Christmas at the Landreneaus, Part 1

Advent is upon us.

A time to get ready for His coming.

The world says that this is the busiest time of year. Buying presents. Spending money. Incurring debt. The world says that more is better. More stuff indicates higher status.

I think we should be busy. Busy preparing our hearts for Him. Busy teaching our children about why He came. Busy thinking of others. Busy giving stuff away. Busy remembering that less is more.

This fat man in a suit has caused a lot of controversy in my heart for the last several years. When we first married, I never thought about not "doing" Santa when we had children. Two years later, we had a six month old, and I began to really think about Santa.

We came up with a plan:

Santa would bring our children one gift and fill the stockings. We didn't want them making these long lists of their wants thinking that Santa could bring any and everything just because he's Santa. We would say the "big" gift was from him each year. We also decided not to make a big deal out of him. We talked a lot about Jesus' birthday being the real reason we celebrate. I felt good about this. I felt like we'd found a happy medium.

Then I got a call from a dear friend from college. Her child was 18 months old, and she asked me if we "did" Santa. I told her our plan. She said she tended to agree with me, but that her husband refused to have Santa in their home. One of the first reasons he gave her was that he felt completely deceived when he'd learned the truth about Santa as a child. He didn't want that for his children. I told my friend that I could see his point, but that I had never felt that way. I believed in Santa until I was almost ten years old, but I learned the truth simply by growing up and it never felt like a big blow.

That's when she went further.

She explained to her husband that she really didn't see the harm in it; she'd never felt lied to by her parents, so why not?

He told her that every time he prayed about this issue, the Lord reminded him of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Each time they came upon a new city that they were to conquer, the Lord told Moses not to assimilate to that culture. Each time, the Israelites disobeyed. Each time, they wandered longer in the desert. That's how my friend's husband saw Santa... assimilating to the world when our allegiance should be to Christ.

I was blown away by that explanation. It haunted me for years because I knew I was being disobedient. Every year as Thanksgiving rolled around, I revisited these thoughts. Every year, I justified our plan.

Last year, I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted our family's Christmas to look like.

Now, I am stubborn. I wanted Him to show me loud and clear. I was practically baiting God to let me keep having my way in this. He's faithful, and He showed up big time.

On December 16, I read Heather's blog about Christmas in their home. Every word she wrote about Santa resonated so deeply within me that I couldn't fight it anymore. In fact, I felt free. " This is the line that really got to me: "We don't tell our kids that Santa is real. Going out of our way to lie to our children is wrong…no matter what time of the year it is. Proverbs 12: 22 says the LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful."

I asked Phil to read it. His reaction was so simple, "If we're convicted by this, we have to follow through."

What it boiled down to is that we would never want our children to wonder whether or not God is real because we said Santa was.

So we had to tell our children. First, we asked their forgiveness for lying to them about something big. Then we asked them if they thought Superman, Spiderman, etc., were real. Jacob laughed and said no. We asked if Santa was real. He paused, unsure, and replied with a very hesitant yes. I said, "Actually, Buddy, he's not. Mommy and Daddy weren't telling the truth about that, and we are very sorry."

That was the end of it. They weren't upset. They really couldn't have cared less. I was the one making the big deal out of it. I learned once again that my children are so forgiving when we are honest with them about our own mistakes. They paint such a beautiful picture of God's forgiveness. Our kids think that Santa is as cool as the next super hero, but they know that he is no more real than they are.

Our families were very supportive. I only got called crazy by one uncle who said we were party poopers and ruining Christmas for our kids. I can live with that. On Christmas night, I shared this whole journey with a friend of mine, and she and her husband had just made the same decision for their family! We were so excited that the Lord continually confirmed our obedience!

Now we instruct our children every time we're around other kids that this is what we do in our family. We cannot tell another family what is right for them. They have shocked me with how well they've obeyed this rule!

This post is long enough! Next time, I'll try to write about what we do rather than what we don't do!

Catch Up Post #3: Caroline Elizabeth Pace

When I look back on my childhood, there are so many things I am thankful for.

The first is that the Catholic faith was passed on to me. The richness, the traditions, the beauty; I am still in awe of all of it.

The second is my amazing, amazing mother (who continues to be so) and my family.

