"I Need a little Christmas"

Well I figured I better get a move on with posting all the happenings of December before Christmas comes TOMORROW! Funny thing is that a portion of this post actually occurred in November...oh well, better late than never! 

We love to set up our tree the weekend following Thanksgiving & this year was no exception. We were taking bets on if the lights on our beloved Christmas tree from the first year of marriage would still work when dragged out of the attic. We got it down as soon as nap time started, plugged it in & were a little disappointed to see that only the middle section lit up.  Robby said it was not a problem & that we could just take the lights off the tree & restring it.  So, we got to work with a pocket knife & scissors cutting all the lights off. Slowly but surely we shredded the tree making it more "Charlie Brown Style" than ever before. I was laughing on the inside & we both laughed about it when the whole situation was resolved. About a third of the way thru Rob called it quits & said to go buy another tree. Mind you our beloved tree cost less than $30 so on the way out the door I heard Rob yell "Don't spend more than $30!" I laughed to myself thinking "yeah right!" I headed to Target & debated not taking my phone in so I could avoid receiving a call saying to be really frugal. Later I found out that Rob considered turning his phone on silent so he wouldn't get a call from me saying the cheapest tree was way over $30. 

Long story short, I walked straight to the Christmas section. Lo & behold there was a stack of trees with a sign on top that said "$29.99" I could hardly believe my eyes! I immediately texted a picture of it to Rob & he said "buy two!" Haha! It was a happy moment! I rushed home, got it set up & put out some more of the decorations. 

Once the kids were up from naps we got them into some Christmas jammies & got to eating & decorating! Eloise is almost always making this face when we take her picture...silly goose. 

Charlotte's favorite way to hang the ornaments was to climb on the couch & reach to the tree.

Anson & Owen got to try our traditional "snackies" which is code for sausage balls & pigs in a blanket. They really liked them both & this mama is happy they are well on their way to eating chunks of food.

Eloise was a ham as usual & was cracking us up when I would ask her to bring me a piggy & she would poke her finger through the bread, push the piggy out & bring just that to me.

Owen got plenty of kisses from his Daddy....and everyone else.

Anson, Mommy & Owen

Charlotte got to help put the star on. Take notice of how there are only about 8 ornaments on the tree. That is as far as we got with the whole brood.  We had some challenging children that evening that got to go to bed a wee bit early.  We were so exhausted that the rest of the ornaments did not get put on for another 36 hours!

The good news is that all was decorated & there were a couple packages under the tree by that Thursday when we celebrated with Steve, Jenny (and her growing baby bump that happens to be another GIRL, wahoo!) Karis & Isaac. Our original plan was to do dinner together but Karis & Isaac were a little under the weather so we fed kids early, they arrived, we opened gifts then put kids to bed while us adults had our own little party. 

This is the first time we have had a photo taken of all of us. Thanks to the tripod & self timer, we have a fabulous picture!

Another first was getting all six kids together! It is a wild bunch & only getting wilder come March when the newest niece joins the family & we have seven kids that are four & under! LOVE IT!

Aunt Jenny kept Anson happy on her lap.

Owen on the other hand,  was not too happy... about the gift he received ; )

He warmed up to it once he had a piece of that choo choo train in his mouth.

Here are our precious niece & nephew.  We will never have children that look like that ; ) 

Once the chitlin's were in bed we enjoyed a spread of cheese & crackers Steve & Jenny brought back from a farm in Texas. 

Our appetizer was followed by a delicious homemade soup called Turkey _______ it starts with a "P" & all I can think of at the moment is "Polska" & "Palooza" which it is neither but I think I will just call it Turkey Palooza because it sounds good & it was good! Chef Rob made it with leftover Thanksgiving turkey & homemade broth. It was spicy & topped with cabbage, red onion, avocado, mexican cheese, cilantro & limes. AMAZING combo! It was chilly outside too so a warm soup was just right for the evening.

We finished off the night with watching the TV version of Sound of Music while listening to commentary by Rob & Steve which might have been more entertaining than the show itself ; ) About halfway through we switched over to Duck Dynasty for a good laugh then packed the other Valentines up & said farewell.

The Christmas decor, our holiday books, the hot chocolate & the music just puts me in a good mood. The reading & re reading of our advent books & the story of Christ's birth in the Jesus Storybook bible are a daily reminder of what we are celebrating.  Hearing the girls telling us the story of when Jesus was born as they look at pictures brings a smile to my face.

Last year Christmas was rough being in the middle of a difficult pregnancy & caring for a very sick puppy dog who died on the 27th.   Rob & I were out to lunch on December 26th & heard the song "We Need a Little Christmas" with the lyrics:

Haul out the holly;
Put up the tree before my spirit falls again.
Fill up the stocking,
I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now.
For we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute,
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet.

At this point we had spent the majority of the past five days looking at Bennett laying on the couch with the Christmas tree in view, Christmas music playing, petting him with tears rolling down our cheeks. When that song came on we starting whisper shouting "NO! NO MORE CHRISTMAS!" We laughed out loud during lunch that day which felt really good considering all the non laughable matters in our life at that time. I did in fact take all the decorations down the day Bennett died & I am pretty sure I was grumpy about it. It had been a LONG week. I was a little unsure of how I would feel pulling them back out again this year. I have found myself replaying the events of the week in my mind & I have felt sad at times missing ol Bennett. Even with that sadness, there is much joy in our hearts.

We are so grateful to be celebrating this year in Florida & in Texas seeing almost every single member of our extended family & many good friends over the course of a few weeks in Orlando & the great state of Texas.