Travels

Our second week of Christmas break was spent traveling to see family. 

First stop: Pennsylvania to see Darin's side of the family. 

Smith cousins - ages 12, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 14 months

They really had a good time playing games and enjoying each other. 

After all our warm days, we had our first taste of winter in PA. My endless summer boy (Aaron) was not thrilled to be wearing jeans and long sleeves. And then I asked him to wear a warm coat?!? gasp! The nerve of me! ha! We took a walk to burn some energy and the boys had fun tossing a football with Uncle Michael. This is such a great age.  

It's fun having an itty bitty cousin too. This little cutey 

was the apple of Ethan's eye. He enjoyed keeping her in his sights. 

The extended family cousins... not much more room on the couch. :) 

We made it home for New Year's and then were on the road again. 

Second Stop: Day trip to Maryland to be with my side of the family - minus our Canadian family :(

Do you notice I'm not very good at taking pictures of adults? I think I need to work on that in 2016. 

During this visit we got to celebrate Christmas and two birthdays! My mom and this handsome guy...

8 already? wow!

 Christmas jammie train!! 

Now I know why the two weeks went by so quickly...we were so busy and gone a lot. 

Christmas Day

In the months leading up to Christmas, there was much discussion about gifts and Christmas morning. We have SO much (maybe too much?) and I feel so antagonistic about materialism. It's so easy to shift our focus away from what Christmas is really all about. Of course we want to give our kids everything...to see the wonder and joy in their eyes! But, is that really best for them? I became a little obsessed, majorly conflicted, and grinchy about the whole thing. It's a good thing I have Darin to balance me out. ;) Don't worry. We didn't cancel Christmas, but we took some steps back in Christmas spending. I'm not sure we did it right, but we did what was best for us this year.

There were still three packages for each kid around the tree (much to the relief of very perceptive boys who were inquiring Christmas Eve...worried from overhearing me that there would be no gifts. oh no!) We still read the Christmas story from the Bible before opening gifts. The biggest change is that after the Bible story and before they opened their gifts, we gave each of the kids an equal amount of money to spend in the World Vision catalog. They were intrigued and excited. 

 

I gave them each a stack of pretend money to count (I couldn't resist the money counting practice. ack!) Then they selected items from the catalog to spend their money on. It was a little window into their hearts to see what they chose. Later that day, I happily selected those items online. This was a really good compromise for us and I'm thankful for the idea from a blogging friend. ;)  

The rest of the day was leisurely and peaceful. Gifts, big breakfast (Daddy made delicious omelets!), windows open, sunshine streaming in the windows, togetherness... I'm thankful for how it all unfolded.

Late in the afternoon, we traveled over the river and through the woods to Grammy & Poppy's house. My favorite gift this Christmas is that somehow in the midst of a frantic pre holiday season and some hard days, God blessed me with a peace in my heart. Oh how He loves me! My mom even commented on it. Praise God for His peace. 

 The kids were ROASTING in their Christmas jammies, but we had to get a picture!

My mom does a beautiful tree and winter scene. 

(A talent or patience I haven't developed yet... maybe some day.) 

A Christmas Day to remember. Happy Birthday Jesus!

The Week Before Christmas

The days leading up to Christmas were full of family parties, 

entertaining, and last minute Christmas preparations. The week FLEW by! 

I made the Ukrainian Kolach bread. I was too rushed this year, so it looked better then it tasted. One of these days, I will plan a traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve meal (with the help of some details from my Ukrainian Aunt). However, this was not the year. Since Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7th, maybe I should plan ahead for next January??

We hosted our Virginia cousins for dinner and a gift exchange. Our tradition to exchange books for the kids each year is such a hit with so many readers! The adults enjoyed 15-20 minutes of peacefulness as the kids began their new chapter books (that is before the giggling, game playing, noise and chaos began!) 

I love having everyone crowd around our dining room table. 

Should have gotten the photo with the smiling, happy faces. 

Ethan decided to make all his cousins and some close friends parachord bracelets. He was a busy bee. 

We played outside in the rain on Christmas Eve. It was over 75 degrees!

 My little artist asked to be the official baker and cake decorator for Jesus' Birthday Cake. (A Christmas Eve post dinner tradition) I need to pass along more cooking responsibility to this talented young man. He is a quick study. He made this three layer white cake with white icing. It looked beautiful but the kids all agreed it was too sweet. 

And last but not least... a blurry picture of our Christmas Eve guests. Our tradition is to attend the Christmas Eve worship service at church (which was awesome!) and then enjoy a simple meal with long time friends.

