Today was one of those exercises-in-patience days. Amazingly, I was pretty proud of myself earlier in the evening for how I handled everything, especially given what all is on my plate at the moment and having a husband who is out of town. I miraculously held it together through multiple stressful situations:
I did not lose it during the 437 errands Luke and I ran today, including WALMART and their stupid one check-out line, bless my heart. I so hate that place, but the budget deems it necessary to visit there from time to time.
I did not lose it when traffic was at a complete standstill due to construction three separate times for 5-10 minutes each time while on our hurried way home with grumbling tummies.
I did not lose it when a client sent a undecipherable list of edits and requests for our already-overwhelmed team to tackle.
I did not lose it when Luke woke up cranky from nap and was painfully uncooperative as we prepared to get Audrey off the bus.
I did not lose it when I cut my finger on the dishwasher in the same spot that had been cut the day before on the smoothie blender.
I did not lose it when Luke DID lose it after the book fair at Audrey's school. I mean full on screaming-crying-holy-fit-pitching. Why would this angel boy do such a thing, you ask? Because I refused to carry his able-bodied self the fifty feet to the van. And yes, the principal did walk out at that exact moment and I gave him my best "gotta love parenting" smile. (He's yours in three more years, sucka.)
I did not lose it on our last quick errand when the kids decided everything in the entire store needed to be touched and multiple sales people decided it was a great time to stop me and be super chatty.
I did not lose it when Audrey DID lose it after Luke spilled her ketchup at dinner. I'm talkin' body-wracking sobs because she thought he got it on her pink tutu. Turns out he didn't. But as I've taught her: when in doubt, always err on the side of overdramatic.
I did not lose it when Luke made it abundantly clear that he did not want to get ready for bed and moved in slow-motion for ten minutes to prove his point.
ALL of these high-stress intense moments and I managed to be calm, collected, and sickeningly sweet to my children.
And then...
Well, then came bedtime routine, y'all. Bedtime routine on the third night of solo bedtime routining with my what's-left-to-do-before-I-can-sleep list reeling in my head. We managed to get into pajamas, brush teeth, and read our story without issue. I bowed my head to pray and, in the middle of my prayer, the children refused to stop kicking each other.
So...I did lose it. IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PRAYER. I paused to forcefully break it up and fuss angrily through gritted teeth. I tried unsuccessfully to save the moment but ended up launching into what David and I call "lecture praying" when the individual praying aloud is not actually talking to God, but rather talking to you through their intercession.
UGG.
I opened my eyes to see their bottom lips poked out and I sighed a deep sigh and whispered, "I'm so sorry I lost my temper and did that, you guys." We talked about why it was important to listen when someone is praying and I apologized again. They forgave me and I went on with putting them to bed, making sure to end the day on a better note with giggles and songs.
Here's the thing: I am not perfect. (Shocker, I know.) I CANNOT do this on my own. And just when I think things are going great and I have a good handle on it all, something very human in me snaps and reminds me that that is not true. Even in the very middle of literally connecting with God, I am capable of sinning. Oh, how I need Him and His new mercies each morning. And oh how these children need their Mama to let go of the quest for perfection, whether conscious or subconscious, and be transparent in my mistakes and my need for a Savior in both big and little mess-ups.
Lord, please let these kids remember the thousand things that went well today and fill in the gaps with your grace...and please give us peaceful rest tonight!
Thankful Thursday
Thursday, January 22, 2015
You read the title right: This is a Thankful Thursday post! The first one since September, y'all. It's not that I haven't been thankful, but, well, you know...LIFE. So in case it happens to crop up again (as life is prone to do), don't get to used to seeing these again just yet.
1. The 2002 Toyota 4Runner that we traded in this week. It was my first car purchase after years and years of hand-me-downs and I loved it. It never required anything beyond basic maintenance and served us amazingly well for nine years.
2. The new (to us) 2012 Acura TL that #1 helped pay for for my dear husband. He is downright giddy! I'm so happy for him and grateful we could do this.
1. The 2002 Toyota 4Runner that we traded in this week. It was my first car purchase after years and years of hand-me-downs and I loved it. It never required anything beyond basic maintenance and served us amazingly well for nine years.
2. The new (to us) 2012 Acura TL that #1 helped pay for for my dear husband. He is downright giddy! I'm so happy for him and grateful we could do this.
3. Getting some time alone at home. On Wednesday I shipped Luke off to his grandparents' for the day so I could get some things done at the house. I may or may not have even snuck in some DVR catch up, too. It felt luxurious.
4. Our new 12Stone Buford Campus, which is now officially open and meeting at Lanier High School! It's been an adjustment, especially for the kids, but we know this is where God wants us to worship and serve right now. Come check it out with us anytime!
5. My brother, Brian, whose birthday is Saturday. We've gotten closer this past year and I'm so proud of the husband and father he is! (Side note: my apologies to all those loved ones whose b'days I missed while not doing TT posts. I'm very grateful for you too!)
Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!
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New Mercies Each Morning
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Yesterday was a tough day. I knew it wasn't going to go well when I woke up at 6am having gotten only 4 1/2 hours sleep the night before (Audrey woke me up coughing and then I couldn't get back to sleep for various reasons.) I somehow managed to trudge through my major responsibilities and errands for the day: getting AJ off to school, feeding and taking care of Luke, running by the bank, making some returns, doing chores back at home, knocking out an extra long work to-do list, cooking dinner, etc. I even squeezed in some play time outside with the kids and cut, stuffed, and addressed Luke's birthday party invitations.
All in all, it wasn't an awful day, just one of those that requires a heck of a lot of effort to simply get through. Everything feels like a battle either with your independence-exerting two year old or your own inner two year old. As I sank into my pillow last night expecting to feel relieved, I felt guilty about the way I'd handled a lot of different situations, especially with Luke. I don't often wrestle with that kind or level of guilt. Not because I get it right all the time, by ANY means, but because a) I know that is not from God b) I'm learning that feeling that way is such a waste of time and c) I rarely get it as wrong as I had yesterday in so many arenas. It was one of those "I'm never gonna be enough" moments I blogged about in this post.
I'd yelled at Luke for - get this - yelling at me, I'd been impatient and sarcastic with both kids, I'd worked on stuff for my job long after I knew I needed to stop and focus on my family, I had brushed off their excited stories with brief "uh-huhs", I'd given in when I should've been consistent and dug in when I should've cut slack, I'd short changed text and social media interactions with family and friends...the list could go on and on. I asked God for forgiveness and begged for a restful night's sleep as I drifted off.
This morning the alarm went off signaling it was time for my morning run. As I opened the garage door to the dark, chilly air, I began to pray again. Not only was the guilt still hanging over me, but I realized how long I'd been at this parenting little ones thing and how much longer I had in these pre-elementary school trenches (coupled with the panicked "it's going SO fast!" inner voice) How many more times was I going to get it wrong?! The number I estimated (1,000,000,000,000) was almost a physical heaviness as I started to jog the boringly familiar roads. I realized that lately I've felt the monotonous weight bearing down a little more uncomfortably than usual.
