25 Days of Christmas - Day 20

There are 15 other things I should be doing instead of blogging, but isn't that how every day is? We've been SO busy the past few days that I found myself falling asleep sitting up on the couch this morning. Oh how I would love to crawl under the covers and take a long winter's nap, but we have a Christmas program today and a family gathering afterwards. Yesterday we went to Santa's workshop and then to another Christmas party. How is it that if you put your kids to bed 4 hours after their bedtime they only sleep 22 minutes past their normal wake time? At least they are asleep now and it's not even noon!

We woke to a fresh blanket of snow so we went out to shovel and go sledding. I'm all for getting kids outside often and making sure they get lots of fresh air, but I'm not afraid to admit that today was the first time we played in the snow this winter. All it takes is one bad experience at the beginning of the season and then they don't want to go out ever again. It was too cold for the past two weeks to guarantee a good experience so we waited. Today was the day! They loved helping Daddy shovel and if I hadn't' gotten cold, I think they would still be out there sledding!

Now I'm sitting by the fire, looking at my tree, trying to stay awake long enough to shower, pick up the house, and pack up jammies and play clothes for the rest of the day's activities.








One of the ornaments I can see is this one. My mother-in-law gave this to us in 2006 for Julia's first Christmas. Our family was complete with our son and daughter. To me, this ornament represents the love of family, the answer to our prayers, and the dreams of all of the Christmas to come as this family of four.