Where has December gone?

I was updating the family blog and realized that December is almost over, taking 2010 with it. It seems that we all begin the whole " where has time gone by" during this time... but this year, it seems especially so. I am nto sure why, but I feel like December was so quick, and many of my favorite things were missed... like singing tons of Christmas hymns.. now that Christmas is over, I find myself thinking I did not listen to Christmas music that much... and fudge, I did not make any Christmas Candy, nor did we decorate gingerbread men and houses. Hmm... We did do a lot of other things, but still, some of our favorites seem to have been missing.

So, what is in store for 2011? What big plans do you have? The Shaver family? Well, I am not sure about "big" plans... but I predict it will be a busy year again, just doing the things we do to entertain and take care of a family of small children.

Christmas Jammies

This year, I let the girls pick out their own jammie material, which was a huge challenge for me. You see, I have this vision of matching jammies, and do you think the girls picked out matching material? Even material that is coordinating? Of course not. But it was cute material, and it was what they wanted... so I made them. And, this year, they got matching snuggle blankets to go along with it....

Ornaments on the tree

It is that time. Time to trim our tree. I love this time of year. I love decorating for the holidays, the white lights, the nativity sets, the stockings... and the ornaments. I am sorta particular about our ornaments. I do not like plain old balls, I prefer more detailed ornaments. And, for the most part, I can tell you where each ornament hanging on our tree came from, when it was given to us or purchased and if there was a reason, what it is. And as we hang them on the tree, I think about this.. it makes for a very special time for me. I do not bore my kiddos with all the details of each ornament yet, but we do talk about ones that I know they will find fascinating..each of their "first" ornament, and such.

I recently saw this devotion on Ornaments.. and it really hit me as to the meaning of this season. I need to spend as much time examining what Jesus has done for me this season as I do on my ornaments.... and celebrating Him this year.

Civil War

I did something crazy... I went without my girls to the football game! hahaa. All season (yes, we are dorks with season tickets), I have gone to the games and tried to watch while both girls climbed over me, asked for food, and by the fourth quarter told me they were done watching football. Don't get me wrong, the girls love going to see the Beavers play. The enjoy tailgating and are mesmerized by the beginning of the game. Allie especially loves watching the Beavers "run out of the big helmet". But by the fourth quarter, the excitement has worn off and they want to play.

So, for Civil War this year, we hired a sitter for the day (yep, whole day.. tailgating before and after), and brought two of our friends to enjoy the game. While we did not win, it was like walking back in time. Being on OSU campus with Kyle, no kiddos to keep track of, and just enjoying the world around us. I think next year I will pick one game again... but only one game. I have to be honest, I missed my girls.