Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Christmas 2013

We celebrated Christmas in our brand new house!! Our first time having a fireplace. We actually hung our stockings on the mantel. We really tries to scale down Christmas this year. We say we are going to every year, but I feel we did well this year. We really want our children to know and understand that Christmas is more than presents. Each kid received 3 presents this year. One from parents, one form siblings, and one from Santa. Even with less, they still enjoyed the holiday!



our family Christmas card picture



Ryan 


Aaron


Grace


Kate


Becca


Britten

Saturday, December 7, 2013

To-do Lists

I was cleaning my little girls' room the other morning. Becca was in there. She was writing in her new journal that she had bought herself- she, and I, was pretty proud of the purchase. She asked me if I would like to see what was inside. I said, "Of course!" She pulled the key from her pillow case, the perfect hiding spot!
 
She opened to the first page. She had made a list. A to-do list. It read:
 
Becca's to do list
 
1. watch baby
2. help Kate
3. draw cakes
 
I got a chuckle out of her cute, little list. I knew she had done everything on it. She always watches the baby and helps Kate. The next three pages were drawings of her beautiful cakes. I was a little jealous of her list. How nice would it be for my list to resemble hers?
 
I think sometimes as adults we complicate our lives to the extreme. We fill our time with things that need to be done, but often find things that aren't quite so pressing are eating up the remainder of our day.
 
After seeing her sweet list, I made a promise to myself that I would be more conscious of the way I spend my time. I've been trying hard not to waste time on the computer. I can get lost on there. Yesterday the only thing on my list was to wash the car. It was nice to give my attention to my kids the rest of the day. Britten has been growing so much lately-he started walking- I feel like time is screaming by. I can't believe he'll be 1 next month. I can't believe my oldest will be 16 next month!
 
Time is so precious. I don't want to regret the way I spent mine. I want to fill my list with the things that matter most. My husband. My kids. My personal growth. I'll be better for it.