Merry Christmas!

Momma's Log December 25, 2015 (Kwrp)

It's mid afternoon on Christmas Day and I am in between feeling the elation of yet another Christmas success and kind of like I got hit by freight train.  Our two (very anxious, over excited) boys woke up 5:15am--which is pretty good for them (I think doping them up with Benedryl helped) (Just kidding--kind of). While Super Rock Star and I groggily drug ourselves out of bed, stumbling down the stairs to get the camera ready and lights on, I realized a harness and leash might have been a good idea to restrain our rabid boys as they seemed to be jumping out of their skin in anticipation on seeing what awaited them downstairs.  (Why don't they show this much enthusiasm when it's time to get ready to go to school?) This is what it looked like at 5:21am

It was SO much fun to hear them squeal in excitement and enjoy every gift.  They have not stopped playing all day.  Super Rock Star always takes such special care of me too.  He owns my heart and I love that he always finds special things that he knows I will treasure.  Here are my two prized possessions this year:

Some Antique Books to add to my library shelves ( I LOVE old books!!!)

AND a new Bobbsey Twin book to also add to my collection. 

I have always loved reading and two years ago my parents built us some beautiful shelves and installed them in a previously unused part of our home.  Now, this is our favorite space in our home and Super Rock Star and I have filled the shelves with all of the things we treasure and for me that is BOOKS!

I hope you and your family all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas and enjoy all of the things that makes this day so special--especially remembering that a tiny baby was born to be our Savior and THAT is the best treasure of all.  Here is the Christmas letter I sent out this year for those interested in reading how my family and I spent this past year. See you next year!

Dear Family and Friends,

Another year almost in the books and to my dismay my two boys keep getting bigger and older and so do I.  I will say though that I feel really grateful for the life we are privileged to live—so you won’t hear me complain too much J. Here’s the rundown for the Glenn family for 2015:

Tim

Job: Compassion International, USA Communications Director.

Hobbies:  Lead singer in local cover band SofaKillers, watching the Cowboys (please don’t talk to him about it—sore subject), wrestling, playing football and generally wearing out our two rambunctious boys, writing, going to “look but don’t touch” (antique) stores and garage sales with me and our boys, listening to vinyl albums for the first time in decades on a cool stereo we found at a garage sale and consistently giving me a hard time and teasing me relentlessly.

Likes: French fries, dark chocolate, anyone who beats the Broncos and Giants, and sitting in his big comfy chair enjoying our family room.

Dislikes: Too many meetings, breaking into small groups, and a dismal season for the Cowboys.

Highlights of his year: Being chosen to be the speaker for Compassion’s first chapel of the year—discussing the construction success of 30 school buildings in Haiti since the earthquake. Tim also traveled to Haiti in April to help a media crew do a documentary on the same subject. (You can watch the documentary at https://vimeo.com/149298814.) He also played A LOT of fun gigs with SofaKillers—including being the headliner for Briarfest (local festival) the Buddy Walk (fundraiser for Down Syndrome Association) and holiday parties for REMAX and the local NBC station, KOAA. He also made our boys summer by creating spy briefcases and coming up with several spy missions. They loved it! (And I think they honestly believe they are spies.) Tim was also excited to go for his first train ride on an old fashioned train in Georgetown, CO with me, the boys and my parents.

Jen

Job: Cleaning lady, chef, event planner, chauffer, nurse, and volunteer (stay at home mom.)

Hobbies: Reading, writing about my family adventures (check out my blog, But Wait I Have Something to Say at http://jenglenn.blogspot.com), going for bike rides and hikes, and being a groupie for a really awesome band called SofaKillers (I kind of have a crush on the lead singer.)

Likes: Dark chocolate, volunteering in my boys’ classrooms every week at their school, going to see movies on weekdays with Tim (because we can now), having a nice quiet home during the weekdays.

Dislikes: Our too quiet house with both boys in school all day, cleaning the toilets used by 3 boys, and Legos (because they are everywhere in our home).

Highlights of my year:  Going skiing with my mom in February (so much fun!), watching our two boys enjoy so many fun things and help them act out anything that comes into their wonderful imaginations, spending Labor Day weekend with my parents, sister and most of her family at Hermit Basin, the Georgetown train—loved seeing all 3 of my boys so happy, going on many school-related field trips to art museums, pioneer places, and plays , making Shark Boy costumes for Morgan and Grayson for Halloween.

Morgan

Job:  3^rd grade, vacuuming, doing laundry, gathering trash, sweeping kitchen floor

Hobbies: Building amazing creations out of Legos, singing (makes up his own songs), playing with his brother, tormenting his brother, leaving his clothing and toys everywhere.

