Toddler Talk, Cold Weather, and Year-End Thoughts

The picture doesn't have anything to do with what I'm going to write. It was taken recently and it makes my heart smile every time I see it. It is a real blessing having a toddler again. I just appreciate this stage of life so much more now than I did when I had the three older boys. As soon as one of them exited that stage, another entered it and it got a little tiring! But this time it's fun! Usually.

Sam picked up a new word this week - "stupid." Uh, oh! I'm not sure where he heard it. The other night he was taking a bath and we heard him holler out, "stupid!" and Paul and I just jerked our heads up. Was that our baby boy talking like that? By the next day he was going around, informing his brothers, "You stupid!" so we had to put a stop to that, even though the cuteness of it just makes me laugh. It's like hearing a little old lady swear - it's just so unexpected, it's funny! Well, it shouldn't be, but somehow, it is.

Paul is on call this week; has been since Friday. He's been getting a LOT of hours, for which I am grateful. Yesterday morning he was called out at 2am, after not getting home until around 8. He came home yesterday around 3:30 and was gone again by 6 and got home at 1 this morning. Today, he is doing inventory on his van ( a year end thing) so they aren't sending him out on any calls until he is done. Unfortunately, he's battling cold symptoms like we all are (thank you, Samuel!) so it's even harder on his system - but so far, no seizures, so that's good.

We are supposed to go to Waterloo Saturday, but it's only supposed to reach a high of 5 degrees that day. So, I told Paul if he can pick up some hours that day - and he wants to - then that would be fine. I'll just go up with the boys. We need all the hours we can get. Christmas Day I did our bills and about cried. Hours just haven't been sufficient to pay all our bills lately! Although, they did predict that because of El Nino, we would be having a mild winter. So far, that has not proven to be the case. December has been quite cold and it's the 3rd snowiest December on record since they started keeping track in the 1800s.

I ordered propane to be delivered tomorrow. Ouch - that is expensive! I ordered the minimum they'll deliver without an extra charge (250 gallons) and that's going to cost $450. We'll need more by spring, probably, but I didn't' want to charge it and this was all we could afford. I am so grateful that we burn wood because that saves us so much propane. But we still need it for the little bit that the furnace does run and then to heat our water.

Of course, this week I could have kicked that woodburner right out of the house! I have a picture that I hung behind the woodburner and it had a plastic cover in the frame rather than glass. It warped up, big time! Fortunately, it didn't' wreck the picture and I just need to buy a new frame - one with glass. But then, I saw that the end blind on my vertical blinds is all warped now, too. I was not happy about that!

This will probably be my last post of 2009. I've been printing out all my blogs from this year (which uses a LOT of ink!), inserting them in plastic covers, and putting them in a binder. I really wrote a lot this year, I'm discovering. I'm amazed at those that tell me they read everything I write - that's a lot of reading! Thank you so much! I'm hoping to parlay my writing into other venues this year, in addition to my blogging. My friend Kristi and I have determined that we are going to make more of an effort to enter the FaithWriter's contests every week that we can. It would be nice if I could use some of this writing desire to benefit others rather than just my own journaling. I'm thinking about investing in a 2010 Sally Stewart guide, too. We'll see how the Lord directs with my writing desires. It may not be time yet. My main responsibility right now is motherhood and I don't know if I can do both.

A final thought as 2009 comes to a close: yesterday I had long conversation with my friend, Jenny. I mentioned her in the post previous to this. She is the one carrying a long awaited baby girl who probably has a chromosomal disorder that will, more than likely, take her life before it begins. Jenny told me that her prayer every day for herself and her family is that God would grow them spiritually. Wow! I have never thought about praying quite like that. I pray for Paul and the boys. I pray for their physical protection, as well as their spiritual protection. I pray that God will keep them from sin and guard their hearts (particularly in the area of relationships and the temptation of pornography). I pray for strength and development of personal character. But I never thought about praying for spiritual growth. Part of me hopes that isn't like the old joke about praying for patience - if you pray for it, then God will send trials that will increase it! But I started doing that today because above all, that is what is important. That's what I want for my men in 2010.

And that's what I want for me. Happy New Year to my faithful readers!