Have Room?

Years ago when Nathan had just turned 4, Julieanne 7 and Anna Catherine was 9 we were trying to help our children prepare for Christmas with a Nativity play of our own. We made a donkey tail and pinned it on AC who carried Mary aka Julieanne draped in blue fabric and pillow stuffed up her shirt from door to door in the house with 'Jofes' aka Dad (that's what Na called Joseph) Meanwhile Nathan and I were in his room when the knock from Jofes and wife 'great with child' came. As you know we were supposed to say, 'There is no room in the inn' but when it came time for this response Nathan was busily clearing his bedroom floor of the toys and clothes that scattered it. A bit lost, I asked what he was doing to which he replied...'I'm making room'. He knew that there had been no room for the Savior to be born in a nice warm, clean place. In his little mind all that mattered is that he, 'Na-Na Thom-pon' was going to make room.

That is one of the greatest lessons my kids have ever taught me because over the years at Christmas when all the world gets ridiculously busy, I am reminded that I must choose to 'make room' for the King of Kings, my Savior. He doesn't barge his way in or force himself upon me - He waits to be invited. Are you making room?

We leave in a few hours to fly to the Dominican Republic to spend Christmas with Dennis' family. His parents are missionaries there and Dennis and I have never been to see their ministry.Back when AC was 12 she was able to spend a few weeks there with her grandparents so it will be a return trip for her. We are so excited for this chance to be with all of them in the warm sunshine! My mom is also going to be with us so that is a bonus.

We celebrated Christmas last night as a family. We had Chinese food and British Christmas traditions like poppers and Christmas crackers. We were a sight - the kids have all been sick this week.

We only gave stockings this year which was quite enough. And for the first time in 20 years, we did not put up a tree - just put lights on the ficus tree and guess what....it is still Christmas! "It came without the trappings and trimmings and Who hash and Who ham" to quote Dr. Suess because it has nothing to do with those distractions. So, back to Nathan, what's keeping you from making room....?

Merry Christmas!

Julie for the five of us

Expectations too High

Nathan starts anticipating his next birthday moments after celebrating the current one so he had been eagerly waiting one year, no kidding, to take a spin go carting for his tenth birthday. It was going to be great - Julian, our friend from the States, was going to be here as a bonus along with Dad and 5 friends. Seriously, if you've ever talked to Nathan long you realize he often marks time according to his birthday just ask Emily Freeman. December 7th is the day of infamy because he was born, right?

Anyway, the day arrived, the friends, came, we went to the race track. Several of the boys had just gone racing at another boy's party so they were well practiced. Nathan was at the back of the pack with a motorcycle type helmet and was looking everywhere except at the guy who was giving instructions on how to drive the go carts. I could hardly hear the guy's explanations and I was right next to him so I knew this wasn't going to be good for Na. The light changed and off they sped. For 30 minutes your need for speed could be satisfied...well, maybe. You had to know how to work the cars, stay away from the barracades and other drivers. The Westergreen boys would have loved it! Julieanne was #1, Julian #4 and Nathan #14. Nathan didn't go as fast as the others and kept crashing or getting shoved into the barricades so by the final lap he was done. He took his helmet off, tears inhis eyes, exclaiming that he had hated it. Had his expectations been unrealistic, did he think too much of himself and was disappointed he wasn't Dale Earnhart? Whatever the case it was rough. Thankfully his disappointed hadn't ruined the rest of the evening for him. He and Dennis had a good debrief later on that night talking it through. It was yet another one of those life lessons. He is now one decade old.

Week at a Glance

Week ago today, Dennis and Julian headed out for a bike ride - as you can see they had glorious weather at the amazing Wasdale Head! Actually, the whole time Julian was here it was sunny and cold - I'm sure he thought I had been lying about the rainy weather.

Later that night Julieanne headed off to the Christmas Ball looking oh so pretty!

On

Wednesday, Dennis and I were able to sneak down to London for a very speedy trip so he could attend a British Nuclear Society dinner. The girls boarded over night at the school while Nathan stayed with the Hedahl's (an American family on Dennis' team) We got to explore Westminster Abbey which really is a historic cemetry and monument. Centuries old, it did leave you wanting to understand the English history more fully and the role of this church.

