Every year I vow that it will be different. I vow that I will simplify Christmas and spend more time focusing on what Christmas really means. I vow that I will spend less money. I vow that I will enjoy the entire holiday season. And then December 25th rolls around and once again the biggest gift I opened up this year was a big box of EXHAUSTION! I felt like I worked non-stop until midnight on Christmas Eve. And the fact of the matter is that I did a whole lot less of my normal Christmas routine. I didn't bake at all until I made a half of a batch of cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. I bought our Christmas dessert at the store! (Sorry Mom). We didn't even decorate our tree until December 19th!
So at about 8pm on Christmas night, I was a mess. I had one of the worst cases of Tired Grouchies ever. I wasn't enjoying the family. I wasn't enjoying the food. I wasn't enjoying the movie we were watching or the games we were playing. All I wanted was to go to bed. It was at that moment that my Superman of a husband noticed my demise and his superpowers kicked in. He told me to put Riley to bed and then head to bed myself. I had a little angst about this because the kitchen was a mess and the house was a mess and after all, it WAS Christmas. But I was in no shape to argue with him.
After putting Riley to bed, I crawled into my bed and read for awhile. I think I drifted off to sleep at the oh so late hour of 9:30. I think I heard JP come to be sometime around 3ish (the problem you face when you get a Wii for Christmas!) Somewhere around 7:45 the kids came into our room wanting us to get up and play Wii with them. JP diligently got up, shut the bedroom door and told them not to disturb me. The next time I opened my eyes it was 10:30! I didn't think it was possible to sleep that long! But it gets better. As I walked downstairs in search of coffee, I found JP at the kitchen sink cleaning up all the mess from the day before. The kitchen was spotless. My coffee was waiting for me. It was bliss. To top it all off, later that day he took all the kids skateboarding leaving me to myself to watch a new DVD I got for Christmas.
I'm telling you, it doesn't get much better than this. There is that song about a grown up Christmas list (world peace, health, all that good stuff), but nothing made the top of my list more than the TIME to recoup that my husband gave to me this weekend. It may have come after all the presents were opened and the turkey was served, but it was DEFINITELY worth the wait.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Welcome to the Family
As most of you know, our family expanded in July 2009 when God brought Angela and Tayshaun into our lives. I have not blogged a lot about them or our experiences for a couple of reasons.
1. Life with 6 people in the house is a BUSY one!
2. I want to respect their privacy.
3. I wasn't nearly prepared for the way that God was going to change our family through these two people!
That story in itself is so complicated and long, that I am not going to write it all out right now (but I promise I will!). Let's just say, that obedience to God has it's rewards. We have been so blessed by the addition to our family, that it is hard for me to remember a time before they were here.
Then last Wednesday, December 9th, God blessed us even more with the birth of another family member. The best part was that I did not have to be pregnant or give birth! Angela gave birth to Aaron David (yes that name is after my Dad!!!) on Dec 9th at 4:54pm. He weighed 7lb 6 oz and is absolutely beautiful.
It is so much fun having a new baby around. Especially since I don't have to be the one getting up in the middle of the night to feed him! Our lives have been changed forever. Welcome to the family Baby Aaron.
1. Life with 6 people in the house is a BUSY one!
2. I want to respect their privacy.
3. I wasn't nearly prepared for the way that God was going to change our family through these two people!
That story in itself is so complicated and long, that I am not going to write it all out right now (but I promise I will!). Let's just say, that obedience to God has it's rewards. We have been so blessed by the addition to our family, that it is hard for me to remember a time before they were here.
Then last Wednesday, December 9th, God blessed us even more with the birth of another family member. The best part was that I did not have to be pregnant or give birth! Angela gave birth to Aaron David (yes that name is after my Dad!!!) on Dec 9th at 4:54pm. He weighed 7lb 6 oz and is absolutely beautiful.
It is so much fun having a new baby around. Especially since I don't have to be the one getting up in the middle of the night to feed him! Our lives have been changed forever. Welcome to the family Baby Aaron.
Monday, December 7, 2009
We're still here
I KNOW it has been a long time since I last posted. Once again, living life got in the way of writing about it! But I thought I'd give you the update of our fall in one quick blog post.