I turned up a new podcast I've recently discovered called "God Centered Mom" and listened to two women discuss how to parent with grace. As their words entered my ears and my sleepy brain, I tried to focus. While they were talking, God whispered His words of grace in my ear: "Just try again. Today is a new day. I've called you to do this and I will equip you - sometimes in advance and sometimes minute by minute." As I put one foot in front of the other and watched the miles add up on my running app, I realized that was all God was asking me to do. Not to panic about the time I had left (whether it felt like an eternity as it had the day before or like a blink as it often does when I look back). Just to put one foot in front of the other and keep receiving His grace and extending it to others AND myself.
I ran up the last hill towards our house feeling lighter and thankful. I walked into the kitchen to two kids and a husband who were excited to see me, despite all my faults. After catching my breath, I sat down and apologized to them for several things I'd done wrong the day before. They forgave me immediately and we went about our morning routine. As I drove Audrey to school, I brought up the Lamentations verse about God's mercies being new each morning. We talked about what that meant and how amazing it is that we don't "burn through" all of our chances. I also shared how great it was that even though God IS perfect, He knows we aren't and doesn't expect us to try and achieve that impossible feat.
Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of days on this journey when it's about more than "just getting though" or simply persevering. But, frankly, there are a number of them in this stage of life where that is exactly what you have to do...put one foot in front of the other and just survive until bedtime. The amazing, joyous news is that whichever kind of day I've had, His mercies are new each morning. THANK YOU, LORD!
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
All in all, it wasn't an awful day, just one of those that requires a heck of a lot of effort to simply get through. Everything feels like a battle either with your independence-exerting two year old or your own inner two year old. As I sank into my pillow last night expecting to feel relieved, I felt guilty about the way I'd handled a lot of different situations, especially with Luke. I don't often wrestle with that kind or level of guilt. Not because I get it right all the time, by ANY means, but because a) I know that is not from God b) I'm learning that feeling that way is such a waste of time and c) I rarely get it as wrong as I had yesterday in so many arenas. It was one of those "I'm never gonna be enough" moments I blogged about in this post.
I'd yelled at Luke for - get this - yelling at me, I'd been impatient and sarcastic with both kids, I'd worked on stuff for my job long after I knew I needed to stop and focus on my family, I had brushed off their excited stories with brief "uh-huhs", I'd given in when I should've been consistent and dug in when I should've cut slack, I'd short changed text and social media interactions with family and friends...the list could go on and on. I asked God for forgiveness and begged for a restful night's sleep as I drifted off.
This morning the alarm went off signaling it was time for my morning run. As I opened the garage door to the dark, chilly air, I began to pray again. Not only was the guilt still hanging over me, but I realized how long I'd been at this parenting little ones thing and how much longer I had in these pre-elementary school trenches (coupled with the panicked "it's going SO fast!" inner voice) How many more times was I going to get it wrong?! The number I estimated (1,000,000,000,000) was almost a physical heaviness as I started to jog the boringly familiar roads. I realized that lately I've felt the monotonous weight bearing down a little more uncomfortably than usual.
I turned up a new podcast I've recently discovered called "God Centered Mom" and listened to two women discuss how to parent with grace. As their words entered my ears and my sleepy brain, I tried to focus. While they were talking, God whispered His words of grace in my ear: "Just try again. Today is a new day. I've called you to do this and I will equip you - sometimes in advance and sometimes minute by minute." As I put one foot in front of the other and watched the miles add up on my running app, I realized that was all God was asking me to do. Not to panic about the time I had left (whether it felt like an eternity as it had the day before or like a blink as it often does when I look back). Just to put one foot in front of the other and keep receiving His grace and extending it to others AND myself.
I ran up the last hill towards our house feeling lighter and thankful. I walked into the kitchen to two kids and a husband who were excited to see me, despite all my faults. After catching my breath, I sat down and apologized to them for several things I'd done wrong the day before. They forgave me immediately and we went about our morning routine. As I drove Audrey to school, I brought up the Lamentations verse about God's mercies being new each morning. We talked about what that meant and how amazing it is that we don't "burn through" all of our chances. I also shared how great it was that even though God IS perfect, He knows we aren't and doesn't expect us to try and achieve that impossible feat.
Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of days on this journey when it's about more than "just getting though" or simply persevering. But, frankly, there are a number of them in this stage of life where that is exactly what you have to do...put one foot in front of the other and just survive until bedtime. The amazing, joyous news is that whichever kind of day I've had, His mercies are new each morning. THANK YOU, LORD!
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
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Happy 2015!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
As usual, my "Happy New Year" post is a little late, but it's only because I want to lengthen the celebration for you. (Hey, I beat last year's first blog post by nearly two weeks and the year before I didn't post in January AT ALL, so I see this as a major improvement.) Regardless of my tardiness, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your 2015 is off to a great start.
"So, do you have any new year's resolutions, Heather?" Oh, I'm so glad you asked. For the first time in years, I actually do. I love this time of year...this fresh start season. I feel the same about August and back to school. And in the fall, you get fresh school supplies everywhere, too! Ahhh, pretty notebooks and sharpened pencils. Heavenly. But I digress...
I've noticed there are generally three different schools of thought when it comes to resolutions. The first group of folks are the non-participants. They tend to think things like, "It's a fact that resolutions fail" or "Why bother? I/You/They/Things aren't going to actually change long-term." They usually have great reasons for this position. They may have proven it to themselves a thousand times or had it proven to them by others. Perhaps they don't like the pressure that comes with making resolutions and the guilt that seeps in afterward for not being able to keep up. I'm not saying the non-participants are lazy people who don't believe in goal-setting. Maybe they just hate the hoopla of January 1st. Whatever the reason, they don't make new year's resolutions.
The second group of people are the overachievers. They start out with a dozen different life-altering goals and go 100 miles per hour attempting to achieve them all simultaneously until they burn out, usually around week two or three. No one, not even Martha Stewart herself, can sustain a list of resolutions that includes dropping 20 lbs, becoming more organized, revamping the family budget, spending more time on a hobby, playing with the kids more, cooking healthier meals, getting more involved at church, and going on weekly dates with your spouse. I love their good intentions, but bless their hearts, they make me want to take a nap.
The third group is the one I'm trying really hard to be in this year: the realists. They're the ones that know that goal-setting can be a positive thing if it's done correctly. They know that there are practical steps you can take and follow to attempt to stick with those few, specific goals for as long as possible. And here's the kicker: They know life happens. WHEN (not if) they fail, they attempt to land on their feet and try again. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. But to me, if you can avoid the guilt-trap (and that's a doozie), whatever progress made as a result is better than not attempting anything.
So, fellow realists, let's do this. Let's put on PBS Kids for the littles, fix a cup of coffee, and take ten minutes soul-searching and discussing with the Lord one or two or three (at most) things that could make this a better year.
I'm going to be bold and throw my list out there in hopes that it will help with a little accountability, which, by the way, is HUGE when it comes to staying on track with goals. I have a fitness accountability partner that I check in with weekly. We share short-term and long-term goals, pray for one another, and cheer each other on. Which brings me to number one...
