A Sweet Moment

This moment does not need to be lost in the craziness of tomorrow.  This is not something that can be captured with a camera.  It's more a feeling.  Most lights are off in the den except for the colorful Christmas tree lights and the white lights around the mantle.  One lamp in the corner gives off enough light for the children to see the cards they are playing in the middle of the floor.  The faces vary as one goes off to take a shower and another child takes its place.  But the spirit is the same.  Peace, love, and overall contentment.  That is how I feel and if I were to describe the children's feelings, then I would have to add expectancy to the list.  The air of expectancy comes from the fact that if dad returns from his hospital visit in soon (called away to Jackson, TN where someone's father has only hours left to live--such a sad thing for Christmas Eve), then the children will get to exchange one present--the one that each bought for his or her sibling from the name drawing done in November.  We have just finished watching my favorite Christmas movie--White Christmas--and all five acted as if they really enjoyed it.  I feel blessed to have these five children in my life, and am probably as excited about the surprises that tomorrow morning holds as they are.  This is my ideal Christmas Eve--peaceful, calm, happy, expectant.  This feeling is rare and I am treasuring it.

I wanna see Santa!

Schaeffer is definitely not like our other children.  I think Jason and I say that at least once a week.  Tonight we said it again.  We aren't in the habit of talking about Santa at Christmas time really.  He shows up on some of our decorations, although I much prefer snowmen.  He never gets credit for the presents that we buy for our children.  We've just never made a big deal out of him with any of our kids.  But someone has told our #5 child that Santa is coming.  I'm not sure what he's expecting but I've decided not to try to explain "the truth" to him just yet.  I'm big on honesty, so I will not lie.  But he's awfully cute to watch this holiday season as he explores all the wonders of the season--lights, tree, ornaments, presents, Jingle Bells sung every day, nativity scenes rearranged often, and now tonight he met Santa.

Jason and I took a group of 12 children to Holt Family Farms tonight for a live nativity hayride.  Before I could get everyone paid for and hands stamped, someone said, "Schaeffer's sitting in Santa's lap!"  Sure enough, there he was and I was about to miss a Kodak moment!  I grabbed my camera and as I'm getting it ready, I hear Santa ask him, "How old are you?"  Well, Schaeffer holds up his fingers to show him, but then he stopped, somewhat confused, as if to say, "how do you hold up 3 fingers with mittens on??" So Santa guessed 4 years old and moved on to the next question.  (Remember, Schaeffer JUST turned 3 so conversations are usually interesting.)  "What do you want for Christmas?"  Hummm, what does this mean?  I was curious as to what this child might say and since we haven't even talked about making a list of wants, I waited quietly.  After some thought, Schaeffer said, "I can't say it."  That made Santa laugh, as if his list is so long that he can't figure out where to start!  To keep from explaining "the truth" to this nice Santa, I just moved into photographer mode, all the while smiling to myself at this child God has given us.  I remembered just last Christmas when I had to beg my girls to sit in Santa's lap at a dance presentation so that I could take a picture of them.  And my big, 12-year-old son (at the time) just flat out refused to get near Santa.  He's not crazy about people dressed up.  So how does this 3 year old have the bravado to just go right up to Santa and sit in his lap?  I don't know but I sure do love him!  He brings so much sparkle to our home.

Christmas is Coming!

