Making Merry

 It was incredibly fun to see Christmas through Loulie's eyes. Between my birthday and parades and light shows and parties; we also managed to celebrate 5 blessed years of marriage. That is a A LOT to pack  into three weeks.

This week has been all about recovery. The Christmas season went by quickly and left me rather exhausted come Dec. 26th. So when Loulie told me yesterday morning that she did not want to put her clothes on, I didn't argue with her. Instead we stayed in our pjs, which never happens, until noon! I also knew that we needed to rest up before this weekend's festivities kicked off. Each year our family hosts a Polar Bear Plunge Party out at the beach. The costumes are hilarious and it is one of my favorite days of the entire year. A safe and happy new year to you! 2012--can you believe it?! Weren't we supposed to be living on the moon by now?

It came and went, now what?!

Whew! It is a lot of work creating the "perfect Christmas" for your family. After all the cooking and cleaning and wrapping; I now know why my mother was always so tired on Dec. 26th. But at Loulie's (much delayed) bedtime tonight, she asked to take Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus to bed with her along with a few sheep. She said "I take Baby Jesus to seep wiff you." Of course we agreed and at 10:30 she was still singing "Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus" from her crib. It was truly one of the best worst things ever! So even though I've spent the better part of my week leading up to Christmas doing beyond ridiculous preparations, I couldn't help but think "SUCCESS" yesterday when Loulie asked me when the Hoy Night was gonna happen. Because the one thing Bert asks for at Christmas is a house full of peace and happiness. Not stress and last minute preparations and a mother in a bad mood. But that we all celebrate Christmas for what it is--a time to be together praising God for the gift of our Savior.

I am ashamed to admit that I have spent a lot of time this season trying to create a festive atmosphere for my family and friends and not near enough time giving to those truly in need. That I have gotten caught up in the tasks of parenting and buying gifts and decorating and not done some of the things for others that I intended to. But a friend of mine says that God can be glorified in any situation as long as your heart is in the right place. So though I haven't been to a homeless shelter and the make a wish tree was empty by the time I got around to picking out a child, I do feel that our advent season has been one of anticipation. Of celebration. And of praise!

That glory can be brought to God in a room full of kids dancing and laughing and singing praise songs.  In a mother so thankful to have her child next to her helping to prepare dinner for their family. In a wall full of Christmas cards filled with pictures of loving families. In a family together praying around the dinner table. That glory can be brought to Christ through all types of preparation. And that the anticipation of advent doesn't end on Christmas Eve. 
That it is not too late to show the love of Jesus to others, to spread his message and to proclaim the good news. Tonight as I finally sat down and looked around at the unwrapped presents and leftover food, I admit that I thought "Now what?" But isn't that the question! Christ came for ALL people and the countdown of advent doesn't end Christmas day. It creates a beginning--that Christmas is a reminder that God loved us so much that he came down in flesh. A friend posed the question today "What if Christ hadn't been born?" I am thankful that we don't have to know the answer to that question.
I am also thankful that because of that gift, there is a new beginning. And that the answer to the question of "Now what?" is to go love on the unloveable, proclaim the Christmas story and continue to anticipate the coming of our Savoir!

Merry Christmas!

I'm too tired to think of a title..

You probably received a Christmas card from us yesterday if I didn't loose your address when my computer crashed this year. Thankfully after a few hours of entering names and looking up addresses, I have a good working spreadsheet again. And like every year, I have set a goal of having all the tasks of Christmas completed early next year so that I can do nothing but enjoy the holidays with family and friends.

It was about 3 hours after Thanksgiving was over that Snapfish/ Shutterfly/ Tinyprints sent me into a spiral with their "Buy early" sale email. I am not like others that think ahead enough and take some cute family photo in the summer when everyone is tan and relaxed. In fact, I'm not sure we even have a picture of the three of us this year. So before school one morning, we hit the back yard for a 5 min photo session. And like last year (see photo below), we were in the zone for about 3 minutes until everyone got a little tired of the activity.

So in lieu of last minute errands and gifts not getting sent in time and bad traffic, here is a little something that I hope will get a laugh...

Over it...

And the winner is...

We race to the mailbox...

I absolutely LOVE getting the mail this time of year. We make it an affair to walk out to the mailbox every afternoon. Seriously, it takes like 30 minutes to get Loulie out to the mailbox, look through the pictures and tape them to the fridge. Great entertainment!

After mildly obsessing, I finally finished my cards and they went out Friday morning. I think the first picture perfectly embodies everything that is Loulie Bug Dasher. The second photo is merely to show that both my girls have the ability to sit still after running laps and being bribed with toys and food. Here it is...

I CANNOT believe that Christmas is this week. It occurred to me while I was at church this morning that there are no more Sundays before Christmas and then I panicked and then I remembered I was in church and the reason for the season and I calmed down until about 6:00 tonight when I realized CHRISTMAS IS IN 5 DAYS!

Going to Wrap.....

Lauren