So wishing I had had this picture before sending out my Christmas cards! :)

There are so many things that upset me about the assassination of Benazir Bhutto that I don't even know where to begin. The whole thing seems so surreal, like something you would see on a movie or read in a Clancy novel. I remember feeling this way after 9-11, as though what we were witnessing was not reality, but just an out-of-control movie plot. But the same sick feelings of being forced to confront the situation as very real and very able to change world history are causing my stomach to churn.

There's something so raw about murder, and yet we are completely jaded to it. All you have to do is watch the evening news and the chances are great that you will be treated to the details of anywhere from 3-5 murders a day, or at least some form of great bodily harm and violence. Our culture is addicted to it. The news mantra is if it bleeds, it leads. Even my kids are jaded to violence at 6 and 8 years old. This is the reality of our world.

But it takes on a new tone when someone who you have watched being interviewed and listened to and hoped would succeed is just stripped of her life right before the camera's eye. Someone who had potential to stabilize a wavering nation is just assassinated, right there in living color. I guess it was a similar feeling when JFK was shot, except on a much grander scale for our country. There are millions of people in America who have no idea what's going on in Pakistan, I realize, nor would they care if they did. But they should.

What we need to understand is that Pakistan is a nuclear country. They have the potential to use nuclear weapons on their enemies. As of right now, the country is in chaos. There are militant Islamists who are doing everything they can to take over, much like the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Understand, this means that Osama bin Laden and his cohorts have the potential of taking over a country with nukes. The writers of 24 haven't even schemed up a plot this scary.

Bhutto wasn't perfect, by any means. But she was pro-Western, pro-Democracy and had a huge following. She and her party were very likely going to take over the government in the January 8 election, which would have been a good thing for the war on terror. Now everything is in complete turmoil, and the conditions are ripe for a disastrous result.

Keep in mind that we have funneled $10 billion into Pakistan since 2001 in the hopes of keeping them a strong ally in the war on terror. They've been supposedly helping us make life difficult for al-Qaida and helping us find bin Laden. We've needed them as a strategic ally in the war in Afghanistan.

But lately, President Musharraf has been doing some extremely unsettling things. Most recently, he suspended the constitution and threw his political opponents in jail, and refused to step down as the military commander. Our government was able to put enough pressure on him to change his mind a little bit, but relations are far from rosy at the moment.

Whether he is responsible for the death of Bhutto is the question of the day. Did he actually order her assassination, or was he more covertly responsible due to his failure to properly protect her from innumerable threats and barely looking into the attack on her back in October upon her return to Pakistan from self-imposed exile when 140 people were killed and about 450 others were injured? Will he now use this chaos as an excuse to suspend elections and impose some kind of martial law, allowing him to stay in power far past the intended January elections? All of these things remain to be seen.

For now, we need to be concerned. We need to be watching this situation very closely and understanding that things in the Eastern hemisphere could spiral downhill very quickly. Not to be an alarmist, but it is vital that we pay attention so we are not caught off guard.

We also have an election coming up in this country in a few months. It is in full swing right now. Imagine sometime in October that al-Qaida carries out an attack and the front-runner is assassinated. What would we do? This is unfortunately not implausible. Remember about four years ago, in March of 2004 in Spain, when al-Qaida carried out the commuter train attacks in Madrid, killing a couple hundred people and wounding ten times that many? Three days later the party in support of the war in Iraq was voted out of power, and al-Qaida received affirmation of their policies. They won in Spain that year.

What would happen if they managed a major terrorist attack sometime late this summer, or an attempt on the life of a candidate? It's worth thinking about, because the possibility is very real. If al-Qaida gets its hands on nukes, who do we think will be their first target?

We have gotten so complacent over the past six years because nothing else has happened to us. So much so that we are able to attack our own military for doing the very things they need to do to keep us safe. It is ludicrous. One major political party in our country believes the war on terror can not be won, and wants to be voted into office based on that premise. Could we make a bigger mistake as a nation when it comes to our national security?

