Christmas Fun

Like everyone right now, we are busy putting the finishing touches on our upcoming Christmas celebrations. I'm thankful for the blessing of being a stay-at-home mom. What a relief to send the kids to school and have 7 hours to get things done. For all those years they were at home with me and I got nothing done--it's a sweet payback now!

That being said...it took me half of December to get my house decorated. On the 15th, Kaleb helped me put the porch decorations up and I declared that we were finally done with decorating. My stack of Christmas cards is piled high...awaiting stamps. But the hard part is done. Phew. I'm also a bit slow with my baking this year. Really, what is the deal? I suppose this is what happens when a type B personality is put in charge of all these type A activities. :) Any time my type A husband wants to take over, I will gladly let him. Ha! That will be the day! :)

This weekend we had two Christmas parties: one for Derek's work, and the other with Derek's extended family. Both were fun, although very different. Gathering with other cops and investigators and their families is strangely...comforting. For one evening, I was surrounded by people who made our life in law enforcement look normal. We all "get" what it's like to live this way. And when the phone rang at 4am that night, I thought of the other wives sending their husbands out into the night to answer the call of duty.

The other party provided us with time to reconnect with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Derek's grandma. Braylen looked forward to the card games, and practiced playing "Hearts" on the computer the week before this gathering. His dad beat him by one point at yesterday's game of Hearts. Still, Braylen loved to play! Kaleb and Aaron entertained themselves with nothing but an open room and cousins to play with! I enjoyed plenty of talk time with this family I feel blessed to be part of. :)

Playing cards with a smile on his face

Some of the great-grandkids watch GG open her gifts

This little elf keeps showing up in the strangest places...

Aaron loves hiding him, and takes great delight in finding him when someone else hides him! He named the elf "Freddy." Freddy has brought lots of fun to our days. Thanks so much Grandma! I bet you didn't anticipate how big of a hit this elf would be with Aaron!

Speaking of Aaron, I really enjoy his company in the kitchen this month. He desires to help me when his brothers would rather be elsewhere. He also gets very excited to help me wrap gifts. I'm trying to soak up these times with him while I can, because it really is hardest when your youngest grows up. This year I'm thankful Aaron is still my little boy.

Putting sprinkles on the cookies is almost as much fun as eating them

Tomorrow I need to call Aaron's doctor. We will probably end up increasing his medication dose, and that makes me uneasy. I'm afraid of more side effects. It will mean another blood test--this time over Christmas break. But since we're still seeing these "absence seizures," this is what we must do.

Before wrapping up this post, I need to document that for the first time since the spring of 2010...I was able to attend a character assembly at my kids' elementary school! Why is that a big deal? Fall of 2010--Aaron was sick. Spring of 2011--Kaleb was sick. In each of those assemblies, one or more of our kids earned an award. Even this fall, I had to miss my niece's assembly--and Derek was honored at that one. (as a community member--not a student!) But this past Friday, Kaleb earned the perseverance character award for his class...and none of us were sick! It was so nice to be there and see his surprise at winning the award. :)

That's all for now. May this week bring more and more Christmas fun!