Hallmark Christmas Movie BINGO

I was watching my first Hallmark Christmas movies last weekend and as I was stitching a project, my head was listing things that so many of these movies have in common. If you have watched a few than you know what I mean.

Last Christmas we started a game around our house. Each viewer in the house had until the first commercial break (which usually takes a little longer since they are trying to establish the story line and characters) to predict who would end up with who, and any other details they wanted to predict before the first commercial break was done. Then, we see if anyone had it right by the end.

This year, as I sat and watched the first three of the season, being a teacher, I quickly thought "I bet there is a BINGO game generator online" AND "I bet I could make bingo cards out of some of these similar themes and characters.

Some have asked me for my list. It is ever evolving and as you read through these that I have shared, you will more than likely come up with a few of your own. (Especially if you are a seasoned Hallmark Christmas Movie watcher!) So, as you read through this list, feel free to add any of your own in the comments and our bingo games will be all the better for it! Let the Hallmark Christmas movie watching begin!

• royal main character
• Candace Cameron Bure
• ice skating scene
• bah humbug older relative
• special Christmas ornament
• cookie contest
• snowman building scene
• tree lighting ceremony
• orphaned main character
• mistletoe
• trying to get back the Christmas spirit
• travel delays
• ugly sweater contest
• Christmas ball
• closing the big business deal by Christmas
• work-a-holic main character
• Christmas tree farm scene
• an injured Santa
• character named Nick
• dogs
• Christmas decor contest
• main character actor is a singer in real life
• single mom main character
• trying to find something that is lost
• a marriage proposal
• soup kitchen or shelter volunteering
• bratty spoiled rotten kid(s)
• saving a small town business from failure before Christmas
• snowball fight
• falling in love with a total stranger by Christmas
• special ingredient hot cocoa
• estranged adult child reunites with parent(s)
• car problems
• break up of mismatched couple
• solving a Christmas mystery

Oh and there are so many many more! If you run across a good BINGO generator, share that too. I found two. One I like all right but the cards are decorated beautifully for Christmas if you choose the Christmas theme and I would eat up all of my printer ink. The other I found has duplicated the same thing on two boxes on the same card. You can go to town and add all of your favorite actors to your cards as well, the only rule would be if your actor plays a royal main character, you can only pick one or the other on your card. (or, make your own rules...its up to you)

There are so many channels that run these movies at this time of year. I can't help but think we are drawn to them because we would love a life however messy it is in the middle, to be a happily ever after. Maybe this BINGO game can make Christmas movie watching fun for the whole family!

Watching My Boy

Each of my children have their own strengths. I love to watch them do what they do best. This weekend it was Matthew. Although it was a blustery day, the sun was out a bit here and there and watching the soccer game wasn't uncomfortable. (I will say though, I had cuddle duds, a sweatshirt and my PARKA with gloves) Welcome to October in Iowa. Next week I could very well be in flip flops.

I have told him that it is to his benefit to be the youngest and to have older brothers and a sister who play soccer too. Matthew and Ryan spend a lot of time out in the backyard on nice days kicking the soccer ball around. Some days Matthew comes in crying because Ryan did kicked him or did let him score. Well, I can see the advantage of playing with a brother who is seven years older who also likes to win as much as you. I see the muscle memory when the ball comes to him. He isn't standing there waiting for it. He goes after it and most of the time he follows through.


I haven't ever had to tell him to be aggressive, he has just learned to play his hardest and best whenever he is out there on the field. He has learned that soccer is also about running and not just standing around and watching the ball. I know I said I would never be a soccer mom...never say never because spring and fall you will find me watching my kids play soccer, all three of them!

Sweet Sixteens

And just like that it is the early part of mid October. These three had a birthday last month that was sweet sixteen times three. I have to admit, as we approached their birthday I was feeling a bit apprehensive about three drivers. Not so much the driving but the fact that I would have to let go of a little more of the control in their lives. 

We make it through most "milestones" around here without too much craziness, but each time something new comes around it is the sign that these precious people, my precious people are going to be taking care of themselves sooner now than later. It is the goal of motherhood from day one and I have known it all along.

