On Looking and Believing

I have this picture that I've  put up for Christmas several years now. It's an inexpensive print I purchased at some large department store as part of the Christmas decor. I've had some thoughts about what is meant by these words. I know what they mean to me, but is that what the artist had in mind? What are we to believe in this season? Is there some magical belief in miracles, Santa or wishes come true that we try to instill in our children and each other? 

In  One Thousand Gifts I've been reading about the importance of how we look at something. Where and how we look, will eventually determine how we live. Looking can equal believing. In the gospel of John, Chapter 3, Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, who came to him by night with a question about salvation. Jesus said to him, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." Nicodemus knew the account in the Old Testament that told of how Moses lifted a snake on a pole, and everyone who just looked at it, was saved. The words Jesus spoke about himself, should have made sense to him, as a religious teacher. This is a real "seeing is believing and believing is seeing" kind of story.

Looking with expectancy is what this season is really all about. Believing that in this baby born in  a stable, lie the answers to forgiveness and eternal life.  It is in our gratefulness for the greatest gift given, that we can know real joy. No wonder the angels on that night proclaimed, "Joy to the world!" They told the shepherds to go and see . . . go and look! Because when we look we give ourselves the chance to believe. And believing brings joy.

Accountability

Of all the rooms in the house to choose from, lately one of the grands' favorite play areas

 has been the basement storage room.

The discovery of all kinds of toys still stored in boxes and on shelves

  . . . is one that will not be forgotten.

Yesterday was no exception . . . there was big time excitement when I finally took them down.

This is where they have their Mimi's full attention . . . away from the kitchen

and other household distractions.

We sit on the floor and simply play. Sometimes, one of them runs over

 to the play house and comes back with a cup of something for me

 . . . and we continue to line up cars, adjust a tool belt or give a lesson on how to use a battery operated power tool.

Koen, barely one year old,

 pretends to be a lot older, as he observes and copies his cousin . . . . or his brother.

 

Landon, the ever observant one . . .

wanted to know about that one funny screw on the workbench.

He asked me who had done it. I said, "I don't know, but someone sure went to town on it."

 To which he responded, "Where were YOU when somebody did that?"

Nothing like feeling chided by a three year old for not paying attention at all times!

Before and After

You have seen glimpses of our living room before . . .

 

And now . . . the one taken as soon as it was set up. Is it okay that I was a wee bit excited? What is it about something new that makes you feel like you will love it forever?

I lit candles, before I removed tags! This photo shows the textured wall or the painted wallpaper.

I'm never too far from something with a bit of lace . . . not frilly, but a reminder of something old.

Simple . . .  soft . . . serene . . . for now.

In the early morning hours, I lay awake on my pillow and counted seats.  I can imagine it quite different in a few weeks, when we will all be together in our living room at Christmas . . . for the first time in 8 years. It may even be somewhat chaotic . . . but it will be sublime. Those who look, may find me secretly wiping a tear here and there.

Wearing the Message

It's been crazy busy.
I've been so intent on my lists of things to do
 that I just may have forgotten some of the obvious.
So he came prepared.
There are days I could use a shirt like that too.

Paintable Wallpaper

While we wait for that furniture truck, I can show you just how easy it is to put up the paper.

You need a cutting board, something to use as an edge for cutting, a good knife, wallpaper glue and a brush.



Choose a corner to start. Brush a section of the wall, as wide as the paper, with glue. Cut the length you need to cover, plus an inch or two extra and put it on the wall, making sure the corner fits well.

Follow suit by applying the next section of glue and add the next strip of paper. The paper we used had no pattern repeat so that made it real easy.

 

After each strip or two, trim along the base

and ceiling or, in this case, the chair-rail, keeping the knife firmly pressed against the object you are cutting. ( The white on the chair rail is primer that got covered with new paint later.)

If the blade is changed often enough, and the paper is firmly pressed into the crease, the cut goes well and looks tidy. And that's about it.

The Case of the Missing Stacking Donuts

Family times around here, until just recently, have been an "all or nothing" experience. They come .. sleep, eat, play for a week or two and then they are gone  . . . leaving a trail of little hair clips, single socks and trash cans full of diapers. Every room feels the loss of life . . .  giggles, goodnight kisses and requests for another drink at night, the bedroom door banging open against the wall and feet pitter patting to the side of our bed in the morning, breakfasts and lunches served all day long, interspersed with trips to the grocery store.
It was after one such family time last Christmas, that I could not find two stacking rings. I was putting everything back in it's place . . . you do that when the visits are far and in between. Usually I find every part of every toy and put it back in it's appropriate toy box.  I return the tiniest Russian Matryoshka doll to it's nest, the missing piece of every puzzle, the dolls to their cribs, tea cups and plates to the tiny china cabinet, and put the tools in their spot. It's like needing to bring order into the part of my life that I am able to control, and ends up being rather therapeutic while I listen to the laughter in the walls.

When I had put things back, I vacuumed . . . thinking that I'd find them under one couch or another. I have to confess . . . it was a puzzle to this housekeeper who thinks she knows what's where. What hiding place . . . what nook or cranny was there that did I not know about?
Then one day, when least expected, as we were pulling the china cabinet off to prime the walls . . .

there they were! Behind one of the heaviest pieces of furniture, a cabinet pressed up as close to the wall as possible. I wonder how a little mind thought to squeeze them behind there.
After almost a year gone by, it made me smile. Maybe because it was not an accidental loss, but a deliberate hiding spot.

 

I put the rings back in their place, bringing wholeness back to this 30 year old stacking toy.
And, with that, I close a certain memory and chapter of my life . . . that of the detailed clean up when the grands go home.