The third is Katherine.

Katherine and I have been friends since pre-k. In Kindergarten, her mother commented to my mother, "They are the type of friends that will be in each other's weddings." She was right.

There is no event in our lives, major or minor, joyful or sorrowful, that we have not walked through together. We can talk every day or once a month and it's like no time has passed. In fact, we're ususally trying to call each other at the same time. My first child was born at 3:32 in the afternoon; I had a missed call on my cell phone from Katherine at 3:32. She didn't even know I was in labor!

Katherine is constant to me. She is the sister I never had. She is one of my safe places...the friend I can talk to about anything and be accepted and loved.

One of the coolest things is that we married men who get along so well. Phil and Jeff are so alike in so many ways! When they come to town, Jeff gets so excited to see my kids, to the point that he has come to visit them without me or Katherine even here. That is such a gift to me.

I had the amazing pleasure of being in Shreveport right after they had their first child just a few short weeks ago. I was actually the first to hold her after they did! We laughed. We cried. We reminisced. We worked on breastfeeding (well, she did!) and swaddling. We kept Jeff calm, or somewhat calm!

It was so special to see her experience what I know she was made for. Katherine has been a mother since she was about four years old, and to see her with her very own was witnessing God's mighty hand. It was a blessing to be able to tell her, "I promise, you will feel better after a shower. I know it doesn't feel like it, but tomorrow will be better. I promise, Caroline will learn to breastfeed. I promise, you won't break her!"

Thank you, God, for this friendship. I pray this type of friendship for my own children.

Love you, P.

Catch Up Post #2: Halloween

Here's our Halloween recap:

We went to a Fall Family Bash at some friends' home the weekend before. Kids and adults all had great fun. I left town the Monday before Halloween for the birth of my best friend's first baby (that's a whole other post). I got back to our house at 5:20pm just in time to eat real quick and head over to my mom's for trick-or-treating at 6:00. That neighborhood gives the best candy! Then it was home and bed for the kids, and I totally raided their stash of candy!

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Catch Up Post #1: Texas Renaissance Festival

Last year in October, I read this post on the Hendrick blog:

http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/search/label/Renaissance%20Festival

It looked like such fun that we decided we'd go this year. We made arrangements to stay in Kingwood at my uncle's house. Plans were made. Tickets were purchased early to get the discount. All was well.

Then we put Ava in the car to head to Kingwood on the night before. We left Lafayette at 4pm. Ava started crying/screaming at about 4:10. She cried until 7:00 when she finally fell asleep. This was 10 minutes before we got to the house. Oy. We both wanted to leave her at the Texas Welcome Center and pick her up on the way home.

We unloaded, stuffed our faces, bathed the kids, and put Ava to bed. So far, much better.

Then we went to put Jacob and Mary-Grace to bed. The word "nightmare" comes to mind. They were petrified of the dogs and were CONVINCED that the two very small dogs could bust down the door to their room. They were thinking Superman stuffed inside those dogs, I guess. By 10:30, they'd stopped freaking out enough to go to sleep.

We packed up the next morning and were out the door for 7:20... plenty of time to spare. Again, so we thought.

Ava went right to sleep. Praise the Lord.

My stomach started doing flip flops, so we had to make numerous bathroom breaks and a medicine stop. These pit stops woke Ava up, and she proceeded to scream all the way to Plantersville.

When we were about halfway there, I asked Phil where he put the packet with the tickets in it because I wanted to look over my map.

He turned white.

I called my aunt.

It was sitting next to the computer at their house.

We turned around.

Then, in a moment of pure divine inspiration, I called her back and had her find me the phone number for the festival. Thank God, these sweet people told me to just come and they would give me some new ones.

Finally, we made it. We ended up parking on the same row as the Hendricks which was great because I'm not sure we'd have met them otherwise; the place is HUGE! I loved getting to meet Heather after all this time of getting to know her through her blog.

The day was great, well worth the trip and headaches of actually getting there.

Smells like feet....

I have decided.


Heather Hendrick is right about Fritos.

Sometime in the last year and a half of reading her blog, I remember her mentioning that fritos smell/taste like feet. I know, sick, right?



