Merry Christmas 2008

Tonight we celebrate Christmas. We eat cold cuts and crusty rolls, we open presents, we wade through wrapping paper and boxes; but tonight we will have a 19 month old who may (or may not) be able to open his own presents and that makes me excited just thinking about it. Tomorrow we open stockings and eat lasagna, garlic bread, and Ceasar salad. The 26th is Josiah's birthday and we will spend a few hours at the germ infested Chuck E Cheese. It's an annual tradition at this point. Of course all Christmas traditions that we know and love come from very pagan traditions. It really isn't Christian at all. However, as we Christians are prone to do, we made it a Christian holiday by declaring Jesus was born on December 25th. (It's really Mithras birthday, but shhhhh...) That doesn't negate the fact that I still ponder my salvation at Christmas time. I think about the grace and the mercy that I have been shown and marvel in its peace. As I was praying last night, I recited the Lord's Prayer. I haven't recited a prayer since the last time I went to mass which was eons ago. It felt good. I felt peace. I knew He was listening to me. And that is what I wish for all of my friends and family who visit my blog. Peace. And to go back to mass (you Catholics will get this, my evangelical friends, not so much...)

Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your apostles: I leave you peace, my peace I give you. Look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and grant us the peace and unity of your kingdom where you live for ever and ever.

(Amen)

The Peace of the Lord be with you always.

(And also with you.)

Let us offer each other a sign of peace.

Look at this!!!!

I can't believe it is almost Christmas

It is the 16th! WOW! I haven't wrapped one present yet. I need to get busy. Not only is it Christmas, but my little guy turns SIX on the 26th. Yep, Josiah is almost six. ALL BOY! He punches, kicks, screams, whines, yells, and makes so much noise that I want to smack him sometimes. He is so tall, so thin, and so handsome I cannot even tell you. His permanent teeth are coming in and he looks so grown up. He looks just like my brother, so I guess that means he takes after my side of the family. He is my only brown eyed child too. Just like his Mama. He is in Kindergarten and is reading well. Let me rephrase; for Kindergarten he is reading well:) "Jan and Pam sat on a log, Pam fell off. Pam got wet. Jan will help." You know, that kind of reading:)

We may go to Los Angeles in January for a week. We will go to Disney Land, do the touristy stuff, go to Victorville where Olaf and I were stationed... It should be fun.

I'll blog soon:)

Vlog with Gracie

Vlog with Camille

Simon is so cute

I just took video of Simon trying to jump. Only one foot leaves the ground, but he thinks he is jumping. It is adorable. I did a video blog, but decided not to upload it. It is late and I have no make up on. No make up + very fat = quite ugly.

Have y'all heard of Pandora? Oh my word. Best website ever. Go try it out. Totally free.

We are going on another vacation in January. This time we are going to California. Los Angeles to be exact. We are going to Disneyland and Disney's California, then do the touristy things like the Chinese theater and Beverly Hills. We will definitely go to where the exterior shots from The Office are filmed and drive up to Victorville for a day to reminisce. It should be fun. All of this hinges upon the flights being open of course.

Thursday is Thanksgiving. I hope all of you have a wonderful time with your family and friends. I am very blessed. I have a husband who loves me, children who think I really am a Queen, and more than a woman could ever want or need. I cannot believe how fortunate I am.

Adjusting

The children are back in the groove.

The week is almost over.

I heart Thursdays because it's the best TV night evah! The Office, Survivor, My Name is Earl...ahhhh, heavenly.

Fris in the freezer.

Life is good.

If you need me, email me at mistyjorek (at) gmail.com

We're home and all is well

I don't want to be home. I want to be where the sun warms the sky. When it's time for siesta you watch them go by. Beautiful faces, no cares in this world
Where a girl loves a boy, and a boy loves a girl. Hee hee. That's Madonna lyrics in case you didn't know.

Olaf goes back to work on Monday. I am sure he will be overwhelmed with all that has transpired since he has been on vacation. The merge between Delta and Northwest is now official and the process of integration begins. We just hope and pray that he still has a job when it's all said and done. You just never know for sure.

