Nothing but NET

Have you ever seen the cartoon where some poor character is dramatically crying while trapped in a burning building?  Meanwhile, stories below the firemen are racing back and forth all willy-nilly with the rescue net attempting to catch him as he is about to fling himself to the ground.  Something like this... only more slapstick.  Yeah, we all know one of the possible endings;  a) the jumper has horrible aim and misses the net completely  b.) the net breaks and they end up in the basement of the street or  c) they bounce completely off the net into some other horrible demise.  Hilarious right?!? (Ahem)  As a kid i was always amused by these antics.  

Lately however, i have come to appreciate a good quality NET.

With all the busyness of the holidays, the details of an international move,  Chris half way across the world, and trying to be a patient mommy while dealing with every one's emotions, sometimes i feel like i'm free falling.  Lucky for me my net is WAY bigger and more secure than that cartoon!  See, i'm swinging on a trapeze and down below me my NET is long and wide.  No matter where i find myself falling there is an amazing net of friends & family to catch me.  

i've got my girls that are willing to leave their warm beds ridiculously EARLY in the morning to help me set up for a yard sale.

 Girlfriends that drive way out of their way for a cup of coffee with me.

i get phone calls of encouraging words, gifts left on my doorstep that warm my heart, & texts reminding me to hang in there.

New tutors that become friends and help us survive homeschooling!


i have a family that bends over backward to lend a hand.


Families that drive hours out of their way to give us their blessings.

Our co-op group that wanted us to give them a presentation on Dubai. 

Sarah, half way across the world is willing to wait in line for Chris' Visa so he can make it home for Christmas!

An amazing teacher asking if she can bring gingerbread crafting to my kids!? (Uh, YES please!)   

Spending Christmas Eve morning with good friends all clad in pajamas.  (You know how heart warming it is to see a bunch of our Littles dressed in footed PJ's jumping like a bunch of wild monkeys on a trampoline first thing Christmas Eve?!  SWEET!)

There are so many more acts of random goodness that has been poured over our family lately that i couldn't even begin to relay them all. 

  i have always know that i have fabulous friends from all over but as i teeter high above on the tight rope of this move, i have a new perspective of my security net down below and it is GOOD!

Thank you NET!  i love you!

   

Downsizing Stress....

If you ever get an inkling to move during the holidays, i highly recommend rethinking it if at all possible!  Seriously, things are getting crazy over here between the sorting, the packing, the paperwork, get togethers with friends and still trying to maintain some sort of normalcy of life.  Whatever THAT is!


This year we are downsizing our Christmas stress to compensate for moving stress.  Our home isn't our typical picture of a winter wonderland.  Tonight a string of lights went out on our ONE little imitation tree. (WHY is it ALWAYS the middle section!?!)  It's ok though, we can still read stories and camp out under it even if it is not "all aglow."  i am pretty sure the kids won't remember the year half of the tree was unlit....

Our Christmas village has felt the effects of tough economic times.  Half of the shops have gone out of business but thankfully the ones we like to frequent are still thriving!

Riley keeps asking me to find the box with the pretty mistletoe decoration.  i am pretty sure at this point it would be easier to scale a nearby tree and cut a fresh clump than to plow through additional boxes. 

Our home was filled with company this weekend and our house wasn't spotless.  i don't think it would even pass for clean.  There was not the slightest attempt to disguise the mounds of laundry or straighten the growing piles of "storage" items accumulating on the dinning room table.  In fact some of our company had to sleep outside.

But it's ok because we did a lot of other things that count for a whole lot of Christmas goodness.

Watching My Little Ballerina TipToe to Angel Music.

My Little Ballerina Captivated by the other Graceful Ballerinas

Baking our traditional Peppernuts in Grandpa's trailer.  

(Passed down to a 5th generation this year!)

Tickling the ivories Burnett Style!

Constructing gingerbread yummies with friends.

When we can't find our favorite Christmas CD we don't stress, we just start belting out our own little renditions.  

i wouldn't dream of opening Pinterest or a Christmas magazine to look for fabulous recipes, decorations, parties and gift ideas.   

Downsizing our expectations is a very good thing!

Simply enjoying the little things right now!