Astonishing Christmas

Let the stable still astonish:

Straw—dirt floor, dull eyes,

Dusty flanks of donkeys, oxen;

Crumbling, crooked walls;

No bed to carry that pain,

And then, the child,

Rag-wrapped, laid to cry

In a trough.

Who would have chosen this?

Who would have said, “Yes,

Let the God of all the heavens

And earth

Be born here, in this place?”

Who but the same God

Who stands in the darker, fouler rooms

Of our hearts and says, “Yes, let the God

Of Heaven and Earth be born here—

In this place.”

Leslie Leyland Fields

My Day Off

I have officially spent an hour cleaning my fridge.  Before you sigh and think, "Blast that girl!  Why is she making me feel guilty for not cleaning my own dirty fridge?" ...fear not!  For it is not the INSIDE of my fridge that I have laboured over.  Oh no.  We wouldn't want to do anything that productive on our one and only day to clean this week.  No, what Stephanie Dawn has done is taken down one photo at a time from the OUTSIDE of her fridge, peered carefully at it, washed the outside of the little plastic frame that holds it, scrubbed the little spot on the refrigerator door that houses said photo - with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser no less - and then returned it to its rightful place in the display.  She has also reorganized her calendar/important quotes area on the bottom fridge door and cleaned that with the Magic Eraser as well.  She then moved on to the important task of sifting through the assorted magnets that litter her refrigerator's exterior ... last year's Focus on the Family Christmas magnet? .... into the circular file!  The little golden teapot and frying pan magnets?....ugly, but actually quite useful since they're small enough to hold up the corners of my "Important Phone Numbers" list, so they can stay.  Ben's Vancouver Canucks magnet?.... obviously I won't get away with chucking that one, so it's holding up the chunk of papers I have clipped together beside the calendar.

Meanwhile,  six feet down the hall sits my bathroom floor, screaming to be scrubbed.  Especially after last night's plugged toilet fiasco where I found John, plunger in hand, wading through poopy water all over the floor and sopping up the disaster with old towels.  blah. 

But thank goodness my fridge looks good. :))

Ok, off I go to clean the bathroom....

.

What I Learned

Way back when our kids were little, at the dawn of our family life, John and I stumbled on a dinner time tradition that has held fast over the years.  We call it doing our "Three Things."  Pretty much every night we eat together at the table, everyone has a chance to share with the rest of us:
1) Something you liked today
2) Something you didn't like today
3) Something you learned today

I won't bore you with all three of my things today, but here's what I learned.  You will thank me later, believe me.

Use these to clean off your baseboards:

 

Maybe you're a domestic goddess who's known this for years, but I for one am seriously excited about my new discovery.  It's amazing, I tell you!

You're welcome!

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

I've always known my Dad is a great guy.  Everybody knows it. "Oh, your Dad is Rudy?  I love Rudy!  He's such a great guy!"  People say that kind of stuff to me a lot.
But as I've grown up and grown older, my love and appreciation for him has grown and changed as well.  I used to love him for all the things he DID for me:

• bought me a used bike for my birthday and totally reconditioned it ... including the snazziest banana seat you'll ever lay eyes on
• taught me how to catch a baseball
• danced with me in the living room after supper
• helped me put together my insect collection (I know ..... UGH! ... but it was cool!)
• designed and built a rabbit hutch that could hold our 19 rabbits - in the back yard - in the city!
• scoped out clunker junkers with us until we found an old car he could buy for us teenagers
• paid through the nose for my university education
• sat me down and encouraged me to write out a LIST (one of his personal favourite activities) of the qualities I was looking for in a husband ... the non-negotiables and the negotiables

Yes, he was a great father to all of us as we grew up.  Quiet, but loving and always ready to help.  And of course, this hasn't changed now that we've produced nine grandchildren (between the 3 of us ... oh, thank You Lord, they're not all mine).  Dad still does all those same kinds of things for the kids now.  Tutoring, teaching sudoku, helping with bikes, driving them places ....

But in the past few years, as I've become a parent and a "grown up" myself, I've begun to appreciate my Dad for some other things as well.  For some deeper things, character qualities that I always saw as a kid, but never really acknowledged or thought much about.  Now I love him just as much for the things he IS:

• a man with a servant's heart who shows me what it looks like to reach out to the poor and disadvantaged
• a faithful, loving husband for my wonderful Mom
• a sacrificial giver
• a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, who loves God and has a growing dynamic relationship with Him
• a lifelong learner who will sit and chat with you over coffee about the things he's got mulling around in his head at that particular moment
• a friend to the people God brings across his path ... whether they're newcomers from China, neighbours he's just met or a young newlywed couple he and Mom have agreed to mentor 
• the kind of person who follows through on his promises and keeps his word

I haven't been able to swallow the lump in my throat as I've written this post, because I can't help but think that God heaped an extra measure of blessing on me when he gave me such a wonderful Dad.  Happy Birthday, Dad!  I love you so much!

