Merry Christmas

Well, today has been a good day. We celebrated at home together then went to see Joe's family. It was a very relaxing day and we had fun seeing everyone. My wish is that you all had a wonderful day with loved ones while celebrating the birth of our Savior!

(The print is called the Knaffl Madonna. This was taken by Joseph Knaffl. The woman is the wife of my great-grandmother's cousin.)

Bright Lights

Wow. Last night I said something I never thought I would hear. "Honey, can you turn the tree back on so I can see to sweep?" Last night we put up our new pre-lit Christmas tree. Well, needless to say it is bright when turned on. I went outside and noticed that I could read what movies and books we have on the bookcases in the living room. That is amazing seeing as the Christmas tree was the only light!

Naturally Powered Tree

I am not sure if you have heard about this, but I heard about it yesterday and knew I had to share. In Japan an aquarium has placed an eel in a tank with two aluminum panels which collects the power and uses it to power their Christmas tree (link). It is quite humorous to think about, but I am now flooded with ideas! I think that Joe and I should create a large pool under the house where we store our eels. How much better for the environment would this be than relying on other ways to create power. This could be the ultimate going green! Of course it is also a great source of food as well! In the summer we could eat a few eels and that way their population is regulated. We would not want an overflow of eels coming from underneath our house.

Christmas pics

Earlier this week I mailed out some Christmas cards with pictures of the kids. It is really hard to get three children to look at the camera as well as smile. Anyway, I picked one that was the best and made cards. I had originally planned to have them wearing casual clothing in red (Bubba), blue (Butch) and green (Otter), but I had taken some pictures of Otter by herself in a red dress and it looked so cute I decided to use it and go more formal when they were together. I also thought I might share pictures of two little girls wearing this same dress. My mom has yet to call and tell me what she thought of the picture on her card (I am wondering if she recognizes the dress?). So here are the pictures I took and one that has a few decades on it.

Christmas Parade

The Mayfield's cow joined in

The scouts being pulled by a dump truck!

How Things Change When You Are A Mother

I was watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie this morning that had me laughing. In this episode Charles and Caroline are going to Mancado (sp?) without the girls on a little holiday while Charles traveled there on business. The original idea was to have a local lady watch the girls, but on the day they planned to leave she got sick. So instead they (by a great accident) left the girls with Mr. Edwards. Oh, that is where the fun began!

He was late in waking up the girls for school the first morning, so they were late. He lost Carrie while doing the laundry, so he tied her to a post with the rope tied around her waist. Then later he and Carrie were walking around and they got close to a rattlesnake. Mr. Edwards shot the snake and as he held it up said, "This looks like enough for four!" That night he cooked snake stew! The older girls did not like it and Laura even tried to feed some of her's to the dog. The dog wouldn't take it! Then that night the girls remember that they forgot to gather eggs, so they head out in the middle of the night (in their gowns in a thunderstorm) to get the eggs. Mr Edwards wakes up with all the chickens clucking and thinks they are chicken thieves so he gets his shotgun. They come in the door and hit him and the gun goes off and blows a hole in the roof. So the next day he is on the roof to repair it when he noticed Carrie gone again. He searches all around and can not find her. He goes inside the house and sits down to try to think where she could be while trying to stay calm. She then peaks out from under the bed and says boo. Next thing you see is the two older girls coming home from school and they see Carrie on the roof with Mr Edwards. They are so frightened and they go running and tell him that Carrie is too young to be up there because she might fall. He said it was alright since he nailed her dress to the roof!

Meanwhile Caroline is in town trying to not worry and talk about the children. She keeps hearing things that make that impossible. First a woman comes in the store where they are shopping. She is looking for her family. Caroline tells the shopkeeper she hopes she finds them, but the lady said she won't. She tells the story about how the woman lost her family. The children died in a fire from an electrical storm. She was immediately upset and they left without making their purchases. Then that evening they go to see a show at the theater. It was about abandoned daughters. Their mother said that she was leaving them because she wanted a life, she did not love them, etc. Caroline was bawling so they had to leave early. She and Charles were talking on the way home (a day early, too) about how they never had these problems on their first honeymoon.

It just reminds me how different things are now than before the children came along. Now our discussions are more along the lines of what is happening at school, the new things the baby is doing, household things. Sometimes I wonder if we would have anything to talk about if it weren't for the children. I guess that we are sometimes led to believe that that is wrong. As parents they are our first concern. Their welfare is our first responsibility. I know that there are times that we need to think about our relationship and keeping it alive and healthy. I think that I just learned not to think badly of myself for thinking of three of the biggest parts of our life together. Joe and I have had many things change in our life together in the time we have been together. We are older and hopefully wiser. We now have three children, a home, and many more responsibilities. How can I imagine that trying to separate three of the biggest parts of that life from our time alone as a couple is damaging to our relationship. That can also be a way to build a stronger relationship. All aspects of our relationship together are what we need to work on to build a stronger relationship. Leaving one area alone is like letting one part of the body wither away while helping the rest of the body grow strong. It will only weaken the body as a whole no matter how strong the rest of the body is. I encourage you all to ignore the common thoughts that we have learned and remember to embrace all the blessings in your life because they make you who you are. All the good and bad are what have shaped you into who you are today. We learn from the bad, laugh during the good, but most importantly we should always praise the Lord in everything!