Highlights or Lowlights

2007 brought some amazing times for our family. Here are the unforgettable moments (you can decide which were highlights and which were lowlights):

• My son being potty-trained
• Accidentally ripping off my toenail
• Sadly seeing our renters leave, but having more space
• Getting a swing set
• My daughter starting Kindergarten
  
• Camping in our trailer
• Getting the trailer ready for camping
• Building our garden boxes
• Eating potatoes from our garden
• Having our car hit while parked in front of our house
• Getting away to Midway
• Accomplishing a dream I've had
• Having the craziest 2 months ever because of the dream I've had
• My baby turning 1 year old
• Finding our leaky toilet
• Gutting the bathroom because of the leaky toilet
• Getting IKEA near by
• Asking to be in Nursery
• That one CRAZY day I already blogged about - seriously, unforgettable
• Celebrating 9 years of marriage
• Enjoying 3 wonderful children

I hope 2008 brings just as many adventures and memories! (Just not the toenail thing or the toilet paper roll in the bath tub... I can't handle those!)

Simple Christmas

I heard of a Christmas tradition where there are only 4 presents:

something they want, something they need,
something to wear and something to read

We adopted it 3 or 4 years ago and it has been so easy to shop for everyone! Usually Christmas shopping is done the first week of December! I am not as on the ball this year, but my list is very short.

It was hard to narrow it down to just one thing they wanted, so we decided that Santa brings them one big present and fills their stocking, then Mom and Dad give them these 4 presents. Since we have been doing it for the past few years, and our oldest is 6, our children don't know any different.

It seems like a meager Christmas some how, but in reality, it is only meager to me and my husband. We both had grand visits from Santa growing up. We have been debating wether to continue it or not. So often I want to spoil the heck out of my kids! They are so cute and sweet and deserve it all! The thing is they wake up Christmas morning and are in heaven with whatever they have gotten. So, it is staying, for another year at least.

Creating Christmas

Christmas was an amazing thing as a child.  We had wonderful traditions and things to look forward to every year.  I can still remember all the fun of decorating our house for the season.  We had a plastic tree that was no less than 200 pounds and it was always stored in the basement.  It was a serious task to just get it up the stairs and into the living room, but despite all the effort and energy spent, we could not wait to get it unpacked and set up.  It required the whole living room and the whole family to do this.  We first had to empty the box the tree was stored in and make sure all the parts were still there.  There would be bundles of plastic boughs and trunk pieces all over the place.  The trunk was put together and the pieces would always pinch your finger as you slid them together.  Then the bundles of boughs came out and each slid into a hole for it.  After a good hour or more, the tree was up and ready to decorate.  We had a the greatest collection of ornaments.  All different, some from crafts, some from special occasions, some from who knows where.  My favorite ones were a bunch of sour dough figurines a friend made for many years.  Each year we would add a few more to the collection.  A lot of them were of Santa or reindeer or snowmen.  One year we were given figurines of our family with the things we had done that year.  I had graduated from High School, so I was in a cap and gown.  They were all made by hand and absolutely amazing!  It took another hour or more to decorate the tree making sure it didn't have any bare spots.  We never had a specific spot for the tree to go.  It moved around every year.  My favorite spot was in front of our big living room window.  It just seemed like the perfect Christmas tree location.  We then would pull out nativities, garlands, bows, wreaths, candy tins and Christmas music.  We would be ironing and pinning and nailing and moving things back and forth to find the right place.  Finally, it was done!  A whole Saturday gone, but the house was ready for Christmas.  Even more than that, the kids were filled with so much excitement and anticipation, anyone of us could have popped!

Now it is my turn to create that atmosphere in my home.... I am exhausted just thinking about it!  I haven't gotten the tree out yet and I don't know how to deal with a 15 month old terrorizing it for the next month.  But I can't wait to have that feeling again.  I love the magic of Christmas!