December, as crazy as ever!

I am so exhausted!!!

You know, I love Christmas more than any other holiday...it is by far my favorite time of year...but I swear the month of December gets busier and busier every year!

It's hard to believe that this time last year I was also a choir member at church. I can't imagine having that additional commitment right now. Sometimes I do miss it...having that ministry that was all mine that forced me to spend at least a few hours a week away from home and my role as "mom." But, to be honest, I spent three and a half years in choir and it was time for me to change gears. This past year I have focused more on my children and their areas of ministry and it has been so rewarding. At this time in my life, I feel like my role should remain firstly "wife and mama." There will be years of time for me down the road. For now, my feet are firmly planted where God wants them. I am involved in two ministries right now: children's drama and nursery, both of which include my own children, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And though I'm not technically in the Junior Bible Quiz ministry, I might as well be because I spend hours and hours pouring over it with Hailey and Nick. :-)

So, wow...this month! It's been nuts so far. The last time I posted was mid November. Thanksgiving was great. We slept in and watched the Macy's parade on t.v. and then had a delicious turkey dinner at my parents' house. We spent most of the day there, eating and playing games and eating some more. Then we came home and watched a Christmas movie to kick off the Christmas season. The next morning I did something that was a first for me...Black Friday!!! I went with my sister Amber and we left at six a.m. (not quite as die-hard as some people I know!! (((AMANDA!!!!))) I had the best time! It was such a rush to look for the things I wanted. It was also my first REAL trip away without Hallie and it was nice to have my arms free for a little bit. Later that day we had dinner with Danny's dad and stepmom and some of his brothers, his sister-in-law, and our nephew. We had a nice time there and the kids had a blast playing in their playroom and with their cousin Jaxon. Later that weekend, we dug out the Christmas decorations and put the tree up. Amazingly, it was completely stress free this year! Probably due to the fact that I refused to touch the lights! I get so frustrated with hanging the lights! Anyway, it was lots of fun. Hallie, as the newest member of the family, hung the first ornament (with Daddy's help). We listened to Christmas carols and chatted about the different ornaments and just had a great time together.

Happy Thanksgiving 08

Ainsley and Hallie

Jaxon and Nick

Ready to Decorate!

Hanging her first ornament

The lights!

After Thanksgiving weekend, things started picking up a LOT. We have had practices for the Christmas cantata (both drama and dance), basketball practices and games (at the YMCA and church), Christmas program at school, student council activities, Breakfast with Santa, and a zillion other activities. Today was the Single Mom's Christmas at our church and I worked in the nursery. It was CRAZY! We had about fifteen babies under one and most were under six months. I still haven't recovered...I'm completely exhausted! It is a tremendous blessing to the community though and as every year past, I am thankful to have been a part of it.

Nick's VIP day at school

Breakfast with Santa at the Y

School Christmas Program

My Handsome Boy

Hailey with a few of her friends

So anyway, here we are in the midst of December and we are so busy that I can barely stop to enjoy the season. Tomorrow is our big church Christmas Cantata and after that things should slow down a little bit. I am so looking forward to that! The kids have two weeks off of school and I plan on doing a lot of nothing the entire time! I was going to make cookies tonight (my friend Kim inspired me) but I realized that I am out of flour. So much for that! Danny is at his work Christmas party right now (I didn't want to go!!) and he is going to pick some up for me on the way home, so maybe (and that's a BIG maybe) I might still feel inspired later.


Before I go, I will update you on Hallie. She is 6 1/2 months old now, she got her first two teeth a couple of weeks ago, she is sittting alone, she is drinking from a cup, and she is trying very hard to crawl. She is so adorable and she is a total mama's girl. If I am in her eyesight, you can forget about trying to hold her because she is not happy if she's not in my arms. This can get very tiring, but I am so blessed to have her and I know it won't last long. She had her six month check up the other day and she weighed 15lbs 8oz and was 26 1/2 in. long. She got four shots, but she did very well. She cried a little bit while they were giving them to her but as soon as they were done she stopped. She ran a fever and was very fussy for the next couple of days but now she is fine. She is growing so fast...I don't think any of my kids' infant months seemed to fly by as fast as hers has.

I have to mention that Danny shot another buck this year. He was so excited. I was not. Hahaha. I didn't get a picture of this one because he took it straight over to my uncle's to hang. Now we have a ton more deer meat in our freezer to go with all the leftovers from last year (yuck). He switches back over to night shift Monday and I am so not looking forward to that, but the good news is that he only has to work a week and then he has the whole week of Christmas off.

Hopefully I will have a chance to blog again soon, but if not, Merry Christmas to all!