Christmas: Part 2 - The Big Day

I don't know if this was really the BIG day or not, but we had a great time, just the six of us on Christmas Day!  This year I tried something a little bit different, I chose to give each of the kids just three gifts, usually we have just gone nuts, and this year, I wanted to simplify.  They have so much! 

So I did something to read, something to wear and something to play with, and then they had their stocking like normal.  I had heard about this at a MOPS meeting, I was already thinking about simplifying when someone mentioned this, perfect, I thought!  Three gifts, like Jesus got from the wise men, right in keeping with what I was wanting to get across with the Advent Calendar and the stories we were going to be reading every night. 

I didn't get the impression anyone missed the huge piles of presents either.  
Another way we scaled back on gifts was we drew names for each other too, instead of each child shopping for everyone, we each had one person to shop for, with a little bigger budget, this was SO much better than dollar store trinkets in bulk for everyone!

Of all the things that Faith received that day, she enjoyed her baby bottle with fake milk in it the best, she insisted that her brothers feed her baby while she opened other presents! 

They were both such good sports about it, maybe even enjoyed it??  A little? Maybe?  Don't tell though!!!

Ethan, obviously, really was excited about his craft kit!  He asked about doing it everyday after, until we finally did make some!

Faith was so fun to watch, she was excited for everyone else too!  She oooed and awed over everything that was opened!


Notice how I, in my pj's, did not make it into any pictures, yeah, that WAS on purpose!  As with every year, I found the greatest pleasure in watching them have a great time, enjoying their gifts!  That's such a "Mom-Thing" to say!  But I did get some super-cute headbands that Grace picked out for me, I was pretty excited about that!

Christmas: Part 1 - Playtime With Faith and Zach

 

 I didn't get to spend time with Grace and Ethan for the first several days before Christmas, they were spending time with their dad from Wednesday till Sunday, but I did, however, get some fun time with Faith and Zach, and Rob was even off to work on the house, but he decided to just chill with us a bit!  

 

We played and read and made chocolate covered...well, if it was not moving, we dipped it in chocolate!!!  And, I took pictures!!!!!

 

Strike a pose!

  

Zach too!

 

Pretty girl!

 

So handsome!!!

Your standard, cheesers here!  Oh, and the peace sign from Faith (Thank you, big brother, Ethan!)

By the way, you may have noticed the lovely grooming of these two children!  They have JUST come from baths and had their hair fixed as requested and I, their mother, have chosen their clothing (all things I rarely get to do!).  You KNOW this only lasted a VERY brief time before they were messes again!  But it was a fun photo opp, while it lasted!

My Thirty-Something Birthday

Growing up, your birthday is somewhat of a big event in life, and when you grow up it gets less and less that way.  For some, that is how they like it, for me? I have to admit that I miss the days when people made a big deal about me!  I kind of go from day to day, with no one noticing me (at least, it seems), so I kinda miss the days when I was a big deal, at least for one day. The thing that I miss the most about my birthday's as a child is that I shared them with my Grandma Kemper, she and I had the same birthday, and we celebrated every year (that I can remember), together! Since she passed over 20 years ago now, it's definitely different. 

So there are some things that you should know about December birthday babies;
1) NEVER wrap their birthday gift in Christmas paper, or anything that looks "Christmassy", unless you would like your birthday present in July wrapped the same!  Nope, not even then!  Just don't go there!
2) NEVER think you can get away with getting one gift for Christmas and birthday!  Combo presents are a NO-NO!

I'm not gonna lie, having your birthday in December, STINKS!  I very haphazardly gave birth to my last baby on the day after Christmas, right there we know God has a sense of humor! But, never fear, I am an expert at this, and I'm thinking 1/2 birthday party, you know, in June!  Because you know, no one is coming over the day after Christmas for a birthday party! 

As for me, turning thirty-something, all I wanted was a hot cup of coffee and to sleep in, not too much to ask...you'd think.  Well, it didn't happen, I have a non-coffee drinking husband that doesn't know how to work my coffee pot and the kids woke me up very early. 

My family is so important to me, and honestly, I hate that everyone is so busy!  I want all cell phones and computers to GO AWAY so I can just get some face time in with all of them!  On my birthday I got to spend two hours at lunch with  my sister on my birthday and I think we could have taken another!  We never get to spend that much un-interupted time together!  As my first friend ever, I love her company to this day!

Every year I think, "This year is going to be a great birthday!"  But most years, not so much, and it passes, I think as an adult maybe I need to look at the year more as a whole, ask myself, "What am I going to do this year that makes a difference?", or in retrospect, "What did I do this past year that made a difference?".  I'm not talking about doing something so people will notice me, but I recently heard that people do not fear death, they fear that the world will go on and no one will notice their absence from it.  I believe this to be very true.

In the evening Rob took me to see the newest Twilight movie, and to dinner, our date was cut short by a vomiting baby and half the kids were up to greet us at home, so not much of the evening went as planned.  It is definitely the era that we live in now that I was so excited to see over 100 birthday wishes from Facebook friends that night before bed and that I only received one card via "Snail Mail", but is it also interesting that they one that meant the most was the physical card?  I think so, apparently I'm am old...fashioned!!!!

