Christmas Business

In case you live under a rock...it's Christmas time!  I have always loved this holiday because numerous  houses are festive and have happy demeanors (if a house can have a demeanor) and that makes for pleasant night time driving.  More people than normal have smiles on their faces.  And it's always just generally been a happy time for me.  This year, it's still been fun, but I have felt a wee bit of pressure.  I have always been curious as to why "they" felt so stressed and like everything would not get done.  Well, this year, I found out :)  I was a little ambitious and decided to do several "crafty" projects.  Though I started what I thought was plenty early, there have been moments when I thought I would not finish.  I made matching PJ pants for my girls and nephew.  I decorated matching shirts for my stepmom, my sister, and myself.  I baked cheese straws, sausage balls, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, and peanut clusters. I also made/upcycled/painted several gifts.  In addition to all of that, we have done the normal shopping that must be done and I have tried to let the girls have fun doing crafty Christmas things and we tried to begin some traditions.  We made salt dough ornaments and have painted and glittered our share of paper shapes.  We went to a parade.  We have sung songs and danced to Xmas music.  In general, it's been a good month of fun things!  

2 years ago about this time, I took a picture of Chloe: 

This past Sunday, Autumn wore the same dress...

Pretty amazing huh?!  They are definitely similar, but I see much more of Adam in Autumn than I ever have in Chloe.  Adam makes good looking girls!

This girl loves her babies!  Here she is rocking and singing to her baby, so she can take a nap while we are at worship services.

This girl loves to be naked!  She has just gotten to where she enjoys being chased, so now when she is naked she loves to run from us!  It's pretty hilarious (most of the time...unless we were supposed to leave 5 min ago!) and she has a stupendous laugh. 

The past couple of weeks I have been striving to go to bed at 10 and get up at 6.  This was for the purpose of having a little alone time and a moment to pull myself together before any children awake.  I definitely feel better and am getting more rest.  Since then, Autumn has been sleeping till at least 7:30 with a few 9 AM mornings peppered in!  Oh, what a blessing!  I believe God knew I was struggling and He answered some prayers. 

Adam is off tomorrow and ALL of next week!  So, have a happy holiday and enjoy your friends and family!  Don't forget to pray for those who have lost someone close recently, because it will be an especially tough holiday for them.