All Four Sparks: A New Year!

A New Year....there are always so many great expectations for the "New Year". This year I will ____ and ______ and ______....by December I will be a new person. Ha, if only. This year I am not making any great resolutions for a new me. I am happy with me! Are there things that could be improved or changed for the better? Definitely, but I can do that without making crazy goals on the New Year high that will only cause me misery when I fail to reach them. 2011 has come and gone, but not without huge adjustments and growth. I can honestly say it was "good" year. I have a wonderful husband who stands by me regardless of my craziness at times. He supports and loves me while all the while probably wondering why the heck he married me. I have two wonderful children and when I say this please don't think I live in a bubble where my children do no wrong and we revolve everything we do around them. When I say wonderful, I mean they are fun, loving, silly, entertaining, whining, crying, mischievous, smart, hardheaded, persevering, stubborn and lovable. We have great days and we have days that I cannot wait until bedtime. I have family and good friends who have helped me and I have great families that love my kids. This alone has helped us survive

2011. That said, yea 2012! I am looking at more huge adjustments and leaps of faith in 2012 and pray I hear HIM and not me throughout it all. Sometimes we get so fixed on what we want and what we think is best we forget to be still and listen. So I am horrible at sitting still and I am horrible at listening, so I have some work to do.

Christmas went well and while we did a lot of running, we also did alot of work with our new embroidery machine. I have so many ideas, I don't know where to begin and that is what kept me up until 3:00 most nights throughout our break. Cameron and Laney thoroughly enjoyed Christmas and definitely received what they wished for. As I ran around trying to get this and that and hoping to find a certain this or a certain that, my children really showed me the pure joy they receive from "simple" things. On Christmas morning, Cameron and Laney ran into the living room with great anticipation. Cameron found the new 3DS that he had asked for along with a Alabama (Big AL) pillow pet. He looked at these and then his eyes got big and he shouted with great excitement. What could have outdone exactly the two things he asked for??? None other than a dinosaur fleece blanket! Yes, he has held onto that blanket every since and it is in his bed. He did not ask for the blanket, but it was something Santa thought was cute. The blanket probably cost a tenth of the 3DS. Funny huh? I love moments like this. This is not to say he did not love everything he received, just funny what was most exciting. As you can see Laney was in full Christmas spirit and had a wonderful reaction to EVERYTHING she opened. I think she was overstimulated by it all!