Bring on Christmas!

My apologies to you all for my prolonged absence from the blogging world. Not only that I haven't been posting, but that I also failed to keep my word that I would still be reading your blogs. I haven't read anyone's blog in ages...sorry. I hate to make excuses (but am going to anyway), but my new job has seriously been kicking my butt. Apparently I missed the small print when I signed on for this position that during the month of December, my time no longer belongs to me. My time this month is owned solely by my employer and only THEY will decide whether or not I deserve any sleep that night. (That didn't sound too bitter did it?) Anyway, my days lately are spent encouraging Mathew to watch a disturbing amount of television and forcing Nathaniel to take long, frequent naps so that I can spend all day sleeping on the couch. I've become such a zombie that I even...I don't know if any of you will believe this...but I even let Brandon do several loads of LAUNDRY!! Now you all know this is serious business. My house is an absolute disgusting mess and if anyone drops by unexpectedly, I can assure you that even though my kids may be peering out the window at you, I'm going to just go ahead and pretend we're not home. (You all think I'm kidding...I'm not.)

Anyhoo...in case it's taken you awhile to notice, because it has me...it is officially the Christmas season!! Hurray! During less hectic and poverty-stricken times, this is my absolute favorite time of year. Though I think this year the awesome Autumn we had is going to kick Christmas's trash. Nevertheless, I do love Christmas. It is a time of magic that I absolutely believe in. When I take the time to stop thinking about all the material things that don't really matter, I get an amazing feeling that reminds me what life's really about.

In the spirit of the season, here are a few of the fun activities we've recently been a part of:

McKenna and I carried on a tradition we've kept for the last 3 years and went to see a play at Hale Center Theatre together. This year's choice was the ever famous A Christmas Carol. I'm really hit and miss with plays. I either love them so much I cry my way through the entire thing for no apparent reason, or I'm so bored I find myself wishing I wasn't so bent on trying to encourage McKenna to appreciate the arts. A Christmas Carol was beyond wonderful. I really did just cry and cry. The music, the acting, the set, the story....I can't say enough how much I loved it. I highly encourage everyone to spend the bucks to see this one someday. They play it every year, and I may just have to start going every year.

On Monday, we finally got our act together and got the tree put up. Let's not talk about the mountain of bins that's still sitting in the way of the front door. We'll get them put away eventually. I know that the cool thing is to have some fantastic, themed tree with beautifully matched ornaments, but I can't help but love our crazy eclectic tree that has so many random ornaments. We have the same crappy tree decor now that Brandon and I put on our very first tree the first year we were married, and I love it. The kids put up most of the decorations and they are not exactly evenly distributed, but again...I love it. My Christmas tree is my heart and soul and I'm not sure I'll ever have the heart to change it.

After swearing up and down for the past few months that he wasn't doing Christmas lights on the house, Brandon caved (again) and put them up (again). This wasn't exactly a surprise since he does this every year. He swears he's too busy, too sick, to run-down to put up lights, and the first time we drive past a house that has their lights on and he sees the kids awing over them, he caves. I'm grateful that my husband risks his life every year so that our kids can think our house is cool for having Christmas lights up. He really does a great job and they look fabulous!

What Christmas season is complete without a trip to see Santa? This is one we're sure to take care of as early as possible every year to insure that we're able to secure the ever coveted Santa gift. And our kids are notorious for throwing out the most random request. Last year McKenna jabbered on for months (and even up to a few minutes before seeing Santa) about asking Santa for a Jasmine doll. I don't know if she gets stage fright or what, but when the time came, she asked for a Peter Pan doll. What the...? Where did that come from? We never were able to find the elusive Peter Pan doll and she had to make-do with some Peter Pan action figures (much to her disappointment). So this year, we safely made it through her request (which fortunately stayed the same as previously anticipated) but Mathew is a different story. He's been storing up the idea for a play barbecue for weeks now, and on the drive to see Santa he changed his mind and decided to ask for an "insider sleeper". (Which, after some intent questioning, we learned was a sleeping bag). But he shocked us all by asking Santa for a calendar. ???? Whatever. At least it's cheap and easy to come by.
Before moving on, allow me a quick little Mathew comment that made me laugh. When we were getting dressed to go see Santa, I asked Mathew if he'd please wear a nice sweater for me (since he usually refuses to wear anything that's not a t-shirt...just like his mama) and surprisingly he quickly agreed, stating "We need to wear warm sweaters 'cause it's really cold at the North Pole!"
Poor kid, really thought we were going to see Santa at the North Pole. I waited until we were safely out the door before informing him otherwise, so as to not lose his favor for the sweater.

We also managed to get a fairly decent picture taken of the fam (thanks to Amanda's amazing mom) so we could get our Christmas cards sent out this year. So if you don't usually receive a card from us and would like to, but sure to email me with your address.

Other than family and ward Christmas parties, that pretty much covers our Christmas fun so far. I had every intention of sprucing up my blog with a cute Christmasy background and music, but frankly I'm too lazy. Maybe next year.

We have more fun holiday activities coming up, so stay tuned for (hopefully) additional, near-future blogs posts. That is, if anyone is still left out there reading my blog....heeellllloooooo? I'll also try to be better about checking out the blogs of my fellows. I hope you all forgive my lack of comments. I hope everyone is enjoying the season in their hearts, even if their brain wants to freak out, like mine.