Fritos are not a common item in our house, but I made a huge pot of chili for the freezer yesterday, so I grabbed a bag at the store.



Tonight, when I opened them, I got a fresh whiff, and holy cow, I'd have sworn I was pregnant because the smell was so offensive!


Then I remembered the "fritos smell like feet" thing, and I thought...


She is totally right!!! They stink like feet.


But I still ate them with my chili because I decided they don't taste like feet!

A real blog post coming soon. There are many events to blog about!! Somebody bug me about this so I'll do it!!!

Punkin Patch

I love Fall.

I love it even more when it actually feels like Fall.


Nevertheless, we took a field trip last Friday with our homeschool co-op to the Pumpkin Patch at Covenant Methodist. SO CUTE!!! The weather was actually pretty pleasant, although I did make my kids sweat in long sleeves and pants because I refused to take pumpkin pictures in shorts.


The whole thing lasted about an hour and forty-five minutes. There was story time with a snack, a video about pumpkin seeds growing into pumpkins, a hay ride (to which Noah kept saying "tracker fun...tracker much fun"), a maze to go through, a live animal exhibit, an old lady leading us in little dances, and oodles of pumpkins take pictures with.



Our last stop was at the dancing lady. We'd been there over an hour and a half, and all the kids were pooped. They watched the lady dance, but very few of them participated. They kept walking away from her in a daze. After several minutes, she asked the moms, "Are you offended by dancing? You just never know nowadays!"

She was dead serious.

We all laughed, and replied that we weren't at all offended but that our children were about to fall asleep on the spot.


The biggest participant was Noah. It's no secret that the boy loves to dance!

Here are my sweet babies right before we left to come home. I don't know how I got them all smiling, but aren't they cuties?!

Do you hear that sound?

That's right, you can't. Because there is no sound. It's the sound of my sweet baby sleeping... still sleeping at 8:37 in the morning. This is the same child who CONSISTENTLY wakes up between 5:00 and 5:30, the exact time I get up to pray. Well, this morning, I rocked her for a full 30 minutes before she gave up and fell back asleep. And I still got to pray my rosary while I rocked her, so it's all good!



Thank you, Jesus, for sleeping babies!

I never thought I'd eat this...

I LOATHE oatmeal. I have loathed it my entire life. I just simply can't swallow it. It totally grosses me out. My children eat the stuff every single morning between ages 1 and 2. They all like it. The little boy I babysit, Noah, eats it almost every single day. He walks in my house every morning and says, "E-mom!" That means oatmeal. He's working very hard at saying "oat....meal". So cute.

Back to my hate of oatmeal.

My sweet new friend that I blog-stalked and emailed about going green, Rachel Supercinski, sent me this recipe for oatmeal. I thought, "Yeah right! But I will give it a try because it's SO healthy."

HOLY COW, BATMAN! This is my new favorite thing. I eat it every morning for breakfast, and sometimes for dinner when I'm in a rush. My older two kids won't even taste it, but Ava and Noah LOVE it.

Without further ado:

Thaw 1/2-3/4 cup blueberries in microwave for about 45 seconds. Divide between 2 bowls.

Add 1 spoonful of wheat germ and 1 spoonful of milled flaxseed to each bowl.

Boil 1 cup water with about a tablespoon of butter. Add 1/2 cup old fashioned oats and cook about 5 minutes. (It looks disgusting to me at this point, but hang with me.)

Pour oatmeal over berries in each bowl. Add a spoonful of brown sugar to each bowl.

Stir and eat.

If I'm making it just for me, I divide this in half. It doesn't look like much in the bowl, but I'm full until lunch. Nothing sticks with me like this does.

Happy eating!

Thanks, Rachel!

Happy Birthday, Claire!!!

September 1984

Christmas 1996 August 2000
Easter 2004
April 2007 April 2007

We love you! Come visit us soon!

Jacob: "To Nanny Claire: I love Nanny Claire because I had fun at the Festival with her and because she can hold me up high. And she and I had a lot of fun at Tante's house building the little lego jet plane. And because she gave me some crocs. We always have a great time. Love, Jacob. Oh, and have a great time in Dallas. That's it."

Happy Birthday, Ava!!!