Likes: Stir-fried rice, pancakes Daddy makes for him, Nerds candy, Sprite, watching movies and TV, playing games on the iPad, and Sarina (girl from his class—yes, he has a crush!)

Dislikes: School, doing math homework, chores, picking up after himself, flushing the toilet.

Highlights of his year:  Landsharks (track racing for elementary schools), going to Barnum and Bailey Circus, taking Tae Kwon Do lessons, staying in hotels and swimming in their pools, visiting Grandma and Papa for 4^th of July and setting off our own fireworks and swimming in “Grandma’s pool” (their local city pool), many visits from Grandma and Papa at our house, doing spy missions, going on the Georgetown train, and getting to be Shark Boy for Halloween.

Grayson

Job:  1^st grade, vacuuming, doing laundry, gathering trash, sweeping kitchen floor

Hobbies:  Doing whatever his big brother is doing, playing with his big brother, tormenting his big brother, wrestling with his Daddy, telling long, drawn-out stories that always start with “Guys, hear this…”, giggling (has the best giggle you’ve ever heard), playing with his millions of stuffed animals.

Likes:  Everything.  He really does like everything and everyone, including school, my homemade spaghetti, all candy and cookies, Sprite, watching movies (and talking throughout them and hiding and squealing during any insinuation of a love scene), playing games on the iPad and Liberty (girl from his class. Who knew “crushes” started this soon?)

Dislikes:  When no one will play with him, green beans, being quiet, sleeping past 5:30am.

Highlights of his year:  Landsharks, going to the circus, playing baseball, swimming, visits to Grandma and Papas and when they visit us, doing spy missions, going on the Georgetown train, and being in 1^st grade.

We would love to hear from each and every one of you and pray you will be blessed with God’s love, joy and peace for Christmas and throughout 2016! Merry Christmas!

                                                                        Love,

                                                                        Tim, Jen, Morgan and Grayson

The Rebel Force has awakened in me

Momma's Log December 18, 2015 (Kwrp)

No, I have not seen the newest Star Wars movie(but boy, I can't wait to)--so, don't worry--no spoilers here.  But, today has been all about rebellion for me.   Normally, I go about my business as usual, don't rock the boat, and try to do and be my best.  It all started with yesterday.  Yesterday I finished my Christmas shopping.  Yep. I know.  Hold your applause.  Because, you see--it awakened something in me.  Maybe it's all the stress of trying to make sure I get it all finished--buying gifts (hopefully not forgetting anyone), keeping belief in Santa alive for my boys, playing the part of an elf as I order and shop for all the items that they asked Santa for when we visited him at the North Pole (good gracious NO, we do not do that creepy, spying, naughty Elf on the Shelf!) (Sorry, that was harsh--I applaud those of you who can keep that going--it's WAY too much work for this chic!), making sure we keep our traditions in check--Christmas cards, hosting a party, baking goodies, and all the things we enjoy to make this season special.  All of the stuff to remember can make most of us bleary eyed and feel like crying.  Maybe it was just the exhale of finishing the most joyful (brutal) part of Christmas--the shopping.  (Maybe my head is not screwed on right or maybe my shoes are on too tight)

But, mostly I think something snapped in me because today is my last day of freedom.  At 1:00pm today, my boys will be finished with school until January 5th.  Today is my last day to enjoy a quiet, nobody else around, do what I want to do day.

Today I did things that I have NEVER done before. The first thing was that I wore my P.J.'s in public.  Now, it was only for a few moments, while I walked my boys from our car to the door of their school. And in my defense, it was Jammie Day for their school. I admit I have always been a little "judgy" when I see folks out and about in their jammies--it's like they're saying "you know what?  I give up! I have lost all self respect and hope, I don't care any more and getting dressed is just too much effort!" But, I have to say --to those of you who do this regularly--it was kind of nice.  I had that moment of panic--you know like when you look down to make sure you're wearing pants, but overall it was a very pleasant experience.  I always felt like I had to at least wear yoga pants or something--to maybe give the illusion that even though I was not dressed nice, I had a purpose-- like I was going to go work out or something.  But I think this whole wear my jammies all day thing might be a new way of living.  Who knows what's next?

Which leads to rebellious act #2.   I got a special holiday latte today.  Twice.  Yep!  I know.  It's a CRAZY day already and now I'm pumped full of twice as much caffeine as usual that I spent an insane amount of money on (please don't tell Super Rock Star).  Now, here's the thing.  (Whisper voice) I didn't even know this was allowed.  Seriously.  Who does this?  I made sure to go to two different places just in case, but I gotta tell you I was pretty nervous.   In fact at the second stop, I was giving the cashier the shifty eyed side look as I waited for him to swipe my card.  I fully expecting the alarms to start blaring and a loud voice booming. "Ma'am! You are exceeding  your delicious overpriced coffee limit for the day!  For the next two weeks you are banished to your cheap home made coffee with NO creamer.  Shame on you!!!" But, that didn't happen so, I slowly pulled away sipping my second fully caffeinated beverage of the day.  Oh my goodness --I'm outta control!  Thelma and Louise have nuthin me!