The American Thinker has an article today quoting Fred Thompson that demonstrates he understands the problem. I believe that he would be a great man to have in office in these troubled times. I don't think he's going to be the guy, though. As much as he looks great on paper, he's just not coming across so well on TV, which I don't understand since he has been an actor all these years. While McCain has many years of experience in American foreign policy, I don't trust that he would be able to keep a cool enough head under pressure. I think Giuiliani would do well in national security, but I worry about returning the White House to an era of questionable ethics. I honestly have no idea what Romney or Huckabee would do, but I'm quite sure Huckabee would do it in God's name.

I have said it so many times, and I will say it again. National security should be on the top of every American's mind when voting this year. All the other issues should take the back burner, no matter how passionately you feel about them. If America does not stay at the top of her game and we allow our leaders to go back to squabbling over the trivial, we will leave ourselves dangerously vulnerable.

So it's hard to tell from this picture, but last night, Christmas Eve, we noticed that our bean plants had taken the form of three crosses. We were amazed at the profundity of this, and were able to take a minute to remember that Christmas isn't just about the birth of Jesus. It's about the most amazing story ever told, of God coming to earth to make the ultimate sacrifice for a world full of sinners. What indescribable love!

The last week has been so full. We've had long rehearsals, followed by a 12-hr day at the church on Saturday, followed by a journey back and forth to Alabama, followed by a day of getting ready to have our family Christmas celebration at my house last night. Jeff and I are just completely worn out. Today began early of course, but has been so much fun.

Last night, right before the kids went to bed, Bradley remembered they hadn't put out the milk and cookies. This year Bailey got to write her own note, and she was so proud of herself.
If you can't make it out, Bradley wrote, "Dear Santa, I hope you like what we set out for you. It is okay if you didn't get me everything I wanted. Sincerlly, Brad. P.S. Wrap the presenst pleas." (I'm going to attribute the bad spelling to his being so tired.)

Last year Santa wrapped the presents for the kids rather than having it all out for them when they walked in the room. We all liked this so much better, as it builds the anticipation and makes the fun last longer. I'm just glad the kids liked it this way better too.

Bailey had me write hers out so she could copy it. Her first dictation was about six sentences long, so I made her shorten it. This is what we ended up with...

"Dear Santa, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Love, Bailey." Short and to the point.

She was thrilled when Santa wrote his thank you on her note. We all marveled at how he can eat so much at every house!

We told Brad and Bailey that they couldn't come in our room to get us until 7:00. So at 7:00 on the dot, Bradley burst into our room announcing Santa had come! We couldn't be annoyed, because we both remember forcing some pretty early mornings growing up. But another hour of sleep would have been divine!

As we were waiting on Daddy to say we could come downstairs, we managed to survive what could have been a nasty accident and Christmas in the emergency room. Bryant was standing at the top of the stairs, kind of banging his butt against the gate. I was standing in my room watching, and the thought occured to me that he could push the whole gate over and go toppeling down the stairs. But before I could voice these thoughts, what actually happened was Bailey, for some unexplicable reason, decided to open the gate. So the next time he went to bang his butt, he fell backwards through the gate and did back flips down the stairs. Fortunately our stairs have a landing before they make a sharp turn, so he didn't fall down all of them, but needless to say we didn't start off the morning exactly as we had planned. It's never good to yell at your child on Christmas morning, but I just couldn't fathom what had made her open the gate. Original sin, I guess!

So once we all calmed down and Daddy said it was okay, we all descended the stairs into Christmasland. Most things were wrapped of course, but the kids got a mini-trampoline, and it was out on display. This has already been a tremendous hit, and I'm loving the energy it eats up, and how the jumping is no longer on the furniture!

But undoubtedly, the biggest hit of the morning was Santa's gift. After months of hinting (and begging) the ever longed-for Nintendo wii is now a reality at the Swords house. Screams of joy and multiple versions of the happy dance have filled the day.

The sheer genius of this game system blows my mind. I can't begin to get my brain around how the thing works. But it is cool. Really cool.
Tomorrow we'll be off to Christmas with Jeff's family. Like so many of us, I fear that my kids have no concept of what it's like to not have the things you need and want. In their world, if they want something bad enough, it appears. I'm so thankful that we are able to provide and have family that are so generous, but I worry about the message my kids get. I struggle with it every year, and yet nothing really ever seems to change. Maybe one year we'll get brave enough to do something radical and punt gifts altogether. But I doubt it.

