Happy Thanksgiving/Merry Christmas/Happy New Year!

Since I'm apparently too busy to blog, I'll retroactively wish you a happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas, and preemptively wish you a happy new year!

The holiday season always seems to fly by in a flurry, but this year was actually probably our calmest Christmas yet. The Christmas season felt plenty long because I starting putting out decorations (not the tree, but other things) well before Thanksgiving. Which resulted in me taking down the tree and several other decorations Christmas day because I was OVER IT. #grinch

We didn't attend a ton of Christmas parties, there were no school plays or activities (our homeschool group met for the last time of the year at the end of November), and Chet and I didn't put any pressure on ourselves to do things that we sometimes feel compelled to do at Christmastime (picture with Santa, etc.).

And guess what? OUR KIDS WERE FINE. We all were.

My mom (Didi!) came to visit us for a week December 9th - 16th. We had so much fun just spending time with her, exploring things in Lemoore we hadn't explored yet, and celebrating Christmas with her early. Her visit also forced me to be ahead of the game as far as gifts and wrapping (it was great!).

The evening of the 16th our church held the traditional Christmas candlelight service (which Chet, Sydney, Lorelei, and I GREATLY enjoyed), and Christmas eve morning I took Sydney and Lorelei to "big church" (rather than dropping them off at Sunday school) so they could witness several members of the congregation get baptized. (Ford went to Sunday school, and Chet and Ruthie stayed home with hacking coughs.)

As far as Christmas gifts, this year I made a detailed list in Microsoft Word that kept me organized and on track, and I started early (it even included stocking stuffers). But Christmas gifts were also greatly simplified, because most of our Christmas budget was spent on our trip to Florida (we leave tomorrow!) to visit Chet's family (COUSINS!!! Ages 12, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6, 3, 3, 1, 1!!!). I was prepared to explain to our kids Christmas morning that flying our family of six across the country is expensive, but there was no need because apparently Chet and I have set the bar EXTREMELY LOW when it comes to Christmas gifts (insert several cry-laughing emojis).

On Christmas night Sydney said, "This was the best Christmas ever!" I asked her, "You didn't mind not getting any toys?" She said, "Nah, we don't need any more toys" (insert several crying-for-real emojis).

For the record, here's what Sydney opened Christmas morning...
In her stocking: Mints, gum, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, a pair of Old Navy leggings, and a Star Wars pillowcase
From Santa: pajamas with dinosaurs printed on them and a Star Wars Little Golden Book titled "I Am a Sith" (yikes)
From us: Two white bath towels with her name embroidered on them in purple thread, a book, and a Star Wars body pillow

She also opened two "group" gifts: from Grammy a PJ Masks cape and mask (Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford each got one) and from Papa John a card announcing they were going to take six art classes next year).

As I type all this out I'm realizing how ridiculous it is that I called this "a simple Christmas." A truly simple Christmas would be spending time with family and reflecting on the gift of Christ's birth AND NOTHING ELSE. As Americans we battle entitlement and excess on a daily basis, and even more so on behalf of our children. I'm always having to teach our children about "real problems" (no access to clean water is a real problem, turning off the television is NOT a real problem). It's a never-ending, usually discouraging battle, and the worldview of American children (heck, AMERICANS) can be so obnoxious (this of course doesn't apply to everyone, but it applies to MANY).

So even though our Christmas was a lot more than "simple," I'm thankful for Sydney's grateful comment. And I hope YOUR Christmas was lovely. On to 2018!