Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve:

One present each

cheese and fruit

reading together

kids off to bed - at least in theory

Mom writing Christmas letters

kids too excited to sleep

tree beautiful

stormy night

warmth inside

romance

family

love

21 years today!!

21 years ago.....we were little more than children.  The wedding was beautiful and meaningful thanks mostly to my mom.  The women in our church went all out to help with the reception, including a beautiful cake.  The service itself brought me to tears as my dad prayed at the end for Kevin and I, thanking God for the blessings of having me in his home (oof!).

And here we are a little older, a little grayer (O.K., mine is covered up), but still loving each other and indeed blessed by God.

I can't tell you how it feel to be married to my husband for 21 years.  He is a hard working, loving, handsome and sweet man!  I love him, I love him, I love him.  And the greatest thing is that HE LOVES ME!!!!  I know that and I am secure in that love.  

Lord, help me to never, never take that love for granted.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.  Please take time to reflect on that greatest gift given so long ago, yet so current and relevant for today. 

Can you spell Christmas P-A-I-N?!

Every year around this time, my kids start really acting raunchy!  I noticed the first year I was a mom, I am sure, but it got really bad when they were all preschoolers and is still continuing to this day.  It just seems that no matter how good our fall was, it goes downhill from there and the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is such PAIN!  They can't seem to get along, they don't want to do chores, they are antsy and bratty and unkind.  I kind of wish they believed in Santa, but even if they had when they were preschoolers, those days are LONG gone.  

Anyway, somehow we always make it through this time of the year without me killing them (you haven't read about me in the paper yet).  I hope God will give me grace to deal with them better than I have been the last few days.  Some things, hubby was like "let it go" and I didn't want to.  I didn't want to let it go because all this misbehavior just seems to "pile up".  I can't get over the last one, so they just merge from one into the other.  Maybe it is because at this point, the kids are getting too old to be coerced into seeing my viewpoint and apologizing.  One child in particular (no names, but only one of a different gender) can't seem to admit guilt or even "be" sorry.  O.K., I know you are tired of this vent or rant.  I will sign off, just remember me and my kids in your prayers.  We are having a bad month!

The Mystery

We have this really slippery spot on our floors and stairs.  So slippery that #1 fell twice coming down the stairs!  He wasn't hurt, but he sure was sore.  Anyway, I have not cleaned the floors lately, the cleaning lady comes next week (so it wasn't her), and the dog was safely locked up so she couldn't have secretly stood on her hind legs and polished the floors.  The only thing I can think of is that while I was dusting the table in the foyer before I put up my nativity I have there, I got some Pledge on the floor.  But it is a huge area on both sides of the stairs and in front of them. Weird!  Well, now I have to clean the floors and get the "polish" off of them.  They have to be dull and lifeless again so my kids won't fall down.  How do I do that?  And #1 might be happy to not fall again, but the other kids will miss sliding on them.  Since we noticed it this afternoon, they have had a great time getting a running start and sliding into the front door!