"I'm Too Excited to Sleep!"

Ever seen those commercials for Disney World where the little brother and sister are giggling before bed and the boy tells his parents he's too excited to sleep? Well, that was me this morning at 4:15. I wasn't giggling out loud, but inside I was overjoyed!..we're having Christmas for the Bobby Kasper family at my house today and most of my family will be here. Yes! Anna will be home! I think it was due to this fact that I couldn't sleep in the wee hours of this morning. That and it was almost 80 stinking degrees in our house. We now cater to the sleeping preferences of someone who's just almost one year old. What da heck.
It was sort of fun to be the only one stirring, though, because I got to spend some time really reflecting on Christmas..something I haven't been able to do yet this year it seems. I've been thinking a lot about Mary and what she went through..first of all being told BY AN ANGEL!! that she would be the mother of the Messiah, then traveling when she was about ready to burst (I was about ready to scream and burst about this time last year with little Olives squirming inside, so I sort of get that part..I didn't have to ride on a DONKEY amidst my misery, though, so...). To top all of that off, she's starting to feel serious contractions while they're looking for a place to stay. The place they find to stay? A BARN!! To think of going through the intense pain of labor and delivery while smelling animals and probably lying there in their stink makes me want to cry. I had an epidural and a doctor and a bed and a sanitary place for my baby...and I still cried. So, after all Mary and Joseph went through, here was Jesus. The King of the world, just a BABY. God knew that His Son would be born in the lowliest of places, it wasn't a mistake. He didn't forget to leave a spot for them in the inn..He chose to introduce Jesus in the most humble setting, so that we wouldn't feel dirty or unworthy coming to Him. Does that blow you away?
We're pretty excited here at the Toftness home..about everything about Christmas..family, friends, snow, cookies, cocoa, lights, sweaters, sledding, trees.....but most of all Jesus, who came to save His people from their sin. That's exciting stuff.

Merry Christmas from our family!

I was just looking back at all the photos I've posted, noticing that Oliver is never smiling.. and although he is quite stoic-faced a lot of the time, it's not all the time. To prove this, I'm adding a snap of him thinking he's funny..or someone's funny, anyway. (Maybe he knows how dorky I look!)

Here's something funny- Andrew helping decorate Christmas cookies! Yowzer..they look a little like they were attacked by the frosting. It was fun to have help, for sure, but you must know if you're going to ask for help, things aren't going to turn out the way you thought they would or should. I'm learning to give up some of my perfectionism and give in to Andrew coming to my rescue.. as he did when I was folding clothes the other day. What a man. The cookies taste just as delish as ever and the clothes are no longer sitting around in baskets. A very good thing, as Martha would say. Oh Martha. Oh Christmas.

I love snow! I love it. I am so thankful that it's going to be a white Christmas. I'm especially excited to have my sister home from OH and able to celebrate in the chill of wintery whiteness..I know Anna loves snow as much as I do. Due to the fact that Oliver's been sick for most of the winter so far, he hasn't experienced what fun it is to be in snow (it's hard to wipe a nose while wearing mittens). Soon we will have a sled, though, and we'll be tearing around the yard, disrupting the landscape. When I was little it was the greatest thing to be the first of all creatures to run through the yard after a snowfall. Oli gets first chance here..besides the squirrel and rabbit population..never mind, the competition's stiff.

Alas, he's awake. This little boy isn't in the Christmas spirit as far as I can tell- he's very against me getting anything done that has to do with the holiday..wrapping, baking.. He does enjoy looking at the tree with me, though, so that's something...

Our tree is finally tucked in with ornaments and presents and lights. It's looking awfully cozy under it all. The new challenge is keeping Olives out of the gifts..for some reason he's even more fascinated with the boxes than he was with the branches.

Besides that, lots of baking, wrapping and decorating is what we're up to. I guess I'm never done decorating for Christmas until the grand day is actually here..I keep seeing new ideas or arranging things to better accommodate my modest collection of Christmas cheer. What fun!!

Good night and merry Christmas!!

Here we are getting our Christmas tree. I was so excited for Oliver to experience hunting and chopping the tree. What do you know, he slept through that whole process! He woke up to Daddy and Hector wanting to play when we got home.

I'll have to get a picture at night with it all decorated. Oliver is bedazzled by the glow of the lights on the tree and the cheerful, somewhat askew decorations loading it down.

All for now.

Merry Christmas!

So, here are the Toftness and Kasper families at Thanksgiving time. We're at a record pace of adding 1.5 people to the families on average each year. That's exciting stuff!



This next topic has nothing to do with these pictures, but it has been a very dominating factor in my life lately: waking up in the night with Oliver. He's been sick, so I understand that he's having a rough time sleeping, but I find myself going back to bed -after calming him- and lying there in such abstract positions, waiting, hoping that Oliver won't hear me pull the covers up. It's a very delicate process..one that Andrew doesn't seem to understand. He doesn't usually wake up when Oli does (though lately,a couple times, he miraculously has), instead, what he does on a normal occasion is rustle around and make as much noise as is humanly possible while still snoozing. So here I am, all distorted and disturbed thinking I could possibly wake my baby up by the slightest bump or fumble, and there's Andrew, completely oblivious to life in the middle of the night. I envy him. Though, I must say, those times with my baby in the wee hours are very precious to me, as I rock him back to sleep singing "Jesus Loves Wuv." He's actually turning into quite the little cuddler . What a joy.

So aside from a daddy and boy having head colds, all is well in our home. I pray the same for all.

Merry Christmas!!

Cameras, Boys, and Dogs

Here is a picture my aunt Sylvia took of our family on Thanksgiving. Thanks Sylvie! We also had some Toftness and Kasper family pictures taken that I will post. Pictures are amazing. I'm discovering how much I took my camera for granted now that I can't use it anymore. I guess I didn't know to list it along with my other blessings. Oliver's doing all kinds of crazy things lately that I can't capture.

Yesterday Oli decided to make a complete conversion to real crawling all the time. He's faster than a speeding bullet. Roy Rogers would have dispatched Trigger had he known it was humanly possible to crawl so fast on his own. Olives is very sick right now, too, so I can't imagine the speed at which he'll crawl when he's back running on all four cylinders.

Speaking of which, Hector (the dog) was hit by a car the day after Thanksgiving, and it seems is now on the mend. He may or may not have broken a front leg, we still aren't certain. Since he's been injured we've had him in the house more (I think we feel sorry for him..although I do hope he learned a lesson from this fateful incident as well), he and Oliver are getting to know each other better. This is one of the greatest exchanges to watch..Olives crawling up real slowly, Hector, curious, pokes a quick lick right in Oliver's face, Oliver momentarily retreats, then goes in for more. I think they love each other. They'll be best buds one day.

Well, that's all for now. The boss just woke up so I better not be dallying..there's work to be done! When do I get a nap?