 

Looking back and reporting almost a month later on this event, I have gotten used to the new normal. Arguing over who gets to drive, which vehicle is available, and trying to keep them under my roof long enough to do their laundry and chores. They are each so busy accomplishing so much. Now instead of taking them different places, I am keeping track of the daily calendar to make sure they know who is picking up little brothers or who is riding together to different events.

It is hard to remember those early days when they were so tiny and I never imagined they would grow out of their preemie jammies. I cried, afraid that they were so fragile, so small. For so long I prayed for these children...and since then, so many times I have prayed like Zach, who ironically wasn't sure how to word one of his early prayers "help us with our blessings". I knew in my heart that he meant to say "thank you for our blessings" because that is what he heard from others. But, as I thought about it, God has led and helped through all these last 16 years. He is so faithful to us, in the good and the bad.

Psalm 56:3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.

Oh To Be NINE!

And just like that...my youngest is NINE! It is really hard to believe how fast time flies!

We celebrated at Grandpa and Grandmas the Sunday before.

Sisters like to get him gifts. He got new lacrosse balls from Stacey. They like to play together in the back yard and all of the balls that came with the rackets had been destroyed.

Dawn knows Matt well, a new Mario baseball cap!

Some Falcons gear from Auntie Chelle to go along with the football and flags he got from Auntie Bets and Uncle Sy at the party!

Mario Kart 8 from Mom and Dad...a boy has to race!

Here is what a sweet nine-year-old face looks like!

All geared up for another football season!

We ate at Oyamas to celebrate four birthdays this week! Crazy!

Friday From the Heart: He Will Hold Me Fast

Is it weird that I find peace and calm sitting out on my front porch listening to and watching the traffic go by on South 11th street in Marion? The wind is blowing, the sun is shining, the iced tea is refreshing. I watch as the evening "coming home from work" crowd drives past and I am thankful. Thankful for my life, and that I am sitting on this porch.

Time flies and it is hard to believe that we will be celebrating being in this house in Marion for FIVE years this coming Thanksgiving. Wow, was it ever an act of God that brought us here, no doubt. An answer to prayers and HUGE distraction during a very LONG recovery season for me. I think FIVE years and some days it still feels like I am recovering.

He Will Hold Me Fast was a blessing to me this week. I was at worship practice at church and this is a new song we practiced. I get the question often now "so how are you doing now?" I never really know how to answer that question. I will be honest, it is hard to get back into life when you aren't at the same physical level. I need to pace myself and not overdo things. For example, when I decide to go walking I need to ease back into longer distances. Not like last week when I walked for a couple of hours my first time out of the gate in a few months.

What I wrote above was actually started about 3 weeks ago. Since then I have sung this song many times and heard it in my earbuds, or blaring out from my computer. He does hold us fast. I was getting ready in the paragraph above to complain some about this chemo drug I am on. I stinks. Suppressing my estrogen and forcing my body into menopause stinks. But you know, it is not the important things of life.

I learned something on Wednesday that broke through a little bit of the "firstborn rule-follower" stereotype that is actually pretty dead on for me. My boy (my "baby" boy) is home sick. Wednesday he was at the doctor and tested positive for walking pneumonia. Thanks to a conversation with my mom when this same boy was about 5 days old, I remembered "First I am a mom..." You see, I was supposed to sub yesterday and felt TERRIBLE to have to cancel.

When I say I am going to do something, it is ingrained in me that I do it. I obsessed about it so much on Wednesday that I actually set up a back up with Mom to stay with him so I could be in that classroom. Truth is, My first job is being a mom and as my van load of kids went off to youth group (driving themselves), I realized that before I know it my "baby" will be out the door with the keys too. I remember like it was yesterday when the triplets were nine. It was a blink.

So, while he is watching a show, I type these words. And I plan for some snuggling and movie watching, Payday playing and reading together for the rest of my day. It is my job, and this job is one I move on from, someday being promoted to "empty nest Mom" and then eventually "Grandma". And the absolute truth is: I am gonna miss this!