The children will start back to school on Monday. They have had over two weeks off and we need to get back into the groove. I need to work with Josiah on his special sounds and get him reading proficiently in the next few months. He will be six the day after Christmas after all. He is so tall for his age. This child has to be at least 4 feet tall with a HUGE foot. He weighs 48 pounds soaking wet though. He is almost as tall as Grace and she weighs 60 pounds.

Simon has a well visit with the pediatrician on Wednesday. He hasn't been for a well visit since he was 6 months old. I choose not to vaccinate on the recommended schedule and he has not had one vaccine yet; however I think I will get the Tetanus shot this time. No Pertussis though. Just the Tetanus and Diphtheria. Most people get the DTP for their children which is all three viruses in one vaccine. Grace and Josiah have only had the Tetanus shot so far but I am thinking of getting the Chicken Pox shot as well for them. I kind of hoped they would get Chicken Pox by now, but they haven't.

Hopefully I can get another Disney Blog up soon. I will work on it this weekend.

All good things must come to an end...

...and tomorrow we leave this place to drive the 7 hours home to Georgia. The family is in the pool, I am in the Clubhouse using the WiFi, and life is good. We are so blessed to be able to go on vacation for almost 2 weeks to the most Magical Place on Earth. We are true Disney freaks and this vacation has been the best family vacation by far. It was a great, nay I say fabulous, idea to take the weekends off from the parks just to hang out at the pool or go shopping. We are considering joining the Disney Time Share and have been crunching numbers and looking at points and figuring out how long it would take to break even and... you get the idea. There is no way on God's green earth that I would ever join a time share of any other kind, ahhhh, but a DISNEY time share is another thing altogether. You can also vacation all over the world so you are not limited to just Disney parks, but I am quite certain for the next 12 or 13 years we would be at Disney most of the time. We went to the shpeel on Sunday and have been crunching numbers ever since.

Last night we went to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom and that was super fun. Cinderella's Castle had beautiful twinkling Christmas Lights all over it, there was a special Christmas fireworks display, but the best thing according to my children, was the dance party going on. They had a DJ and a dance floor and characters who danced with you . We have great footage that I will post when we get home. We ate sugar cookies and drank hot cocoa. We sang Christmas songs and watched a Christmas Parade with Santa Claus and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Was it worth the extra money? In a heartbeat.

So tomorrow we leave this Paradise called Disney and return home to school, work, life. Looking forward to another vacation already.

Video Blog and Two Friends

Two Friends
By Shane Stanford

In the last 10 hours, two friends called me. One was ecstatic. The other very worried. One friend supported Barrack Obama. The other supported John McCain.

My Obama friend talked of a new hope and brighter days. My McCain friend spoke of difficult times ahead and fears about tomorrow.

My Obama friend said that Obama would change everything. My McCain friend said the same thing, but for different reasons.

My Obama friend gushed at Obama's victory as though the stars seemed more in line. My McCain friend recoiled at Obama's victory as though the heavens had fallen.

My Obama friend considers Obama a magnetic personality, poised to the change the world. My McCain friend sees Obama as a polarizing personality---poised to change the world.

I simply listened to both of them and thought about the morning.

For you see, this morning--- the world still suffers from the broken edges of our humanity. 8,000 people will die today from AIDS. 14,000 children will die from conditions that we could have prevented. Young men and women on various sides will die as a result of various conflicts around the world.

This morning--- the complexities of our world still transcend the efforts of one man, one party or, even, one nation. People will do unspeakable things because they say they love their country or their God.

This morning--- families from all backgrounds will struggle, marriages will fail, and parents will worry about their children. The most local of our circumstances and problems will still seem overwhelming and hopeless for so many, no matter what the political landscape looks like.

This morning--- the poor are still poor; our prisons are still full; our schools are still in need. People still judge too many of our brothers and sisters because of the color of their skin. People still awaken to lonely homes and even lonelier lives. And, people still believe that one more dollar, or one more purchase, or one more title, will make the ache go away.

