December

December.  It has come and gone in a blur.  I've had several witty, comical, loving posts to write this month, but let's just be honest.  I haven't had the time.

I actually have laughed quite a bit at that thought...I don't have the time.  Why shouldn't I?  I don't have an 8-5 job, I own my own business and work from home.  I blogged 3 times as much as I do now when I "worked" and ran my business on the side.  But I've come to the conclusion that when you're putting all your efforts into making a business thrive, some of what you love gets lost.  But that's another post...

Back to December.  I think I must have had an out of body experience in August when I volunteered to be the room mom for Caroline's 4th grade class.  With being PTA president, a mom, wife and business owner, why would I ever volunteer to take this role too?  Well, I only have one baby and it's her last year of elementary school, that's why.  And I like a little crazy in my life...apparently.

We baked, we made crafts, we shopped, wrapped presents, went to Christmas parties, painted nails and had lots of family time.  I'll induce picture overload shortly to show you just a little of what our December looked like.  It was a crazy, fun, exhausting juggling act.  And we loved every.stinking.minute. (well, most of the time)

We started the holiday fun with a Christmas play and the kid really threw me for a loop.  The music teacher asked all the girls if they had a costume they could wear to be a sugar plum fairy.  Of course all the girls that took ballet raised their hands...and so did Caroline (who is not in ballet).  After many hours trying to scrape together a costume, which meant hours of sewing and handbeading/bedazzling, I find out that she told the teacher that even though she wasn't in ballet, that her momma could make anything and would be glad to make a costume.  Although I wanted to cry over my lost sleep, I was incredibly touched that my girl had so much pride and faith in me.  And let me just say, her costume was by no means the prettiest, but to her, it was, and that was all I needed to make every minute worth it.

This next picture has a very special meaning to me.  This was taken at roughly 10am CST Friday, December 14th, 2012.  While I was at our precious tiny school of 260 students watching all of them and our staff in one room enjoy a Christmas musical put on by our 4th grade, the precious children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary were praying for their lives.  At the time, none of us knew what has happened.  I left the school about an hour later.  I got in my car, posted a pic to FB and drove off.  When I stopped for gas not 10 minutes later I pulled up FB.  And then I saw the news.  I sat in my car and bawled.  I still have no words for what I felt.  It took every last ounce of strength in me to not go back and get my one and only baby.  I just wanted to hold her, even though I was lucky enough just 10 minutes before to do just that.  I got to hug her, tell her how proud of her I was and tell her I loved her.  Those parents didn't get that.  I can't begin to tell you the thoughts that raced through my head.  Fear being at the forefront of my mind.  It hit me that our whole school was together in a single room...what if?  And then I just stopped and prayed.  I couldn't go there, not when so many were hurting.  I had to pray for Sandy Hook, I had to pray for our country.  So when I look at this picture, the myriad of emotions it evokes will always be with me.  Always.

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We has Christmas parties at school, decorated gingerbread houses, took a limo to see Christmas lights...in short, we ran on full speed at all times.  And we're exhausted!

 Caroline had some art displayed at Barnes and Noble

 Some very cold mornings!

 

 Pajama party at school!

  Shimmer the Elf

 Hubby's new helmet

Caroline got a few early Christmas gifts from her Great Aunt in Dallas.  We love us some Aunt Lisa!!!  And she loves to spoil Caroline, so needless to say, when she opened the box and saw the new American Girl Doll "Caroline", she was ab.so.lute.ly beside herself!

Then we had Christmas with the hubby's family and our precious 3 year old niece got to see sparklers for the 1st time!   Christmas Eve was spent at church with some of our very good friends, and we had to get pictures of all the kiddos!  Caroline was thrilled to have her 2 best friends with her that night!  We made the most of our time with Caroline since she was going to her dad's on Christmas morning, so we had a jam packed early morning at my parents house.

And probably my most favorite part of December was taking our very 1st Family Pictures!  I've never had family pictures made with Caroline.  This was one of the best days ever for me :)  I'll share more of those pics later :)

And now it's off to have another sleepless night....I'll be cleaning since we are hosting our friends and their kiddos tomorrow night for New Year's Eve!  Happy New Year to you and yours, may all your dreams come true and may 2013 be a blessed year!