Exactly a week ago, I had not yet begun to shop--now, I am officially done!  Woohoo!  That's pretty much how I prefer to operate, get in there, get the job done, and now enjoy the festivities.  Of course, one of the highlights of last week was spending the day in Paducah with my husband for the purpose of Christmas shopping.  What a treat to get away for a day together, and boy, did we spend some money!  Last year we didn't get to buy presents for our own children, so this year we had a blast doing it.  (Last year it was their idea to take the money we would normally use to buy them gifts and instead, buy presents for a needy family.  It was a wonderful experience and we were so proud of them, but Jason and I were both surprised at how hard it was for us as parents not to buy presents for them anyway.  That remembrance made our shopping day last week even more delightful.)  Because our kids don't make wish lists for us, for the most part, they have no clue what's now under the tree for them.  Apparently before last night, the oldest two hadn't looked closely at the wrapped presents.  But last night they decided to see which ones were for them.  Listening to them from my bedroom, I couldn't help but smile. . .well, actually laugh as their conversation unfolded.  "What does this mean?  It says 'To: 4'--who's that?"  "I don't know!  This one says 'To: 72'--that must be for me."  "Oh, this wrapping paper must be for Schaeffer so he's probably number 4."  "Wow!  There's a lot of presents for 72!" "There's even a 67." "Mom, how are we supposed to know who these presents are for???"  Then it was my turn to smile, "It's my secret code."  As the searching and guessing and excited questions continued, I felt my heart swell at the excitement growing in my oldest two children.  Lindy even said later, "Before I looked I really didn't care, but NOW. . .it's driving me crazy!!"  And believe me, we had her in mind when we created "the code"--it had to be uncrackable by these two sharp minds. :)  I think we've got 'em!  And now MOM can hardly contain herself at the thought of Christmas morning fun.  I know Christmas isn't all about the presents, but the joy I feel at knowing how much my children will enjoy what their daddy and I have bought for them reminds me of the joy my heavenly Father must have felt that day so many, many years ago when He sent His only Son to be our Christmas gift.  Now, how will I feel if one of my children rejects a gift I valued enough to buy for them?  Nothing close to the sadness and disappointment God must feel every time someone rejects the ultimate, sacrificial gift--His Son, Jesus.  In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I want to take time to remember the awe I first felt when I began to understand God's gift for me.  Let's not get so "wrapped up" in gifts that we overlook the Gift that is still changing our lives!  Enjoy the festivities and let's agree to keep Christ as our focus this Christmas.

Double Trouble and other things to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving seemed to go by in a blur for me--does anyone else feel that way?  We have joked in our house that things were just too crazy for us to stop and reflect on our blessings before stuffing ourselves with all the delicious food.  It is true, 16 people staying in one farm house with exactly half of those people being 13 and under makes for a crazy time!  Looking back, I realize we didn't stop and share blessings from the past year or even express thanks for specific blessings, although we were sure to thank The Provider for the meal.  And I do feel sad about all that.  But my time of reflection has come since returning home.  What I've realized as I look back over our days together with my parents,and my two sisters and their families, is that we were surrounded by one of God's greatest gifts to us--a healthy, loving family.  My two sisters and I live in 3 different states, so time together is precious.  God gave us these days to enjoy being together again, just laughing, talking, eating, and one attempt at shopping--just doing life together for a few days.  Mom and Dad got to see grandkids that they don't see very often and I don't think there was a boring minute as long as "Double Trouble" were both awake.  These two little fellows absolutely LOVE getting together but something happens whenever they do.  Instead of just your average (or maybe even above average) energy level for a normal 3 year old boy, when these two cousins meet, there seems to be an explosion of energy and testosterone!  Things get broken, fake fruit gets eaten (sorry, Nee-Nee!), and lots of laughter as well as fighting occurs.  But I absolutely LOVE watching my youngest hang out with my sister's little boy.  They are big buddies!

Of course, the newest member of "the Senter clan" is this little fellow's baby sister who can steal your heart in a minute with her big blue eyes and huge grin!  My girls and I never feel that we have enough time to love on her, so these days were great for us!  We held her as long as she would let us, but eventually she wanted to be free to crawl around and see what the boys were playing with.  She is a go-getter, for sure!  It is a thankful moment to realize that both of these beautiful, healthy children were born to my sister who is a rigid diabetic.  Isn't God good??

