Here we go!

We opted for only putting up one tiny tree this year, tucked away in a corner of the dining room, where the baby can't get it.

Today was my last day. Last day to breathe that is. From here on, the schedule gets crazy busy. Good busy, so they say. I have a tendency to get really overwhelmed at holiday times. How about you? Do you thrive on the hustle and bustle of events, gatherings and to-dos, or do you relish those every day regular ol' stay at home days? That's me. I like our schedule and I like sticking to it. Holidays are hard for me. The lack of routine sends me crawling out of my skin. So, thus begins my two week journey of begging for grace to let go, enjoy, and embrace the opportunities (doesn't that sound better than obligations??) to celebrate with family and friends His Coming, while not becoming wrapped up in the stress and rush or doing too much.

Much more for my benefit(hopefully I don't forget to be somewhere or bring something!) than yours, here's what I'll be doing for the next couple weeks.

Thursday: Afternoon-Library/Audrey 's Dance Lesson, Evening-MOPS Didn't manage to get to the library, but got to dance ON TIME(that's rare) and was able to go to MOPS by.myself. (also rare, as in never before). It was strange to be out without my usual baby attachment.

Friday: SAHM's Mom's Christmas Party (bring ornament to exchange and snack to share) Had a BLAST. It's so nice to get out with adults!! Well, and my little sidekick, but she was wonderful. We had so much fun that we didn't get home until 1:30, as in AM, the middle of the night folks.

Saturday: Baking/Crafting/Chatting Girl's Day with two great girls(Kristin and Steph) and our baby girls, then off to my parent's to see my little sis and her beautiful {growing} family(scroll waaaay down to the bottom of my blog) whom I haven't seen forever! Unfortunately, Steph ended up sick. :( So, the girls had to cancel which ended up being kind of bittersweet. I'm sad they couldn't come, but we WILL be rescheduling and I managed to accomplish a lot of things that I really needed to get done. Chris didn't have to work so he played super dad. It was so good to see and spend time with my sister in the evening.

Sunday: Morning-Worshiping with our favorite cities church, Afternoon- Grabbing some last minute gifts, Evening-Church Christmas Program (bring dessert) Once again, plans had to be changed. We woke up to some surprise snow which meant we weren't able to leave right away in the morning. We waited a couple hours, missing church, and then headed out. We did get all our shopping finished up and the kids did a wonderful job at their program.

Monday: Homeschool Co-op Christmas Party (bring dessert and gifts to exchange) One of the great co-op moms put together a really fun party. Thanks, Karin! The kids made gingerbread houses and the moms were able to sit and chat.

Tuesday: Dare I think we have nothing to do?? It was wonderful! We got school done, the kids played outside, and we snuck in a quick trip to the store before the storm that's supposed to hit our area this week.

Wednesday: And again?? A great day. School in the morning, cookie making in the afternoon. Then, I printed out some of these very cool vintage paper dolls and Audrey played for HOURS. We spent the evening making this and just enjoying being a family.

Thursday: Christmas Eve service at my parent's church A ginormous blizzard is resetting everyone's Christmas plans. Unfortunately, no church of us as we're snowed/iced in.

Friday: Christmas with Chris's family (bring salad)

Saturday: Christmas with my family

Sunday: Church in the morning and then FINALLY, Christmas at home with my precious family.