This morning--- our brothers and sisters in the faith still fight over the least of what we can agree upon. And, people continue to believe that our answers exists somewhere among our own abilities, gifts and graces-a lie told, and believed, from the Garden until now.

And, so, this morning--- we need not create another Satan. That job remains taken.

But, on this morning--- we need not create another Messiah either. That position is also filled.

And because of that, this morning--- the solutions to our problems remain vested in our ability to look past our differences and trust the best of what we can agree upon.

This morning--- the Table remains, as it has for 2,000 years and through countless elections, as the real center of hope for both how God sees us and for how God intends for us to see each other. While the world casts its hope in the extraordinary---buildings made of marble and granite; God delights and offers real hope in the ordinary--- bread, juice, and stables made of straw and hills made of jagged rock.

This morning--- the message of the Good News remains for those who have and have not, for those who vote left or right or not at all, and for those who consider faith a burden or a crutch.

This morning--- the family of God remains bigger than boundaries and nationalities and ideologies. And, we still pray that men and women of all ages, nations and races, will make good decisions for the good of the world for the right reasons. Because, our hope remains in something more sacred than even an election, a president, a congress or the concept of democracy.

This morning--- our God still reigns, still loves unconditionally, still offers forgiveness, still calls us to do good and seek justice, still encourages us to live faithfully, still insists that we make peace, still favors the poor whether of material or spirit, still comforts those who mourn, still draws close to those who hunger and thirst for Him, still believes in the communion of the saints, and still prepares a place for when the journey is over.

Yes, this morning--- much is different, but little has changed.

And, so, for my two friends--- and for all of us--- the real question on this morning--- or any morning--- is what shall we do with THIS DAY--- that the LORD HAS MADE---I say let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Be salt and light... you matter.
Shane

It's my birthday!

Sending this from my iPhone to remind you that, um yeah, it's my birthday. We are going shopping at Downtown Disney today. Tomorrow is the Animal Kingdom and Tuesday is the Magic Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Then home on Wednesday or Thursday. We haven't decided yet. This resort is nice. We checked out of the house we were renting yesterday and checked into www.bahamabay.com. It's nice and new. Three bedroom, two bath, big kitchen, very nice washer and dryer. Time to get going and celebrate my 41st year. Yay me!

Disney Montage

Vlog from Orlando, FL

If you're ever in south Georgia ...

Don't ever stop at exit 22 in Valdosta to go to the DQ/Stuckeys. Unless you want a grey hot dog. Sent from my iPhone.

Friday Felicities

Family Vacations

Seeing Charity last night

The Office

My baby's hand rubbing my arm

Josiah's toothless smile

Sign Mr. Linky and post your own Friday Felicities

Another Vlog...

I have to write

for Charity. Can you believe she still has dial up? C'mon Charity. Get a life! Hee hee...

I have NO idea how to get my comments back on. I tried to reinsert the code from Haloscan to no avail. I turned on Blogger comments...doesn't work. So, if you want to leave me a comment please email them to me at misty.jorek (at) gmail.com. I didn't put the @ sign because I guess bots get ahold of them and spam you. Anyway, email me if you want to.

We are leaving in a few short days for Disney which means I am doing continual laundry. We do not have enough clothes to actually pack right now because we don't own that many. So, we will be packing Friday night like cuh-raaaazzzeee.
I am so grateful that my children really have no desire to have the latest fashions; or any fashion for that matter:) Obviously none of us are fashion conscience if we don't own enough clothes to pack and to wear.

Life is good, all is well, I am blessed beyond measure. Sometimes I lay in bed at night and cry real tears of thankfulness to God because I am so blessed. I have five children who are healthy, I have a husband who loves me like crazy, I have a home, I am almost 41 years old and I never thought I would live to see 30. If I die today, I would die not wanting for anything. It's the first time is years that I actually feel FREEDOM, and I love it! LIFE IS GOOD people. LIFE IS GOOD!

Vlog with the husband

My Wall...finally

Friday Felicities