Enjoying the Break

Ahh...it's so nice to be on break! We had a great Christmas and I hope you all did, too!

Hubby was home from work for 5 1/2 days and we loved just having some downtime as a family. We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family Christmas Eve day and again on Christmas morning and had so much fun! (We spent the previous weekend with Hubby's side of the family and had a blast there, too!) After that, though, it was just the five of us. Doing a lot of relaxing, playing with new toys, and enjoying each other.

Well, plus the puking.

Josh and Sarah either caught a little bit of a bug or just ate one too many cookies...either of which are complete possibilities. They just didn't seem quite like themselves for a couple of days. But for the most part, it didn't interfere with any of our celebrating. The only time it was bad was when Josh threw up on the letters to Santa. Of all the places he could have thrown up! I thought Sarah was going to lose it, she was so sad.

In all seriousness, we had a great time celebrating Jesus' birthday and making lots of great family memories...

• Josh pumping his fists by his side and saying "Yes!" on every present he opened
• Sarah requesting the "ax" song while singing Christmas carols around our tree on Christmas Eve (what we finally figured out she was wanting was Angels We Have Heard on High...you know Gloria...in "ax"celsis deo.)
• Megan squealing and waving her arms with excitement at her family
• Playing lots and lots of Wii and Connect Four

I'm just so grateful for my family! We're taking the rest of this week off of school, and enjoying a little more down time before it's back to business next Monday.

Ugh...that just doesn't sound right!

I guess I'll just focus on being grateful for the down time we do have, for the job that Hubby has, and that we all actually like to be together! Those are all definite bright spots!

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas! I hope it is a special day for you to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Merry, merry Christmas!!

A New Tradition

We started a new Christmas tradition this year! I don't remember where Hubby got the idea, but he thought it would be fun if each year at Christmas time, we spent a night in sleeping bags around the Christmas tree.

The kids were so excited!

Well, Josh and Sarah were. Megan was too little, so she had to still go to bed in her crib.

We let them stay up a little late to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas movie on TV and then we tucked them all in and shared some of our favorite Christmas memories before heading to bed.

In all truthfulness, the storytelling ended around 9:30 when Josh said, "I'm tired. Can we just go to sleep?"

Too funny.

So we all settled in our sleeping bags for a good night's sleep. On the hard floor. Okay, maybe not the best night's sleep, but a lot of fun.


Any guesses on who was the first one asleep?

I had one squirmy, snuggly, love bug on one side of me and another squirmy, snuggly, love bug on the other side of me. It wasn't me. It wasn't said squirmy, snuggly love bugs Josh or Sarah.

It was hubby.

But we were all soon behind him. And we actually slept fairly well. The kids, in fact, didn't wake up until 8:30!

I'd say it was a success and we'll do it again next year!

What about you? Any fun or different traditions your family has at Christmastime?

A visit with Santa

My kids love our annual outing to see Santa.

Yeah, they get a little nervous about it - especially Sarah, but there's just something magical about sitting on that jolly guy's lap and sharing their desires for new toys.

This year their requests seem to be based on whatever is on a commercial or in a sale flyer. There just hasn't been that one thing they just have to have. I don't have a problem with that, except that I don't really want them having the "gimmies."

You know...I want this, I want that...I want this, I want that...

So before we left to visit Santa I tried to work with them to come up with something that they really wanted, so they didn't just ask Santa for a candy cane because that's what was hanging next to him.

We practiced a ton of times. Sarah wanted a Barbie or a Sleeping Beauty doll, but it had to have a pink comb. Josh still changed his mind every time I asked. He really thought he wanted a Kota My Triceratops, but that's a lot of money for something that says its for ages 3 -5 and he turns six in a couple of months.

So we met Daddy at The Children's Museum for a special midday treat and waited in line to see Santa. When they get up there, Josh looked at Santa and said, "Do you still have Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"

Santa answered that yes, he did, and that he would need his help if the weather is bad on Christmas Eve. Then Santa went on for awhile about how scientists figured out exactly how long he had to stop at each house (I think he said .42 milliseconds?) and how he would really need Rudolph's help, but that he had some extra help, too, by changing time zones. He kinda lost the kids in the explanation and then when he asked what they wanted for Christmas, all our practicing was forgotten.

Josh said he wanted a "stand up gun", and Sarah thought and thought and finally said she wanted a castle "like that one over there" and pointed across the room.

Kids.

Cute, cute kids.

Hopefully Santa can find them just what they want.

Good luck, dude!

Cute Glasses

Since I missed a couple of weeks of blogging, I never got to share a picture of Sarah in her new glasses.

So, without further ado, here she is....

Her world is so much brighter now! We've even had comments from people that she seems more outgoing. Poor little lady just couldn't see!

We love you, "Sis!" You are so stinkin' cute!!

The truth behind the quiet home

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I hope you all did, too!

I have so much to be thankful for - my family, my friends, my health, my home, and my salvation, for starters.

This morning I'm thankful for quiet.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love homeschooling. I love having the first-row seat to see Josh learn and grasp new concepts. I love being there to watch him read something for the first time. I love watching him and Sarah become the best of friends. I could go on and on...

But I also love that we're part of a co-op where every three to four weeks, I get two hours to myself. I don't have to teach. I don't have to do childcare. I get a day off. All three of my kiddos are at co-op, and I'm not.

Sometimes I run a bazillion errands - you know, the kind where you have to run in somewhere for 30 seconds to grab one thing. Yeah, the kind that aren't fun to do with three kids in tow.

Today I opted to return home and have two hours of quiet to do my own stuff. I've downloaded and organized all my pictures from the last 6 months. I've done two loads of laundry. I've updated facebook. I've blogged.

Wanna know a secret? I say it's quiet, but truthfully, the whole time Christmas music has been blasting through my speakers.

I love it.