This leads to my 3rd rebellious act.  This is one I really struggled with.  Both my boys have class Christmas parties at school today.  It's the last day before Christmas break and it'll just be a fun day. It's Jammie day for them (see? I totally fit in when I dropped them off) and they'll get to have treats and watch movies.  In the past I have always volunteered to be there and help out.  But this year when I got the google document asking for treat donations and parent volunteers, I slyly closed the page after signing up for a treat for my son to bring and did not put my name in the (many) open slots for classroom volunteers. You see, as all teachers will tell you, the day before Christmas break is like no other.  It is the worst form of chaos ever known to man. Not only are our kids excited about it being the last day of school before Christmas break, not only are they ecstatic about getting to wear pajamas to school, but they know they will get to watch movies, they will get to play games and then you add sugary snacks and drinks into the mix and it is all out a war zone.  I've never seen anything like it: total anarchy.

And the teachers--well I'm convinced they are serving some nice "holiday punch"  in the lounge or something, because all of them are so mellow and cheerful as their entire classroom seems to be exploding with unbridled energy and loud screaming(or maybe they are just having to go inside their minds and find their happy place to escape from all of the carnage).  This year.  I can't.  I just can't do it.  Now, if they were willing to share this "holiday punch" with the parents--we might be on to something, but as of yet, it's never been offered and to go into that kind of situation with out some "grown up liquid management"--its just more than I can do.  I've seen too much.  I know too much.  Leave this for the rookies who are still enamored with the idea of being super parent of the year, or believe that Santa is watching and they want to score some extra points, or that they really are so much more mature than I am and have these good and gracious and selfless hearts that I've heard so much about.  This is not me.  I'm willing to sacrifice going on the naughty list and humbly accepting my lump of coal.  But, for you brave teachers and parents that are heading into battle today.  I salute you.  Godspeed!

This all led to my last bit of guilty indulgence.  Since I am finished with my Christmas shopping, I am seriously feeling like I'm on top of the world.   I  found myself wanting to high five perfect strangers.  I am giddy with excitement and feel both joyful and triumphant. So, I strolled.  Yes, strolled.  No more frantic driving around and running in and out of stores.  I leisurely walked into a store just to enjoy looking.  I was feeling a little smug as I saw other moms with the frantic half baked insane look in their eyes as they were searching for that one thing that little Johnny or Suzy HAS to have and every store is sold out.  I sauntered along , sipping my second extravagant coffee drink, swirling it around and sipping it like it was cognac and feeling like I needed a trumpet fanfare walking before me declaring my smashing victory over conquering my Christmas list. At the very least a victory tunnel of folks leading out to my car giving me low fives and chanting my name would have been a nice finish to the day.

For those of you wearing real clothes and not knowing the joy of wearing your jammies in public, for those of you surviving on home made, pre-ground, no fun stuff in it coffee, for those of you in the midst of volunteering at your child's last day before break party, for those of you in the thick of finishing your Christmas shopping lists--your time is coming, You're almost there. And you can count on me to be in the live for your victory tunnel-- low fiving, high fiving and blowing a trumpet fanfare for your celebration.  Christmas is ALMOST here! Jesus was born! Santa is on his way!

Please don't stop being thankful

Momma's Log December 8, 2015 (Kwrp)

Thanksgiving was a couple weeks ago and , I have to tell you, I am just now coming out of my turkey induced coma.  Boy! I sure enjoyed indulging.  Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing.  Super Rock Star makes the BEST giblet gravy and pecan pie.  It was AWESOME!   Even though the food was amazing, being with family was great, and oh. my. goodness. whip cream--I absolutely adore the whip cream.  But,  my favorite part of Thanksgiving really is the focus on being thankful.  I LOVED reading everyone's lists on Facebook and those that did the 30 days of thankfulness posts throughout the month of November. In a time when everyone in our country seems to be so self focused and full of bitterness of what they DON'T have, it's refreshing to see folks expressing gratitude for what they do.