Surprise Sweets

This year I decided to follow the public school calendar and take TWO full weeks for our Christmas break. We were all so eager for those carefree, school free days. My mind whirred with possibilities of how we could spend our time. How did it all go by so fast? We didn't do nearly all I had hoped, but I'm not so good about having realistic expectations. ;)

I loved surprising the kids with a little spontaneous sweets.  For the past 6 years, the kids have begged me to buy one of those gingerbread house kits you see in the stores. There are already so many sweets at Christmas time, so I've always discouraged it. None of us can handle having sweets in full sight without over-indulging! But I decided this was the year to surprise them. They were in disbelief and I loved saying YES. (I don't do that often enough!)

They kept occupied with this project for HOURS. Well, some had a shorter 

attention span then others, but most of them just kept going and going. 

Not sure what we'll do about next year, but I will treasure the memory from this year. I loved the pretty houses, but as one boy said, "Every time I walk by them I get a whiff of sweets that is irresistible." I was pretty glad when they went in the trash. ;) 

December Part 2

I'm back again... maybe I can finish up December?

Luke has been taking drum lessons for over a year. This December, he played in his first showcase. He's on the right. If you know anything about Luke, you know he is shy and doesn't like to be the center of attention. However, he LOVES music and he loves playing the drums. It was a huge risk for him to play in a school auditorium. So fun to see him use his God given talents to bring God glory. If you want to watch the video, click HERE. 

 The annual twirl in the tree skirt picture. 

And yes, it was warm enough to have short sleeves and bare feet. crazy!

 We had the windows open. We were all wearing shorts. Are you kidding me?! I loved it! 

The irony of the snowman besides the open window. Definitely not typical for Virginia.

 After school one day, the kids rode their bikes and I ran, ran, ran. Ahhh!!!

 Our annual tacky light tour... no need for major bundling because it wasn't very cold. 

(I need to mention it was 18 degrees this morning when I went running. We're back to winter.)

 Beautiful lights!!

Luke and Irina participated in a drama club at church this winter. Yes, Luke is the only boy with all those girls! He wanted to do it, so after some consideration we said sure. Luke and Irina both had simple roles, but it was really good for them to work as an ensemble and do a little public speaking. More risk taking. wow! The group performed on the last night of kids club before Christmas break. Luke's report, "That was awesome!"

The final show was followed by dinner out with LONG time friends. The adults may have had more fun then the kids. I don't think I've giggled that hard in a while. We made quite a raucous and I loved that my cheeks hurt from smiling.

It'll take at least one more post to finish December. Getting closer to being caught up. 

Do I dare...

...sit down to catch up on the blog and squeeze all of December into one post??

Let's see how far I can get in 20 minutes. I've missed being here. I've been trying to make sure my priorities are in line. That means less time for blogging and more time being intentional about my time with Darin. I thinks it's a good choice. big smile... (wish I knew how to add emojis to the blog. I love those little faces!)

Really wanted to get a professional photo taken this year (never had one before), but alas, we couldn't squeeze it in with all Darin's fall traveling and kid busyness. We roped my brother into being our photographer, but I didn't pick a great time of day. Way too sunny... we'll try again in the spring. Maybe things will slow down?? ha!

I tell ya, these four kids above are all so different. Truly! It's amazing to me how they are growing into little people. Ack!!! It's a big job (scary and overwhelming at times) to be responsible for shaping them, but I keep reminding myself that God's got my back. He loves them more then I do. I still fret more then I should. :(

Irina begged for a picture with me because we were "twins" in our blue. She is a beautiful puzzle. Still hard at times to see the big picture (my nose gets stuck studying things too close up). ugh! We are required by the Ukrainian consulate to submit a yearly report on her development (physical, emotional, and developmental). For us, it's due every year in December. It's a gift to sit down and assess the year and stop to acknowledge her growth. It's quite a detailed report. I should probably complete one for each of the kids. It will be so valuable to have to look back on. Definitely a blessing to stop and see the big picture. 

We stayed nearby for Thanksgiving and celebrated with both sides of the family. (Thursday and Friday) I didn't grow up with cousins my age, so it's fun to watch the kids enjoy one another. I neglected to get photos of the Smith side, but I made up for it at Christmas. Pictures coming soon!

 Special turkey crafts planned by a clever and thoughtful cousin. 

All unique and matching their personalities. 

We did some room re-arranging and re-discovered the dress up clothes... Do you think 7 year old Aaron has outgrown the 4T monkey costume? Yikes!! He was so excited to squeeze into it, but I don't think it felt very good in certain areas. ouch! Aaron is certainly the playful, silly showman.

Ethan can be a very determined young fellow. There are advantages and disadvantages to that quality trait. ;) Below he is working on a model of the Jamestown Settlement. He was so focused and serious about this project. love it! (And I love that he is at the age that he can do this on his own, with very little help from me.)

 My time is up... maybe more tomorrow? There is so much more to include from December.