Could that wad of gum be any bigger??
Making gingerbread houses at my brother and sister in laws.
Jillian and Madison
Collin and Charlotte wrestling in the backyard.
Chandler and Madison at the George Ranch.We had an absolutely fabulous Christmas. One of those Christmas's that you just don't want to end. I have to admit, that sometimes, Christmas is either too exhausting, or just plain too chaotic, that sometimes I'm really just ready for it to be over. Ready for that fresh start....anybody out there know what I'm talking about? Well, not this year. This year was just ideal. My kids were great...very grateful for their gifts...not too wild. My only regret is not getting more pictures of Chandler. I was filming, and taking pictures, and cooking breakfast, and cooking my designated items for our lunch...and just didn't realize that almost all the 'film' I had on Chandler...was from my camcorder. Bummer. Other than that, for my personal family, it went off without a hitch. This year, it was so good, that I've almost found myself sad to see the season passing. For those of you who don't really know me well...I could really listen to Christmas music year round...and have been known to pull out a cd in July for my own personal "Christmas in July". It doesn't last very long though...because my kiddos usually beg, and beg, and beg for me to stop...which I truthfully find hilarious for some unknown reason. And I would put my Christmas tree up right after Halloween....if I didn't think my family would commit me. Saying all that....is basically just to say, it's not unusual for me to be sad for the season to be finished. But this year is different. I can't even pinpoint it...but it's a stronger feeling. Like...I really, really don't want this Christmas season to end. So, I've been trying to think of what makes this year so different. And bottom line...I think really more than Christmas itself, I think it's because I just love it when the kids are out of school and Roy's off of work. I know that sounds SO spoiled. Really, I do, but I don't think it's as bad as it sounds. I remember, one time, after a holiday season, I posted on my old myspace something like how reality came back way too fast. I had someone ask me if reality was really that bad...and of course I knew it wasn't....but the truth of it is, our family time together, not family time at soccer games, or some of us at Wal Mart, I mean, TRUE family TIME just seems so stinkin rare...that the absence of reality...is just really almost fairy tale. I know...you are thinking...spoiled again. But seriously, hear me out.... We are such an active family...and this last week..as any of you with children know..all activities were cancelled. No soccer practice or games, no dance, no art, etc. And while I know those ARE great things for my children, and I think it would be unfair for us to take those things away from them, it sure does make family time squeezed. Another thing that has just been a total extra bonus this year, is that Roy isn't usually off this long for Christmas either...it's just the way Christmas day fell in the week this year. I have to say, that also, sadly one of my dearest friends has lost so many family members in the last month, that it has increased my commitment to pouring into my children, and my husband. I'll talk about all that in another post..maybe tomorrow...but needless to say, I just don't do it enough, and having this week off to have the freedom to do so, has been wonderful. Roy has told me over and over again that fairy tales just don't exist...that my expectations are too high...and while that's 100% true...I feel like the last week has been as close to it as you can get. Family, food and the celebration of the birth of my Lord and Saviour. What could possibly be better??
China is slipping away from me. It doesn't seem too long ago that it seemed like yesterday that we were boarding that plane not only to go to China..but then to come home from China. But for some reason lately...it's seeming like that whole entire, amazing, life changing experience was a million years ago. I don't know if it's because Jillian is totally a part of our family...so it's hard to imagine not having her...or if it's because we are so busy that I just don't have time to dwell on it any longer....or just what. And I'm not sure I even realized it truthfully. Tonight, I'm painting. I've got several paintings due...for teacher gifts....but I took a break to check my email. I haven't been reading my adoption related emails lately...because frankly...I'm just too busy right now. Not only with work stuff...today I was totally consumed with room mom stuff...which I did love by the way. Tonight was different though...for some reason tonight, I read through several. Maybe I was trying to procrastinate a touch...but whatever the reason...I realized how far, far away it seemed. The overwheming sense of sadness has totally come over me. I don't want it to slip through my fingers. I don't want forget how amazing it was. I don't want to forget what all the Lord has done in my life. Roy and I have not one time gotten out the videos from China and watched them...so I think that is definitely in order. I know...and I really do know...that in time, I will forget this and that about the trip. I'll forget the smells of China. I may forget about that Chinese opera....I may forget how much Jillian like congee...I know I'll eventually forget some...but I'm not ready to forget anything yet. So....movie night..here we come....because, I guess movies will just have to be what we settle for until we are able to go back.
