Holy Snow!

Last night as I was putting the girls to bed, Kiera said, "Daddy, ask Jesus for snow."

Daddy did what any daddy would do at that moment. I prayed for snow. After finishing, I told Kiera, "Now, we'll see if Jesus says, 'Yes.'" Little did I know...

The news had been saying that we had a chance for rain with a wintery mix, but since the temperature wasn't expected to be below freezing when this occurred, I wasn't too optomistic that we'd see any snow. And if we did, I didn't think we'd see any accumulation. Well...

About 2:30, I heard a strange sound at the church. I could tell it wasn't rain, so I came out of the office, and it was a wintery mix--sleet and snow. Believing that this would be the only chance we'd get to see snow, I raced home and got Kiera up from her nap. (Kaylee was dead asleep at the time.) I wrapped Kiera up in a blanket and took her outside to see the snow.



After checking out the snow for a few minutes, I took Kiera back inside and laid her back down. She was still pretty tired. I went back to work, called my parents and told them it was snowing. While talking, Dawna buzzed the office and said that Kaylee was up and wanted to see the snow too. Well, I raced back home and took them outside to see this rare occurrance. About 3:30, the snow stopped, and I thought we were through. Well...

We had a wonderful supper. I made chicken and dumplings that were absolutely hot and delicious. They really warmed you up! While eating, we had the news on, and, of course, the main story was the snowfall in Houston. They showed the radar, and it indicated that there was heavy snowfall right in Cat Spring! I went outside just to check things out. Well...



THE SNOW WAS ACCUMULATING!!!! I almost couldn't believe it. I raced inside and got Kiera and Kaylee to show them. All day they had talked about making a snowman, but there was very, very little on the ground. So, where would the snow accumulate so that they could build a (little) snowman?



THE TRAMPOLINE!! Of course. Dawna and I wrapped the girls up in their heavy sweaters, and I took them into the backyard. I rigged a halogen light that I bought a year ago, and they had plenty of light to work and play by.



The girls wanted a snowman, so Daddy put on his gloves to keep his hands from getting too cold. Needless to say, this is a South Texas snowman. Such snowmen are much, much smaller than their kin up north.



And what would snow on the ground (trampoline) be without a snowball fight?



You know, it's quite interesting that even though I am a pastor and someone who has faith, I really didn't believe Jesus would make it snow. I've got too much adult in me, but I know a little girl who really and truly believed that if she asked Jesus for snow, He would deliver. Consider it a lessoned learned. Thank God for Holy Snow!

Damn!-My Book-Debt Free-Decorating Round Two

It's been a very eventful few days for the Haug household. We'll kick it off with an interesting episode that occurred this past Thursday.

Damn!

I was sitting at the kitchen table shortly after supper when Kiera came up to me and asked me if she could do something. I can't remember exactly what she asked, but I do remember that my answer was, "No." I also really remember what she did next.

Kiera hung her head, and in perfect context, emphasis, and form said, "Damn!"

It was one of those moments where you wanted to laugh and be furious at the same time. It's no mystery where she learned the word. I've said it enough. She's been around other adults who have said it, but now we have to teach her why some folks can say it and others can't. She's right in the middle of the "Why?" stage right now, so things could prove interesting.

My Book



Yep. I've written a book and gotten it published. Now, lest you think this is some great deal, please know that I had to pay for the publishing myself. It's quite difficult to get a publishing company to even look at what you've written. They have a limited amount of books that they publish, their own regular authors, and a strict limitation on how many transcripts that they will accept. All this leads up to rejection after rejection after rejection for most new authors. It was the same for me.

However, I'm fortunate enough to have the ability to pay for my own (limited) publishing, and now I'm trying to sell the book. You can see the title: What is God Calling Us to Do and Be: Discerning God's Will for Your Life. It stems from a sermon series/Bible study that I had at St. John. We'll see how things go with selling and whether or not folks actually get anything out of it.

Debt Free

We took a moment to thank Nanaw this Friday. She left us a tidy sum of money as part of Dawna's inheritance, and so we payed off our Yukon XL. Taking a nearly $20,000 cashier's check to Security Service Federal Credit union was quite a unique experience considering we are now are in a position we have never been in our entire married life: debt free.

However, as my brother-in-law said, "You've got three kids. You'll never be debt free." There is a lot of truth in that statement; but the fact of the matter is we do not owe the banks anything. I guess in the middle of the current economic situation that's a good thing. Who knows what the next big purchase will be? But, in the mean time, we will enjoy not having to write any checks for monthly notes.

Decorating Part Two

Friday evening, we took the kids to Dawna's Granny's house for dinner. Granny's not doing so hot right now, and at Thanksgiving, she remarked more than once that she wanted to see our kids. Since we were in San Antonio, we thought it wise to head over. Dawna's mom picked up one of Granny's favorite things to ead: Arbys, and as we finished eating, Uncle Emery and Aunt Barbara showed up with a new Christmas tree and lights. It was time to decorate once again.



The girls knew exactly what to do, and they jumped in without hesitation. We had to be very discerning in what we allowed the girls to hang because Granny has some antique ornaments that shouldn't be handled by those who are too young or too old.



Granny got the thrill of the evening when Kevin, Jr. fell asleep and she got to hold him. It was a very special evening to have helped Granny decorate for Christmas: one that we will hold onto for quite a while.