Our sweet baby girl is one year old today. How in the world did that happen?! It was one year ago yesterday that I wanted to kiss my OBGYN when he told me he would induce me the next day. Seriously.


Ava is all smiles and such a mama's girl. Her newest word as of yesterday is "whoa!" She says this when I plop her down from standing (she can get herself up but can't get down.) It's adorable. She is such a sweet blessing.

I made this slide show of her first year. I know it's a lot of pictures, but I narrowed it down as much as I could.

Happy birthday, precious girl! We love you so much!

9/11

How is it that it's been six years since that terrible day?

Tony Melendez

What a humble man. We have had the blessing of seeing this man play his guitar twice before, and today we will take our children to see him in Lake Charles. We are so excited!!!

Obviously this performance was before Pope John Paul II passed away. And whoever posted this on YouTube needs to learn how to spell "hands", but you get the drift.

Mute

On Monday, Jacob's phonics lesson was on the long vowel sound of u. One of the words he had to read was "mute". He asked what that meant, and one of the examples I gave him was when we press the mute button on the remote to make the tv silent.

Last night he walked in the living room, saw the tv on with no sound and asked:

"Why is the tv deaf?"

Jacob made a funny....

Those of you who know our son know that he lives to talk and ask questions. Seriously, the boy hardly ever has a quiet moment, and those moments usually only occur while he's listening to an answer of a question he's just posed. One of his many talents is that he never forgets anything anybody tells him. Like ever. It's pretty incredible. The talking and questioning don't usually bother me unless we're in the car. This is when the questioning is like rapid-fire, and I can't get away from it. After several minutes, I usually tell him that it's time to stop the questioning until we get home or wherever we're headed. It usually works, and he either gets quiet or he starts imparting all sorts of random knowledge to Mary-Grace.

Well last night we were on our way home from a barbecue at my dad and stepmom's house about 30 minutes away; my mom was with us. The Star Wars line of questioning ensued. He is obsessed with all things Star Wars, but since he has never seen the movie, he relies on answers from other people to explain it to him. And he leaves no question unasked. I'm sure he'll be totally let down by the movie when he sees it because he'll have totally over analyzed it by then.

After several minutes of this, I told him to stop. He replied, "But Mom, I love to talk!" I told him to stop with the questions, and he did. But he started with the noise effects... shooting, banging, etc., you know, boy noises. This makes me insane in the car, mostly because it involves lots of spitting. I told him to stop. He obeyed.

About five minutes later, he started up again. The following conversation occurred:

M: Jacob, no more questions!

J: Mommy, it was just a commercial. (meaning his break from talking was like a commercial break)

Hysterical laughter followed by all adults in the van.

Jacob followed with more noises, and then said, "Mommy, I just have all these questions banging in my head and I have to get them out!" More noises. "Oh, and the noises too!"

That sweet boy. He's too smart for his own good!

Check out my Slide Show!

Happy Anniversary!

Phil and I celebrated seven years yesterday. It's gone by in the blink of an eye and yet it feels like forever. It's strange to think of a time when we weren't together, or a time when we had no children.

We were given a very generous gift card to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Phil's steak was apparently so good that I had to pause our conversation for several seconds while he enjoyed his first bite; he couldn't focus on me and the yummyness of his steak all at the same time.

My meal was delicious, but what I really went for was the $8.00 cheesecake.

Worth. Every. Penny.

Seriously. And it turns out that they give free desserts for anniversaries, so now we can go back again and use the rest of the gift card on more cheesecake!

Happy anniversary, Honey; I pray for many, many more!

Finally Made It!

After almost two years of keeping up with my cousin's blog and the blogs of several of her friends, I have been sucked in. I've been trying to do this for the last six months. I've started several entries about different things we've done, but I always got interrupted, saved the entry and then forgot to go back. When I'd finally get back to it, the event about which I'd written was weeks or months old!

So, here we go. I can't promise how often I'll update, but I'm hoping for a few times a month.

Oh, and the picture is a tribute to "Nanny Claire", our family Aggie. I'm sure that my dad and half-brother are cringing at the Aggie paraphernalia as they are avid LSU fans. Say what you want about the Aggies, boys, but I'd say that anyone with a face full of paint and a purple wig can be labeled a fanatic too!