Another blessing from this week was the gift of time with a sweet little girl our family has grown to love over the past few months.  She is seen here with "the girls" and seems to enjoy being part of a large family every now and then.  I'm sure when she goes back home to her mama, she relishes the quiet but our family loves having her around.  And since the weather at the farm was just perfect, some of the girls thought fishing was in order.  No fishing rod?  No problem.  They created one from a stick, borrowed line and a borrowed hook.  Were they successful?  Not using grasshoppers for bait, but when they stuck to just using crickets, YES, they were successful!

So much to be thankful for. . .and days with extended family are at the top of my list this year!  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for loving God, each other, and your children in such a way that makes being together with family so special.  I am grateful to be your child.  Thanks, Sisters, for changing your work schedules and dragging your wonderful husbands to the farm to hang out with us for a few days.  I love you both!  Thanks to my awesome husband for allowing me to be "sister and daughter" for a few days, and hopefully you didn't have to take up too much slack. :)  I love you!  Most of all I'm so grateful to my heavenly Father who blessed me beyond measure by placing me in my family in the first place and now blessing me with a wonderful family of my own.  I am so unworthy, so undeserving, yet so humbled and thankful on this Thanksgiving weekend.

Game of endurance

"It's a game of endurance!"  That's my husband's motto for just about everything, whether we're playing a family game (and many of us wanting to quit before it's over) or it's hunting season and nothing's going right.  "Persistance is the key" defines how my man operates.  He has taught our children his made-up chant, which goes, "We're strong, we're proud, and no weinies allowed!"  We all laugh at this, but it's a poignant reminder that sometimes life requires us to be tough and see things through.  Whenever one of the children wants to quit in the middle of playing a game, we remind them that "we're Sipeses, and Sipeses don't quit!"  We think persistance and commitment are important character traits.  Well, my husband is a perfect example of what he teaches because today he "got the big one."  Our rifle season for deer hunting here in Kentucky only lasts two weeks, with part of that time including Thanksgiving break (we travel then).  So this week has been dedicated to trying to get enough deer to fill our freezer.  Every single morning and every single evening this week, even in the rain or freezing weather, my hunter/husband/provider has been at it, with nothing to show.  The fun was gone by yesterday morning when he once again arrived home empty handed.  Did he quit?  No, because "we're Sipeses, and Sipeses don't quit!"  Finally, yesterday afternoon he landed a big doe and this morning he killed a 9-pointer!  Hunting has become "fun" once again and God has allowed the provider of our family to enjoy doing his job. :)  I'm so proud of him!

A Momentous Week

The month of November has held some special days for our family already.  Starting with Nov. 1, our "baby" turned 3 years old!  We celebrated big-time with a party at Chuck E. Cheese's.  He had a blast and is already asking when we can go back.

Two days later our oldest son turned the big 13!  He didn't want a party, just a day with his dad in Paducah, shopping for a bow (for deer hunting).  Since he has the best dad a boy could ever hope for, not only did he get the bow he was dreaming of, but he got a LOT of information and challenges on becoming a man, including specific things to be working on over the next year.  We are seeing so much growth in his life and are eager to see God mold Him into HIS man.  But the best hope I have that Taylor WILL become a man of God is that he has a dad who models what this looks like day in and day out.  Even as I'm blogging, they are in the woods deer hunting together.

Then a few days later on Sunday (Nov. 6), our middle son had the awesome experience of getting baptized by the very one who shares his name!  His dad was so proud to do the honors.  Jay has been God's child for several months but just wasn't quite ready to take the next step and follow God in believer's baptism.  For the last month, he has been talking about now being ready and it was such a joy to watch this precious son show the world that he belongs to God.  What a tremendous week for the Sipes' boys/men!

Branching Out

As an almost-40-year-old, I was fairly determined NEVER to blog "all my business" on the web for everyone to read. For one thing, who cares what my family is doing here in Hickman?? And for two, who has time to write?? Well, today I was introduced to the fact that one can actually have a book made from a year's worth of blogposts!! Now you're talking about something I AM interested in--saving memories for our family's history. It may take me some time to figure this whole thing out, but I'm excited about the possibilities. And if no one ever cares to read what I blog, I'm pretty sure one day my children WILL.