OVER? ALREADY?!

 

Christmas break is flying by, and it is going way faster than I would like it to go! We wrapped up the last day of school for 2018 last Friday, and it’s been a whirlwind of activity ever since. Roger’s parents arrived on Saturday, and Rogers brother, Nate, was able to come up for part of the day too.

 

Sunday was the Christmas program at church, and the children did a great job. It is definitely not my nature to wait until the last minute, but everything came together amazingly well. The kids were glad that Grandpa and Grandma were able to be there. We did not have church services on Sunday night since we would be having a Christmas Eve service the next night. I have to admit I was quite thankful to go home, and work on some projects that I had neglected over the last week. My kids were glad that I made time to go to the grocery store! Roger took Wyatt Christmas shopping as Wyatt had picked my name in our family drawing of names. Wyatt has had my name for the past three years, and while he says having moms name is hard, he does enjoy the date with Roger. Roger’s dad went with them too, so they had a good afternoon together. It was a quick afternoon with grocery shopping, wrapping presents and time spent with grandparents.

Early Monday morning, I left to go to Portland to pick up my sister, Jen. Emma was up early, and she wanted to come along. We picked up Aunt Jen and headed home. Roger’s dad had gone with Roger to work on Monday, and the rest of the kids stayed home with Grandma.  I took the kids ice skating in the afternoon. Probably not an activity that I would have picked on my own, but I know how much the boys enjoy it, and Roger just hasn’t had very much extra time lately. They skated and played for over an hour, and everyone came home hungry! We had a quick snack before heading to the Christmas Eve service. This is always one of my favorite services of the year, and I love the soft lighting, singing of carols, and the Scripture readings. I was able to sing a duet with Garett for this
special service, and I’ll always treasure that memory. Garett has a good voice, and he was willing to
practice hard. I love the fact with he sang with such a willing heart. I’m praying that he will keep  that willingness to serve God with his voice even as Garett is approaching the time when his voice will change.

Christmas Day dawned upon us with excited kids and an early morning! Roger and I are early risers anyways, and we enjoyed a few moments with coffee, togetherness and devotions before our crazies woke up. It was such a fun day for our family. The kids received an abundance of gifts, so they will be writing thank you notes over the next few days. I was so blessed with the time with family, our
children’s delight, and just awe over the Christmas season. I always love the time with the presents wrapped under the tree the best. Once the presents are opened, I always feel a bit deflated. I guess I just really like the anticipation. Roger and I had all the kids pick names for someone else in our family, and then everyone had to pick out a gift and wrap it for that person. We’ve done our family presents that way for a few years now, and its always fun to see what a chid will pick out for someone  else. I will say that I help quite a bit with finding the present and the wrapping for the ones that Emma and Travis have drawn. We hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas celebrations, and that you took some time to reflect on the Savior of the World. Merry Christmas!

We had a great few days with Roger’s parents here. Roger’s Dad was able to go with Roger to work on one of the days, and Mom matched all my mismatched socks! Well, they weren’t all mine! But she found like fifty pairs of socks in the basket! We took a hike one day, played games, and ate...a lot! Time flew by!

 

The rest of the week was filled with family time, lots of food, skating for the boys, and fun. I will admit that the anticipation of Christmas break did not live up to reality! I envisioned quiet days at home, sweetly playing children, and long talks with Roger. I didn’t even really see much of Roger, I am a bit “peopled” out, and my children are acting like that are going through withdrawals...and they are, it’s called a “sugar withdrawal”. By Saturday morning, I was a bit of a grouch. And I knew it because my children start acting grouchy too! I took down the Christmas decorations, and sent the kids outside to burn the Christmas tree. That kept them occupied for a few minutes, and I was able to have a few moments of quiet. One of my advent devotionals, which Ill still be reading next month, was on singing. It really spoke to me as I love music, but I am very picky about music.   The opening paragraph of the devotional states the following: “What better reason to sing than this: the Savior is born to live, die and rise again to fix what sin had broken.” Take a moment to think about that! We sing phrases of songs, listen to songs, have songs as our phones ringtones, background music is in every store and restaurant, but what song is in my heart? There will never be a more important song to capture my heart than the song that Jesus fills my heart with rest and satisfaction and He reigns supreme! Psalm 95 is just one of many passages of Scripture that reference singing...what song is in your heart?

Roger’s parents left on Thursday evening, as they needed to get an early start on the road on Friday morning. Josh and Hannah came down on Friday afternoon for our family Christmas. Jen and I took the kids to Portland on Sunday for some fun with Aunt Jen and a hotel with a pool! How fun for the kids! I am thankful that Jen was able to come out for a few days to spend time with us. She’s  probably ready to head home for some peace and quiet! We had a little snow over Christmas break, but really not very much at all. The kids have been able to do more ice skating this year, but we are  missing the snow.

The week flew by, and it went too quickly in my opinion. I’m not ready to head back to teaching music classes, schedules and routines, and school life. I’d like a vacation...oh, wait, I’m the mom! Truly I am so blessed to be the mom to these five kids, and I do rejoice in that. God is faithful to give grace, patience, and all the other character traits that I need! Unfortunately, I often open my mouth before applying the character trait needed for the situation! I’m thankful for forgiveness.