Magic Moments

December 26 might just be the most depressing day of the year. Will and Ami had to leave. Tom went back to work and so did my dad. All the fun anticipation and Christmas hoop-la is over. The boys and I are still at the cabin and this morning my mom and I woke up to the post Christmas mess. Even the Christmas treats looked unappealing and got thrown in the trash. :( After I sulked for part of the morning we did indeed get the cabin cleaned and all the new toys sort of organized and the laundry started. After naps the boys and I all got haircuts. Then we took advantage of this nice winter day and went outside! I do love our homeschool curriculum. Every Friday there is time scheduled in to be outside and enjoy God's creation. However, the person who wrote our curriculum must not have accounted for cold Minnesota Winters. A couple weeks ago Aiden and I were supposed to go outside and measure the length of Noah's Ark. Since we've been living in an ice box, we hadn't done thi...

Christmas Day was a beautiful day! It was warm enough to be outside, the boys had lots of time to play, and we made our annual gingerbread houses. Even the boys have to make a gingerbread house. They're usually pretty good sports. No one caught anything and I don't think anyone really planned on catching anything. But, it's always fun to set up the ice fishing hut and drill the hole. I heard that drilling the hole through 17 inches of ice took some time.

 We celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve at our house. Christmas day is for sleeping in (if you don't have kids) eating lots of treats, playing with your new toys, and enjoying the best day of the year for the best reason ever. Christmas Eve begins with the hanging of the stockings and setting out cookies for Santa. Then we go to church. Our house is one of Santa's first stops so he comes while we are at church. The boys were so excited this year and it was so. so. FUN!   Tradition holds that Santa brings one gift and you're pretty much guaranteed to get the gift you ask for. I didn't really grow up believing in Santa, but Tom's family is a Santa family so we have adopted the tradition. The story of St. Nicholas is a beautiful story and we read the story each year. The boys believe in the magic of Santa and his generosity beautifully illustrates that as exciting as it is to get a gift that you really want from Santa, Santa brings the gift to show you how muc...

Everything we did today was overshadowed by the fact that tomorrow we celebrate Christmas. In our family we open presents on Christmas Eve night. In Tom's family we open presents on Christmas morning. I'm partial to Christmas Eve night, but they both are fun in their own way. So, today involved lots of bordeom because all we could think about was opening presents which made today crawl by. It took some creativity to entertain a little five year old boy who only had presents on his brain. ;) Marme made a stellar hot cocoa bar and the boys indulged themselves in hot cocoa with added extra chocolate, mint, marshmallows, whipped cream, and even chocolate spoons. They were in heaven. :) I spent some time on a new picture editor and I don't have the knack of it yet which is why this looks kind of silly. But it's all in the name of fun!

Last night, after a very busy day, we took the boys to a live nativity that a church in our neighborhood hosted. It was simple, but was a great portrayal of the birth of Christ for the boys to experience first hand. And of course, the stable animals where a big hit.   Today we are at the cabin and it's been an advent free for all because after spending yesterday packing, cleaning (sort of), making treats that Tom needed, ironing, spending forever at the post office, making dinner, folding 400 loads of laundry, going to the grocery store, going to the nativity, and driving up to the cabin I'm beat. ;) We made a quick trip into town today so Aiden could buy a Christmas present for his Daddy (and I think he somehow has a gift under the tree for me too;)). After that Aiden busied himself wrapping his presents. He watched the movie Santa Buddies and he and Sage sampled Marme's Christmas Cookies. Right before bed we ended the day with a Christmas Dance party. ...

Even though I haven't been since before Aiden was born, the O'Shaugnessy hosts a beautiful performance of the Classic Nutcracker Ballet every year. This year was no different. The costumes, the dancing, the music....it was all beautiful. Aiden saw the Nutcracker last year and loved it so he was excited to see it again and even remembered parts of the story. I was a tad nervous about taking Sage to a two hour ballet, but he did splendidly and loved it too. He has been talking about the pretty dancers, the dragon, the camel, and the snow ever since we got home. He was even really sad when the Nutcracker was broken. I think this is a performance the boys and I will enjoy every year. This year we were lucky enough to bring our friends Steph and Dieter. Whatever will we do when January arrives? After all of these festive events we are going to be bored!

Tom, it's been 10 years! 10 years!!! It's hard to believe. It's also hard to believe that we've been married with kids the same amount of time we were married without kids.  These last 10 years have had joys, sorrows, highs, lows, and everything in between. I'd do every single day over again with you and my prayer is we have decades and decades left to spend together here on earth watching our kids, grandkids, and great grandkids grow up. I bet the best is yet to come.  At this important milestone I should probably have something prophetic to say, but I don't. The song running through my head all day has been "So Young" by the Corrs. I'm pretty sure this is the perfect song to sum up our early, carefree, married days back in college when we really were so young. I love you, Tom...FOREVER!

