Friday, December 31, 2010

Christmas 2010

I'm still in the process of digging out of that post-Christmas slump. Today is our last, lazy day at home, the boys head back to school tomorrow (!). Looking back over the past 4 weeks makes me smile. It really was a wonderful Christmas. The kids are growing up, of course physically, but also spiritually. It's neat to see them beginning to grasp the true meaning of Christmas. Of course, at 32 years old I'm still trying to do the same thing.

Here are a handful of pictures from the past 3 weeks. I don't take nearly enough pictures!

Cute Christmas kids

Every year we host a Christmas party for Tyler's volunteer army. It's about 15-20 college and post college kids and it's always a fun night.

This was hands-down the best White Elephant gift I've ever seen. A genetically modified fish that glows under a black light!

This was Christmas round 1 at Aunt Lisa's house. We celebrated the weekend before Christmas with Grandma Janet and Papa Skip and the Clements/Hibbard side of the family.

A picture of the moms who are (almost) never in front of the camera.

Charlotte and Addison having so much fun playing with Aunt Lisa's jewelry!

Sadly this is the only picture I have of Christmas round 2 at Grandpa Walt and Grandma Deb's house. Unfortunelty this is when the stomach flu began to make its way around. Here is everyone decorating cookies.

Here's the traditional end of the hallway picture of the kids before racing down to the living room. Because both Tyler and I's parents are divorced and remarried we celebrate Christmas with lots of people. We love it and it's wonderful. But, beginning Christmas Eve through Christmas noon it's just the 6 of us and I love it.







Once again this is the only picture I have of Christmas day with my side of the family. Here is Gigi (my momma) with all 10 of her grandkids. 5 boys and 5 girls.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I'm closing the book on 2010 and ready for a new year. Next up...Happy New Year!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Still Here

The post-Christmas slump. That's what I'm calling it. Do you know what I mean? The house looks extremely "lived in", there are piles of gifts and instruction manuals in every corner, the kids are under slept and over sugared, and motivation in somewhere just out of my reach.
I love having the boys home from school. I really do. I love the lazy days and no schedule and the ability to stay in jammies all day if we want. But, it makes it really hard to do anything productive!
I'll be back soon with some pictures of Christmas. And then on to the NEW YEAR!


Thursday, December 16, 2010

Today

Right now my kitchen counter is covered with dozens of sugar cookies. Half still awaiting a cover of icing. My coffee is hot, the babies are sleeping and I'm sitting down with tears in my eyes to write this. I am so moved in this moment by an amazing soundtrack to my afternoon. Actually, it's not the music it's the truth it contains, the true meaning of Christmas.

I'm thinking about Mary's labor of love in that stable.
What must it have been like on the cold ground of that stable?
What does it feel like when the baby in your womb is the maker of the moon?
I'm thinking about the redemptive plan for my life (and yours too).
I'm worshiping my deliverer who came to earth as a baby, yet he was God!

I'm listening to Andrew Peterson's album Behold The Lamb Of God.
Do yourself a favor and go HERE to buy this CD or download it. If you can't afford the whole thing or don't know that you'll like it, go to iTunes, search Andrew Peterson and download just one song, Labor Of Love. And then worship the One that came as a baby to be our deliverer.

(side note: do you do a Jesse Tree? In need of a lesson on the lineage of Christ? The song Matthew's Begats will help with both.)

Merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Facebook Fun

I thought this was a fun application to use on Facebook. You can make a collage using many of your status updates from 2010. It was fun to look back at everything I'd written. Not to mention a funny and fairly accurate look at our year.
(note to self: in 2011 do a better job of editing your status updates)

(click to enlarge)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

What Can You Do One Handed?

I stumbled upon this picture in our photo library yesterday and it made me laugh out loud! You know how when you have a new baby in your house you learn how to do all sorts of things with just one hand? One arm cradling a baby and the other arm going about its normal life.

Well when we've had newborns in our house Tyler and I play a little game called "What Can You Do One Handed?" It's a friendly competition that may or may not have had us trying some really stupid things one handed.

So here's Tyler making coffee one evening with Margo. Note, he also had to grind to beans.

This was a particularly good one, although there are plenty that I don't have pictures of. Have you ever typed a research paper one handed? Opened a bottle of wine? Taken out the trash? Blow-dried your hair? Or how about gone to the bathroom one handed?