No Time...

to blog. I have no time anymore. For some reason I can't find much alone time, and when I do it gets filled with things like folding laundry and doing dishes and all those fun things. So today I'm making a little time because I know the rest of this week is going to be CRAZY!

We spent last weekend in Branson with my dad and sister.... Oh the fun! I got most of my Christmas shopping done.... I just have a handful of things left to buy. I try to really enjoy buying Christmas gifts and not stress over it, but I have some gifts I'm stressing over this year. And I hate that. Because Christmas isn't about the gifts that we give each other, it is about the Ultimate Gift that God gave us. I can honestly say that I would be happy if I got zero gifts this Christmas.... all I really care about is enjoying time with my family. And last weekend was all about that! I enjoyed every minute of the weekend.... and so did the girls and my hubby and my father and my sister.

I didn't take many pictures because we were too busy having such fun... but I did get some of the girls eating Krispy Kreme breakfast. They have this precious little donuts and the girls went crazy over them! Pappy knows how to keep those girls happy!

Check out those sprinkles!!!!!!!!!

You can't really tell in this picture, but L was laughing so hard....

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My sweet M-I-L posted this about one of her Christmas memories.... and I got the urge to share one of my most cherished Christmas memories.

Christmas was a HUGE thing with my grandfather. Every year on Christmas Eve he would take us shopping so we could pick out our gifts from him. When we were old enough, he gave us money and would say "You better bring something back - don't just put the money away and save it." Then he would go sit on a bench in the mall while we all shopped. It was wonderful. He also would have my mom take my Nanny into the jewelry store and mom would come tell him whatever Nanny picked out and how much and he would get it for her. He was the sweetest man I've ever known.

When I was 3 or 4 we went shopping on Christmas Eve and he said he wanted to take me to pick something out.... just the two of us. I picked out this baby doll.... it was pretty big (at least to little me) and I thought it was the best thing ever. I believe it was $80 (which is a lot for a baby doll even now) and it was at the first place we looked so Papa wanted us to keep looking before we bought anything. This is probably where I learned to shop around and not to be an impulse buyer. :)

We looked around and I found nothing I wanted.... I only wanted that baby doll. My parents tried to talk me out of it but Papa said I could have whatever I wanted.... so he got me that doll. It was a boy baby doll and I named him Little Max (my Papa's name was Max). I loved that baby as much as I possibly could.

I think about this every Christmas.

Papa passed away in 2005. I miss him terribly, especially around the holidays. He was such an important man in my life, him and my dad. It makes me very sad that my husband never got to meet him because I know they would have thought the world of each other. We didn't start dating until a month after Papa died. I do think it was God's perfect plan that when I lost that important man I was given my sweetie.

So that is one of my most cherished Christmas memories. I love being able to make memories with my children now.... it makes the holiday season even more special. Our annual trip to Branson is one of the newer holiday traditions that I love.

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I know this post is getting long, but I won't be able to post anymore this week so I wanted to share a few more thoughts....

We got the girls' Christmas gift - and it was on sale! We had picked it out but hadn't purchased it yet. Then Sunday we see that it has been marked down about a third of the price so we excitedly bought it!

I never heard back from my doctor last week about the blood work, so I'm assuming all is well and my pain is a muscular problem. It was better over the weekend, which I was thankful for! We are so ready to meet this little girl and it could happen in a little over a month! YIKES!!!! Technically my due date isn't for another 9 1/2 weeks but my babies like to make early appearances..... so she could be here quite soon!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I pray you make some wonderful Christmas memories this season!