This year we celebrated Christmas with our best friends, The Tyldesleys. They have three kids under the age of 7 and when we walked through the door, it was ON!
We played football video games, we shot Nerf guns over the catwalk and we played with princess dress up clothes.
We ate homemade sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles BEFORE dinner!
The house was loud and messy and, in all ways, it was perfect!
Our Christmas at home was low key and sweet.
Our Christmas with our friends was loud, messy and fun.
And when we got home, Scott and I enjoyed the silence of our home, with our kid nose deep in her new Kindle reading.
It is funny, to me, how two families, who really have a differnet kind of life than the other, can come together and appreciate what each other has and enjoy each other so much!
This year's Christmas was perfect!
In every way!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Christmas Future
When I was pregnant with Courtney I made the rule that my family would not travel at Christmas. I did not want her worrying that Santa would not be able to find her. I also did not want to pack everything in a car or on a plane and travel with a small child. So, I told family and friends that while we would not travel, our home is open to any and everyone who wants to come to us. Scott and I will do the cooking and the cleaning; all they have to do is come.
After her very first Christmas, where she received WAY too many gifts, Scott and I decided that we would only get her three things. After all, Jesus only received 3 gifts, and she certainly isn’t any better than Jesus.
And we have stuck to that rule every year since.
She is 15 now, and Christmas lasts about 15 minutes in our house. Maybe 20. When you only get a limited amount of gifts, it is hard to stretch the morning out and make Christmas last.
This now has me thinking about traveling at Christmas.
I think, maybe, that next year we will rent a cabin in the mountains and do our Christmas there. Or maybe rent a condo in Florida and have Christmas on the beach. Maybe it is time for this family to experience Christmas outside of this house. Of course, this is in my head and I have not run this by Scott, so who knows…
Christmas Future….
I wonder what it will hold for us
After her very first Christmas, where she received WAY too many gifts, Scott and I decided that we would only get her three things. After all, Jesus only received 3 gifts, and she certainly isn’t any better than Jesus.
And we have stuck to that rule every year since.
She is 15 now, and Christmas lasts about 15 minutes in our house. Maybe 20. When you only get a limited amount of gifts, it is hard to stretch the morning out and make Christmas last.
This now has me thinking about traveling at Christmas.
I think, maybe, that next year we will rent a cabin in the mountains and do our Christmas there. Or maybe rent a condo in Florida and have Christmas on the beach. Maybe it is time for this family to experience Christmas outside of this house. Of course, this is in my head and I have not run this by Scott, so who knows…
Christmas Future….
I wonder what it will hold for us
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Christmas Past
While we were decorating for Christmas today, Scott asked Courtney and I what our favorite Christmas memory was.
Courtney wasn't sure. True to form, her favorite memory is the most recent. Not that she doesn't remember fondly on things that have happened, she just can't wrap her mind around the whole concept of looking back father than an year, so she goes with what she knows.
Scott's favorite memory was from Christmas 1989. He had just finished boot camp and was going home for the first time since he joined the military. Home was Valdosta, GA. For those of you who do not know where that is, it is just over the Florida border. He had two wishes that year; To be home for Christmas. And snow. Now, the chances of getting snow in Valdosta is SLIM. But that year he got snow. And not just the snow that came out of the sky and melted when it hit the ground, but the snow that stuck and could have snowballs made out of it.
I have many favorite memories. Like how every Christmas morning we got up, opened presents and then when to my Aunt Deanna's house for brunch. Or the year Courtney was 5 years old and she wanted cow girl boots. Santa brought her red ones, and she wore them all day with her pajamas. Or how we were all set to decorate when we were living in Key West and it was too hot to get in the decorating spirit so we walked down to Duval Street. I was pregnant and wearing a sundress in December.
So clearly, for this family, it is not the gift that makes the holiday or the memory special.
It is snow.
It is brunch.
It is staying in your pajamas all day.
It is family.
What is your favorite memory of Christmas past?
Courtney wasn't sure. True to form, her favorite memory is the most recent. Not that she doesn't remember fondly on things that have happened, she just can't wrap her mind around the whole concept of looking back father than an year, so she goes with what she knows.
Scott's favorite memory was from Christmas 1989. He had just finished boot camp and was going home for the first time since he joined the military. Home was Valdosta, GA. For those of you who do not know where that is, it is just over the Florida border. He had two wishes that year; To be home for Christmas. And snow. Now, the chances of getting snow in Valdosta is SLIM. But that year he got snow. And not just the snow that came out of the sky and melted when it hit the ground, but the snow that stuck and could have snowballs made out of it.
