A new season of blogging…..

Well, the Christmas season is upon us and I am sure you barely have time to read some entry in a blog. But look, here you are. As I reflect on this year’s events and all the happenings in our busy little life I can’t help but think it’s all racing too fast. As you may expect I get lots of questions about life with four little people. It’s not like we are the family with 17 kids, but still the questions come. My husband and I embarked on our Christmas shopping Friday afternoon, Black Friday, with all the kiddos. Yes, you read right, all the crew. What struck me odd were all the comments. “Oh my!” “You’re brave!” For heaven’s sake! It’s not like they were running amuck. The kids were expressing a desire for everything they saw, in a very ‘can we have it someday’ mindset, but they were great.

 

The truth is I love this time of year the most when my whole family is with me, even in a crowded store. I love seeing their little faces get excited when they see the very tragically over done decorating. I love hearing them sing along to the Christmas songs they hear in the store. Mostly I love just enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season with them by my side. Christmas for me is way more fun when toting everyone along. When they are with me I can share with them the reason we are preparing for Christmas, versus just shopping to buy things. I am always inclined toward the experiences and the reasons behind doing what I do. Initially, I was begging for a babysitter so I could shop without them, as you can imagine they are much too old for me to be sneaky. As it was we almost bought some unintended items that were in the cart as camouflage for another gift. So here we are, December 1^st, starting another holiday rush. I hope along with me, you take your family on all your adventures. You might surprise yourself and never do it any other way!

What I know so far…

When Marck and I got engaged, people were happy for us, at first. Then the “advice” came pouring in. Why is it when someone puts a ring on their finger it’s an all out advice fest wherever you go. We were so in love and happy and blissful. Apparently that’s not ok with most couples who are already married. Is it that they see a young couple and want them to end up miserable or divorced. I don’t really know, or care at this point. All I know is what I have learned so far. At that moment, when folks started to give unsolicited advice, negative that is, I purposed to be different. To not be unhappy after the honeymoon was over. To not talk poorly of my husband around others, or worse yet in front of him. Maybe God has blessed me with an incredible man and it makes it easy to not do those things. I am quite sure that’s a huge part of it. Whatever the case is, it has made all the difference. I can honestly say that I have been happy with my marriage, extraordinarily so! The honeymoon is not over after eight years, and I still get giddy and check my e-mail constantly just in case he has sent me a message. Recently I told Marck that the best sound to be is him walking through the door at 5:30. Not so I can pass off our three children to him, so I can kiss him and hug him and say” glad your home where you belong!”
A good friend asked the other day for me to dish the dirt. She wanted to know the biggest fight we’d ever had. At first I couldn’t think of a “big” fight, but felt like I owed her a normal response. I finally told her we, or should I say, I had an issue with our lawn. It wasn’t even a fight, more like a disscusion about expectations. Why do couples fight? Seems silly really. We have had frustrations, disagreements, and general issues normal people have when they live under the same roof. At the end of the day, we kiss each other and say “I love you”.. knowing that God’s mercies are new everyday, so why shouldn’t mine be.