The Saturday 7

1. I read an interesting book this week: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It was actually for book club, which I ended up not going to, but I enjoyed the book! It was based on a true story about a spy network run by women during World War I. I love books based on real events for two reasons: 1. I get to learn about history, but 2. it's fictionalized so it's not boring. Haha. Sorry to my non-fiction lovers. Anyway, it is astonishing to me that women were willing to risk so much for their country in a time when women tended to be sheltered and shielded. I've grown up in the age of female empowerment, and I would never be on board with any of the things these women had to do. Haha. The whole book was a little risque, but it wasn't obscene. And I couldn't help but laugh at a certain quote in light of this week's events. The context is that the main character (Eve) is moving into her apartment in German-occupied France for her first official spy job. Her mentors are giving her the lay of the land:

"You'll live here, in this room. Before now we've used it as a bolt-hole for quick overnights, but now you'll live here, so the door outside will need a posted notice with your name and your age in case a roll is called-"

"- no gatherings of more than ten people allowed-"

"How does anyone live like this?" Eve wondered . . .   

Hahahaha. How timely is that? (And no, I'm not comparing the rules our government has levied to protect us from disease with the German occupation of France in WWI. The irony was just too much for me to resist.)

2. The kids only had school on Monday and Tuesday this week and I was so excited to sleep in. But the kids totally ganged up on me. Lena was thrilled to be able to stay up late every night and put off that scary sleep. But you'll remember that she freaks out if I try to go to bed before her, so I stayed up until at least midnight waiting for her every night. (As a side note, she's been up late creating Christmas presents for all her family and friends, and it is so precious that I can't force her to stop. Haha.) So of course, Levi has been waking up every night around 1, trying to climb in my bed. One night he was up from 3-5, wide awake. Justin and I both took turns dealing with him, but sometimes I feel like it's worse than having a baby! At least my babies only woke up once or twice, ate in ten minutes, then went right back to sleep. I wasn't up for hours on end. And Levi never sleeps later than 8. These kids are killing me. (Actually, on Sunday after being up for two hours in the night and finally letting him in my bed, he slept until 10:30 am! He's our alarm clock, so we definitely missed church. Haha.) 

3. On Monday night, it hit me that my newest nephew, Casper, was a month old and I'd only seen him three times in his life. I texted Esther that I was having major FOMO because the newborn stage is my faaaaaaave, plus I've been missing Ruby something fierce and worrying that she's forgotten about me! Esther graciously invited me to come over and hang out Tuesday morning after I dropped the kids off at school, so I jumped at the chance. It was so good to see my babies again, and to catch up with Esther. 

4. It's no secret that I've been listening to Christmas music and doing my Christmas shopping for at least a month, but I've been holding out on the Christmas tree. Last year, the week after Christmas, Niki was out shopping and managed to hit Target the morning they put their holiday items down to 90% off. When she told me I could get a 7 foot, pre-lit fake tree for $20ish, I couldn't pass it up. I'd been toying with the idea of going fake for a while anyway, simply for the ease and cost effectiveness. We've been spending upwards of $40 a year for a tree that dies in a few weeks. And this year, the prices went up over $10! So as much as my kids miss the whole "chopping the tree down" experience, it was nice to just grab the tree out of the garage and set it up yesterday when we were home doing nothing. We were all a little hesitant at first . . .

I didn't realize how much fluffing it would need. After messing with it for a while, it started looking much better. (The kids loved the box it came in!)

Once we plugged in it and saw it lit up and then started putting ornaments on it, we all fell in love with it. 

Lena spearheaded this whole corner.

Doesn't it just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? Truthfully, I prefer a fuller tree, but this is good for this year. 

5. Today is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which has been the day my sisters and I work at Sparta Variety every single year for as long as I can remember. I looked back through all my blog entries from the past 9 years and could only find one year I didn't do it - which was in 2012 when I was hugely (painfully) pregnant with Lena. And I know we were doing it for years before I even started blogging.

2017 I think

So it was sad not to continue the tradition this year. In case you're new around here, the store closed last December. But then in May, the owner of the store (our mom's cousin) died unexpectedly, so that adds to the sadness we feel today. Phil was always there in the morning to greet us, give us the lay of the land, tell us to pay ourselves whatever we wanted in store credit, joke around with us, then go home to chop down a Christmas tree and make homemade pizzas with his family. My heart hurts to think how different this year will be for them. 

6. Last night, the kids and I were all gathered around the tree talking about Christmas, when one of the girls asked Levi if he knew the Christmas story. Full disclosure: we have talked about the Christmas story every year that Levi's been alive, but he's 4 and has a short memory. Haha. Anyway, Lena decided to tell Levi the story, complete with our Little People Nativity, and he was soaking it in.

Eventually, I said, "Why is this story important? Babies are born all the time. What was so special about Jesus?" The girls quickly piped up "Because he died for our sins!" but I broke it down a little more for Levi. I told him that Jesus never did anything wrong, but we do all the time. Then I explained how Jesus took the punishment we deserved. Lena broke in with an explanation of how they nailed Jesus's hands and feet to the cross, and I could just see the dismay in Levi's face. He kept asking, "But why?" As we discussed it more and more, it started to sink in, and he said, "Wow. That is good for me. But not for Jesus!" Haha. And then, completely unprompted, he tipped his face to the ceiling and said, "Thank you Jesus for dying for me!" Y'all, I'm too medicated to cry, but what a moment. He was embarrassed immediately afterward, and laughed it off, so I didn't make a big deal about it, but seriously, what an example of thankfulness in this season. What a perfect beginning to the Christmas season: a reminder of the mercy we've received because the Word became flesh. When Levi really understood what that meant, his pure, childlike reaction was immense relief and praise. May we all have such an understanding (and response) this year. 

7. More pics:

Lena wanted a picture of her Lego snowman, and Levi photobombed at the last minute - moments like these are the only times I capture a genuine smile. Haha.