Winter is here!

We had our first real snow storm on Tuesday night. The kids and I were driving home in the dark with big snow flakes falling everywhere and Katelyn suddenly shouted, "It's Christmas!" Carter joined in and the two of them repeated it excitedly as they looked at Christmas lights on the houses we passed and watched the snow fall. I felt myself getting excited, too. How could I help it? It's so fun to see the holidays and traditions through the eyes of your children. I've been working on an advent calendar that I started 2 years ago and I'm determined now to finish it in the next couple of days. It's one where the kids get to move Mary and Joseph on a donkey, moving toward Bethlehem. On Christmas Day, they get to put Baby Jesus in the manger. Of course, each day also has a little pocket with a treat in it (I'll have to put 2 little treats in so they can each have one). My sister, Stephanie, and I patterned it after the calendar we used growing up, and I have fond memories of waking up and being excited to move Joseph and Mary forward on their path. Anyway, I'm anxious to get it finished so that I can share the tradition with the kids this year.

I have yet to put up Christmas decorations, so we're going to do it this weekend. I'm so excited to put lights on our first home! I wanted to hang lights outside in Spokane last year, but I couldn't justify the expense in a rental home. I hope we can make it look really cool and I'll post pictures!

When the kids got up Wednesday morning, they were so excited to see the snow everywhere. They stood at the back door and named everything that was covered with snow - the trampoline (oops, need to take that down), their scooters, their playhouse, the swingset, the sandbox, etc. (It was pretty neat to see our yard covered with snow. Each season brings a view of our yard and house that we've never seen before.) I'm not too keen on spending time outside in the cold, but I felt like a good mom would take the kids outside to play. So we got all bundled up and headed outside to make a snowman. It turned out to be a snow girl, as you can see, and the kids weren't that interested in helping me. They just sat and ate snow, despite my pleading with them to stop. They did like it when it was finished, though, and have enjoyed watching it melt and eventually topple over. And I felt good that I had gone out with them and played.

Poor Carter! He gets to wear pink boots and mittens this year. I might have to

break down and buy him his own, since the pink ones are pretty small anyway.

That night, we watched the Shrek Christmas special on tv. Once again, I remembered my excitement as a child. I loved watching the Christmas specials on tv! Carter sat in my lap through the entire show and pointed out every character. I got to sit between the kids before bed for How the Grinch Stole Christmas and I just loved watching the kids' delighted faces. We snuggled in a blanket with hot water bottles and had the best time.

I'm guess I'm kind of rambling with this post. I just want to say that I love being a mom so much! My cousin Coralee recently wrote a posting about the same thing. I am trying to remember every day how special my time is with these little people. I love to hold their hands and kiss their cheeks. I love to hear their sweet little voices (when they're not yelling or arguing with each other), especially when they're singing. I love to watch their faces when they discover something new. And I love to be the one helping them to learn something that they'll use throughout their lives. My kids challenge me every day, and I lose my patience all too often. But I love them more than I could ever have imagined and I feel so blessed to have them and to be able to stay home with them. And, I'm excited to share the magic of Christmas with them this year!