For now, hopefully I'm able to remind them that it is more fun to give than receive, and that they are very lucky kids.

Apparently Bailey has picked up on this a little. When Jeff's folks were here on Friday night, they brought a few pre-Christmas gifts. The kids were waiting to open them until Jeff and I left for dress rehearsal. When I walked in the room, Bailey was sitting on the couch in front of her wrapped gifts. She said, "Mommy, I'm doing what you said."

I said, "Really? What's that?"

"I'm not pouting, and I'm thankful for what I have!"

May it be so. :)

christmas with the ogles

Here comes Santa Claus...

Yesterday we drove to Alabama for Christmas at Jeff's grandparents with his mom's two sisters and their families. Everyone was there this year, and we had a great time with family, some of whom we haven't seen since last Christmas. This year we did it on Sunday afternoon instead of at night, and I think everyone agreed it was a great change. This way we were done by early evening, and Jeff and I weren't driving home in the wee hours of the morning.

There are two grandparents, three daughters, three son-in-laws, six grandchildren, six grandchildren-in-law (of which I'm the ONLY granddaughter-in-law :)), and ten great-grandchildren. Lots of food; lots of chaos. But part of the reason we liked doing it in the afternoon was that the kids were able to go outside and run some of their energy out. That was great!

Poppa G helped Bryant open his presents. The flashlight was a hit, but I think the Elmo xylophone song book won the favorite present award!

This year we also decided to take pictures of the family by thirds, so we didn't have the enormous task of getting everybody lined up all together and trying to have everybody look good all at the same time. I think it worked very well.

Bailey was looking at the picture we took last Thanksgiving where everyone was in it all together. She so eloquently looked up and asked Jeff's aunt, "Do we know all these people?!"

Hope you all have as much as fun as we are!

Ain't we pretty?

This year our choir had the unique opportunity of being a part of Michael W. Smith's Christmas tour. There wasn't a concert in Nashville this year, so Michael agreed to do a charity concert at our church after his tour was completed, with the offering going partly to his Rocketown, and the other part to our partner church in Cape Town, South Africa, Living Hope. Because the tickets were gone to the 7:00 show in a matter of 3 or 4 minutes, we ended up doing two concerts, one at 2 and one at 7:30. This made for a long, but thrilling day.

Not only did we get to sing back-up for Michael W. Smith, but this year he was touring with The Katinas, as usual, and Melinda Doolittle. What amazing talent all of these people have, and they all seem to have hearts of gold. It was such a huge privilege to be a part of this, and just added to the long list of reasons why I love being a part of my church.

Most amazingly, the conductor for this tour was David Hamilton, our own church pianist. David is truly one of the most talented people I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and certainly one of the most humble. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to work with him on a regular basis, when people all over the world pay him the big bucks to do his thing. He orchestrated and arranged the Disney World Halloween parade, just as an example of his demand. And yet he still makes it to church on Sunday morning to play the piano as often as he possibly can. What an example he is of using the talents God gives you to His glory. I've learned so much from him.

And on the note of humility, I was thinking on the way to church Saturday what amazing people our music minister, Dennis, and his assitant Jeremy are. Most choir directors look to the Christmas program as their moment to shine. They are out there dressed to the nines and it is time to show off "their" choir to whoever decides to show up. Dennis and Jeremy have worked unbelievably hard over the past six months getting this thing together. The ticketing process was a nightmare for them. They saw attitudes from people that I'm quite sure they'll never be able to forget.

And yet, on the day of the concert, neither one of them stepped foot on the stage, other than perhaps to adjust some wires or something before anyone was there. They were behind the scenes, working with the tour people, working with disgruntled ticket-nonholders, and thousands of other things. I'm so impressed by this. I've known Dennis' heart for ten years now, and I'm not surprised by it. But just so thankful to be led in the worship ministry by a couple of men who truly get it. It's much easier to lead worship when you have such a great example to follow.

I hope I never get so used to these cool opportunities that I forget how special they are and take them for granted. This is a unique place to live, and I'm so thankful the Lord has us here!

