Santa & Eddie the Elf

The boys were excited to see Santa a few different times this season. First, at our annual trip to Zoolights -

 

Then, one night a local restaurant had a night where you could eat french toast with Santa -

 

There was also a time at the mall, probably some others I just can't remember at the moment... ;) It seemed like we saw him once a week, to be sure he didn't forget what the boys wanted for Christmas!

At first we didn't do Elf on the Shelf this season, but, all it took was a good friend of Nathan's to tell him about his magical elf, and suddenly it became a big deal. So, Eddie the Elf became magical one night!

Yucky pasta, marshmallows, M & M's, chocolate and maple syrup...based off of the Elf movie

Hangin' with Jesus

After some not very good days, Eddie had "naughty" reports for both Nathan and Aaron. Did the trick!

Playing with Aaron's cars

Hanging over the fireplace

Lookin' over everyone

Another look from up high

These are only some of the things he did that I thought to take pictures of.

I was bad with Christmas this year, not getting pictures. We spent Christmas Eve with Josh's family, went to church and then spent Christmas Day opening our presents from Santa and then with my family. Blink and you miss the holiday I tell ya.

The boys got everything they wanted (and then some!) Winter Break is always nice, then, as it gives Josh and I a bit of time to get some deep cleaning and house chores done while the boys play with their new toys. In fact you almost wouldn't know Christmas came as our decorations are already down. I always like to start the New Year feeling caught up around here...

And on that note, I can't believe the New Year is only a few days away! :o

Gingerbread House Party

For some reason I felt like trying to make our own gingerbread houses this year, something I've never done before (note : it is very tedious! I think for now on I will leave the house making to the pros) Then I bought various candy and such to decorate with.

Holiday flowers from the Farmer's Market

Little elves

Table of goodies

Glasses and cups for the house makers

...and some gingerbread coffee and mini houses for the moms!

Aaron's house

Our friend's house, so cute

Our fun little party took a few hours. Then, the boys like to do something we call "the station game", where they go to different "stations" for bits of time. Since we were in the Christmas spirit I made the stations Christmas themed - Christmas book reading, Christmas movie, etc.

Christmas playdough

Christmas worksheets

Little hard to see, but we finished the Christmas craft we started then today

We  continued with the Christmas theme the next day -

That evening, I took the kids to a local park with a small train and carousel - around the holidays it is decorated with lights.

Like many kiddos, December is one of the boys' favorite months!

One Month Gone

I promise, some more uplifting posts are coming...

But for now, it's still reminiscing time with Lily. We just had the one month mark of her passing go by this week. We literally go from Halloween to almost Christmas in a blink of an eye. I can't believe our sweet pup has been gone that long already.

We've continued with our Random Acts of Kindness in her memory - first, by buying and distributing new dog toys to some pups at a dog park one afternoon -

then, on the anniversary of her passing, we donated money to The Humane Society. Also on that day, I took some roses from our garden and some of Liy's ashes and brought them to the neighborhood lake we visited with her on her last day of life.

Now, she will always be there.

I feel like I'm stuck in a hard, muddy place. The last almost eight years I have been a SAHM, so I have been around Lily constantly, on an everyday, mostly all day, basis. So you can imagine the void that there's been this last month. There hasn't been a day that has gone by where I haven't been upset, yet. A lot of it does have to deal with guilt and regret, sure. As much as we try not to have any of that.

There's truth to a statement I've heard before, where the grief and sadness don't ever go away, we just learn to manage it better. I wouldn't say I've improved all that much in my sadness lessening, but perhaps learning more to get on with it.

Josh is leaving on a business trip soon, and I'm just dreading it. Just as much as he is. Bummed of course that he will be gone and there will be some tiring days with taking care of the boys full time, but also as I mentioned before...because of Lily. I mentioned how she was our 'guard dog'. Not just that, but she was the only company I had after the boys were in bed when Josh is away. And now...complete silence. Complete non-existence of dog beds and head nudges under my elbow when I look sad...there's going to be some rough evenings.

The time of year we're at doesn't help things much. For starters, pulling out winter clothes I've found a pair of sweatpants with Lily's hair on them. Haven't worn them. We've pulled out her stocking, her tree ornament...

I'm fairly certain at some point in time we want to get another dog, but it's a hard thing to think about right now.  Right now, I just want Lily back. Right now, I don't see how any other dog would measure up to how wonderful she was. Right now, I think getting a dog any too soon would be a slap in the face to her. She deserves respect and to be grieved over, not replaceable.

So, we'll just continue to try trudging on. Honoring our girl. Remembering our girl and how wonderful she was.