There were many things that were wonderful about this Christmas and a few things I would have liked to change:
Wonderful things first!!:
1)My beautiful sister and my B-I-L and my sweet niece came the day before Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with us. This is a great gift because we usually are only able to see each other on Christmas Day or late on Christmas Eve. I loved waking up on Christmas Eve and having them here - as well as my mom. Beautiful, beautiful gift. I love hosting Christmas!!
2)Stella yelling every time we passed a house with lights - "Look Mom-eeeee, Look - lights, lights". My goodness I can't even count how many times that sweet child yelled that from the car. It was really irritating sometimes (I even came home with a headache several times) but looking back on it makes me smile and causes my heart to ache. The child has such joy and enthusiasm - she can't help but yell sometimes.
3)Our family having an auction on Christmas night with our "Trash to Treasure". We opted to do this instead of buy gifts for eachother. It was fun and extremely helpful with holiday expenses! I hope it's a tradition we continue.
4)Watching Samuel play for hours with his batman mobile. I would just watch in amazement - how could it be that much fun? But it was and watching him was priceless.
5)My sisters chex mix, my mom's cheese balls & pasta salad.....
6)Buying gifts for our nieces (Penelope & Peyton) - so much fun to buy for children that are not yours!! You can buy them whatever you want instead of feeling like you have to make a "smart, responsible parent" choice.
7)Reading all the Christmas books we have - You are my Miracle, The Crippled Lamb, The Last Straw, The 12 Days of Christmas, O Little Town of Bethlehem, etc.
8)Christmas Eve Service at our churh - seeing all the boys and girls in their most beautiful Christmas attire celebrating Jesus' birthday. Looking down at my family amazed that our number had increased by two since last Christmas (with another on the way- not me, my sister!).
9)Loving my baby boy in his gingerbread man pajamas and having the pack-n-play set up in our bedroom for him to sleep in (cousin Penelope was in his crib).
10)Seeing old, beautiful, sweet friends from college and visiting with them.
11)Two sets of our neighbors came over and visited with us - unannounced and unplanned. Just came over and visited. It was so nice. Both couples are in their late 50's early 60's and we enjoy their company so much. It definitely felt like the "season" with their merriment and unexpected visits.
Things to change for next year!!:
1)Take my Mom to Roper Mountain Christmas lights with us next year.
2)Drink more hot chocolate with marshmellows.
3)Wrap presents before Christmas Eve night.
4)Stress less over the "flow" of things and enjoy the actual holiday more.
5)Remember to have Jesus' birthday party on Christmas instead of the day after. Samuel reminded me as he was being put to bed that we forgot to eat Baby Jesus' birthday cake. I was stunned. How did I let that happen? A huge cloud of guilt came over me and I wondered what in the world had we done with the day. But I knew that God would not want me to feel that way and I knew that we could make it better the day after - so we did.
6)Next year, I will not believe the weather forecast that says it's going to rain the day before, during, and after Christmas day - and I will not make the entire family go to Hollywild during the rain. And I will also request more than one zebra/zdonk there to feed.
7)Enjoy my husband more. With three children this year it felt like a lot of "task managing" and "crowd control". Sending out "orders" of do this....have you done that.....does he need this.....where is that?
8)One of these Christmas' I'm going to get the pinecone/peanut butter/bird seed balls made with my children and string popcorn for the tree outside. And we'll watch the birds feast on our masterpiece and have some kind of natural wildlife lesson. :)
9)My fudge will not be soft and I'll be able to share it with our neighbors instead of having to eat it all myself.
10)I will scoop up the pound cake batter before I set the stove to self clean - which is why I'm now sitting in a smoke filled house with all the doors open and disarmed smoke alarms.
Wonderful things first!!:
1)My beautiful sister and my B-I-L and my sweet niece came the day before Christmas Eve to spend Christmas with us. This is a great gift because we usually are only able to see each other on Christmas Day or late on Christmas Eve. I loved waking up on Christmas Eve and having them here - as well as my mom. Beautiful, beautiful gift. I love hosting Christmas!!
2)Stella yelling every time we passed a house with lights - "Look Mom-eeeee, Look - lights, lights". My goodness I can't even count how many times that sweet child yelled that from the car. It was really irritating sometimes (I even came home with a headache several times) but looking back on it makes me smile and causes my heart to ache. The child has such joy and enthusiasm - she can't help but yell sometimes.
3)Our family having an auction on Christmas night with our "Trash to Treasure". We opted to do this instead of buy gifts for eachother. It was fun and extremely helpful with holiday expenses! I hope it's a tradition we continue.
4)Watching Samuel play for hours with his batman mobile. I would just watch in amazement - how could it be that much fun? But it was and watching him was priceless.
5)My sisters chex mix, my mom's cheese balls & pasta salad.....
6)Buying gifts for our nieces (Penelope & Peyton) - so much fun to buy for children that are not yours!! You can buy them whatever you want instead of feeling like you have to make a "smart, responsible parent" choice.
7)Reading all the Christmas books we have - You are my Miracle, The Crippled Lamb, The Last Straw, The 12 Days of Christmas, O Little Town of Bethlehem, etc.
8)Christmas Eve Service at our churh - seeing all the boys and girls in their most beautiful Christmas attire celebrating Jesus' birthday. Looking down at my family amazed that our number had increased by two since last Christmas (with another on the way- not me, my sister!).
9)Loving my baby boy in his gingerbread man pajamas and having the pack-n-play set up in our bedroom for him to sleep in (cousin Penelope was in his crib).
10)Seeing old, beautiful, sweet friends from college and visiting with them.
11)Two sets of our neighbors came over and visited with us - unannounced and unplanned. Just came over and visited. It was so nice. Both couples are in their late 50's early 60's and we enjoy their company so much. It definitely felt like the "season" with their merriment and unexpected visits.
Things to change for next year!!:
1)Take my Mom to Roper Mountain Christmas lights with us next year.
2)Drink more hot chocolate with marshmellows.
3)Wrap presents before Christmas Eve night.
4)Stress less over the "flow" of things and enjoy the actual holiday more.
5)Remember to have Jesus' birthday party on Christmas instead of the day after. Samuel reminded me as he was being put to bed that we forgot to eat Baby Jesus' birthday cake. I was stunned. How did I let that happen? A huge cloud of guilt came over me and I wondered what in the world had we done with the day. But I knew that God would not want me to feel that way and I knew that we could make it better the day after - so we did.
6)Next year, I will not believe the weather forecast that says it's going to rain the day before, during, and after Christmas day - and I will not make the entire family go to Hollywild during the rain. And I will also request more than one zebra/zdonk there to feed.
7)Enjoy my husband more. With three children this year it felt like a lot of "task managing" and "crowd control". Sending out "orders" of do this....have you done that.....does he need this.....where is that?
8)One of these Christmas' I'm going to get the pinecone/peanut butter/bird seed balls made with my children and string popcorn for the tree outside. And we'll watch the birds feast on our masterpiece and have some kind of natural wildlife lesson. :)
9)My fudge will not be soft and I'll be able to share it with our neighbors instead of having to eat it all myself.
10)I will scoop up the pound cake batter before I set the stove to self clean - which is why I'm now sitting in a smoke filled house with all the doors open and disarmed smoke alarms.
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