 

Baby Girl's First Haircut!

Baby Girl has had her bangs trimmed many times, but by the request of her father, the back has been untouched since birth, so the baby fine hair was pretty scraggly at the tips, tangled easily and Mommy decided it was time for a change.  So I eased Daddy into it, and he agreed as long as I didn't take too much off.  Only a few inches came off, but it is such a big difference!  It looks so much better!  And since Mommy used a blow dryer and curling iron after the trim, obviously, Baby Girl felt like a princess and flaunted her new do for me to photograph!

Advent

This year as a family is actually (I'm a little embarrassed to say) the first year that we have every done an advent calendar, we have done the advent wreath once, but 25 days of stories has been a really neat experience. 

What I found was this advent board book with 25 little board books inside of it, nothing to hang on the wall, which I liked, but it is also telling the whole story of the coming of Christ, it's perfect for the little ones, and durable!  It has been very biblical so far, which I also like. 

Along with this we have been reading Chicken Soup for the Soup Christmas Treasury for Kids, which I would recommend for kids 6 or 7 years old and up, Rob and I have gotten a lot from these stories also, several of them have left me teary-eyed!  Its a story of Christmas spirit everyday.  We have been reading these every night at dinner. 

At our house dinner is a definite, I don't want to say ritual, tradition maybe?  Anyway, every night, all year round, dinner is a sit-down together event.  I really am glad that we have chosen to do that, it was actually more of Rob's "thing", that I kind of rolled my eyes at a little several years ago when it began, but now, I see it as a very important part of our family.

Something else that has become a tradition at our house has been prayers at dinner time, we have always said thanks for the meal, but since, I think it was Thanksgiving last year when my dad wanted to go around the table and have each of us say something we are thankful for, Zach thought that was the greatest, he loved that each of us prayed at dinner, and since he loved to lead us in prayer, he started asking each of us to thank God for something before he would say "Amen", now it is tradition, the kids take turns each day of the week (with Rob leading on weekends) leading  us in our prayers of thanksgiving, each of us just saying one thing we are thankful for that day.

Does your family have any advent traditions?

Both of the books that we are using this year can be found on www.christianbook.com.

The Passing Of A Great Man

Yesterday morning was when my Uncle Steve Hane left this earth.  He was not quite 54 years old and he had lived with cancer for the past year.  There are things you learn as you grow up, things that you wish you knew when you were younger, especially things like how important it is to know your family, not just hang out with them a few times a year, not just send them cards or check up on them on Facebook, but really know them.  Maybe I am one of the few, the blessed, but I have an amazing family.  And I regret not having more time now, to get to know my uncle. 

For me, I love my family, I mean LOVE my family, each and every one of them make me who I am today, each one of them has impacted my life, and my Uncle Steve is no different.  While I don't claim to have known my Uncle Steve really well, definitely not as well as I would have liked, there is things that I do know.  He was all about family and all of us were always welcome in their home, he was completely loving and always ready with a smile when I saw him.

Growing up, I was convinced that my Uncle Steve was a rock star, literally.  I had heard he played in a band, had heard them practice in his basement and even snuck down there to take a peak!  As an adult I've heard them play a handful of times, but the night I will remember best was at his "going away party".  The smile on his face and the joy in his eyes, he was still a rock star to me.

As I learned things about living from my uncle, there is also things I have learned about dying from him.  It is not the time to stay in bed, feel sorry for yourself, or accept a sentence, it is a time to do the things you love, and be with the ones you love. 

We are going to say good-bye to my uncle on Friday morning, and I'm honestly not ready, it's not my timing for sure, so I am leaning on the Lord's perfect timing and finding rest in knowing that he is no longer hurting. 

As we all get older it is harder and harder for everyone to get together in one place at any given time, and I find myself missing that big family Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve at my Uncle Steve and Aunt Amy's house.  I know as we grow up and have our own little branches of our family tree we make new traditions, but somehow I feel like I had it the best, better than my kids even, when all of my aunts, uncles and cousins were there, funny as it sounds, I wish they could have been there for that.

A New Look

If you are just joining us, you won't know the difference, but I've revamped and given this place a whole new look, it seems appropriate what with our whole house remodel that we are in the midst of too!  I've been gone for almost two years now, this is very sad!  So now that I'm back, I really am wishing that I never stopped, but sometimes that's what happens, can't do anything about it now!  I will be adding to this as often and as much as I can now.
New things you should know about... I seriously think I have found a new addiction, Pinterest!  Also, I do coupon still, this is not an addiction like it was when it started, but it does do wonders for the budget!  I am NOT a hoarder, but I do have a little on hand to get me to the next earth shattering sale! ;)  We enrolled Grace and Ethan in public school this August, it was a REALLY tough decision to make, but they are thriving to say the least!
I have just passed my 32nd birthday and we are fast approaching Christmas, so what an exciting time to start blogging again!  Well, I will post more as soon as I find a minute, but for now, thanks for coming back (or joining us)!