I know that New Year's Eve is the more appropriate time to look back over the year and reflect on life. However I am taking time now to look back over 2009. The biggest part of this year would, of course, be Gavin. Since I got pregnant in January and had him in late October he has filled the entire year in one form or another. This will be his first Christmas and to me he is my greatest gift.
The last six months have also been filled with Mark's unemployment. While it was extremely stressful and he has only been employed a month now it did give us time as a family. We spent almost every day in August at the beach. Our town has a beautiful beach and of course it was free entertainment. Since I was very pregnant during that time there was no way I would have been able to handle two toddlers and all our gear alone. The kids had so much fun playing in the water, digging holes, and rolling in the sand. I have a lot of great pictures from those days. At night after the kids were put to bed, Mark and I would sit on the couch and watch TV (I got him hooked on Madmen). I would usually get a foot rub and shoulder rub too. Almost every afternoon I would get a nap. What a joy when in the last trimester of pregnancy!
Henry started preschool this year. There were months when I did not think we'd be able to pay the tuition but my mother would go without in order to pay for him each month. He loves school and I am surprised at the joy it actually brings me. Not just the getting him out of the house for a bit but rather the songs he sings and the counting and letter recognition. He even knows some prayers and offers to pray for me.
Irene turned two this year and her vocabulary has exploded. I am amazed at her understanding and ability to put together thoughts. We had a fun birthday party for her at the Potter Park Zoo.
This year has also brought me some awesome friends. I've mentioned a couple of special ones in an earlier post but I forgot to mention Jennifer. She sent me tons of kind thoughts and prayers all summer and fall. I think she even left a gift for Gavin on my front door while I was in the hospital. There was a beautiful card with the gift but it was unsigned. I am thankful for her friendship as well as for Ann's and Shannon's. And while on the topic of friends, old and new...I have been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of some wonderful women and men through the blogger world. What a blast I have each day reading all of your blogs! Plus some of you read my little blog and leave me such wonderful comments. Thank you all.
Yesterday my brother Pete told me that he would not be able to come here for Christmas. He got Saturday off of work and his wife wants him to join her in Virginia. She was planning to drive there to see her family. I would have loved for her to join us here. Without Pete coming my dad was left without a ride. My dad drives a little, sporty BMW that does not like freezing rain or snow. We are suppose to get both for Christmas. I was very disappointed. I wallowed in my disappointment for a bit before moving on. My dad called me tonight to say that he is going to drive his little car up here anyway and if it snows and blows he'll just stay longer. He is packing extra clothes just in case. I am happy!
As for our Christmas...I have been worried during the last six months that we might not have anything for the children. I handmade gifts for the rest of the family but I didn't know what I would do for the kids. Luckily we managed to scrap together a small amount of money and get the kids a couple of gifts that they really wanted. Henry is big into Transformers this year. Irene loves baby dolls. Even Gavin will be getting a few things. I even managed to get Mark a small gift.
Each night before I go to bed I read one passage out of the book A Cup of Comfort, Devotional for Mothers. It has a page for each day and is a short story from a mother about life, motherhood, and God. Tonight as I read December 24Th's it seemed to speak of our life currently and how even though we don't have a lot of gifts for the children we can still give them a happy, memorable day. So in closing I am sharing the passage with you.
Dec. 24Th
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned to get along happily whether I have much or little.
-Philippians 4:11
The Surprise
Christmas was coming and it looked as though it was going to be a bit skimpy. We bought a few small gifts. Then the children and I baked, sewed, and drew pictures to give. Things were about ready when my mother, who was very creative with a small amount of money, arrived on Christmas Eve carrying a big box.
The children were up early the next morning, waiting with anticipation. It was time to open presents. To my great surprise, when we got to their Grandma's gift, nothing was in that big, beautiful box.
The children looked in it again, and Grandma smiled. "Invisible rabbits," she said. She stroked one of the pretend rabbits. "Oh, oh, there it goes," she exclaimed as she ran after it. Immediately the children were caught up in the excitement. It was all they needed.
I doubt they remember anything else they received-or didn't receive- that year.
Our needs and others' needs are not always what we think they are.
-Hilah C. Wagner
Merry Christmas to you all and may God bless you!
4 comments:
Wow, what a creative gift your mother gave them!!! I bet they still remember that. So glad you were able to keep your spirit in the mits of all your troubles. I have been in that situation before and didn't handle it nearly as well as you. Merry Christmas and Gol Bless!!
I am so happy and very blessed to be your friend! I am so glad that after a rough year it is ending very well! I wish you, Mark, and family a very blessed and wonderful 2010....:)
I hope you had an absolutely wonderful day together, as a family. Your mother is a delightful, imaginative person, and I'm sure it's a trait you share.
It's fantastic that you can look back over the year, and see both the bad, and the good. Sometimes, as we live our lives, we get so caught up in the things that are not going our way.
Yet, when we look back, and remember prior years, it is almost always the good that we focus upon. The happy memories. The memory of August at the beach will stay with you, and probably be often recounted. Someday the reasons will not matter at all, just the memories.
Just saying, you're ahead of the curve in being able to see that now, close in, without the benefit of of years in between.
I'm so glad that your husband found a job, and that 2010 is dawning with a few more reasons to draw a relieved breath :-)
This was such a lovely, inspiring post. I do not know why people always seem to think that Christmas gifts must be expensive or "big" (this includes myself I am sorry to say) because it is often the imagenary rabbits that we remember best many years later. The ability to be happy (content) in the circumstances one is currently in, is such a huge gift. Having a family that live, love and pray together, no matter what, is an even huger (yes, I know there is no such word, but there should be) gift. Toys and "things" perish, get lost and are discarded, but love and memories lasts a life time. I home you and your family had a wonderful Christmas.
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