1. Halloween: We had a ninja, a forest fairy and a race car driver. All of the kids had a great time trick or treating and wonderfully enough forgot about their candy after the first few days. Into the trash it went!! Shhh...don't tell.
2. Riley turned FOUR on November 18th. I can't believe my baby is four. But in some ways, she is going on 14! She loves all things girlie (Barbies, ballet, dress up) but still finds time to wrestle with the boys. In fact, sometimes she's tougher than they are! She fell on the driveway two days before her birthday and ended up with a huge scrape on her nose. The photographer in me was a little more upset than the mom in me as I didn't want it to "ruin" her birthday pictures! But I guess we'll have good memories of life at 4!
3. Riley had a great birthday party at Third Coast Clay this year. We had about 9 kids with us painting Christmas ornaments (which I still need to go pick up!!!). They had a blast and worked so hard!
4. My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving and we had 16 people in our tiny little house! I think it was the best Thanksgiving yet! Lots of love and lots of food (JP made 15 lbs of his famous mashed potatoes!!).
5. Skateboarding has become a family sport around here (no not for me....but I'm sure that you had a good laugh with that visual!). JP and his skateboard friends have rented out a warehouse and built a ramp. So he can skateboard indoors whenever he wants now! John Mark has become quite good (he can drop in by himself from 3 1/2 feet if you know what that means!). And last week Riley got on the board for the first time. Today she is having "Riley and Daddy time" and they are at the ramp skateboarding. I think JP is in heaven with this one!
6. Angela and Tayshaun are still living with us. They are family to us now. The story is too extensive for a "quick blog update" but let's just say, God is good. Angela is due to have her second baby on Wednesday and I am so excited to be the "aunt". I get to be in the delivery room and not have to go through the pain of childbirth. What could be better! Here is her baby shower that we had yesterday. I am so thankful for my church family for honoring her and showering her with love.
Guess that's all for now. I have been waiting for the birth of this baby to get my Christmas cards out, but they are underway. I have a lot to keep me busy this Christmas season, but I am trying to focus daily on the birth of a King.
1. Halloween: We had a ninja, a forest fairy and a race car driver. All of the kids had a great time trick or treating and wonderfully enough forgot about their candy after the first few days. Into the trash it went!! Shhh...don't tell.
2. Riley turned FOUR on November 18th. I can't believe my baby is four. But in some ways, she is going on 14! She loves all things girlie (Barbies, ballet, dress up) but still finds time to wrestle with the boys. In fact, sometimes she's tougher than they are! She fell on the driveway two days before her birthday and ended up with a huge scrape on her nose. The photographer in me was a little more upset than the mom in me as I didn't want it to "ruin" her birthday pictures! But I guess we'll have good memories of life at 4!
3. Riley had a great birthday party at Third Coast Clay this year. We had about 9 kids with us painting Christmas ornaments (which I still need to go pick up!!!). They had a blast and worked so hard!
4. My parents came to visit for Thanksgiving and we had 16 people in our tiny little house! I think it was the best Thanksgiving yet! Lots of love and lots of food (JP made 15 lbs of his famous mashed potatoes!!).
5. Skateboarding has become a family sport around here (no not for me....but I'm sure that you had a good laugh with that visual!). JP and his skateboard friends have rented out a warehouse and built a ramp. So he can skateboard indoors whenever he wants now! John Mark has become quite good (he can drop in by himself from 3 1/2 feet if you know what that means!). And last week Riley got on the board for the first time. Today she is having "Riley and Daddy time" and they are at the ramp skateboarding. I think JP is in heaven with this one!
6. Angela and Tayshaun are still living with us. They are family to us now. The story is too extensive for a "quick blog update" but let's just say, God is good. Angela is due to have her second baby on Wednesday and I am so excited to be the "aunt". I get to be in the delivery room and not have to go through the pain of childbirth. What could be better! Here is her baby shower that we had yesterday. I am so thankful for my church family for honoring her and showering her with love.
Guess that's all for now. I have been waiting for the birth of this baby to get my Christmas cards out, but they are underway. I have a lot to keep me busy this Christmas season, but I am trying to focus daily on the birth of a King.
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