Also during the week the girls got to experience their house Christmas Dinners, a tradition to host the pupils by gender and ages. Each pupil is assigned to a 'house' where the houseparent is responsible for their care. They have activities broken down by houses. So the annual Christmas dinners are for each house - they entertain each other, give speeches and gifts and enjoy a fancy Christmas dinner in the original part of the school.

An American Tradition Brought to England

They don't really 'do' baby showers over here - they think it's bad luck to buy things for an unborn baby. Imagine going to the hospital with nothing except your big belly and excitement! I can get away with things over here so I suggested having a shower for Kath, our Australian Bible study leader who after 13 years of trying to get pregnant - is expecting in March!! Unfortunately, she's moving to Switzerland in December. The Bible study was open to this baby shower idea that they had seen on "Friends" on TV. We had a blast - they were really into it. One of the gals volunteered to do a game - "What's in the nappie?" They melted different candy bars in the diaper and you had to guess what type of candy bar it was. It was a bit of a mental obstacle to stick your nose right in there to solve the puzzle. I would never have attempted that game as the British are a bit more reserved than we wacky Americans but they do have a big sense of humor. So they were really good sports when we played the "Mystery Baby Food" game and a few others. I used my scrapbooking to make a scrapbook of letters and advice from each of the ladies to share with our mother to be friend. They said it was the most fun they had had in ages. So an American tradition brought to England was a success.

Thankful Wherever You Are

There's a reason I loved being a third grade teacher... I think like a kid so I appreciate children's stories, movies and songs. One of my favorite movies is from the Veggie Tale series, Madame Blueberry. It hits you right in the gut - We're always tempted to look around and see what we don't have rather than choose to be thankful for what we do have. As a result, all the joy and sweetness of a moment can be sucked away. Madame Blueberry is reminded of this lifegiving truth by a little child who has very little materially but riches galore in character and relationships. This is the song the child sings while Madame Blueberry watches from afar.

I thank God for this day,

For the sun in the sky,

For my mom and my dad,

For my piece of apple pie!

For our home on the ground,

For His love that's all around,

That's why I say thanks every day!
Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!

I'm glad for what I have,

That's an easy way to start!

For the love that He shares,

'Cause He listens to my prayers,

That's why I say thanks every day!

Thursday didn't feel like Thanksgiving since it was a regular work and school day but from the other side of the pond, we gave thanks with Dennis' American team members at our house on Friday night. It's a new thing to celebrate a holiday with people you work with but it was fun just the same.

Julieanne and one of the American boys,Brandon, had played a guitar duet while she sang at school last week (her first ever!)so we had them play for us as well. We also had Anna Catherine play a Bach piece on the cello. They were a kind and enthusiastic audience. It was a nice evening together.

Julian's Here!

Our dear friend, Julian Battle, who lived with us for almost two years in Augusta, arrived on November 20 for a visit. As always, he brought his million dollar smile and servant attitude. Over the weekend we took him up to Glasgow, Scotland to see a Rangers soccer match since he's a big sports fan. While he's here, we hope to show him the other big English sport of rugby. It's not cricket season or we'd try to show him that as well. While the guys went to the soccer match, the girls did a little secret santa shopping for school friends and then we all headed over to the west coast of Scotland which is opposite the water from the Lake District where we live.

We spent a lot of time relaxing reading, sleeping in, catching up on our daily Bible reading (we got a month behind when we were in States this summer and have never recovered) watching some movies, hiking, and goofing off. It was great timing too as all three kids were a bit run down with colds.

Monday we headed to the Isle of Arran by ferry for a hike. This island was the location from which Robert the Bruce safely waited for the signal to return to mainland Scotland for the attack on the English. It was a gorgeous sunny, cold day for a hike around the castle of Broderick (featured on the Scotish 20 pound note) You can see it off in the distance behind Julieanne and Dennis on the beach.

We arrived home late Tuesday after keeping the kids off school for two days only to get busy planning a train route and tourist stops for Julian to head to London at 6:34 the next morning. He's spending Wednesday - Friday down there doing the 'tourist thang'. He'll be back in time for a Thanksgiving meal at our house with the American members of Dennis' team. Nathan keeps asking when Julian will be back.