I have many favorite memories. Like how every Christmas morning we got up, opened presents and then when to my Aunt Deanna's house for brunch. Or the year Courtney was 5 years old and she wanted cow girl boots. Santa brought her red ones, and she wore them all day with her pajamas. Or how we were all set to decorate when we were living in Key West and it was too hot to get in the decorating spirit so we walked down to Duval Street. I was pregnant and wearing a sundress in December.
So clearly, for this family, it is not the gift that makes the holiday or the memory special.
It is snow.
It is brunch.
It is staying in your pajamas all day.
It is family.
What is your favorite memory of Christmas past?
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Dreams
I don't dream.
Let me clarify that...if I do dream it is SELDOM that I remember them.
And I don't dream in color, everything is in black and white.
Monday night I dreamt A LOT. They were short dreams and I would wake up after each one, look at the clock to see how much time I had before I had to get up, fall back to sleep and go right back into another dream.
Crazy.
The last dream I had really bothered me. I dreamt that my best friend, Diana Kelly-Miller, had a baby boy (which she does, he is just in 1st grade, not a baby). I was at his Christening, which was at my home church (which is crazy, because she is Catholic and we aren't). I was carrying him and dropped him down the side of the wall at the back of the church and bloodied his face pretty good. He was crying when I picked him up and then I woke up.
It was 4:00am and I refused to go back to sleep after that. I really, really bothered me.
I haven't slept well since then because I am afraid that I am going to have that dream again.
SO this morning, I did some research on dreams through the wonderful world of GOOGLE. This is what came back on my search:
To dream of a crying baby symbolizes a part of yourself that is deprived of attention and needs to be nurtured. Alternatively, it represents your unfulfilled goals and a sense of lacking in your life. If you dream that a baby is neglected, then it suggests that you are not paying enough attention to yourself. You are not utilizing your full potential. Alternatively, this dream could represent your fears about your own children and your ability to protect and to provide for them.
Oh....that clears it up!
Anybody who knows me, knows that I do not need to be nurtured, I can take care of myself. So we can rule out that.
Unfulfilled goals and lacking in my life...um....what? I have a husband, kid, house and job. That is more than a lot of people. So no...not that.
This dream just makes no sense to me. I wouldn't hurt a kid on the face of this earth and I would never drop them down a wall.
I just don't know why I cannot let this go.
All I know is I am tired and want to sleep, I am just afraid of what will happen when I do.
I liked it better when I didn't dream, or at least, didn't remember them!
Let me clarify that...if I do dream it is SELDOM that I remember them.
And I don't dream in color, everything is in black and white.
Monday night I dreamt A LOT. They were short dreams and I would wake up after each one, look at the clock to see how much time I had before I had to get up, fall back to sleep and go right back into another dream.
Crazy.
The last dream I had really bothered me. I dreamt that my best friend, Diana Kelly-Miller, had a baby boy (which she does, he is just in 1st grade, not a baby). I was at his Christening, which was at my home church (which is crazy, because she is Catholic and we aren't). I was carrying him and dropped him down the side of the wall at the back of the church and bloodied his face pretty good. He was crying when I picked him up and then I woke up.
It was 4:00am and I refused to go back to sleep after that. I really, really bothered me.
I haven't slept well since then because I am afraid that I am going to have that dream again.
SO this morning, I did some research on dreams through the wonderful world of GOOGLE. This is what came back on my search:
To dream of a crying baby symbolizes a part of yourself that is deprived of attention and needs to be nurtured. Alternatively, it represents your unfulfilled goals and a sense of lacking in your life. If you dream that a baby is neglected, then it suggests that you are not paying enough attention to yourself. You are not utilizing your full potential. Alternatively, this dream could represent your fears about your own children and your ability to protect and to provide for them.
Oh....that clears it up!
Anybody who knows me, knows that I do not need to be nurtured, I can take care of myself. So we can rule out that.
Unfulfilled goals and lacking in my life...um....what? I have a husband, kid, house and job. That is more than a lot of people. So no...not that.
This dream just makes no sense to me. I wouldn't hurt a kid on the face of this earth and I would never drop them down a wall.
I just don't know why I cannot let this go.
All I know is I am tired and want to sleep, I am just afraid of what will happen when I do.
I liked it better when I didn't dream, or at least, didn't remember them!
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