Our Christmas celebrations were family packed and so much fun! We’re finally spending some time at home decompressing after all of the fun, food, and fellowship.
I just put together a few pictures of our Christmas festivities, but I’m sad to say I often either forgot the camera or was so busy that the camera was neglected and we missed out on taking pictures.
Without further ado here is a small peek into our 2013 Christmas:
The problem starts with a “V” and ends with “acuum”. Yes, the vacuum.
I wish this post was all in jest, but it’s not. I have a three year old who likes to vacuum. No, “like” is not strong enough. Maybe loves…entranced…hypnotized…enamored…
You get the point, this child loves to vacuum. Yes, I know this sounds great: a child who wants to vacuum for you and clean your house. But, the grass is not always greener people.
When vacuuming time is over or when we don’t need to vacuum (b/c let’s say we just spent 45 minutes vacuuming the day before) then there is a melt down. A. MELT. DOWN. Crying, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Let’s remember this is over NOT vacuuming.
So, a solution I have to this problem is to offer up his vacuuming services and make momma a little cash on the side (I kid, I kid, unless you want to pay him, then we will only put it in his college fund, I promise
) He really enjoys doing it and he’s actually very good. He is conscious to not hit the walls and trust me when I say he is thorough.
Ahh, my little Corbin, I love your cleaning spirit! May it ever persist into the teen years and beyond.
Corbin and I were at Hobby Lobby a few days ago, and this is the time of year where that store is at the height of business at all times of the day.
I braved the crowds to return some unused ribbon and buy some supplies for a children’s church class that I am leading on Sunday (pray for me!).
Anyway, the return line was only two people deep, and we were third in line. That doesn’t sound bad until you realize that Hobby Lobby, while being a wonderful store, has a slow return procedure and the person first in line had at least 10 items that she was returning!
Therefore, we had a L-O-N-G wait. Corbin surmised what was going on quickly and loudly said “This is going to take FOREVER! She has SO much stuff, Mom.”
However true this statement may have been it’s not polite to express it. So, I’m talking to Corbin about this social etiquette while this sweet older woman waiting in front of us turns and just agrees with Corbin and laughs.
Corbin and I wait, we talk, we play games, we discuss life
And he does ok with being patient.
Finally, the line moves and the older lady in front of us starts checking out and asks me if Corbin likes M&Ms. I said yes and she then proceeds to grab a bag from the check out stand.
Corbin asks why she’s getting those and the sweet lady pays for them and gives them to Corbin saying it was because he so patiently waited for our turn.
Corbin was beyond thrilled! This sweet lady made my little boy’s day by buying a small bag of M&Ms.
As a mom, it was nice to know that she thought he did a great job. I mean he was ok, I wouldn’t call it perfect, but maybe that’s the point. He’s not going to be perfect and someone else, from the outside, looked at this little boy and saw a 3 year old who acted like a nice, behaved, patient 3 year old. She saw him for who he was whereas sometimes I look at him for what he’s not…ouch!
My little guy is a pretty awesome 3 year old and I pray that I can more often look at him through eyes of grace and not with those seeking only perfection.
Here’s a sneak peak of some of the pictures Chris took for our Christmas cards this year.
We decided to put Corbin to work and get us a tree
He not only carried it to the house,
but he also drove it home!
He’s such a thoughtful guy
The day after Thanksgiving we headed to Grandma Gleason’s house to spend the day hanging with the family.
The cousins “helped” Grandma cook and decorate for Christmas.
Then all the boys (big and little) decided that a dance party was in order.
Our Thanksgiving ended as the Christmas season began…hooray! We love the holiday season!
Chris and I hosted Thanksgiving this year!
We spent the morning cooking and getting ready for a great feast. Everything turned out well and we enjoyed spending time eating and hanging out with family.
I even got Corbin and Blake to do a quick craft. The Thanksgiving hats lasted about 5 minutes on their heads, but it was fun to make and looked cute while they lasted.
The week before Thanksgiving Corbin had his preschool program. It was so cute!
The kids sang praise songs and I do not think there is anything more sweet than little voices singing praises of thanksgiving and love to God.
Corbin concentrated on making sure that his eyes were on his music teacher and he followed all the actions. You could tell how serious he was about getting things right
His 3 year old class sang 2 songs and then the 4 year old classes joined them and they sang 2 more.
Our first school concert experience was awesome. Corbin did great, it was SO much fun to watch, and I can’t wait for more to come!
We crossed a bridge a few weeks ago and moved into our new house. We are settling in and loving it! But along with a new house means there’s new territory to explore.
So Corbin and I set out on a journey to locate and explore a new park. There may have been some twist and turns….
and a few bumps along the way. But we eventually found the park and had a great time.
We were flying high and playing hard all morning long!
We climbed a new mountain, explored new territory…
and conquered it all! What could be a better use of a Saturday morning than that
Corbin has been preparing and talking about trick or treating for awhile. So, yesterday, when the day arrived it was nothing but excitement. By the end of the day it had turned to slight apprehension and when it was time to change into the costume and leave it was full on tears. Oh boy, not a great way to start the evening.
But we talked and pulled it together and changed into his cute monkey costume. Seriously, cute!
Then we headed out into the twilight to get momma some peanut butter cups
Once we got out and began to walk Corbin’s spirits lifted and he was excited again.
The first house we approached Corbin walked up those stairs with all the confidence, found the door bell and said trick or treat like a pro. The rest of the night continued on high spirits.
He sang, he made funny comments, and was just in general being super cute. One of those moments in time when you wish they would always be like they are right now because they are simply precious. But once we stepped back into our house the spell was broken and I knew then that time definitely needed to keep marching on
There were many cute/precious sayings during our outing but this one had me in stiches:
“I know candy is unhealthy, but I LOVE it!”
Our first trick or treating experience was a success. It was the best Halloween I’ve had in years. I truly enjoyed experiencing this holiday through Corbin’s eyes.
