Joseph, Gabriella, Julianna, James, and Elora

Joseph, Gabriella, Julianna, James, and Elora

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Tradition!

My two youngest sisters are both doing Fiddler on the Roof with their at the end of the month - Lydia is playing Hodel, the middle sister, and Sophie is playing Grandma Tzeidel - so I have been hearing, and singing, the "Tradition!" song a lot these past few months! And with Easter tomorrow, I've been thinking about traditions, particularly for holidays, a good bit lately.

                                                  "Tradition! Tradition....Tradition."

For Saturday night before Easter, I am actually doing much better than normal, organization-wise! My house is mostly clean (we'll probably do a last minute pick up before bed). I have everyone's church clothes all laid out, with just a few socks to wash. Breakfast is already made and I just need to set the coffee pot to go off in the morning. I had all the kids' Easter baskets already bought and I filled them this afternoon while they napped! With just one last minute trip to Wal-Mart to buy Joseph some new dress shoes, since we discovered last minute that his don't fit anymore, we were ready. But when we got home I discovered the one thing I'd forgotten: the dye kit. I had hard-boiled the eggs but now I had nothing to dye them with. Normally, this would have sent me into a mild panic and rushing back to the grocery store for another last minute trip. I don't usually handle having my plans interrupted very well. ;-) (Yes, oldest child...what can I say?) But then I realized something. I don't HAVE to dye eggs this year.


Sounds silly, right? Of course I don't HAVE to. But you see, I come from a very tradition-driven family. We're not very organized, but we have LOTS of traditions. Like girls getting their ears pierced on their 13th birthday. Or boys going on a camping trip to Alaska with their dad and grandfather. Or my dad bringing ALL of the girls in his family chocolates on Valentine's Day (even since I've been married!;-)We had Easter baskets and Christmas stockings every year, even if they were thrown together at the very last minute. Every Good Friday we all go on a little day sightseeing trip as a family and usually a hike. And I love all of our traditions, so I've tried really hard to carry them all on with my own kids. But sometimes that can be a little overwhelming! Especially when you add in Robert's family's traditions too. And then you try to instigate your OWN new family traditions and...whew! Tradition overload!

I think traditions are nice as long as they are serving you, and not the other way around. When the tradition itself becomes more burden than blessing, it's time to let it go - at least for the moment! The great thing about holidays is that they are annual - there is always next year! There's something very freeing about realizing that you don't have to do it all...or all at once. Last fall we missed the State Fair AND the Balloon Fiesta, and I was a little bit sad until I realized - oh wait, we can always go next year! And the same is true of coloring Easter eggs with my kids. Is it fun? Absolutely! Would they get a kick out of it? Definitely! But Easter will happen next year, and we can always do it then.

Unless of course Jesus comes back before...in which case, I'm pretty sure whatever we're doing for Easter in heaven will be TONS more awesome that coloring eggs. ;-)

God bless you all tomorrow on this most joyful of all days - HE IS RISEN!!

"Death could not keep its prey, Jesus my Savior,
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord:
Up from the grave He arose
with a mighty triumph o'er His foes,
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever, with his saints to reign:
He arose, He arose, Hallelujah, Christ arose!"

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Random bits of Joseph-ness

Today's post is brought to you by my silly, wonderful, sensitive, loving, and intelligent 5 year old named Joseph. He's had a couple of particularly amusing quotes today that I just had to share.

- During his prayer at Bible this morning - "And please dear Lord, protect us from all the bad people who are trying to kill us..." (oookkayyy...not sure where the paranoia is coming from but glad he's going to right person for protection...)

- Later, while attempting to persuade him to do schoolwork (which is really unusual for him, because normally he loves doing school): "Please can we read a Bible story instead?"
                                Me: "How about we do some schoolwork and then read a Bible story?"
                                Joseph: "Bible is MORE IMPORTANT than schoolwork."
                                Me: "Well, yes, but you do need to do your schoolwork also. How about I read you    
                                        one Bible story for every page of schoolwork you do?"
                                Joseph: "Okay! Like a treat?"
                                Me: "Haha, yes. Exactly. I'm glad to know reading the Bible is treat for you."

Some kids get candy. Others get Bible stories. Gee, I could live with this kind of motivation!


Happy Snowy Tuesday, everyone!

P.S. Oh yes, and if you notice his hair is abnormally short - he attempted a self haircut and basically ended up with a giant bald spot right in the front. So Daddy had to shave his head. There was no other recourse. It's starting to grow back, thank goodness. He still looks a bit goofy, though.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Monday's Top 10: Things You Don't Want to Hear

The Top 10 Things You Never Want to Hear as a Mom

Someone snobby (aka my husband) pointed out I should be doing these in reverse order. You know, counting down FROM 10 TO 1. I guess that makes it more dramatic. And...suspenseful. Or something. Anyway...I will do it just to test if he actually reads my blog. (He doesn't. Do you, honey?)

10. The door of the refrigerator shutting.

9. The handle to the pantry being jiggled open.

8. Glass shattering.

7. The front door slamming.

6. "Mama! Do you know what Joseph/James/Gabs/Elora did?!"

5. "Sorry, Honey, I probably won't be home before bedtime."

4. The faint whimper that indicates the baby just woke up.

3. A loud "thunk" followed by screaming.

2. "EWWW! Ma-ma! There's poopies ________"

1. Absolute silence.