Wrapping up Christmas

I am always amazed at how quickly the Christmas season passes. Seems like just yesterday we were putting up the tree and all the trimmings and in reality we took down the tree and all the trimmings yesterday. This part of Christmas always makes me a little sad. The house looks really bare, that is for sure! I am looking forward to some rest now though. While we had a wonderful past couple weeks, it is always nice to get back into routine and my LISTS! The "busy-ness" started actually the first part of December with practices for our church play. Maddie ended up learning another child's lines the day of the play when we found out one of the children would not be there. She has an amazing mind and was able to pull it off with ease. I however was a nervous wreck for her...tee hee. On December 20th we celebrated Jack's birthday. You can read about that in an earlier post and find that he entered his 6th year of life having a great time. On December 22nd we celebrated Gotcha Day with a nice dinner at home that included all of the kids favorite foods. Yes, we did eat ice cream for breakfast as was the kid's request to start off Gotcha Day. It really is difficult for me to comprehend at times how God brought us together as a family with children that look just like us. Four years ago we stood in front of Judge Bobbi Alpers as she announced Jack and Maddie's names with our last name. Of course, I cried. What else would a mother a do??? :o) December 23rd we celebrated Christmas with John's folks. We were disappointed to learn they wouldn't be a part of our usual Christmas Day activities but we were thankful to get to spend time with them earlier. Christmas Eve was spent quietly at home, opening presents from extended family (the stuff grandma and grandpa brought home from Franklin, TN from relatives that were there to celebrate the Revell Christmas). Normally we would have been in Burlington for Christmas Eve with my family but as our families expand, it is getting harder to all be together. It was actually nice to be home as a family playing the new games the kids received. Perhaps this will be our new tradition! It was definitely fun to wake up Christmas morning in our own home...at 5:00 in the A.M.! Yes...the festivities started bright and early and there was no way we would ruin our kids joy by holding off the opening of the gifts any longer.... We do not celebrate Santa...our kids are too smart and figured out last year he was just a man in a suit which was fine with us. The real meaning of Christmas is about a baby born in a manger who came to earth and it is way more important that they focus on that instead. We do however have a Christmas Mouse who fills the stockings every year. Jack still wonders how a mouse can bring so many goodies! :o) My folks came to our home in the late morning bearing presents for the kids and we all had a GREAT time playing games the entire day. It truly was wonderful to be at home for Christmas and will more than likely be our permanent way of celebrating. Certainly was a lot more relaxed, not having to worry about packing up everything to take home, etc.... December 27th was my birthday. This is my final year in my 30's but that is OK. 40 won't be any different than turning 39 so I don't understand why people make such a huge deal out of turning 40. Now, turning 100...that is something to make a big deal about. HA! John made my favorite dessert in lieu of a cake. He made a 4-in-1 Tort made with pistachio pudding and cream cheese. It is truly divine. We also ate at the Machine Shed, one of my favorite places to eat. Usually eating out is McD's on occasion so a real restaurant is a treat for us! Now we are winding down. We will be back into school routine starting Monday Dec 31st (there is no rule that says we can't have school on January 1st...tee hee). It is definitely time to be back into a routine around here.

We do have a prayer request though. Monday afternoon we have a follow-up appointment with the eye doctor for Jack. Hopefully they will be able to determine whether or not he has glaucoma. We are praying the results come back negative but are ready to face whatever the Lord places upon us. Psalm 55:22a "Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you."