December
Original source: December.htmJanuary to July July August September October November December 2003 JANUARY FEBRUARY March APRIL MAY December 1 Time has gone by so fast. I can hardly believe it's December already. Life here has been good. So good in fact it's flying by. The kids are doing great in school. They have gotten into a routine and now work hard when it's school time. Zakary got a hundred on his history test, something he's had problems with in the past. Nikole has become quite a helper around the house. She loves cooking and doing dishes. Her school work is excellent too. Cursive writing is her favorite. She is teaching Zakary. They have both grown so much since we left. They have changed clothes sizes. Nikole is now wearing 10 slim. Zakary is an 8. They are both 10-12 in shirts although Zak still fits in 8s. Their faces are changing too. As I sit here and watch their mesmerized faces I can see the changes. Ron is working today at Circuit City. He accepted a position there instead of the Banning campground. He started at Circuit City last Tuesday. He's enjoying it so far. He is working in the warehouse. On Friday, the biggest shopping day of the Christmas Holiday Season, he stood in the doorway and checked sales slips. It's a long day though. They have him working 8 hours with and hour lunch. Combine that with a half hour commute each way and he's gone 10 hours a day. Our family dynamics are changing again. The kids have been great. They listen really well to me and I haven't really needed to raise my voice. I like it this way it's calmer for all of us. For Thanksgiving we went to the house of Jeanie and Philip from our church. They invited us on the Sunday before and we thought why not. It was really a fun time. Jeanie has a really big family and they all made us feel welcome. Her mom witnessed to us and it was so touching to hear how she is in love with Jesus even today. Most everyone was Mexican but they all spoke English. All the Mexican people I have come in contact with are so nice and giving. We all had a really good time. It was like being home without all of the tensions that sometimes exists in families. God really gave us a reason to be Thankful. Ron said the prayer before the meal too. It's not his favorite thing to pray in front of people but he did a wonderful job. Tonight we will go back to the church. The kids have to practice for the Christmas Celebration they are in. We have been listening to their songs over and over. I'm looking forward to seeing it. The tape is really good. Hopefully we will get the camera to work and we'll be able to capture the performance on film. We have had three days of rain. Yes I said rain. It doesn't rain here like at home though. It's more like showers on and off. Yesterday was mostly cloudy. Today is cool and sunny. By cool I mean on 75 or so. We are still enjoying our time in shorts and tee shirts. We are surrounded by mountains here. It's really beautiful. December 7, We have moved to Desert Pools in Desert Hot Springs California. This campground has a playground, mini golf, 3 hot tubs, a large heated pool, and many planned activities. There is a lot for the kids and I to do while Ron is away at work. They love the pool. Zakary loves the mini golf too. The scenery is awesome too. We are closer to the Little San Bernardino Mountains. We even have a snow peak in front of us. When the sun sets it's beautiful. The colors are really bright. There are a lot of stars at night too. God has placed before us one of His masterpieces and we are enjoying the beauty. The weather is cooler at night and in the morning but by mid afternoon we are warm enough to be in shorts and tee shirts. Yesterday I had to use the air conditioning when driving home from the grocery store. It seemed abnormal to use it in December though. The area is getting ready for Christmas. There are lots of lights on the palm trees. They are selling pine trees from Washington. Tonight there is a light parade in Palm Desert. The Indians are having a Pow Wow at one of the casinos too. The kids have been practicing for the Christmas Pageant. Nikole has gotten a speaking part. She is nervous but she knows she'll do fine. I still can't get over how big they are getting. Two nights ago Nikole helped to make dinner while I went to meet Ron at the gate. She actually mixed together the pasta, shut off the oven and started the microwave to cook the beans. She was so proud of her meal. It seems like every night she asks to help cook. She has requested and allowance too. She is willing to do the dishes for $.25 a day. It's pretty reasonable. We decided she could do lunch and dinner dishes after school. I noticed Zakary watching me too. Last night he was assigning jobs and he gave himself the dishes. I was joking with Ron about me giving all the house work to the kids then I'll be able to sit and do nothing. Then I will be asking them to let me do chores. I can't imagine letting them take over. I have cleaned my house as long as I've had a "my house". I know I should let them do now while they think it's fun. I miss having Ron around. He's gone 10 hours a day. His hours are different every day too. We were watching survivor and the loved ones had to eat bugs in order to spend one day with a survivor. I don't think I could have eaten the beetle. I wonder if that means anything. Ron said he couldn't do it either, his thing was the live grubs. The strange part was I know I would do it for the kids. Maybe that is because they are still little and I still have the mother/protector role. I guess we are just not survivor material. December 15, Wow I can't believe it's the 15th already. Time has been flying by. Ron has been working 40 hours a week at Circuit City. He likes the work. He did get injured. He hurt his leg. Thank God he's getting better. In a couple of weeks he should as good as new. The kids and I have been busy doing craft projects. Nikole has learned to sew. Even Zak has picked up a needle. It's been fun. As I'm doing this they are having a puppet show for each other. They really get along well. I've noticed lately when we play with other kids they tend to stay together especially at first. Yesterday I went to a bridal shower for a girl at the church. Her mom arranged baby sitting for the kids and she picked us up to go. I was nervous but I trusted her so I agreed to go. The kids had fun. They were fine about the whole thing. They are getting so big. They would rather be with other kids than be with their mom. Sniffle sniffle. Thus begins a new chapter in our lives. Tonight is the Christmas Pageant. I was able to help out a little last night with the backdrop. It was a nice night of fellowship with Alice the woman who is organizing the performance. She and I share a common experience. It was nice to have someone who understands to talk to. She is an on fire woman for Christ too so her counsel is biblical which is important to me. Just another example of how my God is constantly providing for my needs. This church has been such a blessing. I can't even put into words just how much they mean to me. It will be hard to leave them. They are a part of my family now. They are all encouraging us to stay too. God willing we will be leaving on January 8. We are planning to go to Arizona. But there is a lot of time between now