This is the question I asked Merle numerous times over the Christmas holiday this year...is it bad that I re-gift things,or good that I am being thrifty with what we have?
With everyone being sick the entire month of Nov.I barely had time to keep up with school and housework,let alone do much shopping,baking,making of special gifts,etc.. So when Merle started coming home from work with plates of goodies from the other guys' wives,I admit I felt like the 'bad' wife...but after all,don't they know I have 8 kids to take care off? Who really has time to bake all day? Let alone have enough left over to package up in a pretty container and send to someone else? So yes,I did it...the neighbor left some 'more' treats on the porch one night while we were out looking at Christmas lights (with our own versions of jingle bells,away in a manger,and the hallelujiah chorus being sung from the back of the van...all at once too ofcourse!) anyways...so there on the plate amongst the nicely decorated cookies was some yummy muffins,th ekids don't eat muffins...hhhmmm I got a bright idea! Repackaged them on a different plate and sent them to work with Merle,praying they tasted ok so no one would think that 'I' was a bad baker!(should have tasted them beforehand)
I had been struggling with getting the perfect Christmas letter written( how do you condense an entire yr with 8 kids down to a 1 page letter?)...after fighting with our computer and printer to even get it printed off,I realized I did not have the 'pretty' paper that I wanted.After an hour of looking at walmart,getting to hallmark 5 minutes after closing,and not getting a chance to get to any more stores alone...
We got a beautiful card and letter from a dear friend,I immediatly noticed how pretty the border around her letter was,hmmm did I dare? Oh it was such a good idea I didn't even let Merle finish reading it before I was hacking my 'ugly' letter apart and taping it over the words of the 'pretty' one.I could hardly believe it,it worked and it was pretty! Well until it came out of the printer looking,well.. hacked apart and taped back together *sigh*. I had tried,it got sent out anyway.(said friend didn't get a copy)
Christmas Day with my family...I took leftover cookies from our time with Merle's family earlier in the week.
The pictures of the kids that I quickly took one day when I realized that if I didn't take them then,it wouldn't get done in time...the sheet I used for a backdrop had little lines on it that showed through,as well as the ABC cards that are taped to the bookcase.*R* sat with his hand on his knee to cover up the hole in his pants,*Z* looked like he had a stick up somewhere it shouldn't be,*L* got part of his head chopped off,*M* wasn't too shabby,*K* appeared to be in pain,*A* was in desperate need of a haircut,or maybe just a bow in his hair,little *K* was a goof and her picture is pretty accurate to who she is,little *M* was good but blurry...wouldn't you know it,the nephew's picture turned out the best. *sigh*
I swear I am the only person who can mess up chex mix and green jello...although the kids did find it quite funny when I was slurping jello through a straw the next day calling it slugs. *sigh* ( good thing MIL brought her good chex mix over!)
The projects I did attempt to do before Christmas are just now getting done,with 2 lost somewhere out in walmart photo land..*sigh*
BUT...in all the craziness and chaos,I was reminded more than once,that all of this 'stuff' really didn't matter! The fact that Jesus gave us 'ugly' humans,his 'pretty' perfect son..crosses out my need for making others think I have it all together! And that is something I am not ashamed to re-gift this year!
Oh and I now know,I really need to start getting ready for next Christmas around the 4th of July this year! :)