I'll be honest though, this last couple of weeks have been hard on me emotionally and being thankful is not at all how I have felt.  Normally, I'm a very sunny, the glass is half full kind of person.  But, with the multiple attacks that Paris suffered almost a month ago, the tragedy in my own home town of Colorado Springs on Black Friday , and the terror that happened in San Bernardino, CA my sunny disposition has quickly turned cloudy.   I'm the type of human that personalizes every tragedy that I read or hear about. I don't watch or read a lot of news for that exact reason. Super Rock Star worked in television news as a news anchor many moons ago and though I loved watching him do his thing on t.v., I sank to an all time low emotionally during that season simply because my brain cannot process the majority of the harsh reality going on in our world.  It's not that I want to ignore it.  It's not that I don't care.  I just simply cannot cope hearing about the constant despair of our human condition.  I know many of you are the same.  You hear about the dark things that happen and put yourself in the victim's shoes living out the horror they must be facing.  Here in Colorado Springs the 3 victims that lost their lives were all parents with kids and all I could think about was how 6 children were now facing a Christmas season and the rest of their lives without their beloved Daddy's and Mommy.   What is it about Christmas that makes it especially hard to handle?  The ache in my heart for those families that had made plans, purchased gifts, looked forward to moments together and they had all of their dreams crushed and destroyed by some very confused individuals that thought that the only way to their own personal fulfillment was to crush and devestate the lives of so many.

I think a great majority of us must be suffering through some feelings of grief over all the instability we have been overloaded with in the media the last few weeks.  My Facebook feed is no longer full of what folks are thankful for, instead I see a lot of folks talking about guns, our rights as citizens, our view of politics and opinions on what we should all be doing or thinking about all of these things.  It's kind of like we are all throwing a big tantrum right now whether it's crying, yelling, being snarky and sarcastic, or even picking fights on purpose.  Just like when my 8 year old screams out in all of his emotions that he hates something or someone--he doesn't really mean it.  He just needs to get it out.  As we grow up and even as we mature we still have a need to explode every once in a while.  Sometimes we just choose to do it in words on a page rather than screaming into a pillow (as I've been known to do a time or two).  A couple of years ago, I bought a punching bag for super rock star just in time for football season.  Any time our beloved Cowboys lost, he could go out and punch the bag.  Unfortunately, since this year has been such a dismal year for our team that punching bag is toast--yep, knocked to kingdom come.  But, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about.  We all have a need to decompress--to let it out--to explode--to scream and pound our fists when things are not going in the happy, peaceful way that we want them to.

So, once you've thrown your fit, had your 5 seconds on your soap box, and gotten all of that ugliness out there, what do you do?  Well, there is a cure for what ails you.  And it's something so many of us started back on November 1st.  Thankfulness.  Even though it's not November any more.  Even though some bad things have happened.  Even though you feel unstable about what tomorrow will bring.  Please don't stop being thankful.  There's an old hymn chorus that my Mom used to sing (at least it's her voice in my head I hear when I remember it)

Count your many blessings name them one by one.
Count your blessings see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

If you don't remember to be thankful--to count your blessings, bitterness and discontent will surely wedge in and destroy your view of everything that you have to be thankful for.  Be thankful that you still have lungs and a beating heart to draw breath another day.  Be thankful for the spouse that you have chosen and has chosen you. Be thankful for your little and big kids, and grand kids.  Be thankful for the roof over your head and the running water in your sink.  Be thankful for the fridge full of food.  Be thankful for the job you get to have that pays for all of the things you need and want.  And it's o.k. to also be thankful that you have been spared great tragedy like the ones I've mentioned.  Pray for those that are suffering.  Pray for those in need who do not have all that you do.  Ask God to show you how you can help. We all have things that make us grumble.  In John 16:33 it says "I have told you all these things so that you may have peace.  In this world you will have many troubles, but take heart! I have overcome the world."  Being thankful is the very antidote we all need when the ways of this world weigh so heavily upon us.
 
I've mentioned before that Super Rock Star works for an amazing organization called Compassion International.  If you don't know about them, I highly recommend you go check out their website www.compassioninternational.com.  There are so many ways they help children and their families in very dire circumstances every day.  I love the 1000's of stories I read about them but, one of my favorite is about a team from Compassion that was visiting a family's home in a village in Africa.  By all accounts this family was living in dismal conditions--straw and mud hut, mostly barren land, and no running water. But as the team was getting ready to leave they asked the father of the home how they could pray for him. His response?  "I have everything I need.  I have a roof over my head to protect me from the weather, I have a tree that bears fruit and provides food for my family and I have water to drink.  God is good."

As we enter this Christmas season--a time of year when we love to share and give and receive, I also encourage you to be remember to be thankful.  Just take a few minutes right now and right down 10 things you are thankful for.  Even  if life is hard right now--a job lost, a sickness in your family, an uncertain future. Even if all you can muster up is that you are thankful you don't have a big zit on your forehead right now.  Try to think of 10 things that you can thank God for.  And remember:  Yes, God is good!