Steph

Lulu's Bad Day

Meet Lulu.  

Lulu is very cute.  She knows it.

Two days ago, Lulu had a bad day.  

A VERY bad day.

As soon as Daddy let her out of her crate she ran downstairs and did this on the carpet.

Two times.

Later that morning when the front door opened she went searching for an adventure.

When her family came home after school, they discovered that Lulu

had spent some time reading Duncan's library book.

Oh, and one of Daddy's favourite prayer books, too.

Mommy and Daddy decided to finish the day with a leisurely evening walk.

Lulu was not in a leisurely mood.  Lulu almost dislocated

Mommy's shoulder.

It's a good thing Lulu's family loves her so much.

But they're seriously considering calling the Dog Whisperer.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

As far as I'm concerned,  the best part of any holiday is the family gathering.  I can't tell you how much I love to watch our kids and their cousins reunite after a few months apart.  They change so crazy fast, don't they?  And start to look more and more like their parents, too.  Yikes ... how can this possibly be happening already!?

We spent at a lot of time at my Mom and Dad's place this weekend.  Last night was the official Thanksgiving feast - full turkey dinner with all the tried and true favourites!  Sweet potato casserole - mmmmm.... love that pecan topping; broccoli salad made by yours truly; pumpkin and chocolate pies.  Right before we went over last night, I was busy at home trying something new from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog - oh the glorious looking food on there - something called  the Apple Perishky.  It looks like a little apple pie in a pocket (check the link) and without blowing my own horn, let me just say they are uber yummy.  I brought a few to Mom's as an experiment.  Delish!

While we were all together (minus brother Cam and sis-in-law Ashleigh unfortunately), Dad took some pics.  Here are the 9 cousins in all their adolescent and tweeny glory:

That's Ben leaning over making a typical 9-year old goofy face.  Everyone else is actually starting to care how they look in a picture, but he's not quite there yet.  I'm so glad about that.  Heehee.

We strategically repositioned the kids so Oma's beautiful Thanksgiving display could make it onto the picture.  She insisted. (Just kidding, no she didn't.  But she did push a little for it.)  Notice how perfectly Sam's orange pants coordinate with the autumn theme.  He's good.

Seeing as we survived the large group cousin shots, John and I decided to tempt fate and try for a couple Hollingsworth-only pictures.  We are pathetically overdue in the family portrait department, so we talked Dad into snapping a few of just us.

Not bad for a last minute photo session, eh?  Good job, Father Konrad!
The last time I saw my friend Deb, I was complaining about the double chin I always develop in pictures.  She taught me the "chin down and out" trick and I have to say, I think it works!!  You feel really dumb while you're doing it, but who cares if it means your jowls are presentable on the finished product?

Duncan sitting amongst Oma and Opa's foliage.  Luckily there was a rock in the perfect spot for his bum.

This girl rarely takes a bad picture.  Emma doesn't need the chin-out-and-down rule.  Isn't she gorgeous?

And last but not least ... Ben climbed a rather delicate looking tree in Opa's flowerbed (eek!) for his picture.  He's sporting some serious Fidgets bling by the way.  The dog tags and cap go with him everywhere these days.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  May your turkey be scrumptious and your pumpkin pie velvety smooth.  And may we all thank God for the blessings He has so generously heaped upon us in this rich and beautiful country of ours.

"Hear me as I pray, O Lord.
Be merciful and answer me!
My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."
And my heart responds, "Lord, I am coming."

Psalm 27:7-8

I'm not exactly sure why I love these verses from the Bible so much, but the minute I saw them on the page... out came the highlighter!  I wonder if it's just that I can SO relate to the desperate sound of those words, "Be merciful and answer me!!"   Have you been there?  In such a hard place that you know the only thing to get you through is a word from God Himself?  I sure have.  There are times we're not sure He's even listening and we find ourselves begging Him to "HEAR me as I pray, O Lord..."

Maybe that's why the second part is so wonderful.  The whole time we've been hollering for Him to LISTEN!!  ANSWER!  HAVE MERCY! ... He's been waiting, calling for our attention.  "Come and talk with me."  I love those words.  I'm a talker.  There's nothing I like better than to sit and chat with someone I love.  When John says, "Come and tell me about your day" or a faraway friend calls and says, "Let's catch up!" or a close-to-home friend invites me for tea at her house ... I feel special!  How amazing is it that the God who holds the universe in His hands says, "Come and talk with me."  He made me, He knows me perfectly, He sees all my junk and He still wants to hang out with me!  It's hard to wrap our heads around that, isn't it?

