It Was Wonderful!

December has been wonderful! 

I am overwhelmed by how richly God has blessed our family...in so many ways.

Christmas Eve morning we packed the children in their jammies and enjoyed breakfast at Dunkin Donuts.

Little Bit enjoyed every bite...

Every SINGLE bite...

Everyone was happy and content. And everyone, save Little Bit, had coffee.

The awe on their faces...

The sprinkles on their noses...

And that hot hunk sitting across the table from me...

It was a great time together...even the little bit of swiping that went on!

I highly recommend Christmas eve breakfast out, with children in their jammies. It was awesome.

Late that afternoon we let them each open one gift.

Matching jammies for Christmas morning! 

Because when my sisters and I were little, my mom always got us matching pajamas!

Christmas morning finally came... 

I treasure their expressions of sheer delight!

It was a day of fun and play!

But I have to be honest...the food was wonderful.

The company was great! The Engineer's parents and brother joined us. We loved having them! - I missed my Mom. This was our first Christmas apart. (Not bad in 29 years!) And we missed Grandma and Grandpa. (Grandma just had her knee replaced.) Ok, and I always miss the Christmas Eves we had when I was a little girl. I got a little teary remembering my grandparents and their beautiful, large table, set with all their finest, and the family packed tightly 'round it! And as I grow older I appreciate more and more my Mom and grandmother.

The gifts were far too plentiful. Everyone was very generous.

What I'm trying to say is that it was a picture perfect Christmas. Except for my heart...possibly, our hearts. Looking back on the day, and on Christmas Eve, I am sad that we didn't even take the time to read the story of Christ's birth...we prepared our home well, I'm just not sure how well we prepared our hearts. We talked about intentionally preparing our hearts. We just never did it. At least, I didn't. And I didn't faithfully point our children in that direction. I don't like Christmases like that, and unfortunately, this wasn't a first for us. In all the hustle and bustle and late nights and company (which we do love!), and quite frankly, lack of caffeine, it was very difficult to pull away and spend time with my Savior. I chose other things instead. A lack of time with Him, especially over several days, leaves my heart longing and a bit sad. I'd like not to repeat this.

I am thankful that God does not leave us or forsake us and that while we were yet sinners - not once I got my act together - Christ died for us. Again, I am reminded of and thankful that His mercies are new every morning.

And when it was time for the grands to depart, and the uncle, the children would have none of that. They attempted a two man tackle, much to their chagrin and after being pulled on their bellies through the house, Uncle broke free!

Hallelujah what a Savior! Hallelujah what a friend! 

Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end...

Merry, Merry!!!

Y'all, last week was really hard. You just don't understand how precious your encouraging comments and emails and even a few phone calls were! Thank you!!! Thank you so much. I don't say it often, but I really appreciate y'all. In fact, I'm incredibly thankful for you. 

I started blogging to keep the fam updated. I never dreamed anyone else would care to read along, let alone that y'all would become such a precious source of encouragement to me and that so many friendships would be made. Thank you.

The Lord has encouraged me through you many times.

Thank you. Thank you for reading along. Thank you for your sweet comments, etc. I really appreciate you!

The amazement of Christmas has taken hold of our house. The kids are bouncing off the walls excited! We scratched gingerbread houses and sugar cookies from our annual list of Christmas "to-dos." We're staying put this Christmas. The Engineer and I made a pact not to travel during the month of December. I'm so thankful. It's been a sweet respite with lots of time together in front of the Christmas tree and a blazing fire. I love my family. I love my man.

We put out an art spread on the kitchen table and, gasp! It's been there for days. The kids have had a blast cutting and coloring and painting and pasting. Even Little Bit gets in on the action. (She has yet to figure out her glue isn't open, her paint brush isn't wet, nor are her paints...) They've only spilled the water cup like, 1,687 times. But who's counting?

We finished homeschool today. Yep, two days before Christmas. Rock on. 

Check out his 'stache!

And now...while I had that sweet wide angle lens, I whipped out the tripod, put her on the "timer" setting, and begged the fam for a good picture! I hope looking at these makes you laugh as hard as we laughed while taking them...