Taryn's Journal: 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

The twelve days of sickness

I am thankful that we are not battling life-threatening illnesses. We have so much to be thankful for. But in a family of seven when a virus takes down one family member after another, mama can feel like this:

"Let's just get this over with"

This holiday break we have scrubbed up puke from the walls, sheets, and carpet. Taken multiple trips to the pediatrician and pharmacy. Soothed fevers, headaches, and coughs. Gone through more lozenges and tissues and Clorox wipes than I can count, and laid a kid out on a neighbor's kitchen island to dermbond his forehead back together in the middle of a sleepover birthday party. Calgon....

Charmin with aloe toilet paper was softer on her nose than the tissues we bought

More stay-at-home church flannel graph videos with the Sunday School lady

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Our God is with us

O little town of Bethlehem..... meets primitive folk art.

I love letting the words of carols sink into my heart (and canvas in this case).

O morning stars, together

Proclaim the holy birth

And praises sing to God, the King,

And peace to men on earth.

How silently, how silently,

The wondrous Gift is given!

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of His heaven.

O come to us, abide in us, our Lord, Immanuel....

Celebrate good times

December is full of festivity for many families. When you add in four family birthdays, let the good times roll from one celebration into the next. We are very thankful for family and friends who come together to celebrate with us.

The birthday kids

Four holiday movies, Three school parties, Two birthday kids, and a sleepover full of excited little girls

I was singing along to the new-improved Annie soundtrack

It takes celebrating three birthdays in one sitting to justify going out to eat at a Japanese steakhouse now that our kids meal price days are gone.

Will's first karate belt test

Two days later... More treats, more friends, and another movie

Will's buddies taking in a movie and a holiday milkshake

As much as we are at church, the only time that we all worship together is the Christmas Eve candlelight service.

I love it when Andy is able to serve communion to us.

Dinners and parties with my girlfriends

Work parties and lunches

Moments of sibling harmony

Favorite gifts

The generosity of Christmas was combined with great creativity. Here are some of our favorite gifts of 2014:

An angel for my tree made out of banana leaves...hand-delivered from Kenya by a dear Hindu member of my Pilates class. I am appreciative of every kind word that comes my way, and Christmastime is especially humbling to be loved so well.

Creativity meets Practicality... A match made in Heaven

My Mom refurbished this antique plant stand for me

... and found a replacement key ring for one that was ready to be retired.

Laurel's cloak

A flat-iron for the curly girl and a curling-iron for the sleek girl

The little treats that come at Christmastime... Like this praline hand-delivered from New Orleans- the kind that makes an angel want to sing

Or a cup of Christmas cheer

A beautifully wrapped package with the promise of a lesson to come

And time spent with friends

The gift of tracking down a light bulb for our piano light

An elf suit made by my aunt came in handy when my little elves shared gifts with neighbors

A magnet that our Catholic friends got for me, which I love.

December 27- looking back

Now that the packages have been unwrapped and the paper gathered in the recycle bins, we find a moment to look back at the whirl of December.

Time out for a Carolina bowl game, cozy Christmas blanket style

Puzzling through hundreds of pieces anticipating Christmas day

Enjoying lounging so much that we decided to travel to our family's homes decked out in our Chistmas jammies. As we all live fairly close to one another, we never experience eating breakfast together or lounging around, so we decided to remedy that.