Since Last Time...

*Sorry to the fam-this post comes with no pictures"

What have we been doing around here since the Froot Loop garland, you wonder? Everything it seems. Christmas just comes in like a whirwind and all of a sudden it is here. I really do love it. The baking, the decorating, the gifts, the Christmas cards, the baking :) However, I am feeling the pressure this year more than ever to make it fun for my children.

Do you make gingerbread houses? I bought a kit-it was 5 miniature houses. I haven't done one in years. I made a big hype about doing the gingerbread houses to them. Fun activity, right? Okay, not really for kids. Especially the miniature ones. The little sprinkles and the tiny walls were hard for me to handle. Kind of a flop. I found myself up late one night piping out miniature little windows and itty-bitty chimneys. I guess it wasn't a total flop though, because the next morning Ellie says "Oh mom, I love it!

What else have we done?

-About half the Christmas cards are addressed. Stamps purchased, but are not on the cards. And not licked. Hate that part. Yes, I use a wet paper towel and wipe them, but I still hate it!

-Andrew's bandages are off. I hated that even more than licking the stamps. It was awful. Steven had to hold his arms above his head while the doctor slowly and carefully cut away the gauze while Andrew screamed and looked at me like, "what in the world, mom?". It made me nauseous. But I'm happy to report he is doing much better now. And we no longer have to worry about clogged catheters.

-Christmas tree is up. It took about three trips to Home Depot before we finally brought it home. (They kept having a very poor selection.) We finally just picked one. It is a little slanted, but beautiful, nonetheless. Everything is on it except for all the gold balls. (We ran out of hooks)

-We put those little candles in all our windows. Steven broke one, Ellie broke another.

-Andrew is officially crawling. This takes us to an entirely new phase of making sure he doesn't put stuff in his mouth. As I am typing, he is holding two smarties wrappers and just ate a leftover smartie that he found. He seems to really like it. I have also found a Barbie shoe, a play nickel, and a tiny little rubberband in his mouth. And today he was holding a ladybug in his hand.

We haven't done this yet, but we are about to take all THREE to mom's house so that Steven and I can go to our young married class's progressive dinner tonight. They are all spending the night with her. This is my first night away from Andrew ever. I hate to say "what a treat!" But, What a Treat!

I pray you are enjoying this Christmas season. Are you enjoying beautiful Christmas music? I hear such powerful words of hope and of the gospel playing in stores, restaurants, and other public places. And I find it so sad and ironic that people are walking around literally hearing the one message-the only message that they so desperately need to hear, and they don't even know it.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny,
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.