Kicking it off...

Holy smokes.  What a week.  Talk about kicking off the Christmas season!  The first part of the week was filled with baking Christmas cookies and finishing decking the halls of our home.  Jack and daddy picked out a fresh cut tree to bring home.  Jack and I had so much fun decorating the tree together.  Chase had fun taking a nap while this happened.  When he woke up and saw the tree fully decorated and the lights sparkling I thought I may need to resuscitate him from the deep gasps he was taking while pointing with fervor at the tree.  It's such fun to see him take everything in.  Chase has also developed a deep love for Christmas cookies.  For those of you who don't know...Chase is our eater.  Loves. To. Eat.  The mention of any food, desserts in particular, usually brings a huge smile to his face along with lots of clapping and gasping.  He gets that from his daddy. :)  The weekend rolled in with a Christmas banquet at church on Friday night.  What a lovely time to celebrate with our church family.  Saturday was spent preparing food for our Life Group Christmas party.  I thought steamed shrimp sounded like a great dish for our spread.  But when I was about half way through peeling a 10 pound pile of shrimp I started to second guess myself.  Too many shrimp....  so many peels!!!  .....  would it ever end???  But it did.  And was well worth it in the end. :)  On Saturday night we took in the annual Christmas parade in our town.  The boys were troopers through the cold and all the candy they got made it well worth it for them.  Sunday morning came and included a perfect Christmas season sermon, rehearsal for the children's Christmas program, potluck lunch after church, choir rehearsal, and back to our house just in time for our Life Group to arrive for the party.  A whirlwind of a weekend that was filled with so much fun and laughter.  I love the togetherness of the season.  All the gatherings and outings with friends and family......what a special time of year.  My goal is not to let the busyness get in the way of the joy that is waiting to be had.  It's the time of year when we get to spend extra time reflecting on the love that God poured down on us when he sent his Son.  What a gift....what an inspiration to spread that same type of love.  Happy Christmas season!!

...a peek at Chase feeling the music while Mommy was practicing for the Cantata. (so sorry for the horrible quality of video from my phone, but you can still grasp the cuteness)