Christmas Week

What a fun, full Christmas week we enjoyed together. We made so many memories. :) I can hardly believe my mom and dad are already on their way home. It seems like they just got here. Living states apart like this is a bittersweet thing. We get to enjoy them living in our home for the week they are here. This allows them to have such close relationships with our boys. But then we have to let them leave. It is never easy to watch them drive away.

Here's a few things I'd like to remember about our week together, in no particular order:

• We surprised the boys at school by hiding Grammy and Grampy in the backseat!
• Mom and I spent lots of time in the kitchen together.
• Aaron still loves to knit with Grammy.
• Derek took my dad to the shooting range for his first-ever target shooting experience.
• We took our boys ice skating for the first time and they loved it! What a great idea to let them bring friends that day. What a lot of laughter this brought to everyone. :)
• Our new ping pong table is a big hit!
• Grammy treated us all to the new Chipmunks movie. It was cute!
• My parents love us so much they even came to our dentist appointments! :)
• My dad treated us to several meals out. (Chinese, Egg & I, Arby's) What a gift that is!
• Kaleb flew his new plane outside and we walked Ginger without wearing coats. It felt like Spring break!
• We played lots and lots of games of Clue. It's a family classic I grew up playing.
• I won 3 out of 4 Scrabble games with my mom. :)
• Derek and my dad took Kaleb and Aaron bowling. Aaron was super excited to get a turkey, and he almost beat Grampy!
• Part of Mom and Dad's Christmas gift included a trip to the nearest eagle viewing site. We were blessed to see 6 eagles that day!
• Braylen and Kaleb played lots of games of chess with my dad. Aaron is itching for his turn when he masters the rules of the game.
• My husband, my parents, and my in-laws pooled their resources and gave me a really cool Christmas gift. I'm beyond grateful.
• Mom and I shopped at the mall, craft store, and Christian book store and found several things we didn't know we needed. :)
• We stayed up late watching movies, talking, and connecting. Sometimes too late!

So here we are, ready to say farewell to 2011. Overall, I think it's been a pretty good year for us. Like every year, however, there are good things and hard things. That's how life is. Still, I feel incredibly blessed--not by the stuff I have, but by the people God has placed in my life. Our pastor says that there are only two things here on earth that will last for eternity: God's Word and people. Am I investing my time in those things, or do I fill my days with meaningless busy activities? I suppose that is my challenge for 2012. To live with that eternal perspective in mind.

Wrapping up this New Year's Eve with pictures. Another year of blogging...done! :)

Cookies for Santa

Ready to open gifts!

Hank & Drover shirts...too funny! :)

Even Ginger gets treats from her Christmas stocking.

Playing Clue

Leave it to Grammy to find the funniest book for our boys!

One of many games of ping pong

Our little Aaron on ice skates

Kaleb & Aaron having fun

Braylen and his buddy

Kaleb in action

Dad & Mom/Grampy & Grammy at the eagle viewing site.
Thanks for such a fun week!

Family Christmas Card

Family photos with Derek's side of the family this fall made it easy to create this year's Christmas card. We actually had several other posed pictures, but I chose to use our "just-for-fun-photo!" It's much more real. :)

Mom and Dad arrived yesterday. We tricked the kids into believing they would be here in time for supper. Little did they know Grammy and Grampy would be picking them up from school! It was a fun surprise for sure.

Today we have lots of things to do in the kitchen. We have gifts to wrap, and Derek has a special gift to assemble tonight. Santa sure will be busy!

From our family to yours...Merry Christmas!!!

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!

Cabin Fever

Kaleb spent lots of time hanging around the house last week. Aaron's 6 day fever turned into a 5 day fever for Kaleb. He watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks" over and over. He listened to "Hank the Cowdog" cd's. And for some reason, I often found him reading books while hanging off the couch. I'm really glad Kaleb wasn't sick for his birthday. He also didn't seem as sick as Aaron was, although the virus followed the same predictable pattern. Strange as it may sound, Kaleb and I agreed that our times together last week were special times. What began as a frustrating illness turned into "together time" for Kaleb and me.

With two lengthy illnesses and Aaron's ongoing seizure medication dosage adjustments, I really didn't feel like doing Christmas this year. I wanted to skip ahead to January and avoid the extra work Christmas brings. Gifts, baking, cards, school activities, etc! So, I asked God for the strength to get through one day. And then the next day. And the day after that. I asked my parents and my sister-in-law to pray for my attitude. I needed to find my Christmas spirit!

Our tree is up, and Aaron put the star on. Welcome Christmas!

Aaron with his hockey ornament, Kaleb with his trains, and Braylen with his fire truck.
Thank you for the ornaments Grammy & Grampy!

Yesterday's kids' Christmas program at church really helped me welcome this season of Christmas. Kaleb chose not to participate, as he was still recovering. Braylen is too old now, so Aaron was our only son in the program this year. He sang in the choir. Actually, he did all the motions, with minimal singing. :) I want to always remember the way he played his air guitar and knocked his knees and danced his heart out on that stage.

One funny before I end this post and pick up the kids from school. For Kaleb's birthday, Braylen wrote a message on their bathroom mirror. At the end he wrote "BF." I was touched. They really are Best Friends. :) When I commented to Braylen on his nice message, this was his reply:

"Mom, BF doesn't mean Best Friend. It means Belch and Fart."

And on that note, I'm off to school!