Ah, Christmas. This year I pulled out all the stops and just enjoyed
every minute of it that I could. I even started listening to Christmas
music before Thanksgiving (unofficially, mind you. Don't tell Craig). I
used to think it was corny, the whole Christmas season. Meant for
consumers and people who liked to put really tacky decorations all over
their house. I never wore the colors red and green together in public
during the season. And I bundled up all that Christmas spirit and saved
it for Christmas day, the only day it was meant for. What a bah-humbug
way to live Christmas. Now that I have kids, I soak up as much as I can
out of the season. Every day. And next year will be even better,
starting the countdown now. :-)
We enjoyed almost all of the
Ellingson family home for Christmas this season. It was marvelous. My
darling sister-in-law wed the love of her life on the 17th and I got to
take lots of pictures of them smooching all day long. :-) Now, there are
11 Ellingson children, as I'm sure I've mentioned before, and 10 of
them, with their families, were split between our house and Grandma and
Grandpa's house. Miraculously everyone had a bed to sleep on (except all
the cousins, who played all day together and then crashed asleep on the
floor after giggling and talking for hours in the same room), and aside
from adults for the most part, everyone who needed a nap got one
everyday. :-) We made dinner and cleanup calendars, we ate Ellingson
chocolates until we were sick, we played games until we were so tired
and delirious that our guts hurt from laughing and we were giving points
away just to make someone win and end the game, we opened LOTS of
presents, we had a nativity with all of the grandkids and some of the
kids still at home staring in the lead roles, we talked and watched
movies until all hours of the morning, and most importantly,
strengthened our family ties with those who were there and in spirit
with those who were not. We also got to sneak away to have Christmas
with my family the night before Christmas Eve, where my Mom turned the
area below her stairs into an apartment for the kids, complete with a
couch (a foam kiddie couch), table (crate with cloth over it for table
settings), and colored pictures and pass-along cards with paintings of
Jesus on them for wall decorations. Chloe
adored
it, Linus much preferred my step-dad's marble conveyer belt set and
trucks from when he was a kid. It was a marvelous season. My favorite
gift for Christmas was a beautifully carved bread box that my husband
and kids picked out for me. I have made the decision in our household to
make bread for the family instead of buying it. Yes, it's cheaper, but
it also builds a home environment, I believe, that I want for my family.
My children help me pour flour into the Bosch and watch in awe every
time I turn it on as the bread hooks knead the dough much better then my
hands can. The smell of baking bread in the house is comforting. Yes, I
admit that sometimes it's a chore to remember to stay on top of it, but
I love it. Now to some, getting a bread box might be insulting. I grew
up in a land *coughBOULDERcough* where keeping a woman in the house is
not highly regarded. I can hear their complaints at a gift like this,
they're dragging chains...
They are keeping you in the kitchen, they think you belong
there, don't let them tie you down to the house, don't let them stifle your true womanly potential...And
my stomach sinks in disgust. My heart warmed over when I saw the
writing on the box and saw the excitement in my family's eyes as I
opened it. I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up just a little.
What I see in a gift like this is the love and respect my husband has
for me and my role as a mother and a wife, roles that I cherish above
all others. What I see is his careful attention to my needs, when I made
a comment ONCE a couple months ago in complaint when I declared that I
needed a bread box to clean up our counter space. What I see is my
children growing up in a family with traditions, order, and comfort. It
means much more to me than a clean counter, and engenders a sense of
gratitude that is genuine and heart changing. It's a beautiful bread box
and it's all mine. :-)
As I fell asleep last night I finally
started thinking about a few things that I resolve to do better this
year and they are as follows:
I resolve to lose weight. Cliche, I
know, but it has to happen and I resolve to do it before we try for our
next child, whenever that may be. Okay, I'm going to say this on my
blog, completely embarrassing, but perhaps it will help me to stick to
my plan: I could afford to lose at least
35
lbs to get to a healthy weight, and probably another 10 or 15 more to
get to my ideal weight. I'm sure there will be more progress on that in
the future, because I'm sure you all want to hear about it, but there, I
got it off my chest.
I resolve to listen to my children more and play with them more. Every day.
I
resolve to be a better wife and a better lover. It's easy to let the
activities of the day consume that vital role, but I am at the core a
romantic and I resolve to pass that along to the person who needs it
most.
I resolve to keep the house a little cleaner, aside from
just picking up toys and making it look "neat", I resolve to keep the
deep cleaned parts of our house more consistently deep cleaned. As long
as it doesn't interfere with the above two resolutions.
I resolve
to go outside more before Spring time. I don't care if it's cold, if
it's 40 or above, we all could use the fresh air and exercise.
I
resolve to do more crafts with Chloe and explore her preschool life to
the fullest before I send her off to school in the fall, bleary eyed and
proud, not bleary eyed and regretful of time lost.
I resolve to read more books and educate myself on more things valuable to me in life.
I
resolve to be a better person. More scripture study, more prayer, more
service, closer to Christ. And really that should be number one, because
not much else will happen effectively until this one does.
...and
with the help of almost everyone who's come to visit, guess who finally
figured out how to walk over Christmas break? Guess she got jealous
when all her younger cousins were out racing her around the house. :-)
Happy
New Year and hope you all had as good of a Christmas season as I did.
Leaving the lights up until this weekend, just because. Maybe I'll even
wear red and green before we do too...
