So, This Week...

Do you ever feel like you've stuffed two weeks of activities into three days? That's kind of how this week has felt so far! Here's what's going on...

The Connecticut shooting made time stand still for a little bit. I've cried and hugged our girls and prayed and sighed and shook my head and cried some more. I don't know how those parents will ever get past this sort of tragedy, but having it happen so close to Christmas has made it seem even worse. Reading the victims names, and seeing so many who were so young, I just tear up all over again with each new story. I've found it impossible not to put my girls into that scenario. It's just...yeah. It makes me so thankful for each little moment.

On Thursday night, we watched Mel graduate with her Master's degree in Public Administration! Woo Hoo! We are so proud of her and I was so excited to get to be there and watch her get her diploma! She has worked so hard for this!

 Saturday, Mel and I went to Skyzone with a few of her friends to celebrate her graduation! Skyzone is a place that has trampolines EVERYWHERE! It was the four of us grown women and every 8-year old in Cobb County! It was so much fun! You just bounce all over and get to do flips and stuff!

It's hard to get a clear picture when everyone's bouncing up and down!And check out the trampolines on the walls! How cool is that!?

There was a huge foam pit that you could jump into!  I figured I couldn't get hurt, so I went ahead and did a flip! So fun! Super-unskilled and very un-smooth, but a ton of fun!

We hosted a Christmas party for Mel's leadership team on Sunday that was crazy! Somehow we fit 17 people in our living room for a sit-down dinner. Thank goodness for cafeteria tables! They are a great group of people and we always have a wonderful time with them!

On Monday night, we turned around and did the exact same thing, except with our friends! We hosted our second annual "Friend Christmas Dinner"! This has definitely become one of my favorite Christmas activities! We gather a few couples together that we love dearly but never get to see, leave our assorted children with a babysitter, and have an awesome meal together! These people are our family for about 350 days of the year, and we wouldn't be so at home in Georgia without them!

Visiting with the ladies! We had the same four couples over as last year, but we added Matt and Caroline Rooke. I keep warning them that I have a master plan for slowly luring them into our circle, but I'm not telling them why just yet.

Evelyn is finally settling into a consistent (and longer) sleep pattern! After accidentally turning the monitor off one night and sleeping through the night, I decided to just bite the bullet and keep going! I still do a nighttime feeding between 10:00 or 11:00, but then we close the doors, unplug the monitor, and let her sleep. She's doing really well, and Mel hasn't heard her crying at all! My next step is to let her go from her 7:00 feeding when I first lay her down. 

So, Bella...

Random bath picture, but look at her long hair and cute tushie!

Bells is keeping life interesting by saying, "Here's the thing..." to us and then launching into some description of something. She sounds like somebody's drunk uncle, because she never really makes a coherent point; she just keeps saying, "Here's the thing" over and over. She's a weird kid.

Oh! And she's also started sticking her tongue in our mouths whenever we kiss her! Have I mentioned yet that she's weird? She thinks she's very funny and loves to give "tongue kisses" now!

Bella's Christmas preschool party is tomorrow and I'm in charge of a game. I decided to do "Pin the Nose on Rudolph" (P.S. which sounds super-creepy to me if you're not a three-year old), and "Reindeer Hokey Pokey" where you "put in" antlers and hooves and red noses instead of hands, etc.Hopefully these games will keep a dozen preschoolers happy without causing too much mass chaos.

So, preschool...

Steve and I are about 99.99% sure that we're going to homeschool Bella next year. I'm not sure if you can call it homeschooling when you're describing preschool, but regardless, we're keeping her at home. We love (love!) our preschool! It's connected to our church, we know all of the teachers, and Bella has absolutely flourished the last two years!

Unfortunately, it takes me 40 minutes to an hour to get there...every single time. Next year, Bella would be going for four mornings a week. There is no way I can handle being stuck in rush-hour traffic for that long just for preschool. I'm also not sure our budget can handle using up that much gas. 

If we don't go to our church's preschool, that means we would be randomly picking a place closer to home, and honestly, I just don't want to give Bella up for four days a week. That's my bottom line: I don't want to send my four-year old to a strange place four days a week just so she can learn her letters. I don't want her away from me for that long when she doesn't have to be.

I know that I'll be terrified to be responsible for her learning, I know there will be multiple days in a row when I'm going bat-crap crazy because I've been alone with my children for too long, and I know I'm going to dreadfully miss all of the cute things like musicals and parties and little friends! But we will hopefully figure out how to hire a babysitter every once in awhile, so that I can go to Wal-Mart and talk to myself while shopping, and throw in more play dates for friend (and mommy!) interaction!We still have some praying and planning to do, but that's where we're headed.

So, Christmas...

With Steve's work schedule this year, we had to tell our families that we can't go anywhere for the holidays. It ended up working out really well, because Steve's parents were able to come down from Ohio for about a week to celebrate an early Christmas, and my parents were due in from Florida on the 23rd. 

Weeeellll...Dad called this morning to tell us that Grandpa fell and mom is looking after him, and now there is no way they are going to be able to drive up for Christmas.

Is it okay to be totally selfish and admit that I'm really disappointed? My disappointment is the least important aspect of this story - dad's taking care of Rachel by himself and stressed out to see my mom stressed, mom's about to have a mental breakdown from the stress of caring for my grandparents and figuring out what to do next and dealing with her own disappointment about not being able to come up here for Christmas, and my Grandpa has a broken arm and various other medical complications going on right now - but I'm still disappointed. Not in anybody, just at the situation.

I was looking forward to having Christmas in our home this year with Bella, and getting to celebrate at our own church. Since mom and dad can't come up here, though, we're going to try and somehow swing a short trip down there, at least so we can be together for Christmas. It will work out and the important things will be accomplished; it's just going to be a very different Christmas than the one I had in my head.
[I have a problem with handling things when they don't go the way I expected; it's been a learning process.]

So that's life in the Wires' household this week. Regardless of how or where we spend Christmas, I am thrilled to be celebrating in just a few days! Now I need to slow down, calm down, spend a little more time in prayer, and actually remember the real reason for Christmas in the first place.

Luke 2:8-19

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."