Ask and you shall receive:

2 boxes powdered sugar

1 can Eagle Brand milk

1 stick margarine

1 tsp vanilla

1 C finely chopped pecans

2 jars maraschino cherries

1-2 boxes semi-sweet chocolate baking squares

1 cake paraffin (Gulf Wax)

Mix sugar, butter, vanilla, nuts and enough Eagle Brand milk to have dough the right consistency to mold. Roll into small balls. Press hold in center. Insert cherry. Cover with dough. Continue until all dough is used. Melt 3/4 cake paraffin with 1 box chocolate. Dip each candy with a toothpick and set on wax paper to dry. (I usually go through them all once, and then dip them again. Then I dribble chocolate over the tops to cover the toothpick holes.)

Enjoy!

Beans and Cherries

Think they're ready to hang with Christmas lights yet? Who knew that you could really and truly grow beans with just a jar, water and paper towels?

So far our bean experiment has been a great success. It it just a matter of time, I guess, before they knock the jar over, but we're going to let them go as long as we can.

I asked them today, since it was the last day before Christmas break, if they had thought about whether or not they wanted to keep homeschooling for the rest of the year or if they thought they wanted to go back. Bradley said he wanted to keep homeschooling and for Bailey to go back. I think he was kidding...

This afternoon we continued with the Reid family tradition of making chocolate-covered cherries. This is an old family recipe, and has been part of my Christmas for as long as I can remember. The kids absolutely love it, as I did when I was their age. It's not often you have permission to roll food around in your hands like this and get messy.

Although the dipping is traditionally the adult's job, they just begged and begged until they wore me down. I had let them use the extra dough to make little bitty dough balls, and they were each allowed to take a turn at dipping. They learned that it really is harder than it looks!

No need to tell you how they enjoyed the fruits of their efforts. That face says it all!

I hope you all enjoy your family traditions over the next few weeks. If you don't have any, it's never too late to start. Let me know if you need a good cherry recipe.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Not so much fun when you have to work all day, but we found a few minutes for Daddy's favorite birthday dessert. Once they all blew out the one candle, it was nice and germ-free. We share the love in this family.

Once Jeff's birthday is here, you officially have one week left until Christmas. Get shopping, Debo!

Segregation in Alabama

If you've ever wondered how serious the Alabama/Auburn rivalry is, this picture says it all!

Thanks for the laugh, Darlene. :)

And this is what they spent the rest of the afternoon doing...

By last night they were completely exhausted. It's the first time Bradley has asked to go to bed at 8:30 EVER!

Since I know you are all as sucked into the miracle of beans growing in a jar as I am, I thought I'd share our latest growth. It is unbelievable how these things are literally growing noticeably every couple of hours. I've never watched anything grow this fast before. Now we're all just wondering what is going to happen. Obviously if they keep up this pace they will outgrow the jar before long. We're just hoping to see them start growing new beans first. Stay tuned!

Yesterday the homeschool group at my church had the privilege of helping with the Christmas Food Baskets. Our church will provide over 300 needy families with some wonderful packages of food and other useful things this Christmas. Our job yesterday was to assemble the boxes. I was so impressed with all of our kids. They worked so hard to put these boxes together, and I didn't hear any complaints other than being thirsty. It was a great project for them.

Bradley was a pro with the tape gun, and he LOVED having this responsibility!

Bailey spent most of her time slapping stickers on two sides of each box. But part of the time she was transporting boxes down the the deaf chapel hallway. This is what it looked like down there at one point.

These are just a few of the #1 boxes.

Here's our hard workers, ready to head over to Pump it Up for the rest of the party! Things like this remind me why homeschooling really is a blessing to our family. I love that my kids worked so hard to help others. At least for a few hours, Christmas wasn't about them, and that's a really good thing.

Check this out! This is how much our beans have grown since yesterday morning. If this keeps up, we just may find a golden goose!

By the way, my boy Fred kicked some butt at yesterday's debate. It's about time, I say. Too bad only about 12 people saw it.

