Christmas time...

came and went and I'm still reeling a bit from it!! It was wild, crazy and tons of fun!!

We visited family (Korey and his mom were even able to take an almost weeklong trip to Texas to see his brother and family- we were all so excited to have them back that I'm fairly certain the entire airport rejoiced with us when daddy finally stepped off the plane...or maybe they were just so happy to have their peace and quiet back)

we opened presents- way, way, way too many presents! I had to make a few trips to goodwill with some of our old toys to make room for all the gifts our kids were given!

we went to our first Christmas Eve service at our new church...where Macy and Elli proceeded to entertain the entire congregation with their gregarious little antics and Jack fell asleep on the chair...

we celebrated our Christmas morning at home with just our little family and two of our favorite people- Bob and Karen!

we (or I should say Elli) watched my mom and dad's dog and took very good care of him. I think he had the time of his life and most likely gained quite a few pounds from all the extra food he and Allie managed to sneak off of our counter and the kids plates!

we crafted....A LOT! You can always tell when hailey is around for a while...that girl just loves anything that seems even remotely crafty :) or has anything to do with getting messy and using glitter and paint!



we read a lot of stories! Just before break Hailey started really sounding out words and being able to pick out sight words from different books. I think she is well on her way to being able to read and it's so exciting to see her start to "get the hang of" one of my favorite activities of all time!! Plus, she's really been loving all the practice she gets on her little sisters :)

we played super heros...A LOT!! This house has been transformed from a girly-girl house to a superhero's playground! Not sure when it all happened, but my girls have all taken to putting on their high heels, dress up clothes and then topping off the outfit with a cape and mask! nothing makes their brother happier and their momma laugh harder :) I guess I always did want a house full of boys running around being wild and rough and tough...God just saw fit to give me girls who pretty much do that very thing!! In fact, I just ordered Hailey's birthday cake today and, for the first time since she has had an opinion she didn't ask for a pink sparkly or princessy cake!

Our Christmas break lasted 2 days longer than expected- due to "cold" days and it was pretty hard to take Hailey back to school! I think the past months have been really amazing and wonderful for her, but really hard for this mom! I have really struggled to find where I belong and what on earth I'm doing here. My little three are just so self-sufficient and they like to do their own thing. none of them really like to cook or bake with me. None of them really want to help me do any cleaning or basically anything with me. They are all pretty much content to sit and chatter with each other as they play. It's been a bit of a wake up call and has been very eye opening as to how I'm going to feel in a couple years....let's just say that I may need some therapy the day I drop Macy and Elli off at 4K! :) It's really different to go from being intensely needed every single moment of the day to just all of the sudden realizing that your kids are growing up before your eyes. realizing that unless you are intentional they are just going to form their own little pack and probably start foraging for food on their own and living in the backyard. (ok...maybe that's a bit overly dramatic) But, I am realizing that my kids are growing up and I'm trying so hard to just hold on to the little bit of babyhood that we have left and just cherishing each moment that I get to hold and snuggle these little sweeties before they get too big!  My verse for this year is Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" :) And...that's exactly what I'm hoping to do this next year- make each day count. hold onto the good, let go of the bad and gain more of a heart of wisdom with each passing minute!