Christmas photos round 2

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I can't say enough times how much I love this time of year but especially how much I love it with a house full of children. From the simplest thing like watching a Christmas movie or having hot cocoa to seeing their faces light up over their new golf cart this Christmas will be left behind full of wonderful memories! I would call this year the year of the Christmas movie. Our kids were just big enough this year (minus Patience) that they really enjoyed all the classics and all of our family favorites so since getting out and about was a little more difficult this year due to weather we watched a TON of Christmas movies. It was so nice to snuggle up on the couch with our big girls and Ben (while Patience and Rivers played various things around the living room) and enjoy those moments together! So many wonderful times this year! This is a holiday season we won't soon forget!

Shopping, five kids and a baby bump

To the people who give me annoyed looks when they see my five kids, and I can clearly hear you say "and she's pregnant too" (with disgust in your voice): What are you so upset about? My kids are well behaved, they aren't being loud or rude or running around. They have smiles on their faces and so do I. It's obvious I'm enjoying being around my children and that they are happy little people… so what really is the issue? To the elderly gentleman who rolled down his window in the parking lot and said "Wow, now that is a happy and good looking family there, congratulations miss": Thank you for making my day and reminding me that there are still some people in the world who find joy in seeing happy children who are loved and truly enjoyed by their parents!

Ice Days

Only in Texas can your children be playing outside in shorts and t-shirts in 80 degree weather one day and wake up less than 12 hours later to inches of ice covering your yard. Snow days happen maybe once a year here and we enjoy the few hours a play time in it and then it melts and its gone. Not so the case this time….. It's been 5 days and schools are still being closed and our yard is still covered in snow. Jimmy did make it to work today for the first time since Thursday (this is Tuesday) but things are still cold and white. Our children have enjoyed hours and hours and hours of sledding mostly thanks to all their leftover ski gear from our trip to Breckenridge last year. Snow boots, ski gloves and ski coats mean the difference in minutes of fun outside and hours! We've had hot chocolate, made mini indoor smores with mini marshmallows roasted over candles, done gingerbread houses, made dozens and dozens of cookies, watched every single one of our favorite Christmas movies and gotten all caught up on our advent reading! I can honestly say these days have been some of the most memorable times of our life. We always tend to find reasons to get out and about on the weekends and so staying home and doing "nothing" for five straight days has been so refreshing and a reminder that we need to do it more often! I LOVE these people here so much and can't imagine spending my ice weekend having any better of a time!!

37

On Monday I turn 37 years old. When I was in my twenties being even 30 sounded awful, much less 37... you know, the LATE thirties. My how things change when perspective and hindsight and possibly at least a wee bit of wisdom come your way. I am so grateful and happy to be turning 37. I don't want to be 20 again, or 25 or anything that isn't NOW. I love NOW! I HATE hearing people complain about getting older.... Why on earth would you complain about another year to celebrate life? I don't get it. Every year I get a digit older means another year I've been given to live my life with the ones I adore and to do more! Most of the time what I do is laundry, or change diapers, or make a meal, or do dishes BUT, that just all means I've been given another moment of this short existence we have here to do those things for and with the ones I love the most. I've been blessed in the last ten years to meet and marry the one my heart connects to like no one else and together we have had five amazing children and another arriving in the spring. Ten years ago when I complained about turning 27 and getting "old" I was entirely confused about what an actual joy it is to get "old". I had no idea the exciting life the next ten years would hold for me... you know, the excitement of all those dishes and diapers I mentioned above. Seriously though, it's time and perspective that have taught me that it's not what you do with your time but who you do it with. That's why getting "old" for me has been anything but the "awful" that I thought it would be in my twenties. It's been alive and thriving. Raw and real. It's had highs and lows but WOW, my heart which at 27 felt burdened with worry about getting old now feels younger and livelier than ever! A HAPPY birthday? Yes, it is!

Branson

So in January of this year we started making plans for a Disney vacation in November. Then after talking to a friend at the kids summer reading club I found out about Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. We immediately looked into it and realized it was the perfect fit for us. Extremely family friendly, very laid back, short lines, historical, a little more reserved and quiet than Disney. So we planned to visit their last full week to be open of the year. We attended during the final week of their Heritage Fest, full of crafters from all over the country making all kinds of unique and old fashioned crafts. 

Let me just say, our kids had the time of their lives. They rode, rode and re-rode the kiddie rides. Some they could ride without an adult and they loved that best of all. They never waiting more than 5 minutes for a ride! 

The food was also amazing! Lots of down home southern cooking. 

We saw lots of other larger homeschool families, which was fun! SDC is a very historical place with all kinds of neat learning experiences for kids about Anna's age and up so I think there is a draw there for HS families! We will do more of that as the kids get older. I'm sure we will frequent the roller coasters more then too! :( 

After the first day our kids were hooked. They said it was the best vacation they had ever been on and wanted to go back every single fall!! Yay, score one for mommy and her vacation planning! :) 

It was very cold the two days we were at the park but the kids loved it none the less. We just bundled up and enjoyed it! 

On a side note, as oppose to having to fly to Disney, we were able to road trip to Branson, which only took 8 hours. We LOVE road trips so that was a huge part of the fun for all of us. We stopped at a really beautiful state park in OK on the way up and had a fun picnic and the kids enjoyed running off some energy! 

A fantastic vaca all in all!!

See you next year Branson.