1. Getting my behind (and my arms and my stomach and my thighs) back into shape, which, by the looks of the crowds at the gym, is not an original idea. I am not signed up for any races at the moment, which is part of the problem. I need the motivation of one to keep me on track, so I'll be looking for something soon. I'd like to drop ten pounds by the first of March. I have specific steps and a new Fitbit to help me along. And of course, those pounds will probably revisit me and leave me about 3 times this year, but like I wrote earlier, it's about trying again and, therefore, not making it 30 lbs.
2. Read more. Goal of approx. one book per month with at least ten this year. I have three waiting on my nightstand right now, "Best Yes" by Lysa Terkeurst, "Interrupted" by Jen Hatmaker, and "Hands Free Mama" by Rachel May Stafford. If a few of the words of these wise women seep into my subconscious and affect how I do life, that will be a bonus.
3. Be more intentional about raising my kids with a love for the Lord and instilling virtues in them in fun ways by reading "In This House We Will Giggle" and implementing some of its strategies. There is a new focus each month, so my goal is to hit at least 8 out of 12 months.
That's it?! Yup, that's it. Not huge stuff. Nothing earth-shattering. Just small things that I think will make me/this year/our family a little better. I could add more. I definitely have more to-dos in my mind for this year (could it finally be time to finish Luke's baby book?!) and room for more growth. But, alas, I'm aiming to be a realist, not an over-achiever. Join me, won't you? Whether we blow it away with success or blow it all to pieces, there's always August. I could even get a nice, new journal to jot fresh resolutions down in...
"So, do you have any new year's resolutions, Heather?" Oh, I'm so glad you asked. For the first time in years, I actually do. I love this time of year...this fresh start season. I feel the same about August and back to school. And in the fall, you get fresh school supplies everywhere, too! Ahhh, pretty notebooks and sharpened pencils. Heavenly. But I digress...
I've noticed there are generally three different schools of thought when it comes to resolutions. The first group of folks are the non-participants. They tend to think things like, "It's a fact that resolutions fail" or "Why bother? I/You/They/Things aren't going to actually change long-term." They usually have great reasons for this position. They may have proven it to themselves a thousand times or had it proven to them by others. Perhaps they don't like the pressure that comes with making resolutions and the guilt that seeps in afterward for not being able to keep up. I'm not saying the non-participants are lazy people who don't believe in goal-setting. Maybe they just hate the hoopla of January 1st. Whatever the reason, they don't make new year's resolutions.
The second group of people are the overachievers. They start out with a dozen different life-altering goals and go 100 miles per hour attempting to achieve them all simultaneously until they burn out, usually around week two or three. No one, not even Martha Stewart herself, can sustain a list of resolutions that includes dropping 20 lbs, becoming more organized, revamping the family budget, spending more time on a hobby, playing with the kids more, cooking healthier meals, getting more involved at church, and going on weekly dates with your spouse. I love their good intentions, but bless their hearts, they make me want to take a nap.
The third group is the one I'm trying really hard to be in this year: the realists. They're the ones that know that goal-setting can be a positive thing if it's done correctly. They know that there are practical steps you can take and follow to attempt to stick with those few, specific goals for as long as possible. And here's the kicker: They know life happens. WHEN (not if) they fail, they attempt to land on their feet and try again. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. But to me, if you can avoid the guilt-trap (and that's a doozie), whatever progress made as a result is better than not attempting anything.
So, fellow realists, let's do this. Let's put on PBS Kids for the littles, fix a cup of coffee, and take ten minutes soul-searching and discussing with the Lord one or two or three (at most) things that could make this a better year.
I'm going to be bold and throw my list out there in hopes that it will help with a little accountability, which, by the way, is HUGE when it comes to staying on track with goals. I have a fitness accountability partner that I check in with weekly. We share short-term and long-term goals, pray for one another, and cheer each other on. Which brings me to number one...
1. Getting my behind (and my arms and my stomach and my thighs) back into shape, which, by the looks of the crowds at the gym, is not an original idea. I am not signed up for any races at the moment, which is part of the problem. I need the motivation of one to keep me on track, so I'll be looking for something soon. I'd like to drop ten pounds by the first of March. I have specific steps and a new Fitbit to help me along. And of course, those pounds will probably revisit me and leave me about 3 times this year, but like I wrote earlier, it's about trying again and, therefore, not making it 30 lbs.
3. Be more intentional about raising my kids with a love for the Lord and instilling virtues in them in fun ways by reading "In This House We Will Giggle" and implementing some of its strategies. There is a new focus each month, so my goal is to hit at least 8 out of 12 months.
That's it?! Yup, that's it. Not huge stuff. Nothing earth-shattering. Just small things that I think will make me/this year/our family a little better. I could add more. I definitely have more to-dos in my mind for this year (could it finally be time to finish Luke's baby book?!) and room for more growth. But, alas, I'm aiming to be a realist, not an over-achiever. Join me, won't you? Whether we blow it away with success or blow it all to pieces, there's always August. I could even get a nice, new journal to jot fresh resolutions down in...
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Christmas 2014 & December Recap
Monday, January 5, 2015
Fair warning, this post is a doozie. Then again, it was a doozie of month! Just be sure you're not late to any meetings because you get caught up in the awesomeness.
December was...well, it was December. Slammed busy at some points, peaceful at others, full of family and friends and food, and covered in glitter. This year, as with most other years, I attempted to block off a bunch of white space in our calendar. That meant turning down more than one invitation, which I did with a sense of half-pride and half-guilt, but don't regret a bit. I feel like right now is the "golden age" with the kids both still believing in Santa and I want so badly to soak up every bit of the holidays. It's not like I won't want to when they're older, it's just that, well, there's something very magical and innocent about it all right now. You know, before the requests for the i-whatever start rolling in and then they have to leave after lunch to go to their boyfriend's or girlfriend's houses. I better move on before I get all emotional about it right now...
So, in an effort to make the most of the season/month/break, we created a "bucket list" of sorts. I did the same for summer and it was great. I know that most people would find this practice to be a bit...much...but I have discovered that it helps our family tremendously. We all brainstorm ideas to put on there and we aim to keep things very feasible. If they don't all get checked off (they didn't on summer's, but did here), I don't freak out. I don't feel like a failure or guilty. I just keep that in mind for next time. And then, and this has proven to be the best part for me personally, when the time has passed and I think, "Oh! I should've done this and that! We didn't soak it up enough! We didn't seize the moment/day/opportunity", I look back at this list and tell myself to calm down. In it lies proof that we did some incredibly fun things and lived it up to the max.
So now that you have an overview of some of the cool stuff we did this month, let me break it down in a little more detail:
Way back at the end of October, we were asked by our church to do the shopping for a local family in need. Through no fault of their own, they weren't able to get us a wish list from the family and a budget until the beginning of December. Now, most people would have a field day with this. Me? Hi, my name is Heather Sinyard and I have OCD. It is very stressful to have a tight budget, seven people to shop for that you know nothing about except age and gender, and a very limited time frame. I started hunting down donations for some of the bigger ticket items and then David and I had a date night and tried to knock out a big chunk of it together. I dragged Luke out to do the clothes and shoes shopping on the first Friday and he was a complete trooper.