I wish I could say I always respond with, "Lord, I am coming."  I try to.  But I don't take Him up on His invitation nearly often enough.  That's one thing I'm really working on and He's eternally patient so I know He's not mad at me or anything.  :)  He just wants us to talk to Him.  He's the best best friend we'll ever have.  I hope you know Him and if you don't, I hope you'll get in touch with Him soon!

He's waiting....

Thank you, Summer!

Thank you for no lunches to pack, three kids under foot, hot sand between my toes and early morning cups of tea on my back deck.  Thank you for swimming lessons and basketball camps, for more time to walk my dogs, for visits with friends I never get to see.  Thank you for skin turned toasty brown and eyes sparkling in the sunshine.  Thank you for REST!!!

As much as I love the crisp autumn air and the excitement of new activities in the fall, I will fully admit that I always dread the end of summer holidays.  Here are a few reasons why:

My men lose all sense of reason and revert to savages

My daughter wears rubber boots and pajamas while I snap her picture!

More time to eat junk food with friends

Lulu and Toby actually get to see their humans

Ah well, time to buck up and check the attitude.  Onward and upward!  Change is good.  Routine is healthy.  September, here we come!

But, oh summer, how I will miss you....

Beatrix Potter Would Have Loved It

Yesterday morning I was standing at my living room window when a little kerfuffle (sp?) in the front yard caught my eye.   There amidst our oak and maple trees were two little grey squirrels, having the time of their lives!  They were wrestling in my front yard.  Now I have lived in this part of the country for a long time and have seen
more than my fair share of these furry rodents.  But I've always kind of hated them, to be honest.  Especially when they decided to eat the ready-to-burst buds off my tulips last spring.  But seeing them frolic around like two good buddies on a breezy summer day has changed my mind a little.  Maybe they're a teensy weensy bit cute after all.  Just leave my tulips alone.

A Mish-Mash of Hollingsworth Happenings!!

Oh my faithful readers!  I have neglected you for so long that I know all three of you have deserted me and found another more attentive blog master.  Sigh.  Heehee.
In case you decide to pop over and give me one more chance, here are a few of the big events that have filled my family's life over the past few months.  We've been oh-so-busy!

We surprised our kids and took them to a Newsboys concert in Michigan.  Here we are waiting in line.  Duncan and his buddy Ryan have recently gone "hip" so they are reveling in their awesome new coolness - v-necks, caps, khakis and flats.  Ben has planned for the long wait and is armed with a good book (as is his father, you might notice) and Emma is taking in all the sights and sounds of the occasion.

Duncan went to his friend Sydney's grade 12 prom with her.  Don't they look smashing?  She was absolutely gorgeous in her full length gown and he (my Gumby child) managed to find a suit to fit his lanky frame.  A modern day miracle.

This was Duncan's "something borrowed."  His great grandfather's sock suspenders .. who knew a leg could be that skinny and still hold up a whole human body?

That's my good looking boy.  Picking something out of his molars with his tongue.  Nice tie, though, eh?

A bunch of kids crashed here for an after-prom sleepover.  Keegan and Cam are hanging out in our kitchen - with Ben smack dab in the middle of the action, as always.  Fun times!

Next party:  DUNCAN TURNS 16!!!  Here he is, sucking one of the ju jubes off his Thomas the Tank Engine cake.  (Emma's idea ... she remembers the Thomas years well.  Just one of her big brother's many obsessions over the years.)

 We threw him a surprise party - and actually pulled it off!  Aunt Tess and Uncle Rick generously donated their amazing pool for the festivities.  Here's the birthday boy with a few of his superhero buddies. 

Last week our beautiful daughter graduated from grade 8.  Unbelievable.  Here she is in all her polka dot glory.

At the hairdresser's beforehand with best buddy Emma Lane - who also  graduated this year.

Emma requested that Papa drive her to the ceremony in "The Queen" .... he buffed and scrubbed and shone her til she sparkled!  (The car, not his granddaughter.)  Here's the princess with her carriage!

At the dance with some fellow graduates ... they ate pizza!  They ate pasta!  They danced the night away.  And they were very sweaty and shiny by the time they got home.  Hello,  brutal heat wave.

Well, if you made it this far, you must truly be one of my die hard readers.  Thanks for sticking it out to the bitter end and I hope you feel a little "caught up" on Hollingsworth family life!  Now that summer is here I hope to have a little more time to pop on and say hello.

Have a fabulous day and bless your pea pickin heart (as my friend Laurie would say) for stopping by.

"Fail, Mom."

