Making December Memories

www.capturedmiracles.org

This week is full of December busy-ness! But for some reason, it's also been very pleasant. I think a change of heart has made all the difference: I decided that I'm NOT going to get stressed or caught up in doing things "perfectly"-- or even up to the standards of anyone else! It's made a very busy week a time of happy memory-making for our whole family.

Here are some of the things that have happened this week:

1) Monday Night we had a low-key Family Home Evening: We sang a Christmas song, had a prayer, and got caught up on the latest "Merlin" episode. :-) It was nice that the moral of the show was all about forgiveness and taking responsibility for our bad choices.

2) Wednesday evening was an easy and fun Activity Day: We attended the band concert of a couple of our Activity Day girls, and had cookies afterward. No more activities until next month!

3) Thursday (yesterday), after three of my kids attended their Civil War class, everyone helped me haul all the decorations over to the church for the Ward Christmas Party happening tonight. My older girls and I had a great time unwrapping all the different Nativity sets from ward members, and decided what fabrics and trims we should use as accents, and where we would put them. It was so fun ooo-ing and awww-ing over each one!

4) And then last night, Russell and I took the Big 3 Kids to a free screening of Steven Spielberg's new movie "War Horse." Oh, it was soooo good! It inspired much pondering and discussion in our family. Themes like the importance of family and home, the relationship man used to have with nature, the relationships we have with our fellow man, and where technology has brought us. Oh, so worth watching! I HIGHLY recommend it!

5) As I mentioned above, tonight is the Ward Christmas Party. We have some more tablecloths to lay out and Nativity sets to display. Thanks to a sweet friend, I have some pine trees I can add to the decor, as well. Then, we have yummy potatoes to make, and a ham to warm up in our oven. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to use the oven for both of them at the same time, but it will all work out, I'm sure. :-) I'm excited for this evening! (Even for the clean-up-- each family can gather up their own nativity set and take it on home!)

Happy December to all! And Merry, Merry Christmas!