Christmas Card Time!

It's that time of year again, we get to pose for pictures so Mommy can send cards to our friends and family. This has been a busy few weeks so I was afraid to wait any longer to try to catch some pictures because I want the cards to actually arrive before Christmas Day! Last weekend was the Christmas production at church so Roy was at the church every night until after midnight. We also had the Christmas Luncheon at RPS that we coordinate the food and Roy bakes a cake for 120 people so that added to the work load. This week is Roy's finals and I am still trying to get the rest of the decorating done. Roy was in class taking a final so I got the kids dressed in their pajamas for a photo time. End of the day probably wasn't the best time to ask them to smile and cooperate. But every weekend seems to be full and I had to take what I could get. It is very difficult to get all three to smile at the same time. I have several shots of two smiling children while the third one is looking off into space or looking scared, or frowning. It was very hard to get all three to look halfway pleasant at the same time! I was exhausted and still not over this cough/cold I have been struggling with for a week now so I'm sure that didn't help. So this is the one I chose. Great picture of Abigail, Okay of Caleb and Lydia is being silly, but hey, what can you expect ... there are three of them to deal with!

Every year I say that we are going to slow down and enjoy the season, but it hasn't happened yet. I think this is why I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas. I love the reason we are celebrating - Jesus's birth and what that means in my life and for the world, I love the decorations, I love giving to others, I love the music ... but then there comes the part I hate - the angry/mean shoppers, the commercialism, the busyness, the lack of respect for the true reason we celebrate. I really have to watch myself or I can become a big scrooge over it all. I guess what I need to remember is that I only have control over the behavior of one person (and partial control over the behavior of three little ones) so I need to let the change start in me. I can choose to slow down, say no to people if it will conflict with my family time, keep the right attitude even when others don't, choose to make my holiday season a happy one. After all, we truly have the greatest reason of all to celebrate!