A Crazy, Wonderful Season

Last week I talked about how much I dislike using the word busy to describe my full life.  Since I wrote that blog life has not been busy.  It has been an absolute whirlwind of crazy wonderful.

The whirlwind started on Thursday.  I was blessed with an opportunity to take the day and head into Edmonton with my sweet girl's choir to sing at the Festival of Trees.  The thought of performing completely undid her that morning to the point where I wasn't even sure if I could get her to leave the house let alone to a field trip.  I emailed the teacher explaining where things were at.  This lovely lady showed my girl so much love and grace that she was not expecting.  There was complete acceptance of where she was at and the encouragement to still come along as a cheering section.  This was enough to get her out the door and to school.  After practicing with the choir, she decided that she would put on her shirt but was still unsure about the performance.  By the time the bus arrived in Edmonton, she was ready.  That is until she wasn't...  After seeing the crowd, she was unable to take the stage and in the words of her sweet singing friend - she ditched the choir to cheer from the audience.  The adults around her showed such understanding that even though this was hard, it was so positive leaving the door open to singing in the future.

Next was Friday and a crazy fun youth event that evening.  Both kids invited friends to a mall hunt at Kingsway Mall.  The adults from our church dressed up and hid in the mall and the kids were given the job of finding them.  The giggles and laughter in the vehicle on the drive filled my heart to overflowing.  Such a blessing for my kids to have such great friends.

Saturday....  Oh my, Saturday.... 

We started the morning off by delivering my girl to the Christmas Store in Stony to be an elf.  This event has been a family favourite for years.  Both kids used to love going and shopping for us without us knowing until Christmas morning what their treasures were.  After Way outgrew the shopping, he took his turn giving back as an elf.  This year was Georgia's first year that she was old enough - and she was ready!

The middle of the day was filled with all things kung fu - cane seminars, open training, meeting...

Then it was off to the Oil Kings game with the kids.  We had our teddy bears and once again my girl was wearing that semi-dreaded choir t-shirt.  She sat with her friends and I was able to sit and have a date with my number one son.  He wasn't sure he really wanted to come but after much persuasion (he would say he was forced to come).  I think in the end he was happy he had.  The teddy bear toss was something that I am not sure I could even put into words.  As it was happening, I asked Way if he would have believed me if I had tried to describe it.  He had his doubts.  It was too incredible for words.  The generosity and beauty of what we experienced.  The team work that happened in the audience as the bears just kept coming and coming, raining down from above.  Just imagine how big the piles were - over 14,000 bears.  Then as icing on the cake, the choirs sang during intermission.  My girl stood up and sang her little heart out with a smile on her face.

Sunday was a little quieter.  The morning started out with cookie baking for our church family and then off to church we went.  The highlight of Sunday came after church.  I took the kids shopping to pick out food for the Csillag's birthday bash and for the Kinette Hampers.  The kids have spent hours volunteering at the food bank so they know exactly what goes into the hampers.  These are foods that because of their food intolerances, we don't normally buy.  Watching my kids comb through new sections of the store looking through these forbidden foods, discussing what to buy - my heart was so full.  Then it was off to drop the little one at the party, which was a blast from what I could see from all the smiling faces at the end of the day.

There are so many reasons that I love the Christmas season.  The spirit of giving is so prevalent at this time of year.  The opportunities that this gives our family to not only witness the best of humanity but also to participate in it is something that I am so grateful for.  My hope and wish is for that beauty to continue on after turkey is consumed and the trees and decorations have been taken down.

That was my whirlwind, crazy, wonderful weekend.  I was kind of grateful to see the bus pull away on Monday morning so I could sit with my cup of tea and catch my breath.