I Hate Winter....

I hate winter. 

Did anyone ever think they would hear me say that? 
Well, I do.  I hate THIS winter.  By February 4th we had gotten exactly 1.1 inch of snow.  Since then we have seen maybe...MAYBE, an additional inch but I might be stretching a bit. I am totally disgusted with winter, or rather the lack of winter! 

In early December I put up the beautiful paper snowflakes that Annah had made and I even used a spray snow on the corners of the windows to "pretend" there was drifting snow just outside my windows. You know, just until the real stuff showed up. Maybe that is what jinxed it.  At first I was encouraged by my snow flakes and fake snow -- that "fake it till you make it" adage -- but, what once encouraged me now mocked me! 

Last week there was talk of a "significant accumulation" storm rolling in and it was almost certain we would see some snow on the ground. Yup, I took down the snowflakes and cleaned off the fake snow all in anticipation of the real thing.  Again, winter mocked me.  Not one flake flew that day. 

I am so done with winter. I say let it be spring with lots of sunshine and warming temperatures.  Oh wait,I think we already have that since it hit 70 last week! :(

There is always next year and I am already hoping for white. Come on, winter!  Show me what you are made of! I will be rooting for you!

18

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Somehow 18 years have come and gone since Jacob made his way into our family and our hearts.  His arrival in the wee hours of that Monday morning changed our lives forever...in a good way, of course. :)

February 21st Jacob celebrated his 18th birthday. Three days later he took his driver's test and is now the newest licensed driver in the Valenta household! :) (He really has not been interested in driving much and as he thought about it he decided to wait until after he turned 18 so then he wouldn't be bound by the intermediate licence laws we have in Kentucky. That's Jacob, always thinking!)

 

Jacob at age 1

Jacob saluting and holding the Wee Sing America song book

(his favorite back then!)

 About age 6 

In 5th and 6th grade Jacob had an obsession with duck tape (okay his obsession went beyond just 5th and 6th grade!) and he made duck tape clothes. 

In 6th grade he wanted to challenge the dress code and wear his duct tape pants just to see what they would say since no where in the dress code did it nix clothes made out of duct tape.  No, we didn't let him do it but a teacher did ask him to bring them to an open house at the school because he wanted to see them!:) 



Hmmm, what is there to say about this one? :)

Jacob found watching a movie on a laptop while crocheting....

he is a boy of many talents!

A favorite picture of Jacob.....

Tim and Lisa's wedding August 2008

Those eyes.....love them!

Jacob's senior picture.  You can't tell in this picture that his eyes are still blue but trust me, they are!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

We love you, man! :)

Age Doesn't Matter....

Yesterday I celebrated my 50th birthday.  Yup, 50 YEARS I've been hanging around. :) Some have asked me if I am depressed about turning 50. 

Depressed?  About what, I wonder? 

Depressed that I've spent more than half that time married to my best friend? 

Depressed that I have 6 great kids who have shaped me as much, if not more, than Tim and I have shaped them?  

Depressed that we've seen our own miracle with Tim's recovery from cancer?  

Depressed that I get to be 50? 

Not a chance! 

How I can be depressed when I have seen so many blessings in my life? 

I've had 50 years to love, to learn, to grow, to laugh, to cry, and to see the hand of God in my life.   I have lived and that is what life is all about!

Sometimes we are tempted to think that if we could turn back the hands of time we might change things that we experienced. My 50 years have taught me that I wouldn't change a thing because each experience, good or bad, has shaped me. 
To change my experiences would be to change who I am and who I am continuing to become. 
 

And as Annah so wonderfully reminded me on my birthday,

"Age doesn't matter....unless you are cheese!" :)

Partly Sunny With a Chance of Tears

We rang in the New Year in our traditional Valenta style with pizza rolls, soda, chips, dips and games.  Mingled in the celebration was Jordan packing for his next adventure, going to BYU Idaho for school.  It has only been a short few months since Jordan got back from serving a mission in Brazil and now he is packed and ready to go once again.  As we made packing lists and to do lists over the past week or so it has felt like we were getting him ready for his mission all over again.  And perhaps we are.  Two years ago his mission was to go and teach people in Brazil the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Now, his mission is to go and learn so he is prepared to meet his future.  

The mom in me wishes his future kept him closer to home but I know it is his time to spread his wings and go make his way in the world.  The thing that I have learned about being a mother over the past 25 years of raising kids is that our job as parents is to teach and prepare them and then let them go.  From the time our children come to us we are preparing to let them go. 

So early tomorrow morning (3:30 a.m.!) we will bring Jordan to the airport to send him west to the land of colder cold and the potential for more snow than his eyes have ever seen. (I hear that is not the case right now but I promised him in the months ahead he will see snow!)  We chuckle that Jordan can't really comprehend an Idaho winter and he doesn't even know it yet. :)  

As we talked about what he needed for Idaho I suggested boots.

"BOOTS???" he replied in a tone that let me know that he thought I was off my rocker. 

He continued, "I don't need BOOTS! My sneakers are just fine.  I don't need BOOTS!" 

I smiled as I knew there was no convincing him so I simply said,

"Jordan, Idaho gives winter a whole new meaning. I think you will just have to get out there and see for yourself.  I think you will decide that you *will* need boots but you can get them out there if you decide you need something more than your sneakers." :)

We haven't discussed boots again. 