and then so who knows. It's all in God's hands really. Besides we can always come back. The kids are doing really great in school now. They have come a long way since September. Now I get more hassles from Nikole to do her work than I get from Zak. He is growing up so much. He's very bright with numbers. I taught him multiplication in less than 10 minutes. It was great to see the light come on. They are such a blessing to have. I am trying to enjoy every moment with them. Tonight will be fun. It's the first time they are in a pageant. We will be taping it to send home. My mom will appreciate it. I can tell when I talk to her that she misses the kids and us very much. We miss them too, but not the snow! December 27, Another Christmas season has come and gone. We are all very happy and tired. Weeks before I stepped out of my shell and actually started craft projects. The kids and I made note holders, ornaments, and I started cross stitching. It took all of my creative juices. The children's pageant was terrific. They were all so cute. Both the kids had speaking parts and they did very well. It was so much fun for all of us. I was able to film it. I will be sending home a video of that and of our Christmas. The children kept getting packages in the mail. I let them open them the day they came in. They would be so excited about getting mail I just couldn't deny them opening it. After they were done I noticed they would be a little sad. I could tell they missed being home with the grandparents and cousins. Our Christmas day went very well. We opened gifts early in the morning. Nikole was the first one up. She woke up at 6:45. She knew it was early so she went to the bathroom, peeked at the presents, then hopped back in bed and read until 7:00. (She knew that was an acceptable time.) We knew she was up. I am amazed at how patient she is. They loved all of their gifts. We had to move that day so we packed up around 11 then headed to our current campground. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and had a nice relaxing evening. Ron has been blessed with the two days after Christmas off from work. It's been nice having him home again. December 30, We got word last night that Ron will not be done working this week. The woman who hired him asked it he could stay for one more week. They really needed him to help with inventory. So his last day will be January 6. Like he said there is good news and bad news. The good is that he will be making money. The bad is that he won't be around for Nikole's birthday or the day we planned to go to Chucky Cheese's. There have been a lot of kids in the campground with it being school vacation week. It's been a lot of fun for the kids. They have made many new friends. We have all the cool toys. Nikole purchased glitter glue with some of the money she got from Grammy. We have the shiniest rocks in the campground. All the kids made a rock. Nikole is wonderful about sharing her paints and glitter. She just loves having others to craft with her. There was a 9 year old boy playing with her yesterday. I must admit I watched them closely. Nikole was laughing and they were getting along really well. I started thinking about when I was 8. I know what happened to me long before I was 8 so needless to say I was on guard. I'm not ready for that yet. They are so innocent compared to a lot of other children we have met recently. Keeping them out of school at this time has enabled us to keep them sheltered. With some of their Grammy and Grampy money they purchased a Dr. Boy. It's a video game with a hand held that works on batteries. The games are old like Super Mario and Duck Hunt but they are fun for them. Zakary is the worst one. He gets up so early to sneak into our room to play. I wouldn't mind it so much if they didn't fight with each other when they loose their guys. They game me such a head ach this morning I banned them from it for the next three days. And they won't be allowed to play it with each other. They have to learn proper behavior. They really didn't even complain. They knew that they were acting up and I wasn't going to stand for it. I watch them now and I see what really well behaved children we have. They ask most times before they do something. They are considerate of other people. They share openly. They participate in all the group things we do like story times and children's church. They accept others the way they are and they include all the children they meet. It seems as if the only time they give us a hard time is when they are tired or hungry. They don't enjoy long car rides but they have learned to bring things to keep themselves occupied. I have been blessed. God has given me such wonderful children. I am so thankful that He has also given me the desire to raise them knowing Him and His word. They were singing praise songs outside today as they were painting. I know His words are in their hearts. Zakary's favorite past time besides the video game is to play tennis. He swings like it's a baseball but he loves playing. He would stay on the court for hours. We give out before him. He really likes playing sports. I notice he's pretty good too. He has much more coordination than Nikole. She is better with the small motor skills though. I can see first hand all the differences between boys and girls. I have been fighting an ear or sinus infection for the past 10 days or so. It started as a blocked ear and has lead to head aches and distorted sounds with ringing and echoing. So I have started an antibiotic and have claimed the healing provided for me in the word. I would say today has been the best day so far over the last 10 in sound distortion. I can hear almost normally. I am still a little dizzy. Overall though it's not terribly debilitating. I have been shorter tempered and have little energy to go the extra mile but beyond that I can function. Thank God. It's nice that the kids have other friends to keep they occupied. Just another of God's provisions for us. We have no plans after January 8. We are having a hard time with reservations in the sun belt area. We have been talking about making plans in Florida for February or March hopping we will have better luck seeing that it is 60 days away and some campgrounds will only book that far ahead. It's the time in between that we are wondering what we are going to do. I would like to go to Death Valley just to see it. It's geography for the kids and it's the right time of year to go. I would also like to see the Grand Canyon with the snow. I don't think it will be so cold that we won't be able to stay warm. Ron doesn't agree. So we really don't know where we are going. He wants me to call and find out what is available. I don't want to make any decisions without him being here. We don't seem to be on the same page as to where we want to go. So I guess we'll know where we are going when we get there. I know he likes his job at Circuit City. He knows I want to see Arizona. This is another one of those times to fast and pray. We need to let the Lord direct our steps. It's not as if God hasn't proved Himself faithful so many times on this journey alone. I know that He will show us the way. Praise Him in all things. God is good all the time. January to July July August September October November December 2003 JANUARY FEBRUARY March APRIL MAY |