Feeling Festive...NOT!

The "Holiday Season" is officially here. All of the stores have festive decorations, big sales and Christmas music playing. Many of the neighborhoods are decorating the entrances. Home owners are putting up lights, wreaths and even trees. My favorite radio station played Christmas music all last weekend. The bell ringers have invaded Wal-mart. Church has the angel tree, magi boxes and stockings to fill. A Christmas Carol is playing at the theater. I have even picked up a couple of Christmas gifts.

But with so many signs of the season all around me...why don't I feel festive? It all seems so mechanical right now. Automatic. Like we are all just going through the motions. We are decorating because we have to. It's time. It's not even cold outside! Where's the magic???

It's in the other room. Getting ready for bed. My kids are the magic of Christmas! They love to decorate, sing carols, and look at lights. They love to bake and decorate cookies. They love to dream about gifts, pack magi boxes and wrap gifts for others. But they are kids and kids don't think about Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. They don't know how the magic happens, it just does! Somehow, we have sugar, flour and sprinkles. We have wrapping paper, bows and tape. We have the perfect gift for all of our family to wrap. Magic! And that is why I will start going through the motions, getting ready, preparing for the season. They count on me. And soon, before I know it, I will be feeling very festive too, ready for a magical holiday season full of wonderful memories.

Uncomfortable

Have you ever felt uncomfortable in your own skin? Like something isn't right? You feel like you should be doing something bigger than you are? Today I am uncomfortable. I am taking care of my sick family, doing laundry, dishes, taking out the trash, feeding the dog. None of these things are really very glamorous things to do. Necessary, but not necessarily fun and exciting. But surely life is about more than dirty laundry!

I don't always talk to God as I should and yet today I randomly opened up my Bible to 2 Corinthians this afternoon. "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ²Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, ⁴For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."

Yeah! It is ok to be uncomfortable. God wants us to be uncomfortable! If I feel ok and confident in my body doing what I always do, no matter how big or small, I am away from God. He wants us to be close to Him. At home with Him. Today I am uncomfortable. Are you?

Lysol please

Fall is a great time of year. I love the cooler weather, the changing leaves, football, pumpkin crisp...but one thing I do NOT love is that fall usually means someone gets ill at the Texas Tolleson's house. This year there are LOTS of someone's getting ill!. Lily had a random fever virus 2 weeks ago. Lily and my allergies are acting up after a school field trip. And now Logan AND Larry are running fever. I have an appointment for Logan tomorrow and hopefully it is something that antibiotics can easily heal. Please pray that they will heal quickly and that I don't run out of Lysol! And now, I'm taking my Nyquil and heading to bed. Good night.

Logan is 9!

Logan officially turned 9 on October 31st! And so, to commemorate the event, I give you a look back at sweet Logan...

He was such a big bundle of joy! He had rolls on his rolls! Logan was always smiling and very content to be held all the time. We weren't sure if he would ever crawl because he would have to lift his belly off the ground!






One of Logan's favorite foods, no, his absolute favorite food is chocolate. He has always loved chocolate. When he was little he used to "purr" when he was offered chocolate. That is how Larry and I describe the sound he makes. It is this super fast laugh that only comes out when he is overjoyed by something (usually food).



Logan loves to have a good time and laughs out loud often. He's got a great laugh! He is shy. He does not like to be the center of attention. He is sneaky. He is devious. I know, you would never expect it out of those sweet eyes!




Most of all Logan is a sweet kid that likes to have fun. He loves playing baseball on the Crossmen. He plays second base, outfield and just started pitching. He also loves video games, reading and swimming. Not to wish the year away, but he is already looking forward to being double digits next year. Slow down big boy. Momma's not ready for that quite yet. Happy 9th sweet Lo.

Happy Halloween!

It was a great Halloween week for us. On Sunday night we went to Legacy's annual Trunk or Treat. We had a great time and it is a nice safe place to let our kids have fun with their friends. We passed out candy, visited with friends, got balloon flowers, ate hot dogs, and ate lots, and lots and lots of candy!

Here are the kids in their costumes. Logan the Hippie, Lily as Hannah Montana, and Zac as, well he just went in his school clothes. :)












On Halloween the boys had baseball games at 4:00 and 5:00. Seriously?? Who made that scheduling??? Anyway, after we got home at 7:00 pm, we changed in to costumes and went out with a pumpkin in one and and a piece of pizza in the other. Hey, I had to feed them dinner sometime! It was a lot of fun! The kids are already thinking about their costumes for next year!