So I'm officially 37. Yesterday was my birthday..and it was amazing. I had lunch with friends...dinner with family...and realized I am amazingly blessed. The girls that work at my store even bought me gifts...which I loved!!! Roy offered me a proposal.....possibly that of a nice new digital SLR camera. This year, there is very little I actually need or want...(other than to get my quilt tops quilted), so Roy offered for my birthday and Christmas....from both he and his mom...to pool that money and put it towards the camera. At first I told him we really should put that money on debt, etc...but then I realized, if they didn't buy me the camera, then the money would be spent on lotion, perfume, shoes, etc. Stuff that I don't need..even though I might want. They aren't not going to give Christmas presents...so this really is the smartest thing to do, right?? I will say, I have a digital camera that works great outside..but the flash stinks inside. I've always been a picture nut..thanks to my daddy snapping pictures of us everytime we turned around...but I am ever so thankful to have those old pics now. Unfortunately most of them are slides, so I've got to figure out how to turn them into prints...or get them on a computer somehow. I'll think of that another day though... For now, I'm camera shopping. Daddy is doing some research for me, which will be very helpful....but I still have a touch of anxiety about it. Maybe once I get it in, and get those pics taken...I'll feel better...but of course, then, I'll need photoshop!! Haha!!
I'm going to set the scene for you...... the weather channel says we might get snow Wednesday night/Thursday morning. For all of you people from Virginia, etc.....snow in Louisiana is rare, and is cause for great celebration!! Chandler, my very down to earth 12 year old...tries to calm Madison and Collin by reminding them how often the weather channel has said that..and how often we have gotten nothing. At that point, my mom jumps into the conversation and says that really, the best chances for snow are in January....and she is, so very correct. HOWEVER, I remembered that December 11th, 1997....it snowed in West Monroe. I remember that because firstly, it's my birthday...and snow on your birthday in Louisiana is EXTRA special...and secondly because my brother and sister in law were here, and they were heading out to go home that day. So, I immediately jumped up, pulled out my scrapbooks to prove it. There they were...the pics of Chandler..approach his terrible 2's very rapidly....playing in the snow....right in front of our townhouse. The same townhouse that a year or two later we affectionately named, "the mouse house"....but that story is for another day. As our bedtime routine progressed, and while I was rocking Jillian, Madison turned on her little radio to Christmas music. I muted the weather channel....just rocked Jillian, and looked at my Christmas tree. We have so many old ornaments on there..and I love it. It's not a fashionable tree at all...but it's ornaments are full of more memories than I can count. As I'm rocking, and zoning out....I realize Madison is still in the kitchen...so I tell her it's time for her to get in the bed. She tells me she has only one more page to read, and asks if she can please finish it..and then go to bed. I'm thinking to myself, "reading?? what is she reading?? and in the kitchen no less??"...but of course, I tell her that's fine, but as soon as she's done...please go straight to bed. She finishes up, and walks in the living room, and just looks at me. While I wasn't looking, she evidently had pulled out a different scrapbook...from her preschool days...and had been at the kitchen table just pouring over it. It's at this point that she says, "just looking at that book almost made me cry. All those memories, and seeing all those pictures of...(insert special friend's name here that we've lost touch with)...I just wonder where she is. And all you wrote about us...just made me remember how much I miss her." It's now at this point that I almost start to cry as I realize....all those hours and days that I spent working on my 'scrapbooks' weren't wasted....and it's way more than a hobby. They are our memory books...and I am so thankful to have them. I am determined to get back to my scrapbooking before I forget everything from the last 3 years...and yes I'm that far behind. I spend so much time on facebook....which I will absolutely admit is a great way to keep in touch with friends, and have some fun with them...but it's also a great way to get your nose into way too much, that's really not even your business. I think back to those scrapbooking days...with no blogs, no facebook, no email, etc....but I have physical copies of my memories....that will last way longer than anyone's interest in this blog, or what was said to who about what on facebook. I've got to change my focus. Tonight I learned a wonderful, softly spoken, life lesson...and maybe the Lord was whispering to me how way off my focus has become...
I have to do it. I have to brag on Chandler. He came home Monday or Tuesday telling us that he had tried out for one of the solo's for the Christmas program. I suppose I'll need to give you a little background fyi....he's in 7th grade, and in the men's advanced choir at Good Hope Middle School... So he tried out, and his main competition was 2, 8th graders.. He came home on Tuesday saying he did very well...saying his friends in the class were high fiving him, etc. However, one of the guys he tried out against, is known to be THE strongest singer in the choir. So, we knew "the man" would get one part...and we just had to hope Chandler did well enough get the other part. Soooo, he came home today to tell us he had gotten the solo. I asked him who else got it, and he said NOBODY...it was a one man solo. He beat out THE man. I am so excited and proud for him....although now, he is extremely nervous. I know he'll do great...and I can't wait to see him singing in his tuxedo.
Elements in this layout from Shabby Princess Festival and Sweet Sprinkles Kits
