December Magic

This year has taught us to be more intentional with "who" we are as a family, meaning, what defines our family culture. It all started with a conversation on one of very few date nights in February when we realized we were "accidentally" a football family. Until we labeled "us" we hadn't realized that we hadn't intentionally pick this as our way of being. It was just the most obvious way to define our tribe's culture.

It's not that I think we should strive to be anything we are not. But without defining our goals or what we want our family to choose in its downtime, it's easy to just fill our time with haphazard activities. True. Football is a huge part of who we are, but it cannot define every aspect of our family (although during season, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it happens). We decided it was good to define our next steps as our family aged, finding a place or a thing that we all collectively love and nurtured. We're still working on this, but we believe that the Big Star shack was a big step towards our goals. More on this in our year in review post coming up.

Additionally, we're suffering some big personal boulders in our live as we cope with health issues of those we love in our "inner core." It's forcing us to take stock, make decisions and live and love with reckless abandon....though admittedly, it's been hard to sometimes find the joy in the moment with such heavy realities in our everyday. If there has been an immediate gift in watching those we love dearest suffer with uncertain futures, it's been to count our blessings, say the things we need to say and to put things in perspective when it comes to anything outside of our relationships.

All of this reflection has culminated with the month of December, the celebration of the birth of our savior and the time we most intentionally communicate with our loves. When I stopped to think about all this, I didn't feel like we had set intentional traditions. The things we've always done have evolved: we redefined advent to be a scripture reading and an act of selflessness to others rather than the traditional small toy. Even our efforts with Elf on the Shelf (Chippy) are a bit lackluster compared to some of our amazingly creative friends. But then I began cataloging December for this post and realized: wow! We have a ton of holiday traditions. And thus, the longest blog post ever can officially begin....

Elise's Christmas program was first up on the month's activities. The format changed this way and our tiny dancer wasn't 100% sure she loved the massive crowd. though she didn't cry, she wasn't her animated self per se. We finished out the night at Reds on the River to celebrate her as well as Ry's birthday with my parents.

Our holiday sweethearts.

Some December cuteness.

Ryan's program was next up. His class combined with two others for a Christmas extravaganza! They must have sung 10 songs, none of which were the expected tunes.

We always make sure to catch our town's carriage ride. This year, it happened on Ryan's actual birthday, which was a fun addition to his celebration, though it was a bit different without snow. Ryan wore tights and shorts it was so warm!

Ryan's 7th birthday celebration was a success. He had four friends from school spend the night and see Star Wars: Episode 4. All in all, it was a giant success. The boys did well, though it was a lot of energy cooped up in one house. Thankfully Ryan runs with some very sweet boys, so no complaints here! It was strange to not have our normal family/friend party, but we're trying to teach him that smaller is sometimes just as good as a huge party at an activity center.

Our annual trip to Hart Christmas tree farm culminated in the world's most perfect Fraser Fur. Only the best will do for our former Christmas tree farm worker. The sun may have been going down, but nothing could stop us from our goal.  

The next morning, we spent our time decorating the house and the tree. The kids took a very active roll this year...which may explain the concentration of ornaments on just a few lower branches.  

After decorating we had our first Santa sighting during the annual Santa Parade in downtown Rockford. We attended with our close friends the Vashers and then ended the day with a Spartan win and a sleepover with the kids at our place. And no, Matt and Max did not plan their outfits...we think. (Check out the Christmas Vacation float! We knew one of the riders who mothed to me, "The sh@%$'s full." It made the parade.)

Last weekend, my parents took Ryan shopping for his Christmas gifts, which will probably be a new tradition now that he's learning about money and giving. Afterwards, they had dinner with us and Elise and Papa played superheros. Melts my heart!