Shannonigans: December 2011

It has been a little over a month since I wrote the first post of our new school year. We've been in an ebb and flow fashion as of late. I sometimes feel like, right after we get a good pattern going with life and school, we have some sort of disruption. I guess the trick is to keep the ebb and flow pattern and limit the disruptions as much as possible. We had a great visit from Pap-pa in November where we visited several Pensacola landmarks (Naval Air Museum, Pensacola Lighthouse and Ft. Pickens). We loved all of those things. We had never gone to the top of the Lighthouse before (and I still didn't, because at the last minute, Aiden got cold feet - and really to be honest I did too, as I didn't wear the proper foot attire and I was NOT looking forward to going up that winding staircase barefooted!). So, Aiden and I stayed down below and watched everyone above us and took pictures. It was also a little bit of a stretch for me to allow my babies to be up there without me. I tried not to panic at the thought of Noah or Caitlyn bouncing over the side before Pap-pa could catch them. Luckily, their Pap-pa is in great shape and that helped my anxiety a bit. They all made it down safely, PTL. The next day we went to Ft. Pickens. We had not been able to visit the last time we were stationed here because of the hurricane. It was really neat. We all enjoyed seeing the fort and reading the history and seeing Caitlyn chase after butterflies. She has a knack for catching butterflies and takes every opportunity she can get to chase them. Feeling their little flittering wings against her hands transports her to a magical place where her brothers cannot follow as they are not quite so adept at catching the little creatures. The day after that we had a great time at a local art gallery painting. Who knew we had so much talent in one family?

We traveled to Houston for Thanksgiving and then decided that we just couldn't make another TX trip before the end of the year, which was bittersweet for us. It was great thinking about being home for Christmas, but alas, Pensacola is not home. So, we enjoyed being with Granddaddy and Grandmommy for a while. We shopped and went to see the new Muppet movie. I got sentimental and shed a few tears while Kermit transported me back to my pre-teen life with his Rainbow Connection. There is just something beautiful about frogs strumming guitars, singing about rainbows, you have to admit.

December has just been a push toward Christmas, unfortunately. I wanted a peaceful Advent season, but that isn't really how it has been. I'm not sure why I've felt so anxious, maybe because I'm unsure of how Christmas will be without the traveling, or maybe this semester hasn't exactly worked out how I thought it should. So, I guess I will just try to wait as patiently as I can for God to move in our new lives here. I can tell He is working on the internal part of our family, just not so much the external part. (And if you know me, you know waiting for that part is very difficult for me!) I am remaining faithful to the promise that God made in Joshua, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you" and learning how to appear patient even when my insides are telling me, "WHAT is going on here???"
I will say that we did have a rockin' Christmas party! It is the first time I can remember hosting a party and it was a rousing success. I could hear Melissa's voice telling me that I had a gift for hospitality and it really showed that night. We had Chris' co-workers over and had a TX style spread complete with taco bar and home-made salsa! We had a few great rounds of rockband on the Wii and then completed the night with a HILARIOUS dance off between Caitlyn and a giant guy to a Katy Perry song. I was laughing so hard that I forgot to get it on video or I totally would post it here for all to enjoy. It was a fun group and a great time. Glad we did it. Will do it again.
Then, last weekend we had an awesome Saturday with our friends Melissa and B and R. OH. MY. GOSH, I can't tell you how happy it made me to see the kids skipping and running and laughing with their good buddies. Melissa said R's heart was happy, and boy mine was too. I will post pics as soon as I get them off the camera. We all decided that our next meet-up would have to involve a hotel stay so we could hang longer. We met half-way in Gulfport, Mississippi at the childrens' museum. It was a little juvenile for the "big" boys, but they endured it with lots of Beyblades and chatter. Aiden vacillated between the boys and the girls and only told me once that there was "nutting to do", which is typical retort when he is tired!
I would love to say that we had gotten through our curriculum gloriously this semester, but it seems that transition always takes more time than I expect. Although, it is going pretty smoothly. This month we have enjoyed many Christmas crafts which I'll post pics of soon.
I hope that this post finds all of my readers well and blessed, even the hacker who insists he needs my help in transferring millions of dollars. I hope he finds a good place for his millions, even if it isn't in my bank account. I am looking forward to celebrating the birth of the Christ child tomorrow and the day after. I hope that my kids remember Jesus amid all the presents and wrappings. I hope I will too...
Blessings friends.