I Stumbled Upon an Old Picture...

Three days before Christmas. Oh boy. So much to do. A little more wrapping. A big grocery shopping trip. Cooking, baking, cleaning. Finishing up the Christmas cards. If only I didn't have to sleep over the next three days I think I would be all right. This morning, I have been going through old, saved emails and Facebook messages trying to dig up "new addresses" that I never managed to copy into my address book. What a tedious process!I came across this old picture of Toby that was taken by a friend when he was about 10 months old.

Also related to Toby, we are here in my bedroom as I am posting this. He just said to me, "Mom, I am scared of that sound!" "What sound?" I asked (not noticing any sound). "That sound!" I listened carefully, Tailer, our cat, is sleeping at the foot of the bed and she is snoring. I assured Toby he had nothing to be afraid of and pointed out that it was merely Tailer. And all is well again!

Until later,

Emily

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!

This December has been a busy one, it seems like they always are. This year, because we aren't going to Utah, I decided NOT to put my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. I have to say that was a mistake for me. Thanksgiving came and went, then a week went by and it was the weekend again, and I was sick & down in bed the next weekend. Finally, James got the Christmas decorations out of our storage unit and they basically sat in our living room for another week, the kids & I got the tree out and half-decorated it Tuesday night and then that was about all. So another weekend rolled around, and it was already the 11th of December. At this point, I was very tempted to finish the tree and call it good for the year. But, I couldn't. I start hauling the stuff out of the boxes. Saturday night, I stayed up until the wee hours and our house was transformed! Sad to say, moving was not easy on my Christmas decorations. Let's just say that next year I am going to be on the lookout for quite a few new Christmas decorations to replace the ones that were demolished while traveling on a big ship!

I still haven't made it outside to put up the Christmas lights, it has turned bitter cold, and I can't bring myself to go out in it. I tried to get James to do it yesterday, but it was raining all day long, so he couldn't be talked into it.

This week, I am taking the kids to visit Santa at the mall. They are so excited. This is a fun year at our house for Christmas. It might be the last magical year for Thomas. But, I hope he has at least one more year as a "believer".

James & I have been busy planning our Ward Christmas party (church Christmas party) this year. We are planning on at least 300 people on Saturday. We have planned to have a full Cajun Christmas dinner and a nice Christ-centered program. It has been a little ironic to be asked to do something like this, since neither of us particularly enjoys parties nor crowds...but we are getting the job done. But we won't be saddened in the least if someone else "gets the opportunity" next year, either. It is satisfying, at this point, to see all the planning and hard work start to come together...but I am excited for it to be over and to not have to worry about it any longer!

Until later,

Emily

A Movie Break

It seems that this December is the same as most all Decembers...way too busy. Despite our never-ending lists of things-to-do, we decided we were going to hit the brakes for a couple of hours today and take our kids to see a movie. We took them to see Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Was it the best movie of all time? No. But it was a warm, touching movie with a good message.

Until later,

Emily