The Eight of Us: 2010

Friday, December 31, 2010

2011

I welcome you! -no, I'm just kidding. I'm not that corny. Tony called home tonight and told us to look at the sky. But from our house, you can't see the sunset. Kassandra had just walked in the door, so I grabbed her and we took a road trip, no sure if it were going to be worth it or not. We just drove up the road a bit, to the top of the hill, then got out and goofed around, feeling quite embarrassed when a car drove by and wondered what on earth we were doing at the side of the road, with no coats on.
But, my, was it beautiful! The Master Artist at work...

We had quite a busy day. Friends over this morning for a "sledding" party. (it was 50 degrees out so it was more of a shushball fight party) and family over tonight for games.
The community center had a party and set off fireworks. They set them off in the parking lot across the street. We had the best view in town right from our backyard.

Happy new year, everyone! Have you thought about your WORD of the year yet?

Being Creative

Every year, when November rolls around, my head begins to swim with ideas. It begins with crafts for relatives. Gift ideas. With so many nieces and nephews, we have to be a little creative. I brainstorm with the girls, I brainstorm with my friends (clients) as I work, I surf the Internet and get inspired by many creative people. I end up with more ideas than time to fulfill them.

The day after Christmas- something happens to my brain, there must be a plug in the back of my head that is fed by the excitement of the season, and on December 26th, it deflates. All my ideas, all my motivation slips away. Does anybody else have this problem?

No big deal. It's all part of the fun of Christmas. My goal this year was not just to end up with stuff to throw in a gift bag. I wanted to create memories for my kids. I want them to remember us sitting at the table painting and sewing and having fun. So when the babies climbed up on the chairs and cleared off the table in one quick sweep, or stepped on the sewing machine's foot petal and messed up my project, I was careful to remain patient. If I yell at the kids the whole time, then I'm missing the whole point. I want to create good memories.

Then I realized-

Why should our Christmas activities be any different than any other day of the year? Shouldn't I want to create wonderful memories of us playing games on an ordinary Tuesday? Or having fun while doing chores? Or jumping in the pile after we raked the leaves? Or- bear with me here- teaching History?

All things should be done in a spirit of love and fellowship. Even the mundane. This is my goal for the new year. Who's with me?

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Joshua was thrilled with his lego fire truck. We're getting him off to an early start. He wants to be a master builder like his brothers. (Master builder is a nicer term than obsessive fanatic)
Jacob gathered up his presents (two out of three were Legos, of course) and said, "Thank you, Mommy, for the presents and have a very merry Christmas!"

After our presents were opened and we relaxed a bit, we headed over to Amy's for dinner.
It's a Wii Christmas! Both S families got a Wii for Christmas this year from Mema. Neither of us have ever had a gamimg system so this is a real treat.