All I want for Christmas

*Singing in a Chipmunk voice* Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for toys and time for cheer..."

I'll save the Alvin and the Chipmunks reunion tour for later...for now I will instead just ramble on about whatever comes flying into my brain...cause that usually how I operate...

Seriously, it is now officially Christmas time at the Hawthorne house. Now there has been long a debate in our home over the family Christmas tree. Many of you will laugh, but it is a serious conversation that comes up several times a year and usually results in one of us saying to the other "you're a retard". (In the most loving manner possible, I assure you) My husband INSISTS on having a live Christmas tree every year. He claims that an artificial tree is fake and that he will not have "fake Christmas" because then we would be required to have fake presents, fake Christmas dinner and the like. I prefer the "fake" tree because it doesn't require constant attention to ensure our house doesn't burn to the ground (and that's the way I've always done it). The argument usually includes testimonies to the benefits of each person's preferred tree as well as insults to the other person's preferred tree. Including my favorite, the artificial tree always looks good from any angle, but a real one always has a "bad side" and there have been years when the bad side has been all the way around. I'm all for lookin' good. We have, however, come to an understanding that if Mr. Smartypants is here to retrieve and help decorate the tree, we will have a real one. If he is deployed I will put up the artificial one.
This year, the argument took a new turn. We are getting to go to Texas for Christmas (yee haw!!!) and will be gone for a couple of weeks (thank you Uncle Sam for inventing Christmas Exodus at TRADOC bases all over the Armed Forces). This created a problem. Being gone so long meant that a real tree would not survive our vacation and our house might burn down while we were gone. My husband's solution? Don't put one up at all. Huh??? Can we say "Bah Humbug". A tree must go up. We argued (nicely, I promise) about the tree for several days, debating the reasons we needed a tree up even though we were gonna be gone as well as the reasons we shouldn't bother. If you look at the picture, you can tell who won. He even gave in and let me put up the artificial tree (probably because I made the point we would have to take down the real one the night before we left town). Please know that I gave him the option of having his "real" tree.
Now some of you might argue that Mr. Smartypants was right all along and we shouldn't even bother. But let me leave you with this thought:

Christmas isn't just about one day. Christmas is a season where we prepare ourselves for one day. The one day is to celebrate. Not a day of food and presents and Santa Claus, but one day to celebrate a Birthday. THE birthday. HIS birthday. The Christmas season is another word for Advent, or a time to prepare for a coming of a King. Whether you celebrate HIS birthday or celebrate a chance to feast with family and friends, each symbol of the holiday gives us that warm fuzzy that only comes this time of year. Each warm fuzzy puts us in a better spirit, and makes us want to give and share with others. This is one time of year when we, without thinking, put others before ourselves. Is this not the spirit of Christ in us, as much as the spirit of Christmas? So take time to stare at your Christmas tree for that warm fuzzy, then use the warm fuzzy to remember why we have Christmas in the first place, and then put that warm fuzzy to action by giving (your time, your money or your talents) to spread not just Christmas cheer, but Christ Himself.

I would have pictures but who wants pictures of drool...

Moose is the last planned baby for the Herd. I say planned because I'm a firm believer that if God wants you to have more children, he's gonna give 'em to ya. Ask some of my friends who were surprised to find themselves pregnant when they shouldn't have been. So, he's the last PLANNED baby, and I'm, of course, spoiling him rotten and hoping he will stay little forever.

But, alas, they must grow up. And moms must be sad about this. My sweet tiny baby Moose is no longer tiny. He's still sweet as chocolate and biscuits, but he's not tiny. Matter of fact, he's getting so big that he has already sprouted his first tooth. It broke through yesterday. I cried. My baby's growing up fast. He's packing his car for college tomorrow in case anyone wants to say goodbye.

I would have posted pictures of our new tooth, but all you would have seen was my finger in his mouth and a WHOLE LOT of drool. And no one wants to look at puddles of drool...especially from someone else's kid.

Change is good

Maybe you've noticed a little change around here. Maybe you've noticed a new catch-phrase if you will. Maybe you've noticed A NEW TITLE. Yes, you are no longer visiting The Mommy Diaries; you are now visiting the blog Stirring Up Dust. I decided it was time for a change, time for something a little more original. There are other blogs out there with "The Mommy Diaries" as a title and I really wanted a catchy title to go with my subtitle. If you have ever been witness to anything close to a stampede, you know that the dust gets stirred up quickly. I felt it was appropriate. Everywhere we go, we stir up dust. So, going forward, this place, this blog will simply be called "Stirring Up Dust". I would ask that you continue to follow the Hawthorne Herd as we go Stampeding through life. Stick around, it promises to be entertaining.

Silly Saturdays

Having four children, three of which are three and under, makes for interesting attempts at family photos. My husband and I recently took the herd off into the woods for the ever-coveted Fall foliage family picture. We were gonna use them on our Christmas cards. Let's just say I'm working on plan B. Please note that it was raining that day and we had to run between the van and the photo-op spot during periods of let-up. Here are the resulting photos. The Hawthorne Herd is entertaining at least.

This was one of the better ones.



This was me trying to figure out the timer on the camera.



Not bad, if I hadn't been off in left field by myself, and if Scratchy had smiled.




Cheesey grins and a frown, not to mention Sean was really distracted.




Itchy had put her hand up in her face and we were moaning because we just knew she had been caught in the picture....looks like we were the ones caught.

There is still candy corn in the bowl...

And if there is still candy corn in the bowl, then it must still be Halloween, right? Well, maybe not, but I thought I'd share some of our pictures from this year's trick or treat fest.

One of the most important jobs we have as parents

I recently read an article on CNN's website that truly makes me sick. The entire story is disturbing. There are other reports that the school had the nerve to blame the girl's parents. REALLY?? The criminals in this situation are sick individuals and will pay their due. The school is already receiving bad press and will ultimately pay in reputation and community anger. But what happens to the onlookers who did NOTHING for over 2 HOURS??
As parents there are many things we must teach our children. Reading, Spelling, tying shoes, brushing teeth. We teach them about Jesus, about being nice to others, but are we failing to teach them to watch out for and avoid "mob mentality"? Are we teaching them by words and examples to never stand by and watch someone be wronged? Are we teaching them that sometimes the "right way" is also the "hard way"? Have we taught them to have courage to ALWAYS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES stand up for what is right, regardless of consequences? I have found myself having the "not my problem" syndrome. My example teaches my children.
At some point we have to hope the world will look out for our children. We can not shelter them for life. As a parent, I would hope, if my child were a victim of a crime, that some other parent, somewhere had done the hard thing, the right thing and taught their kids to stand up for what is right ALWAYS. I know I'll be trying to do a better job of that myself. May God shower love and grace on this poor girl and her family.

Name that poet

Here's a little challenge for all my blog readers...

My family and I recently took a little journey. I love Missouri. There are really four real seasons here. Not like Texas where we have two...summer and notsummer. I took a few(dozen) pictures of the trees and while going through them (got my computer to work, see last post if confused) the beautiful scenery brought to mind a little tidbit from my past...

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And I, I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

So, name that poem/author. I couldn't help myself. I saw this picture and those words came flooding back. I believe, although might be mistaken, Mrs. Klepper's 8th grade English class??? Leave me a comment, name that poem, name that author, name that English class. I'll brag on whoever does it first!

While you scratch your head or think about all the (good, bad or ugly) memories that have come flooding back, here are some more pictures for you to enjoy and be jealous of. These were all taken about 5 miles from my house! There are advantages to being stuck out in the middle of nowhere Missouri.