To reward his patience and take a break, that evening we headed over to the Suwanee Town Center Christmas Celebration. Unfortunately, they didn't have it hosted by a local church as they've done in the past and the new event didn't have nearly the same level of activities. Nonetheless, the kids had a good time roasting marshmallows and hearing a school chorus sing a few songs before we headed home early because of the drizzle.
That first weekend was full of wrapping all the gifts we'd bought the adopted family and finishing up decorating around the house. That Sunday afternoon, we went to Cookies and Cocoa with Santa, which is an incredible event that our neighborhood puts on at the clubhouse. The kids were a little nervous, but Luke pushed it down and courageously started walking right up to the jolly ol' elf. As soon as AJ saw that, she couldn't let her baby brother show her up and joined him. They sat and Audrey read Santa their letters and they chatted for a minute while I got some great pictures. Afterward, they ate cookies and colored a picture while their hot chocolate cooled off. We took some more pictures outside and then headed home. (By the way, in case you're wondering and/or for my own memory later, AJ asked for an Aurora dress, a Belle doll, and some surprises. Luke asked for a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, a dinosaur toy, and some surprises.)
That Monday, I picked Audrey up early from school and took her to lunch, Christmas shopping for her dad and brother, and her eye doctor appointment. Unfortunately she had not improved enough to be finished with patching, which frankly, well...it just sucks. No nicer way to say it (though I can think of a few uglier ways.) Plus, the doc wanted us to continue and come back in twelve weeks instead of six, so UGG. Three more months of remembering and nagging, nagging, nagging. On an unrelated but related note: the toe walking has improved a bit, but we haven't been keeping up the stretching very well and no, I can't even think about putting physical therapy appointments on my plate right now. We'll cross that bridge in February. May I just take a moment to praise the Lord that this is all we have to deal with? I cannot fathom how mamas with more serious medical issues or of more than two kids do it.
That week we hosted a dinner with our campus pastor and his family and our co-small group leaders. I kept it simple with a taco bar, rice, and beans (had to be kid-and allergy-friendly) It was a lot of fun getting to know them a little better and a lot of crazy with six kids six and under running around. On Wednesday I spent three hours volunteering at Audrey's school and eating lunch with her. The kids were so cute telling me what they wanted for Christmas. Well, except the three that said "iPads". Puh-lease. (But hey, bring them in for Bring Your Own Device Day, because my kindergartener sure isn't going to take ours in!) Most of the rest just said they were asking for surprises. That evening, we met up with our old "Cobb County Crew" friends for dinner and had an awesome time catching up and laughing. I've said it 1,000 times before, but man there is something so special about having "knew you when..." friends.
That week also happened to hold two surgeries for ones very dear to my heart. A precious friend having serious knee surgery a state away and my niece having to come up to Atlanta to have a plate put in her broken arm that refused to heal right. Both amazing ladies came out on top of course. That Sunday afternoon, Audrey and I went to go visit Annelise where she was recovering at her maternal grandparents' house. The girls had a great time catching up and playing for awhile. After we left, I drove Audrey around some of my old stomping ground and took her by the church I was baptized in and, years and a few churches in between later, married in. We also stopped by my first house that I lived in from birth to second grade. It was surreal having her stand in those places I once stood at her age, but very special.
The third week was a bit of a blur, as we delivered the gifts to the family we'd shopped for, hosted my Dad and stepmom for dinner for my Dad's birthday, and then finished the final preparations for Audrey's class party and gifts for her teachers. My co-room mom's husband had surgery the day before the party, so she was unable to come up to the school the day before and help me set up. Fortunately, I have an amazing husband who had worked his butt off measuring and cutting out things to make the gingerbread door decor - my pièce de résistance. I worked most of the day that Wednesday putting it up along with the inside classroom decor and it turned out really well.
The party kicked off at 8:30am and was a huge hit. We had five stations for groups of 3-4 kids to rotate through every ten minutes: making reindeer food, "catching" the gingerbread man with a fishing pole, Christmas bingo, decorating a gingerbread man cookie, and painting a gingerbread boy or girl ornament. The one thing that could've been better was the rotation of the centers. It got a little chaotic because so many parents jumped in and tried to "help." Oh, well. Live and learn. Next time I'll take one minute at the start of the party and explain what the process will be. Everyone still had a great time doing each of the activities and that's what matters. After they finished, the teacher took them out of the class while we did a few minutes of cleaning up and fixing their plates for them. Handling it that way was per the teacher's request and it worked out great. It's like she's done this before... They came back in and ate a huge feast that we'd all brought in. Donut holes, fruit, chicken minis, cookies, crackers - they were stuffed! The teacher gathered them around to listen to the Gingerbread Boy book while we wiped off tables and pulled down some of the decorations. Audrey was sad to see us go when it was all over (that's right, David came too because he ROCKS). I know she had a blast, which makes every hour and dollar spent worth it. One day it won't be so cool for Mommy to throw the parties, so I'll take it while I can.
I'd purposely planned a date that night for David and I to celebrate the end of the hard work of the season. I ended up having to do some stuff for my job, so I headed to the restaurant early and got it done while I was waiting on him. He joined me around 5 and we ate then went...drumroll, please...ice skating! We hadn't done it in years and it was a lot of fun. He used to play ice hockey, so he has way more skill than I do. And by "way more", I mean I stand very close to the wall and use one foot to push myself around and will myself not to fall every two seconds while he's doing skating backwards and doing zig zags. I kept asking him if he thought I was ready for a triple axle jump, but he kept refusing. Not a risk taker, that one. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously, though, and talked about a lot as little kids zoomed past me. Show-offs.
That Friday, the three of us took little gifts in to Audrey's specials' teachers (PE, music, art, theather arts, guidance, media center) and administrators and then Luke and I left AJ to finish up her last day and headed home to have a big baking fest. We made 8-10 dozen cookies to give away to various neighbors and people. When Audrey got off the bus, we rushed to Hobby Lobby to pick up a couple more tins for them and something else to squeeze in a package for my grandfather, who was in a rehab facility after a bad fall at Thanksgiving broke his sternum. I kept checking my watch in a panic, trying to make it to the post office before it closed at 5:00pm. I berated myself for not doing it earlier in the day, but I'd just run out of time. All I could focus on was wanting to get him fresh, homemade cookies as close to Christmas as possible.
We pulled in the post office parking lot at 4:44 and I breathed a sigh of relief...until I noticed the sign on the door had their hours listed as 9:00am - 4:45pm. What ensued next was ugly, y'all. I grabbed the children, rushed inside, and pitched a holy fit (though completely clean-mouthed, miraculously) about the stupidity of closing at 4:45. I mean, really. 4:30? Sure. But who the heck closes on the quarter of an hour?! Obviously the root of my issue was much deeper as I stood there thinking about my grandfather with tears stinging in my eyes. The clerk ultimately refused to help me, but thankfully told me about the post office down the street that stayed open until 6pm. I walked outside, calmed down, apologized to the kids for losing my cool (I thought for days about going back to the clerk and saying I was sorry - it wasn't her fault. I still haven't done it yet.) We went to the other post office, got the packages mailed off, dropped off a tin of cookies at the fire station, and got home in time to eat a late McDonald's dinner that my dear husband had thrown me a lifeline and picked up for us.