This is Ben's newest way of trying to sound like a 9-year-old teenager. I'll admit it's not my favourite saying, seeing as he uses it whenever I drop, forget, lose or trip over something. However, we have discussed these two little words, and his use of them, and he seems to be learning the fine art of timing.
Two days ago, for example, Ben could have said, "Fail, Mom" to me and I could not have uttered a single legitimate word of protest. It was Valentine's Day. I was supply teaching in a grade 3 classroom here in town - a "challenging" classroom, as we teachers like to say. It was a CRAZY day ... my head was swimming, trying to keep track of my kids' chauffeuring needs, our desperate need for groceries, Ben's hockey skates waiting to be picked up from their sharpening appointment before that night's practice, the candlelit Valentine's dinner I had decided to whip up for my family (without any groceries in the house) and the arrangements I had made for John and my mom to get Ben to the dentist at noon that day to have a tooth extracted and then keep him home for the rest of the day. Add to all these mental gymnastics the chaos of a high flying grade 3 classroom on Valentine's Day - translation: school sanctioned sugar high - and you will understand my state of distraction. My moment of "failure" hit me halfway through the Valentine's party I was supervising with these grade 3's. I watched them buzz around the room, happily delivering their grubby little cards and homemade cupcakes .... I smiled to myself as I thought of the fun of being a kid on Valentine's Day ... I thought about my kids, and wondered how they were doing that day. And then I just about keeled over as I realized that I had sent my own little grade 3-er to school that day with absolutely NOTHING for his class Valentine's celebration! Zippo. Zilch. Nadda. Not a Hershey's kiss. Not a card. Not a pink and red pencil. Not even a note for the teacher. Somehow Valentine's Day for Ben had not even made it onto my radar this year!
My only hope and consolation was that he had to leave school before noon for this nasty tooth extraction and so hopefully he would miss the Valentine's party. Unfortunately, I found out later that evening that his teacher held the party in the MORNING. Fortunately, Ben is extremely easygoing and quickly forgave me.
Unfortunately, the next morning he toddled into our room, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and mumbled, "I think the tooth fairy forgot to check under my pillow last night."
Fail, Mom. (I said to myself.)

The Road of Life

I read the greatest thing the other day, called "The Road of Life." It reminded me of one of the many reasons I love Jesus - He's a great driver!

At first, I saw God as my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I really didn't know Him.
Later on, when I met Christ, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike. I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal.
I don't know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life hasn't been quite the same since then. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable... It was the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, through rocky places at breakneck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He'd lean back and say, "Pedal!"
I worried and was anxious and asked, "Well, where are You taking me?" He laughed and never answered, and I started to learn to trust Him. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say, "I'm scared," then He would lean back and He would touch my hand.
I didn't trust him at first, not in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it; but He knows bike secrets, He knows how to make it bend and take sharp corners, how to jump to clear high rocks, He knows how to shorten scary passages.
I'm learning to just shut up and pedal. We go to the strangest places together. I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful companion, Jesus Christ.
And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, He smiles and says .... "Pedal!"

A Surprise Visitor

I never thought I'd be this kind of woman, but if you had walked in my front door about 20 minutes ago, you would have found me standing on a living room chair, clutching Lulu in my arms and peeking around the corner to see if John had caught the MOUSE that has been burrowing around in my kitchen this week! As I was putting dishes and tea towels away this morning, I opened a drawer and saw a "flash" of grey ... and found nibbled oven mitts and such. Then I opened another drawer a few minutes later and saw a suspiciously similar "flash" of grey in that one as well. EEEK!!! I am not normally this freaked out by mice, but seriously! So I made John come home from work and as he pulled out the second drawer, there in living colour was the culprit, clinging to the back edge of the drawer, tail high in the air, peering around my kitchen. BLAH!! I just about screamed. And then I backed into the dishwasher and almost knocked the rack off the shelf. Then I climbed up onto the aforementioned chair.

John was not enjoying himself either. When he had finally caught the thing with a wooden spoon and a cardboard box, he opened the back door to throw it out (it was climbing up the edge and trying to escape so he had to act fast). But Toby the terrier was sitting right there on the back porch when he opened the door and so John just had to make a mad flip with the box and hope that Toby would be true to his terrier-heritage and go chase it unto its death.

Toby forgot he was a terrier. He usually does. He sat and looked on serenely as Stuart Little turned tail and ran between John's legs straight back into the house and down the stairs to the basement. Where he is now hosting a party and proposing a toast with all his little friends..."To the Hollingsworths. And to Toby the terrier! What wonderful hosts they are!" They are completely unaware of the four sinister mousetraps waiting silently in the laundry room for them.. And the batch of poison sitting in my pots'n'pans cupboard. As well as in the attic. Enjoy your party, little rodent friends. We WILL get the last laugh.