even watching Lady and the Tramp. He was looking much better by bedtime. Praise the Lord.

Merry Birthday Party

The Pileggis, Bowmans, Janelle and our family have a tradition of getting together in early December to exchange our gifts. This year has only one exception: Janelle. We were so sad that she couldn't be with us this year, but the great thing was I managed to borrow of a wonderful piece of technology. A webcam. On Saturday we were able to call her in Zambia and talk with her "face to face." I don't know how much sense she made of the chaos here, but it was good to see her and allow the kids to wave, show her their gifts and blow kisses. Electricity and internet service are moody over there, so we eventually lost sound, but the video came through very clear.

We were able to exchange gifts for Christmas in the morning and celebrate Marshall and Shaylen's birthday in the afternoon. We had two special guests arrive for the birthday party: Papa Mac and his neighbor and our friend Norm Dyer. It was so good to see both of them. What a treat to have them travel all the way down here. That meant a lot to us.

And what celebration between all of us would be complete without Mike Bowman coaxing Enzo into divulging what his gift is? Enzo was a good helper all morning in picking up trash and helping people unwrap their presents. Mike found his opportunity and asked. Enzo blurted out, "It's an apron!" Sure enough. It was. We got a good laugh out of it because he had done the same thing last year with Mike's set of grill tools. We all know that Mike has that little guy wrapped around his little finger.

It was a memorable Birthday/Early Christmas celebration and we were so thankful for our friends near and far.

5th Birthday - Installment #3

We got a call from the Schag clan in Alaska this afternoon. It's so neat to hear their sweet voices on the phone! Marshall and Shaylen loved it. We were surprised this afternoon to see their box arrive. (I'm always skeptical when Steph says it should arrive on such-n-such a day. I'm convinced the mail doesn't come from Alaska by plane, but by dog sleds!) The kids loved their new books!

The Pileggis arrived at 5:30 tonight and our house filled with sounds of scampering little feet and our tree accumulated more packages underneath. After dinner the moment the kids were all waiting for arrived: cake! Mr. B did a fabulous job making them look good and I'm happy to say that the inside tasted just as fabulous.

We always have a good time with Jason and Joni and Enzo and Julia always have fun with Marshall and Shaylen. We were finally able to give Enzo his 4th Birthday gift. We had been unable to attend his party since Marshall and Shaylen were sick. He was excited about his school stuff!

Shaylen and Marshall sat down with Joni and read their books to her. I'm so happy to see them eager to read and doubly happy that they do a great job at reading!

Soon the kids pulled out the entire Rubbermaid bin of the GeoTrax accessories and dumped it in the living room. Of course, the guys had to design the tracks so they worked. I think they secretly just wanted to play with it themselves. Enzo was so cute saying, "'Cuse me, Aunt Crystal! This needs more batteries!" It's amazing how many batteries those things require!

What a great evening full of activity and fellowship for all. More to come for tomorrow!

5th Birthday - Installment #2 The Cakes

A couple of weeks ago, Marshall and Shaylen's Sunday school teacher came up to me after the morning service and actually apologized that his family was going to be away for the kids' birthday. He asked if it was okay if he made the kids' birthday cakes. Now, if any of you have followed the blog, you have seen his creations before. Remember this? His is the castle. Mr. B said he was going to try to do an airplane for Marshall (that comes as no surprise to you, I'm sure!) and a flower for Shaylen. I wasn't going to argue as it would save me the time here at home. I couldn't believe it! How thoughtful.

On Wednesday night Mrs. B walked into the church office with a huge box. It was one, yes, one of the cakes. She lifted the lid and showed me Marshall's cake. It was spectacular! Then, Mr. B walked into church with the other box and showed me Shaylen's. It was unbelieveable. He did such a fabulous job. Can I tell you that this is not what he does for a living? This is a hobby! He also used no molds. Mrs. B told me that he drew a picture and then basically sculpted them. We were so grateful for this very sweet gesture. The kids were so excited to have these special cakes. It will be a wonderful memory for them.

5th Birthday - Installment #1

On Friday morning we woke the kids up with the Happy Birthday song and had them come down and eat chocolate chip muffins that had just come out of the oven. This was a treat for them since they usually eat cereal!

Then, it was time to open up some presents. They were so excited! They knew that two of the presents were too big for wrapping paper!

The kids had worked hard all week in order to get all of this week's schoolwork done so they could take Friday off. It was a good idea because they didn't want to pull away from their new things.

5 Years Old!

Can you believe it? I hardly can! Marshall and Shaylen are five years old today. They've grown so much and learned so much. They have remained, since day one, each other's best friend and constant companion. We are so blessed to have them "on loan" from the Lord. They are the best twins in the world and we are so thankful to be their mommy and daddy.

Happy Birthday Marshall and Shaylen!!!

The New and Improved Taigen

I've finally gotten Taigen sit still long enough so I could take his picture. Many of you have emailed and said you wanted to see the goatee. There was a peek at it on the video of Taigen reading Charlotte's Web to the kids, but here is an official front view. You've also asked if I like it. I do, but the kids keep asking him to shave it off. They can be brutally honest.

Rub A Dub Dub

There are very special guests coming in on Friday and so we're busy preparing for their arrival. We thought we would give the kids a special treat before I cleaned the jacuzzi tub in the guest suite: a major bubble bath.

The glory of a jet tub is that if you put a little bubble bath in the water, the jets will create mountains of bubbles. The kids had a blast and by the end of each of their turns, I had two little raisins.