Now I must vent. I have no specific knowledge of how my e-mail got commandeered by all the right-wing crazy groups (although I can only assume it's because I have contributed to Repulican candidates at various points in the past.) But I get at least 5-8 e-mails a day from "Right vs Left" or "MinutemenHQ" and various groups like this. They go immediately to my junk mail, but they still annoy the heck out of me, because my Outlook display shows me when I have junk and I have to go click on them to make them not be highlighted anymore so I don't see a number in my "junk" folder. I realize I may be showing some technical ignorance here, but I'm going to pretend you're not sitting there thinking there is an easy way for me to fix that and continue my rant.

I also get e-mail from some group called "Christian Response," which just irritates me to no end. As if there is one Christian response and whatever stuff they are selling is it.

But I just got an e-mail from them that blew my mind. I have no idea who "Christian Response" is. None. But they just sent me an e-mail advertising some smear video against Hillary Clinton that is supposedly home videos that have been banned by the media showing her true monstrous personality and criminal activity. I had also received an ad for this same video earlier today from "Right vs Left" or one of the others, and just ignored it as typical hyper-partisan garbage.

But to get this e-mail from a group called "Christian Response"? What is wrong with this picture? This is my whole problem right now with mixing Christianity and politics. Call me crazy, but I don't think Jesus would sanction a mass distribution of hate-inspired, fear-mongering propaganda against anyone, even if she is a Clinton.

Growing Beanstalks

I just thought everyone in blogger land would want to see the fruits of our most recent science experiment. Here it is in Brad's own words:

Or if you prefer a legible copy:

"Last week we planted beans in a jar. If you want to do this expirament you will need:

* a jar

* beans 4-8

* a knife

* a roll of paper towels.

1. Use the knife to cut off a piece of the paper towel like this: (arrow to back, where you can find the diagram)

3. Put the wet smaller piece of paper towel in the jar. (an arrow here, showing the mixed up numbers)

2. Wet the smaller peice of paper towel

4. Put your beans in the jar to, like this: (diagram)

This expirement is so much fun!

The beans, after a few days, will began to grow. The sprouts go up and the roots go down.

As I'm not typically very good at science, you must share my sense of accomplishment at making it fun for my kids, at least this week.

How much more fun could our lives be?

Tuesday was one of those days that made me so happy to be homeschooling. I've lived in Nashville for almost 10 years, and I've always wanted to go to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. When I saw the commercials this year I made up my mind to go for it. Since we aren't confined by public school times any more, we were able to make a day of it. We still did school in the morning, and then it was time for a field trip!

After a lunch at Cracker Barrell, we headed out to Opry Mills. Parking at the mall is free, and within walking distance of both the Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland Hotel. Since we had over an hour to kill, we decided to hit the mall. Our first stop was the Aquarium restaurant. Not to eat, but just to look. That place is amazing!

Here's my little darlings, still young enough to humor their mom taking their picture in the middle of a crowded mall.

When we entered the candy store, my kids went nuts. They acted as if it was the first time they had ever seen candy in their entire life. They were each allowed to pick 1/4 lb., and I thought it would take forever. They finally settled on some loot, and I earned some serious mommy points.

Now it was time to head on over to the show. We met up with some other homeschooling friends, and the excitement was palpable. Our seats were in the balcony, and the kids thought we had the best spot in the house. I love experiencing things like this with them, because they make every moment new.

Although parts of the show were a little hokey, the Rockettes did not disappoint. The precision of their moves is just mesmerizing. I'm so glad we went!

Here's our future Rockettes, working out their kicks in the lobby. I'm so glad my camera takes video, because these clips are classic.

The very best part of the day was when Daddy and Bryant met us after the show. We had dinner at the mall and then walked over to the Opryland Hotel to see the lights. My goal was to get a Christmas card picture, and what you see above is the best it got. I was determined not to get too stressed out about it, because they were all really tired, and I knew getting "that" shot was going to be unlikely.

But we got a lot like this...
and a few like this...

Our final event was to watch the water show. In the Magnolia Garden of the Opryland Hotel there is a place that has about 30 fountains all shooting up out of the ground. Every hour they do a music and light show and the fountains put on an incredible display. My kids LOVE it, and this year Bryant got to truly experience it for the first time. The oohs and ahs were enough to melt anyone's heart, and made any stress up to that point completely worth it.

These are the moments when I can't imagine my life being any other way. May we all have exactly this look on our face at least once this Christmas season!