It's a week before Christmas and our advent festivities haven't exactly gone as planned. We've been plenty busy but I had hoped to squeeze in more Christmas activities. I've been a tad consumed with Christmas cards that are less than perfect but I've invested too much in them to scrap them and start over. So...be forgiving when you get them. ;) I also wasn't planning on starting Art History and Music in school this week...which is exactly what we did along with doing a tin foil boat experiment, beginning to tell time, assemble a fruit pizza clock, and attempt making a model of the Tower of Babel with clay and toothpicks (or playdough because that's what I had :)). Yesterday Tom and the boys went outside while I was at work with the intent of making a snowman and using the Snowman Kit they got from Auntie Carol. But, the word from Tom as the snow wasn't quite sticky enough. Today we have Kindergarten and tomorrow we have a very special Christm...

For years Tom and I have always watched "Mickey's Christmas Carol." We love this movie and both remember watching it as kids. So, it's been fun to continue this tradition with the boys....which is exactly what we did. Saturday afternoon we snuggled on the couch, had popcorn and M & M's, and watched "Mickey's Christmas Carol." That night after dinner, bath, and jammies we threw the kids in the car and went to Holiday Lights in the Park at Lake Phalen. It's a fun light display and reminds me of the park and light display where Tom and I had our wedding reception. I had envisioned having a really cozy time in the car with popcorn and hot cocoa. But, by the time evening came the boys were tired and so were we. We tossed them in the car (Sage was screaming) and went to the lights. They both ended up loving it, but it didn't feel all that peaceful because Sage did. not. stop. talking. the. entire. time. He pointed out EVERYTHING he saw a millio...

Yesterday afternoon I figured it was time we made some Christmas treats. I hate to bake...HATE it. I will  make Christmas cookies with the boys (do I have to?) eventually, but yesterday we just made almond bark covered pretzels. They are yummy! Sage had a plate full of lovely pretzels he had made but then he sneezed directly over the tray. :( Even though he isn't sick I was grossed out. So, we have few less, but plenty for our little tummies. Let me just say that glitter, rice in the sensory table, and sprinkles might be a little much all in one week. My vaccuum cleaner has been working overtime. Using the "pinkles" as Sage calls them was the highlight for both boys. I can't blame them. I love me some sprinkles. Last night Tom was pooped from working long days this month so I got to go to The Physics Force with Aiden. It was at the Minneapolis Convention Center (not the Excel Center like I previously thought). The show is put on by a professor from the U ...

Savoring the season is exactly what we are doing to do around here. It's so nice that Christmas feels like it's lasting all month instead of just one day or one moment. I don't think we did any specific Christmas things on Tuesday.  The day went fast since Pappy and Marme were here and Aiden had AWANA. Yesterday Tom read The Grinch Who Stole Christmas to the boys and then they watched the cartoon. It must have been after the cartoon when all the excitement happened. The new game they decided to play was "Try to make it to the couch before the might giant wakes up." I was at work when all this happened but what I think went down is the giant woke up, the boys were wild with excitement and trying desperately to get to the couch. I think Aiden fell over and that created a domino effect so Sage fell over too. The good news is that Sage made it to the couch before the giant could get him. The bad news is that when Sage fell over on the couch his eyebrow hit first, righ...

Today we made paper plate wreaths with glitter, of course, watched The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas (which I give two thumbs down) and started reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever . The only thing that could make today better is if Daddy would come home. He's been at work every waking hour (and some not waking hours) since Friday and I don't really expect to see him until Wednesday. :( We're getting a little lonely but at least we are well entertained.

We are still counting down the days until Christmas is here and I have to say, this is making the Christmas season all the more sweet. This past week we made ornaments and on Saturday we went to an event at Constance Free Church called: A Morning in Bethlehem. We are starting to feel at home in our new church but I will always miss Constance. The morning we spent there did not disappoint and the kids enjoyed a live nativity with real stable animals including a very patient lama, donkeys, bunnies, a sheep, a dog, and chickens. After visiting the live nativity we enjoyed decorating cupcakes and having a birthday party for Jesus, making picture frames, dressing up as angels, and preparing herbs for baby Jesus as the Wisemen did. Yes, I am very glad we braved the cold of this tundra we live in and ventured to our old church. We got to see friends(!), the boys got a closer glimpse into the birth of their Savior, and did I mention we got to see our friends...all in one place, at the same tim...

I finally posted Sage's Birthday! I posted it on Sage's actual birthday so you'll have to scroll backwards to see it, or click here. :)

Christmas stories + popcorn + sleeping bags + Christmas tree = a cozy afternoon during a snowstorm.  I count Daddy as one lucky guy because he was the one home today and experiencing the coziness and the Christmas spirit while I was at work. I can't complain too much though...Daddy will be the one leaving the house and braving the frigid temps tomorrow morning. Among other stories, the story for today was Itsy Bitsy Christmas . It's a good one!