Finally! It is Christmas!!

It has been entirely too long since I have written! Feels good to be hitting keys again at midnight while my sleeping family is warm in thier beds.

Christmas music has been playing now for 2 weeks and I see frantic shoppers out and about looking for that one of a kind gift for that special someone. But, for me it hasn't felt Christmas-y at all. Until this weekend that is...

I chaired a fundraiser for Rae's school this past weekend so it has been a little busy around our tiny home. We were up late Friday night getting the school ready with new friends and I was up early to help our PTO host the Candyland Breakfast. It was cold and and windy and although it was a Christmas-y themed event, it just didn't feel like Christmas to me. We went through the day and it seemed like everyone had fun and was tired out. Addie even laid down on the floor in the middle of the school hallway in the fetal position to let everyone know that she was done and it was time to pack it up. Just her way...you know?

We got home and got everyone napped up. Craig was antsy so he suggested that we just get everyone bundled up and go somewhere. Five coats (Rae wore 2), 4 pairs of gloves, hats, boots, and plenty of scarfs later we were on our way to downtown St. Charles...one of our favorite places.

We pulled in and the feeling set in...that warm Christmas feeling that is a mixture of excitement, impatience, and giddiness that any child knows all too well and most adults won't admit they have. There were old brick roads, sidewalk shops that smelled like cinnamon and cocoa, tree lined streets draped with twinkling white lights, and horse drawn carriages up and down the street. There is a park that borders the Missouri River the is right next to Main St. We walked over towards that area underneath arches of Evergreen. The park was full of people all gathered around a live Nativity with grazing sheep (yes, they were real...Rae and I pet them!) There were piles of snow for the kids to play in and a huge bonfire in the middle of the park that was surrounded by singing Carolers dressed in time period clothes and holding lanterns. There was a skating rink packed with people laughing and falling. Little kids soaking wet from melted snow and ice, not one complaining of the cold. In the middle of it all I stopped. I looked at Craig with his hoodie up around his face and my sweet little girls with just their tiny faces showing. Their faces and their noses were red and their eyes were bright and at that moment I felt the warmest I have ever felt. It is Christmas! In this moment I thought about all that it took for us to be here at this time in this moment.

This past year has been full of bittersweet change. Financial changes, job changes, even changes of heart. Not too mention the biggest change...our zip code. But if all those things hadn't happened, we would have never been anywhere near the road that lead us to a priceless family moment enjoying the Christmas spirit together. Craig and I lead a much simpler life in MO than we did in FL. There are days that is very slow and quiet, but then there are days that we are all together doing something we have never done before and it helps put things in perspective. Not every minute of my life is funny or exciting, but every minute of it makes me proud to have the family that I do. We have our grumpy moments, and you know plenty about Rae and Addie's shenanigans....but at the end of the day we are still a family and we love each other. Those are the moments that make me proud, smile, and definitely laugh out loud!