Golf for the First Time

Saturday before last, it was sunny and 40 degrees so Dennis decided we should try our first 9 holes at the St. Bees Golf course. I had other plans for the day but I was persuaded to take advantage of the pretty day and go for a few hours. Most of the holes were par 3 or 4 which was a joke for us. The first hole I lost 3 balls and probably got in the hole in about 10 strokes. When they say, "your ball is in the rough" over here, they mean rough! Like forget it - not going to find it! The score got a little better after the first hole. Dennis wasn't half bad. It was really beautiful and cheap to play on this course.

I'm glad I dropped my expectations for the day and went with the new plan and my two men.

Many Happy Returns of the Day

We celebrated Dennis tonight in the way he enjoys most - not too much fuss but with great food! He is well loved!

Julieanne made a pecan praline bundt cake that was yummy. We've discovered that the flour over here is different which explains why our US recipes didn't quite work. I was beginning to think it was all my fault but no, thankfully an ex-pat explained the problem and brought us two 5 lb. bags of Gold Medal flour in their suitcase. Very nice gift. Dennis' birthday cake was just right.

5th of November

Remember, remember the 5th of November

Gunpowder, treason and plot

We see no reason

why gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot.

Did you remember Guy Fawkes Day from last year's blog? The country celebrates with bonfires and fireworks saving the life of King James in 1605 from crazies that tried to blow up parliament?

Neighborhoods all over town host bonfires and fireworks. If you didn't know what was going on you'd think the town had been set on fire. This year we went to our neighbors for jacket potatoes, fireworks and a bonfire which was nice.

We also got to celebrate later in the week at St. Bees School where they do a spectacular fireworks show and bbq. Funny thing, last year when we went we were totally crammed in this small space trying to inch along to get some food and drink. I thought that they would have solved that little kink this year but no, it was worse. They all seemed totally resigned to this way of doing it. Being the oh so effecient Americans that we are we tried to think up a few solutions for next year. I sent a thank you note to the house parents that host the huge event for the school community offering for next year the services of the budding parents organization that has started up. They gladly took us up on the offer.

This year's fireworks celebration lasted over a week. Thing is they can only buy fireworks in the stores for about a three week window. If you want to shoot off fireworks at other times during the year, you have to have a permit so they make their week count.

We had the youth over at the end of that week for our own fireworks and roasting S'mores. It was raining so hard we had to make the S'mores in the oven and shooot off the fireworks as soon as there was a lull in the rain. The kids were happy to stand in the drizzle with their sparklers and ooo and aahhh over the fireworks that the pirotechnics, Dennis and a boy named Phil, set off. While waiting for the rain to subside we introduced them to the animal game and finished the night off with a round of Battle of the Sexes which ended in a tie.

Remembering

It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. Dick Cheney


One of the things I like about England is Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day. They involve young and old- everyone (and I mean that almost literally not the teenage kind of everyone) buys and wears a poppy on their shirt. Private and public schools hold special assemblies in honor of these heroes of the past. Even church had a special emphasis beginning the service early remembering those that were killed in battle specifically this year, hearing taps played by one of the kids on his trumpet, praying for the soldiers' families, and then singing 'God Save the Queen' at the end. It was announced that if you were from a different country you didn't have to sing England's national anthem but we did because they provided the words to sing along. They are appreciative of your effort to accept and appreciate their country. Another aspect of Remembrance Day is that at every war memorial or monument, you will find wreaths of poppies laid at the base.

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. Mark Twain Quotes


We would do well in America to be more involved in Veteran's Day rather than leaving it to the older generation or the families of service men and women. We've become far too complacent about the privilege of our freedoms and the cost by which they were acquired. I remember watching 'Saving Private Ryan' for the first time and 'We Were Soldiers' and how I left the movie theatre sobbing and sobbing because of the graphic reminder of our liberty. I felt that every young person should have to see that - gory as it was to gain some sense of the personal cost to their daily life.


This is dedicated to the men in my family that have served our country - my dad, my brother, my Uncle Jay, and adopted bros Jonathan Stamberg and Adam Ray.


As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy