There's Nothing Like.......

.....an innocent face!

We Had A Great Day...It Was A Super Way....

....to spend....some time together. (FYI....for those of you without little ones, those lines are from a song they play at the end of "Fresh Beat Band" - a show watched numerous times daily at my house!) It WAS a great day....kids out of school....beautiful sunshine and warm air....aaaahhhh! Just a taste of spring, which unfortunately is still a couple of months away (sigh!) That's okay...it will be here before we know it. We hung out at home in the morning, then after lunch I took the brood to Sonic for ice-cream (gotta love the Butterfinger blast - YUM!), came back home and put the girls down for a nap - which I hated to do because the weather was awesome, but considering they did not have naps yesterday, I thought it to be in EVERYONE'S best interest that they sleep (and they did - for almost 3 hours, so I think I chose wisely!) That's okay - while they snoozed, they boys and I cleaned up some limbs from the backyard and then played some baseball. Good thing we were playing with a rubber ball or Zachary would have taken out a window from the house next door - the kid can hit! Charles came home and it was Chick-fil-A for dinner (I made bbq chicken tenders and corn for lunch and spent my afternoon outside so there was no time to cook dinner too) and off to karate. The boys are now BLUE BELTS - woo hoo! They passed their belt test last Saturday. They have only 3 more colors until they reach their black belts. I am so proud of them! I'm guessing maybe this time next year or maybe even next summer they will reach black belt....hard to say though. It has taken 2 years just to get to this point. That's okay though - the process has been well worth it.

So anyway - we are in the midst of normal chaos, which is a good thing. I just can't wait for summer now....pool days...just being able to be outside more. The natives are getting restless over here! The boys also auditioned for play here in Collierville called "Dear Edwina" - and both got parts, so they will have rehearsals for that too. I've wondered "What was I thinking?" several times since they got the parts because that means 2 nights a week is karate, 1 or 2 nights a week will be play practice (til the show in March), then church on Wednesday. Have you done the math yet? Yeah - I thought the same. Yes - it will be chaotic again...but they will enjoy it - and they will still have reasonable bed times (unlike Christmas!) It's all good. All I care about is that they are doing something they want to do. I've grilled them several times and they assure me they are - soooooo......here we go again!

What Do You See????

What do you see in the above picture of our mantle that could possibly stress out a 3 year-old? Once the decorations were all put together, Sarah was very concerned.....about her stocking! How was Santa going to reach her stocking? I was asked this question over, and over, and over, and over soooo many times. I tried to reassure her that Santa had his own way of getting down stockings, that he would be sure to fill it and leave it where she could reach it Christmas morning. She still needed that reassurance though - constantly - one answer was not sufficient. Thankfully, come Christmas morning, she saw that I was right and all was well. She is most definitely a child who only believes by seeing...maybe it is an age thing!

Our Christmas was exhausting and exciting....and as I have said on my Facebook page, I am ready to trade all the "Christmas Chaos" for our "Normal Chaos"! However, I am not looking forward to the boys going back to school and having to deal with homework and backpacks and lunches...yuck! There is something to be said for those who homeschool! How much longer til summer break? Spring break is only a couple of months away...then there is Easter....then school will be out for summer...woo hoo!

I am looking at the sea of toys in my house and am thinking that there has to be some serious changes in how we do Christmas next year. For once we actually bought early, but I'm thinking that wasn't such a good idea. We kept thinking of just "one more thing" the closer Christmas got! I'm just thinking that our Christmas is going to change next year. I already have some ideas...hmmmm......

So anyway -- hope you had a fabulous New Year and that 2010 brings you an abundance of God's love and peace and most importantly His many blessings! I pray especially that He will reveal Himself to you in so many ways...big and small...so that you will always be reminded that He is forever by your side. Don't be like Sarah.....you don't HAVE to see in order to believe!