Holiday Life

This morning I get to sit down with a second cup of coffee. Ah, so wonderful. The kids sat on the couch and read out loud to me while I edited pictures (Sam sounded out the word "disgruntled", seriously!?). We're all still in our pajamas at 10 am (now11:30). And life is good. My huge list of thing to do which includes cleaning the bathrooms for the first time in weeks, ironing the mound of Ben's shirts that I've been avoiding, and finishing November's budget (10 days late) is being put off again while I decide to blog and put my feet up. But it's ok, because we're at home for the next few days and I'm sure I'll get (nearly) everything done. I tell you what, I don't know how you mom's with kids in school every day do it. We've had a string of 4 busy days and we're all exhausted.

I love this time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas! It's busy, but a good busy. I didn't blog about Thanksgiving because I took about five pictures. I don't know what my problem is with taking pictures during the major holidays. I'm just not good at it. Hopefully it's because I'm savoring the moments instead of trying to document them. Or maybe it's because chasing a 15 month old around doesn't leave much time to tote a camera around. Pictures or no pictures, Thanksgiving was great. It was a Morris year so we had dinner with 70 family members at Eagle Fern camp. What an amazing Christian heritage we have! Then the next day I hosted Diane's family--16 people. It was awesome to see how well our house fit a big group! We're so thankful for this home and the families that God gave us!

And now we're preparing for Christmas. The boys and I had so much fun getting out all the Christmas decorations and deciding where to put them in the new house. Josh was an absolute menace, but we love laughing at him as he discovers new things, like snuggling on the tree skirt, or throwing pinecones that are supposed to be decorations. He's obsessed with taking baby Jesus out of the manager in the nativity, which totally cracks me up, because I remember the twins did the same thing when they were his age. He'll walk up jabbering to me and hand me Jesus, and I have to try to keep a straight face as I tell him, "No." We got our Christmas tree last weekend at a little family farm here in Scappoose and decorated with a pestering Joshua. He keep finding random toys and setting them in the tree as ornaments. Such a rascal. Sammy especially could not wait to decorate the tree. It's so fun as your children get older and can remember and be excited about events to come. I'm trying to fill our days with baking and crafts and most of all a sense of the miracle of Christmas: that Jesus came to the earth! He is our Savior!

So here's my very few pictures of a very special time of year. I'm hoping that I'll do better the next few weeks with taking more, but maybe I won't. And it will be okay. Because I'm savoring this time with my littles!

 Yes, Josh, this is so helpful.

 Sam is totally going to regret this stage of neck-straining smiles.

 Snuggling the tree skirt. 

 We did the coolest nighttime silhouette of the nativity scene. It's so fun to see the difference between Sam and Seth's artistic style.

 

 Josh's first time finger painting. It looks very similar to a spaghetti meal. He's been taking lots of baths.

Finished product! (I cut out the nativity, the boys did the trees). Sam's is on top, Seth's bottom.

 

 On our way to get the Christmas tree, the first time. Apparently small towns do not have any tree farms open after 5 pm on a Friday night. We've been so spoiled by the city. So we piled back in the next morning and got the tree on our second try.

Seahawks theme decorating party. I love these boys so much!