Christmassy time

The kids and I had a wonderful time in Florida! Here are some pictures! They are totally not in order because it is too hard to arrange them... how the heck do you do that? Anyway, all the kids you see in the photos are: Kristin, Ryan... Julia, Faith, Josh (David's kids)... Isa and Willy (David's nephews, same ages as my kids, and look just like them too!)

We had Christmas Eve Dinner at my aunt's house.. that's her tree you see. Most of the week we just hung out, kids played in the backyard, and we ate a lot of "decent meals" as Ryan says, when you ask him what his favorite part of the trip was (Kristin's favorite part is "David"... aw! So was mine :) )

My friendly reminder

My friendly reminder

There is so much to think about. My life is spinning.

I have major life events coming up, one of them being next week.

How are things going to fall into place?

Will they fall into place?

Why can't I know how it's all going to work out?

Will it all work out?

I don't know what's going on, or if we will all be okay.

Can't I just know?????

..... Kristin came up to me earlier tonight as I was stirring macaroni and cheese for their dinner in the kitchen.

She gave me a drawing, that had a note written on the back. She asked if she could read it out loud to me.

"Dear Mommy,I hope you like this butterfly I made for you. Merry Christmas! I wish my other teeth would come out. I wonder when they will. Do you know? I don't. But God knows.Love, Kristin"

I just hugged her so tight and told her thank you for the reminder.

Sorry, Mommy, Santa IS real!

I just had to do it.

She has WAY too many things (expensive things) on her Christmas list. I kept telling her day after day, that Santa MAY not be able to get everything she's asking for. We'll have to see if he can afford it. She says "No, mommy, his elves just build it"

Finally I took her aside and said "Kristin, you're 7 yrs old. I think you're old enough to handle the truth. Baby... Santa isn't real."

"Yes he is."

"No baby, he's not. He's fun, but he's just fictional."

"Oh yeah? Then who leaves all the presents under the tree?"
(hands on hips, and slight head nod.)

"The mommies and daddies."

"Then how come it says "from Santa" ?"

"The mommies and daddies write it on there."

"Wellll.... your handwriting isn't the same as Santa's"

"Okay, Kristin, the point is, Mommy is telling you that Santa is fictional. It's okay to have fun about Santa, but don't forget the most important thing to celebrate about Christmas is Jesus' birthday." Of course now I'm worried she might think Jesus isn't real since I've told her all along that He is! So I emphasized, "even though Santa isn't real, Jesus is definitely real, and His birth is what we're celebrating. But it's okay to have fun with Santa, even though he's not."

"Well I still believe in him."

"Okay, that's perfectly fine if you do, you're allowed to believe in him, but just don't be surprised if you don't get two more Nintendos and a Wii."

(she and Ryan each have a Nintendo DS)

The next night I saw yet another letter she wrote to Santa and left on her table with her crafts.... asking the same old things....a silver DS, a pink DS, a Wii, and an Elf.

(a "real" elf).

Merry Christmas :)