Friday From the Heart (on Thursday)...

Brushing the dust and cobwebs off of my keyboard and my writing brain, I sit here and feel so blessed that it has been so long since I have posted. Blessed because such a gap in posts means that so much life was being lived that there has been no time to document. And, that is okay. I have actually gotten to the point that my brain no longer starts the first paragraph of a post while I am in the middle of one of life's amazing moments. I am finding myself less and less thinking "ooh, that would be good on the blog".

There is so much good. So much. We have also been living in a few months of terribleness too but isn't that the stuff of life? We experience the good and the bad and we grow stronger. Stronger alone, stronger in our relationships and stronger with God. Life means something. It isn't a specific purpose made only for me that I am trying to find somewhere along the way. It is in the everything and everyday that we find ourselves in contact with the Sovereign God. In the middle of yuck, whatever it may be (and boy can it come from every direction sometimes),  He knows and He is sovereign. I have a list of people who I know need to KNOW that right now. They are on my list, and so I pray.

Life's a dance they say (and sing), but much of it can be in a minor key. I think of how the music changes when we watch movies and then we know...this isn't going to be good. So many are experiencing the minor keys right now. How can I help, what can I do from the sidelines? There are others who have asked that question too. I don't know that there is a correct answer to that. There are actually many different things to do on the sidelines. (and if you don't count prayer as one of the most important things, I hope that you can open your eyes to this most important thing). My hands tend to get busy in times like this. Some run to their kitchen and whip up freezer meals or scrumptious baked goods. How do I know? Because I have received some of the yummiest meals and baked goods when I have needed them. Some write beautiful cards and letters of encouragement, some stop by unannounced with hugs, some may also anonymously send money in the mail, or maybe a bouquet of flowers.

Most of the time, just being present and not running from the uncomfortableness of listening to some dark thoughts or fears coming from the people we care about is huge! That is what helps the depressed and the hopeless ones in the world. Not backing down or bowing out until the waters are calm again. Nobody needs people like that around in bad times, or in good for that matter.

I was looking for a good image to go along with my blog today and found these bleeding hearts. I have loved bleeding hearts since I was young. I would like to challenge my friends who may not be as comfortable in the adversity. There was a day when I certainly wasn't. Run toward those who need you. If you don't know what to do, ask God for a good idea. We often think of prayer for the people who are hurting, sick or dying but what would happen if we also prayed "Lord help ME to be a light and a help and a support when I am so unsure of what to do." God helps the one in adversity as well as those who want to help. So, if you don't know what to do, ask God. If you are looking for a special purpose, that is yours. To love, not in the good times but in the adversity and always seek Him when you are unsure.

Back to School Season...

and we are tackling one last project in the living room! As I pop onto my FB feed every so often this past week I have enjoyed seeing my southern friends and their first day of school pictures. I personally am glad that there are still two-and-a-half weeks left of our summer. At least the school-less summer. Two are at marching band camp this week during the day and my summer traveler is home taking drivers ed.

She and I along with the younger ones took a trip to Menards last week. We decided as others may be shopping for back to school supplies, clothes and shoes, that we would go pick out a new color of paint for the living room. Why not? I mean, there are still 2 1/2 weeks left of summer break and we certainly could eek out one last project before we get serious about school.

Yes, that is how we roll here and today we have washed walls, taken off switch and outlet covers, taped all of the woodwork and puttied all of the holes in the wall. Oh, and we did finally agree on what color we will be painting which is called "DUSTY TRAIL".

It seems in the last few years when I haven't been involved in much of the painting projects here at our current house that there hasn't been very good care given to cleaning the brushes. So, it looks like I will be treating myself to some new tools for the job.

We will see how long the actual painting takes and when I will be able to show the after pictures. I didn't take a before picture, at least the picture before Stacey moved everything away from the wall. The question remains how we will get behind the fish tank but we will address that problem when there is nothing left of the project to do.

We are sprucing up to welcome something new to our living room decor. We can't wait to show the after pictures (four hours into the project and we are dreaming of the end!) So far it has gone well, prep is tedious work!