We caught our breath for a minute with the Frosty the Snowman movie and tried to switch gears from preparation to celebration. The next day was Christmas #1 with David's Mom's side of the family in Alabama. The kids kicked things off by opening a few gifts and then we dragged out the big tables and ate a feast that never ceases to amaze or stuff me. Gift opening commenced after lunch and the adults got to join in, too. We paused only long enough to go get another plate of dessert. Luke went down for a nap and Audrey dug into some of her crafty presents. She disappeared into the back room for a little while to escape the crowd, but made sure she had a grandparent with her so she'd have a little bit of an audience. She's my introverted girl and I'm really trying to recognize when she needs her space and let her have it. We finished opening gifts and hung out chatting, snoozing, and playing for the rest of the afternoon. We loaded up the van, headed back across the Georgia state line, and made it home just in time for dinner and bed.
The next morning we got up and got ready for church. David's parents joined us for the special Christmas service and then we went to brunch afterward. The next couple of days were spent cleaning house, finishing final details/wrapping, and being lazy. On Monday night, David took Audrey out for dinner and to go shopping for me while Luke and I hung out and cleaned. On Tuesday, I wrote some ideas of stuff to do on strips of paper and let the kids draw them from a jar. They'd do each thing for ten minutes and I'd take a "play break" and join in with them on the third thing (or after twenty minutes of them playing by themselves.) It worked amazingly well and I've already migrated the items onto colorful popsicle sticks because I can tell this will come in handy for a long, long time. Everything was done and clean and it was time for Christmas #2 and #3. David and I put the kids to bed that night and took a moment to savor the peace. We slow danced to The Christmas Song with just the tree lights on and went to bed feeling grateful.
David's parents came over early Christmas Eve morning. We let the kids stay in their pajamas as they tore through gift after gift. The adults squeezed in our exchanges here and there between assembling toys and cleaning up. David's mom brought over a yummy casserole and we paused for lunch and then more playtime before they headed out and the kids went down for nap/rest. While they slept, I started cooking a few dishes for the next day's meals and when they woke up, we baked and decorated Christmas cookies for Santa...and ourselves. For dinner, we ate our usual Christmas Eve tacos. The kids changed from pajamas to pajamas (life is so rough, isn't it?!) and opened their ornaments. Luke got a Where the Wild Things Are one because he loves that book and this was the year he really began to fall in love with hearing stories. Audrey got a personalized "First Day of Kindergarten" bus ornament. The kids put out the cookies they'd made along with a glass of milk and carrot and a bag of magic food for the reindeer. Audrey was panicking about getting to bed so Santa could come and Luke, well-aware that he was supposed to be, kept running around yelling, "I'm tired! I'm tired!" We calmed them down long enough to read the Christmas story out of the Bible and The Night Before Christmas before tucking them in. Audrey didn't even want her little bedside tree turned on because she wanted to fall right to sleep. When we were sure the stirring had stopped, we signaled Santa.
The next morning, I woke up, showered, and got the sausage balls and cinnamon rolls ready to bake. Finally around 7:15, I begged David to let me get the sleepyhead kids up. We made them wait at the top of the stairs and then I walked down with them to see what Santa had brought. Luke began stacking his stuff on the couch like he was ready to put it away to make sure he didn't have to give it back! Audrey immediately wanted to put on her Aurora dress and she lit up when she looked at her beautiful self in the bathroom mirror.
We played for a few minutes and then took a break to eat a tasty breakfast, complete with Santa cokes in glass bottles for David and I. We got back to work opening gifts and stockings and spent the morning until lunch playing and laying around. The kids watched a minute of Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD that Santa brought Luke while we fixed lunch. We ate and then played the gift the kids got David - a Xbox Kinect and sports game. They looked so cute "skiing" and attempting golf, though golf was very frustrating and probably won't be repeated again soon.
We put them down for rest/naps and did our traditional date gift exchange. For mine, David got us tickets to go see John Heffron, a comedian that won last comic standing a few years ago, and I got him a gift certificate to Top Golf, a fancy driving range "experience" in Alpharetta. The kids woke up and we let them play some more while we started putting together dinner. I shooed everyone out of the kitchen to go play Kinect while I finished up and then we sat in the dining room in our pajamas/lounge clothes and ate ham, macaroni, rolls, deviled eggs, green beans, corn pudding, and potato salad. It was no Alabama Grandma feast, but it ate. :) We cleaned up and then prepared to give the kids their last gift (they only get three each from us, we'd just managed to stretch it out all day.) With the video camera rolling and bated breath, we let them unwrap the thing we'd been waiting to give them for months: a box of Disney items to reveal our plan to take them to Disney World in January.
Me: "Audrey, what do those things all have in common?"
AJ: "Princesses?"
(after more prodding...)
Me: "Do you want to go to Disney World?"
AJ: "No."
Huh. Well, crap.
Here's what I know about my kid: You will rarely, if ever, get a jump-up-and-down reaction out of her for anything. She just doesn't do that. Luke does, but she does not. And she doesn't like big surprises like that, which I totally understand. However, I still was not expecting a NO, for pete's sake!
Now in her defense, a conversation had gone down a few days earlier in which she said she wished we could go there sometime. I seized that opportunity to make a big deal out of how special a trip like that is, how much money it costs, etc. SO, I think when I asked her, she didn't want to make me feel bad because she thought there was no way we were going.
At least, that's what I'm sticking with.
December/Christmas pictures can be viewed here.
December was...well, it was December. Slammed busy at some points, peaceful at others, full of family and friends and food, and covered in glitter. This year, as with most other years, I attempted to block off a bunch of white space in our calendar. That meant turning down more than one invitation, which I did with a sense of half-pride and half-guilt, but don't regret a bit. I feel like right now is the "golden age" with the kids both still believing in Santa and I want so badly to soak up every bit of the holidays. It's not like I won't want to when they're older, it's just that, well, there's something very magical and innocent about it all right now. You know, before the requests for the i-whatever start rolling in and then they have to leave after lunch to go to their boyfriend's or girlfriend's houses. I better move on before I get all emotional about it right now...
So, in an effort to make the most of the season/month/break, we created a "bucket list" of sorts. I did the same for summer and it was great. I know that most people would find this practice to be a bit...much...but I have discovered that it helps our family tremendously. We all brainstorm ideas to put on there and we aim to keep things very feasible. If they don't all get checked off (they didn't on summer's, but did here), I don't freak out. I don't feel like a failure or guilty. I just keep that in mind for next time. And then, and this has proven to be the best part for me personally, when the time has passed and I think, "Oh! I should've done this and that! We didn't soak it up enough! We didn't seize the moment/day/opportunity", I look back at this list and tell myself to calm down. In it lies proof that we did some incredibly fun things and lived it up to the max.
