Hard to believe Christmas has come and gone already...I thoroughly enjoyed my week off of work with my kids, but dang it flew by! Feels like I was just sitting on the couch acting like a silly giddy school girl, grinning at Mike saying "I have a WHOLE entire week!!!". Then, this morning, back to work. It was nice (sort of) to get back into a routine, and if there were ever any kids who needed a routine to stick to, it's mine! So, it will be good to get them back on a regular schedule...
We had a GREAT week last week...I slept in every day (6:45 is definitely sleeping in when you normally get up at 5:00am!). We spent each day getting some things done around the house, then stopping to play. Then, running a couple of errands, then stopping to play. Then taking a nap, then getting up to play. It was loads of fun...we took some gifts up to the teachers at the girls' daycare, and Zoe FREAKED out, grabbing my leg saying she didn't want to stay. Made me feel SO good (er, sort of) - I must be doing something right if the kids want to stay home with me right? LOL :) I went into the week thinking that I would NOT focus on the fact that it was going to fly by, or that we wouldn't have time to get everything done that I wanted to get done. By the grace of God, I stay focused on those thoughts, and I did not worry, and I did not care about much else besides being with my kids (and with Mike when he got home!). I wholeheartedly enjoyed being with my family, and that was it. Ahhhhhhh, I needed it.
Christmas was good for us - the weeks leading up to Christmas were hectic and hurried and stressful, but in the end it was a great weekend. We started by going to a Christmas Eve service at The Village at 1pm. The time worked out well for us, since we were headed to my in-laws right after. But, I'm the genius that thought the 1pm service would be the lightest (after all, who wants to plan church smack dab in the middle of Christmas Eve if they don't have to?!). Not so much - it was PACKED...every single seat was filled; and we got there early! My parents and brother joined us, and we barely got seats for all of us...I took Rylie out in the middle to go to the bathroom, and on the way back they didn't want to let us in - I had to tell them we already had seats inside... they had to turn people away! There were people that just left, and people that just hung out outside waiting for the next service to start. Then, I was reminded afterwards that the Cowboys were to play at 3pm. Ohhhhhhhh, that explains alot. :) The service was a good one - the theme was on advent - which is (to some degree) what the weeks/days leading up to Christmas is all about. But I was reminded to not only focus on the first advent, the first coming of Christ, but the second coming of Christ, when He returns. I'm reminded that NOW is the time to live the life I've been called to lead. Good service. :)
After church, we headed to Pops and Honey's house for dinner, family time and of course presents. The kids had a great time, as always, and it was a fun evening.
Christmas morning, we had family time just for ourselves...the five of us at home, tearing open gifts, eating breakfast, drinking coffee, eating candy, playing with new presents...all of a sudden it was time to go to Pop-Pop and Nana's house...so we scrambled to throw everything into the back of my car and head over. Then, MORE presents, food, all the good stuff. Then, finally, back home to just the five of us. I (of course) immediately began to clean up and organize all the goodies, THEN sat down to a quick dinner. :)
I am hopeful that I can carry forward the Christmas spirit all year...we try to remind our kids, and I'm trying to remind myself - Christmas is not about the one day each year...it's an everyday way of life, the idea that every day is a gift from God, and that everyday I have much to be thankful for - my salvation, my family, the place where God has me. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!
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| Our reindeer cupcakes! |
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| Drinking hot chocolate while watching the Christmas Story |
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| Arden, Josh, Zoe, Cooper and Rylie |
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| Zoe - with her new baby! |
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| I have no idea. Seriously. |
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| Getting ready to sprinkle the "reindeer treats" before going to bed on Christmas Eve! |
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| Sprinkling!!! |
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| With our red velvet cupcakes for Santa...note how Rylie and josh are looking at the camera, but Zoe is eyeing the plate! She cracks me up! :) |
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| Christmas morning - opening stockings! |
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| My tiny Santa |
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| Christmas morning - opening stockings! |
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| Santa got Rebel a new bed! :) |
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| Rylie with her ladybug necklace |
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| Zoe wearing her new robe. And rain boots. And new pajamas. |
This next series of pictures are our family photo shoot - it's become a tradition now to get them done every fall, so that we can gift one of the shots of the kids to our families, and we've started using a couple of the shots on our Christmas card that we send out every year. This year, the pictures were done by Michael Hansen. I know him through my parent's church, and he did a shoot for their 25th wedding anniversary last year. He did a great job with those, and a great job with these! I'm thrilled with the way SO many of these shots came out...thank you Michael Hansen for taking such great shots of our family! :)
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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| Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen |
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Picture courtesy of Michael Hansen
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