Christmas Time

Friday, January 2, 2009

9 things i am looking forward to in 2009...

1. spending time and energy strengthening our marriage
2. gaining new effective and creative ways to raise up our children
3. lots of playtime outside- at the park, in the backyard, on bicycles, etc.
4. riding in the tour de tucson with henry ( only the short part)
5. a vacation to somewhere...anywhere!!
6. reading books for my own enjoyment
7. painting pottery with daphne
8. figuring out how to keep some kind of handle on all this laundry
9. following Jesus more nearly, loving Him more dearly and seeing Him more clearly (ok so that was three in one but i couldn't leave any one of them out)

2008 was a long and very hard year for me, for our family. i know that it is in times like those that i tend to grow most so i will look back and be thankful for this past year but oh how i look forward to the year ahead. i am looking ahead in hopes for a year of jubilee.

i often time feel like what i would imagine the israelites felt like...a wandering fool in hopes of the land flowing with milk and honey. i am ready for a milk and honey kind of year!! that's right, bring it on!!

i write all this coming off a day that particularly difficult. the kids were hard, i am still dog pedalling under a pile of dirty clothes (almost done), i feel like i am fighting fires non stop. i find myself daydreaming of curling up with the kids (all getting along mind you) with a huge pile of books and just reading or laying on our bellies on the floor and coloring with them. i dream of long bike rides with them or just searching out bugs to learn about. i feel like i am missing some great moments with the kids but i can't just let the house fall down around us either. i am struggling with balancing time with the kids and house chores. i resent the housework because it is keeping me from the kids and i get frustrated with the kids because i can't get the housework done. ugh! pray for me- what specifically you might ask- i don't know but pray for me.

on another note- i want to share a few pics from our christmas this year. we had a nice time and it was very low key which was nice. i think my favorite moment was on christmas day when the two little girls were down for naps and henry & daphne & i sat at the table, still in pjs, and we did perler beads and they painted by number. i cooked a couple a quick dishes to take with us to our family christmas celebration but really we did what my heart longs to be doing with them everyday.




here are just a few cute pics from our celebrations...this is from christmas eve. they all looked at the camera for about five different pictures!!

these next few are from christmas morning. daph got a bike and anna got a helmet. henry got superman and batman. all seemed right on christmas morning!


so there you have it...then end of one year and the beginning to the next! 3 out of 4 kids are asleep now so i think i will read a book...or maybe do more laundry...no read a book!

happy new year!

4 comments:

The Ellis Family said...

Sweet pictures! What a beautiful family!! Oh... and does there really come a time where we have a handle on laundry??

R said...

i have had such a hard time this year struggling with the exact. same. things. i will definitely be praying for you...i'm in the same boat! it really, really gets me down.

Emily Ryan said...

Yep, you just totally spelled out what I've been feeling too - the difficult balance between enjoying your kids and taking care of them. And I only have one!! :-) If you find any secret words of wisdom, pass 'em on! Happy 2009!

Elizabeth said...

1) Those are amazing family pictures.
2) You totally captured my thoughts.
3) What have you been reading? Are you on goodreads?
4) What things are you going to strengthen your marriage?