So now that you have an overview of some of the cool stuff we did this month, let me break it down in a little more detail:
Way back at the end of October, we were asked by our church to do the shopping for a local family in need. Through no fault of their own, they weren't able to get us a wish list from the family and a budget until the beginning of December. Now, most people would have a field day with this. Me? Hi, my name is Heather Sinyard and I have OCD. It is very stressful to have a tight budget, seven people to shop for that you know nothing about except age and gender, and a very limited time frame. I started hunting down donations for some of the bigger ticket items and then David and I had a date night and tried to knock out a big chunk of it together. I dragged Luke out to do the clothes and shoes shopping on the first Friday and he was a complete trooper.
To reward his patience and take a break, that evening we headed over to the Suwanee Town Center Christmas Celebration. Unfortunately, they didn't have it hosted by a local church as they've done in the past and the new event didn't have nearly the same level of activities. Nonetheless, the kids had a good time roasting marshmallows and hearing a school chorus sing a few songs before we headed home early because of the drizzle.
That first weekend was full of wrapping all the gifts we'd bought the adopted family and finishing up decorating around the house. That Sunday afternoon, we went to Cookies and Cocoa with Santa, which is an incredible event that our neighborhood puts on at the clubhouse. The kids were a little nervous, but Luke pushed it down and courageously started walking right up to the jolly ol' elf. As soon as AJ saw that, she couldn't let her baby brother show her up and joined him. They sat and Audrey read Santa their letters and they chatted for a minute while I got some great pictures. Afterward, they ate cookies and colored a picture while their hot chocolate cooled off. We took some more pictures outside and then headed home. (By the way, in case you're wondering and/or for my own memory later, AJ asked for an Aurora dress, a Belle doll, and some surprises. Luke asked for a Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD, a dinosaur toy, and some surprises.)
That Monday, I picked Audrey up early from school and took her to lunch, Christmas shopping for her dad and brother, and her eye doctor appointment. Unfortunately she had not improved enough to be finished with patching, which frankly, well...it just sucks. No nicer way to say it (though I can think of a few uglier ways.) Plus, the doc wanted us to continue and come back in twelve weeks instead of six, so UGG. Three more months of remembering and nagging, nagging, nagging. On an unrelated but related note: the toe walking has improved a bit, but we haven't been keeping up the stretching very well and no, I can't even think about putting physical therapy appointments on my plate right now. We'll cross that bridge in February. May I just take a moment to praise the Lord that this is all we have to deal with? I cannot fathom how mamas with more serious medical issues or of more than two kids do it.
That week we hosted a dinner with our campus pastor and his family and our co-small group leaders. I kept it simple with a taco bar, rice, and beans (had to be kid-and allergy-friendly) It was a lot of fun getting to know them a little better and a lot of crazy with six kids six and under running around. On Wednesday I spent three hours volunteering at Audrey's school and eating lunch with her. The kids were so cute telling me what they wanted for Christmas. Well, except the three that said "iPads". Puh-lease. (But hey, bring them in for Bring Your Own Device Day, because my kindergartener sure isn't going to take ours in!) Most of the rest just said they were asking for surprises. That evening, we met up with our old "Cobb County Crew" friends for dinner and had an awesome time catching up and laughing. I've said it 1,000 times before, but man there is something so special about having "knew you when..." friends.
That week also happened to hold two surgeries for ones very dear to my heart. A precious friend having serious knee surgery a state away and my niece having to come up to Atlanta to have a plate put in her broken arm that refused to heal right. Both amazing ladies came out on top of course. That Sunday afternoon, Audrey and I went to go visit Annelise where she was recovering at her maternal grandparents' house. The girls had a great time catching up and playing for awhile. After we left, I drove Audrey around some of my old stomping ground and took her by the church I was baptized in and, years and a few churches in between later, married in. We also stopped by my first house that I lived in from birth to second grade. It was surreal having her stand in those places I once stood at her age, but very special.
The third week was a bit of a blur, as we delivered the gifts to the family we'd shopped for, hosted my Dad and stepmom for dinner for my Dad's birthday, and then finished the final preparations for Audrey's class party and gifts for her teachers. My co-room mom's husband had surgery the day before the party, so she was unable to come up to the school the day before and help me set up. Fortunately, I have an amazing husband who had worked his butt off measuring and cutting out things to make the gingerbread door decor - my pièce de résistance. I worked most of the day that Wednesday putting it up along with the inside classroom decor and it turned out really well.
The party kicked off at 8:30am and was a huge hit. We had five stations for groups of 3-4 kids to rotate through every ten minutes: making reindeer food, "catching" the gingerbread man with a fishing pole, Christmas bingo, decorating a gingerbread man cookie, and painting a gingerbread boy or girl ornament. The one thing that could've been better was the rotation of the centers. It got a little chaotic because so many parents jumped in and tried to "help." Oh, well. Live and learn. Next time I'll take one minute at the start of the party and explain what the process will be. Everyone still had a great time doing each of the activities and that's what matters. After they finished, the teacher took them out of the class while we did a few minutes of cleaning up and fixing their plates for them. Handling it that way was per the teacher's request and it worked out great. It's like she's done this before... They came back in and ate a huge feast that we'd all brought in. Donut holes, fruit, chicken minis, cookies, crackers - they were stuffed! The teacher gathered them around to listen to the Gingerbread Boy book while we wiped off tables and pulled down some of the decorations. Audrey was sad to see us go when it was all over (that's right, David came too because he ROCKS). I know she had a blast, which makes every hour and dollar spent worth it. One day it won't be so cool for Mommy to throw the parties, so I'll take it while I can.
I'd purposely planned a date that night for David and I to celebrate the end of the hard work of the season. I ended up having to do some stuff for my job, so I headed to the restaurant early and got it done while I was waiting on him. He joined me around 5 and we ate then went...drumroll, please...ice skating! We hadn't done it in years and it was a lot of fun. He used to play ice hockey, so he has way more skill than I do. And by "way more", I mean I stand very close to the wall and use one foot to push myself around and will myself not to fall every two seconds while he's doing skating backwards and doing zig zags. I kept asking him if he thought I was ready for a triple axle jump, but he kept refusing. Not a risk taker, that one. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously, though, and talked about a lot as little kids zoomed past me. Show-offs.
That Friday, the three of us took little gifts in to Audrey's specials' teachers (PE, music, art, theather arts, guidance, media center) and administrators and then Luke and I left AJ to finish up her last day and headed home to have a big baking fest. We made 8-10 dozen cookies to give away to various neighbors and people. When Audrey got off the bus, we rushed to Hobby Lobby to pick up a couple more tins for them and something else to squeeze in a package for my grandfather, who was in a rehab facility after a bad fall at Thanksgiving broke his sternum. I kept checking my watch in a panic, trying to make it to the post office before it closed at 5:00pm. I berated myself for not doing it earlier in the day, but I'd just run out of time. All I could focus on was wanting to get him fresh, homemade cookies as close to Christmas as possible.
