Savoring the moments

December is always a busy month, and then throw in two birthdays in our little family and it's just crazy!! But each year I make my best attempt to enjoy the entire holiday season and soak in all the great memories. A few I captured in photos...

Over Thanksgiving weekend, the battery in my car died...Sadie took a special interest in watching Matt change out the old one and put in a new one...I couldn't resist taking this picture of my girly-girl standing in her church clothes on top of this bucket, asking Daddy all about what he was doing.

Wyatt brought this worksheet home from school one day and I couldn't help but notice just about everything on his paper except for his math work!

Of course, the first thing I noticed was what he wrote after his name.....but I also had to laugh at how he made cartoons out of the characters on the worksheet, designating two in a battle and one as the announcer of sorts! Such a boy!

The kids also wanted to write notes to Santa one night, completely unprompted by either Matt or I. This is what Wyatt came up with--sorry it's so blurry! Not sure what happened there.

Blake's first time in the penalty box at one of Wyatt's practices when Matt was out of town one weekend...I texted it to Matt with the caption "His first--won't be the last"

Another poor-quality picture, but I had to post it just for the sake of recording it. The kids got to sing in church during advent and they did such a great job. It was actually the first time my kids have ever sung in church, since we just switched churches last year. They practiced their song daily and new it forwards and backwards--Wyatt said he didn't really like being in front of people but was okay with it since he was with his friends and Sadie, well, I am sure you can guess how she felt about it. The girl loved every minute of it, smiling the entire time as though everyone was looking at only her. And immediately asked when she could do it again!

That same afternoon, Sadie and I went on a date to see Sadie's favorite musical, "White Christmas", performed by our local high school theatre company. They did a great job and had outstanding actors/singers. Definitely didn't disappoint..and I am quite sure she was the only 5 year old there who knew the entire thing by heart!

And December also brought 3 triple batches of buckeyes (yes, I did take some to friends/cookie exchanges/home to Madison). But my family was so happy to see this sight several times!

A few other noteworthy happenings.....
In a moment of poor (and I mean really poor) judgement, I thought it might be fun to watch the Wizard of Oz with the kids. I know it has scary parts, but I planned on fast-forwarding through them. Of course I also planned to do this while Matt was out of town (again, I have no idea what I was thinking). We started the movie and fast forwarded through the tornado part, so the kids could enjoy the munchkins and all their dancing. The kids were actually loving it and thought Dorothy and Toto were great....up until the puff of green smoke appeared (where the wicked witch comes in). I knew it was coming and pushed pause right when I saw the green smoke. Our DVR has a funny way of pausing on scenes that are different than the ones you intend to pause on.....translation: the DVR paused right on the face of the wicked witch. Yep, there she was in all her scariness for my kids to have visual images emblazoned in their minds for the rest of the night. Literally, it was probably less than 2 seconds because I quickly turned it off, but I spent the rest of the night reassuring my kids that she isn't real and getting up with each other during the night to calm their fears. BUT---I write all this because as the kids were going to bed and were so frightened, I asked them what we should do. They all responded by praying, but Wyatt also wanted to read his Bible along with a few cards he has received from his Uncle Rob over the years. (The letters point out characteristics he sees in Wyatt that are similar to men in the Bible and how Wyatt can continue to develop those.) I was amazed that in Wyatt's moments of fear, he continued to go to God's Word and letters that point him to God's Word. I pray that this never changes for him.

And then on a less serious note.....the kids wanted to play the quiet game one night at dinner and Wyatt said, 'We'll start the game when I say 'time'....in 3, 2, 1." As Wyatt started counting, Sadie saw her precious time to speak getting shorter and shorter, so she just said, "talk, talk, talk, talk, talk" quickly until Wyatt said 'time'. Matt and I couldn't help but laugh at her need to talk while she had the chance, even though she had nothing specific to say.....that's my girl for ya (I have no idea where she gets it:)