We did get him a coat that I am sure is *not* up to Idaho standards as far as winter garb goes but it was the best we could do with our mild Kentucky winter selection.  I think he will get good at layering his clothes very quickly. :) 

I did find him a thick hat that I hope will help keep his noggin warm in light of his extremely short haircut.  Jordan gives himself haircuts so a few days ago when it was time for a haircut he went to work.  I waited for my cue to trim his neckline when he said he was ready. When he called I went to add my contribution but found it hard to hide my shock when I saw how short his hair was.  The first words out of my mouth was, 

"WHOA!  What happened?"  

He grinned and explained that he likes the top a little longer than the sides so he cut the top and then changed the clipper gauge to a shorter one to do the sides.  He thought the top needed to be shorter and began cutting the top again without thinking to change back to a longer gauge!  The result was an over all *very* short haircut....like short, short, as in "I can see your scalp" short!  We both agreed that he would probably be wearing his new thick hat a lot in Idaho, including to bed, until his hair grows out some. BWHAHAHAHAHA! :) 

This is before the haircut :)

So the boy is on his way to his future without us really knowing when he will be back home again.  That is the part that tugs at my hearts strings. I thought I would feel better knowing he was in the states but I don't.  Gone is gone whether in Brazil or Idaho.  

As we make our way to the airport with him in the wee hours of tomorrow morning I know the forecast for the day.....

Partly sunny with a chance of tears.

         

The Truth About Santa...

As the Christmas season began this year I came across a blog post written by Martha Brockenbrough from last year.  I don't know a lot about Martha Brockenbrough other than she has two daughters named Alice and Lucy and she is a writer but I fell in love with her post titled, "The Truth About Santa". I had planned to share it on my blog earlier on in the month but things don't always go as planned. The truth about Loretta is that she doesn't always have enough time for the things that she would love to do, like blogging. :)  But despite my harried life right now I wanted to share this profoundly written post by Martha telling her daughter, Lucy, the truth about Santa.  It makes me tear up each time I read it. 

The Truth About Santa

A few months back, the Tooth Fairy got busted. She left a note for Alice up on her computer, and Lucy figured the whole business out. The Tooth Fairy cursed her need to write notes in elaborate fonts and tried to come up with a cover story, but it didn’t fool Lucy.
To her credit, Lucy has kept the secret from her little sister, who still hasn’t lost a tooth and deserves to wake up with money under her pillow.

But the Tooth Fairy knew it couldn’t be too long before Santa was similarly unmasked. She didn’t know when or how, but she knew the days of magic in her house, at least magic of a certain sort, were coming to an end.

And the Tooth Fairy—by which I mean myself—was pretty darned sad about the inevitable, which finally arrived last week.

Lucy and I have been exchanging notes since the school year started. We’ve talked about all sorts of things—sports, books we’d like to read, adventures we’d like to have, even stories from when I was in third grade. For the most part, though, it’s been light, casual stuff. Until last week.

I NEED TO KNOW, she wrote, using capital letters for emphasis. ARE YOU SANTA? TELL ME THE TRUTH.

What do you do when your kid asks for the truth? You tell it, of course, doing your best to figure out a way that keeps at least some of the magic intact.

Here’s what I wrote:

---

Dear Lucy,

Thank you for your letter. You asked a very good question: “Are you Santa?”

I know you’ve wanted the answer to this question for a long time, and I’ve had to give it careful thought to know just what to say.

The answer is no. I am not Santa. There is no one Santa.

I am the person who fills your stockings with presents, though. I also choose and wrap the presents under the tree, the same way my mom did for me, and the same way her mom did for her. (And yes, Daddy helps, too.)

I imagine you will someday do this for your children, and I know you will love seeing them run down the stairs on Christmas morning. You will love seeing them sit under the tree, their small faces lit with Christmas lights.

This won’t make you Santa, though.

Santa is bigger than any person, and his work has gone on longer than any of us have lived. What he does is simple, but it is powerful. He teaches children how to have belief in something they can’t see or touch.

It’s a big job, and it’s an important one. Throughout your life, you will need this capacity to believe: in yourself, in your friends, in your talents and in your family. You’ll also need to believe in things you can’t measure or even hold in your hand. Here, I am talking about love, that great power that will light your life from the inside out, even during its darkest, coldest moments.

Santa is a teacher, and I have been his student, and now you know the secret of how he gets down all those chimneys on Christmas Eve: he has help from all the people whose hearts he’s filled with joy.

With full hearts, people like Daddy and me take our turns helping Santa do a job that would otherwise be impossible.

So, no. I am not Santa. Santa is love and magic and hope and happiness. I’m on his team, and now you are, too.

I love you and I always will.

Mama

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Valenta's! 

Autumn's Loveliest Smile...

"Autumn, the year's last loveliest smile." :)

~William Cullen Bryan~

   

It has been a lovely autumn, indeed.  I have enjoyed the changing leaves, the cooling temperatures and the inching toward winter that always stirs excitement in me.  The trees are bare now, the remnant of the autumn wind. Seemingly over night the leaves danced off the trees when no one was looking.

  

Thanksgiving is coming in just a few days. 

As a family we have so much to be thankful for. :)

"Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;"

~Colossians 4:2~