We pulled in the post office parking lot at 4:44 and I breathed a sigh of relief...until I noticed the sign on the door had their hours listed as 9:00am - 4:45pm. What ensued next was ugly, y'all. I grabbed the children, rushed inside, and pitched a holy fit (though completely clean-mouthed, miraculously) about the stupidity of closing at 4:45. I mean, really. 4:30? Sure. But who the heck closes on the quarter of an hour?! Obviously the root of my issue was much deeper as I stood there thinking about my grandfather with tears stinging in my eyes. The clerk ultimately refused to help me, but thankfully told me about the post office down the street that stayed open until 6pm. I walked outside, calmed down, apologized to the kids for losing my cool (I thought for days about going back to the clerk and saying I was sorry - it wasn't her fault. I still haven't done it yet.) We went to the other post office, got the packages mailed off, dropped off a tin of cookies at the fire station, and got home in time to eat a late McDonald's dinner that my dear husband had thrown me a lifeline and picked up for us.
We caught our breath for a minute with the Frosty the Snowman movie and tried to switch gears from preparation to celebration. The next day was Christmas #1 with David's Mom's side of the family in Alabama. The kids kicked things off by opening a few gifts and then we dragged out the big tables and ate a feast that never ceases to amaze or stuff me. Gift opening commenced after lunch and the adults got to join in, too. We paused only long enough to go get another plate of dessert. Luke went down for a nap and Audrey dug into some of her crafty presents. She disappeared into the back room for a little while to escape the crowd, but made sure she had a grandparent with her so she'd have a little bit of an audience. She's my introverted girl and I'm really trying to recognize when she needs her space and let her have it. We finished opening gifts and hung out chatting, snoozing, and playing for the rest of the afternoon. We loaded up the van, headed back across the Georgia state line, and made it home just in time for dinner and bed.
The next morning we got up and got ready for church. David's parents joined us for the special Christmas service and then we went to brunch afterward. The next couple of days were spent cleaning house, finishing final details/wrapping, and being lazy. On Monday night, David took Audrey out for dinner and to go shopping for me while Luke and I hung out and cleaned. On Tuesday, I wrote some ideas of stuff to do on strips of paper and let the kids draw them from a jar. They'd do each thing for ten minutes and I'd take a "play break" and join in with them on the third thing (or after twenty minutes of them playing by themselves.) It worked amazingly well and I've already migrated the items onto colorful popsicle sticks because I can tell this will come in handy for a long, long time. Everything was done and clean and it was time for Christmas #2 and #3. David and I put the kids to bed that night and took a moment to savor the peace. We slow danced to The Christmas Song with just the tree lights on and went to bed feeling grateful.
David's parents came over early Christmas Eve morning. We let the kids stay in their pajamas as they tore through gift after gift. The adults squeezed in our exchanges here and there between assembling toys and cleaning up. David's mom brought over a yummy casserole and we paused for lunch and then more playtime before they headed out and the kids went down for nap/rest. While they slept, I started cooking a few dishes for the next day's meals and when they woke up, we baked and decorated Christmas cookies for Santa...and ourselves. For dinner, we ate our usual Christmas Eve tacos. The kids changed from pajamas to pajamas (life is so rough, isn't it?!) and opened their ornaments. Luke got a Where the Wild Things Are one because he loves that book and this was the year he really began to fall in love with hearing stories. Audrey got a personalized "First Day of Kindergarten" bus ornament. The kids put out the cookies they'd made along with a glass of milk and carrot and a bag of magic food for the reindeer. Audrey was panicking about getting to bed so Santa could come and Luke, well-aware that he was supposed to be, kept running around yelling, "I'm tired! I'm tired!" We calmed them down long enough to read the Christmas story out of the Bible and The Night Before Christmas before tucking them in. Audrey didn't even want her little bedside tree turned on because she wanted to fall right to sleep. When we were sure the stirring had stopped, we signaled Santa.
The next morning, I woke up, showered, and got the sausage balls and cinnamon rolls ready to bake. Finally around 7:15, I begged David to let me get the sleepyhead kids up. We made them wait at the top of the stairs and then I walked down with them to see what Santa had brought. Luke began stacking his stuff on the couch like he was ready to put it away to make sure he didn't have to give it back! Audrey immediately wanted to put on her Aurora dress and she lit up when she looked at her beautiful self in the bathroom mirror.
We played for a few minutes and then took a break to eat a tasty breakfast, complete with Santa cokes in glass bottles for David and I. We got back to work opening gifts and stockings and spent the morning until lunch playing and laying around. The kids watched a minute of Jake and the Neverland Pirates DVD that Santa brought Luke while we fixed lunch. We ate and then played the gift the kids got David - a Xbox Kinect and sports game. They looked so cute "skiing" and attempting golf, though golf was very frustrating and probably won't be repeated again soon.
We put them down for rest/naps and did our traditional date gift exchange. For mine, David got us tickets to go see John Heffron, a comedian that won last comic standing a few years ago, and I got him a gift certificate to Top Golf, a fancy driving range "experience" in Alpharetta. The kids woke up and we let them play some more while we started putting together dinner. I shooed everyone out of the kitchen to go play Kinect while I finished up and then we sat in the dining room in our pajamas/lounge clothes and ate ham, macaroni, rolls, deviled eggs, green beans, corn pudding, and potato salad. It was no Alabama Grandma feast, but it ate. :) We cleaned up and then prepared to give the kids their last gift (they only get three each from us, we'd just managed to stretch it out all day.) With the video camera rolling and bated breath, we let them unwrap the thing we'd been waiting to give them for months: a box of Disney items to reveal our plan to take them to Disney World in January.
Me: "Audrey, what do those things all have in common?"
AJ: "Princesses?"
(after more prodding...)
Me: "Do you want to go to Disney World?"
AJ: "No."
Huh. Well, crap.
Here's what I know about my kid: You will rarely, if ever, get a jump-up-and-down reaction out of her for anything. She just doesn't do that. Luke does, but she does not. And she doesn't like big surprises like that, which I totally understand. However, I still was not expecting a NO, for pete's sake!
Now in her defense, a conversation had gone down a few days earlier in which she said she wished we could go there sometime. I seized that opportunity to make a big deal out of how special a trip like that is, how much money it costs, etc. SO, I think when I asked her, she didn't want to make me feel bad because she thought there was no way we were going.
At least, that's what I'm sticking with.
So, after I showed her some videos
on Youtube about WHAT exactly it was and how amazing it would be, she began to
warm up to the idea. By the end of the night, she was singing a little
about it. Progress. We ended the day by me giving David a set of
Samsonite suitcases I was really pumped about surprising him with and his
reaction was a little more in line with what I'd expected. Everyone
curled up in their beds happy and content from an incredible Christmas day.
I woke up early the next morning to squeeze in a little post-Christmas shopping before our next celebration. Leaving the kids and David nestled in their beds, I drove through Starbucks and got treated by the customer in front of me, which has never happened before and was such a sweet surprise. I pulled into the Target parking lot just before they opened and waited. As the manager unlocked the doors, a line of people rushed to the Christmas section. I made my way there to join them, but didn't see much I couldn't live without. I grabbed a couple of things here and there and then went to Kohl's and did the same. I headed to Hobby Lobby and got there at 9:05am (five minutes after they opened) and could barely move in the wrapping paper aisle. Again, I grabbed a few things, but didn't get a ton and then went to Parson's, a local upscale gift and home decor boutique. It wasn't as crazy as it had been last year, and I found an adorable miniature Radio Flyer wagon for decoration under one of our trees and then met David and the kids in the parking lot. We headed to Christmas #4 at my Dad and Stepmom's house. The kids watched their new Mr. Rogers DVD (old school!) as we wound through country backroads and enjoyed the scenery.
I woke up early the next morning to squeeze in a little post-Christmas shopping before our next celebration. Leaving the kids and David nestled in their beds, I drove through Starbucks and got treated by the customer in front of me, which has never happened before and was such a sweet surprise. I pulled into the Target parking lot just before they opened and waited. As the manager unlocked the doors, a line of people rushed to the Christmas section. I made my way there to join them, but didn't see much I couldn't live without. I grabbed a couple of things here and there and then went to Kohl's and did the same. I headed to Hobby Lobby and got there at 9:05am (five minutes after they opened) and could barely move in the wrapping paper aisle. Again, I grabbed a few things, but didn't get a ton and then went to Parson's, a local upscale gift and home decor boutique. It wasn't as crazy as it had been last year, and I found an adorable miniature Radio Flyer wagon for decoration under one of our trees and then met David and the kids in the parking lot. We headed to Christmas #4 at my Dad and Stepmom's house. The kids watched their new Mr. Rogers DVD (old school!) as we wound through country backroads and enjoyed the scenery.
We were the first to arrive and
caught up with my Dad and Stepmom and all they'd done to their new place. My dad had set up one of his trains around a tree in the front living room and Audrey and Luke loved watching it and pressing the sound buttons on the control. After the others got there, we fixed lunch and ate. The kids were ready to jump into present opening, but I used that as motivation to make everyone pose for family pictures first. They humored me and then got permission to dive into the gifts from Grandpa and Grandma. It was so fun to have all five opening gifts at the same time and dodge the paper flying everywhere. The girls got huge craft kits and immediately wanted to color together. Carson got Nerf guns, so the boys immediately wanted to color with the girls. No wait. That's not at all what happened. :) The adults tried to carry on conversations amidst the Nerf fights, car races on the giant mat Luke got, Frozen and Shrinky Dinks coloring sessions, and begging for cookies. It was Christmas with little kids - the very best kind of Christmas there is. We left a few hours later with our bellies full of food and our minds full of some great new memories.
We drove back home and the kids watched more Mr. Rogers while David and I talked about financial plans for the next year. Nothing rounds out a fun day of family like a business meeting. (I'm actually not being sarcastic. I love a good business meeting.) We went home and cleaned up the house a little for Christmas #5.
Around 10am the next morning, our sweet friends the Taylors arrived. They now live in South Carolina, but were in town visiting Kara's family for the holidays. Having just had knee surgery, I was worried about Kara getting around, but should've known better. Like the Superwoman that she is, she was able to do just about everything as normal. We let the older kids play while steering Reid away from the tree. He is in full-on mobile and curiosity mode, which is not at all foreign to me having had two kids, but it's amazing how quickly you forget the energy that takes! We ordered pizza (because I'm an amazing hostess. No, actually because I needed something easy and our friends love us enough to get that and not care.) We ate and caught up on each other's upcoming house projects, trips, and happenings. In the middle of the conversation, my heart began to ache with the wish that they still lived close, but I tried to pull my head back into enjoying the moment. As the boys began fading, we knew our visit was coming to an end and we rounded up the kids for goodbye hugs. It was such a wonderful time and I love being able to pick up right where we left off with them.
That afternoon, I set out dishes and tidied up in preparation for our sixth and final Christmas the next day. My brothers, their families, and my mom came over around 10am that Sunday morning. I set out some spicy corn dip and buffalo chicken dip and we grazed before the usual pictures-before-presents routine. The kids were experts by this point and gladly obliged before opening gifts from each other and my mom. We were able to coerce them into a break for lunch and corralled everyone into the kitchen. My mom brought some delicious chowder for lunch and we ate salad, corn muffins, and chowder until we were really full and then stuffed ourselves with the variety of cookies, brownies, and cupcakes everyone had brought. (I have NO idea where all this extra weight came from, by the way!) The kids got their second wind and a sugar high, so I sent everyone down to the basement to run some of it off for a little bit while the adults attempted to talk without interruption for a few minutes. I mused at how crazy it was that the five of them could go play by themselves for awhile without direct supervision. We've come a long way, baby.
Around 2pm, everyone started fading and began to gather up their gifts, food, and respective children to head out. We said our goodbyes and put our feet up for a few minutes. It was all over. 6 celebrations in 9 days, 30+ different loved ones (several seen multiple times!), 3 locations (4 events at our place), tons of delicious food, many wonderful gifts, and a partridge in a pear tree. We were tired, but man, were we grateful.
The very next day, having the assurance that we celebrated the heck out of the holidays, we dragged down all of the decoration boxes from the attic and started packing stuff away. It was earlier than we usually do it, but I knew both David and I were going to start back to work that Wednesday and Friday. I wanted to begin to creep our way back to reality instead of waiting and getting smacked upside the head with it. We kept the tree up, but over the next several days everything else began to come down. By Friday when we sent the kids to his parents' house, only the tree remained and we sat around and wrapped ornaments while watching episode after episode of the West Wing that we'd borrowed from friends.
I skipped over my birthday and New Year's, so let me back up for a minute. My birthday was a very low-key, but fun day. I got up and went for a run and then we got ready and went to a bookstore. Audrey and I could've sat there all day and read, but after about an hour (they had toys and a train table too) the boys were getting a little antsy, so we went across the street and looked around in a store or two before hitting Chick-fil-A for lunch. We went home and all took naps, got up and opened my presents (a spa robe/rap and necklace set from the kids, D had given me a video camera before Christmas), and then made a couple of Christmas gift returns on the way to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We got home and had Great American Cookie Company cake (YUM...and again, what's with all this weight?!) For the most part, the kids treated me like I was the special birthday girl all day long. And if they forgot and began to fight or whine, I was unashamedly quick to throw that at them. It's SO nice that they're getting to the age where they get that! It was a fantastic day full of my three favorite people and many of my favorite things (running, shopping, spending time with my family, and good food!)
David and I both worked on New Year's Eve and Audrey went to her grandparents' house for a few hours by herself to soak up a little one on two time. Luke and I went to the grocery store and did some more undecorating. That evening we ate dinner and David watched GT in the Orange Bowl while I edited pictures. Around 11:30pm we decided to open some champagne and get ready to ring in 2015. The older I get, the less about pop culture I know or appreciate, so we didn't stay tuned much past midnight. We toasted to 2015, finished watching some post-game highlights (Go Jackets!), and turned out the lights. It was a simple way to send out December and 2014, but, again, the older I get, the more I realize that simple is where it's at. We were together and we were healthy...little else matters.
So that was December with ALL of its festivities. It was a great month full of loved ones and busy with creating new memories. I hope your Christmas was as merry and that your year was as full. To 2014: Thanks. To 2015: Ready or not, here we come!
So that was December with ALL of its festivities. It was a great month full of loved ones and busy with creating new memories. I hope your Christmas was as merry and that your year was as full. To 2014: Thanks. To 2015: Ready or not, here we come!
December/Christmas pictures can be viewed here.
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