Monday, Monday.

How was your weekend?

Mine was great.

I got two fun things- 

1- gold chargers from the dollar store

(Love them.)

2- kits to make handprint ornaments from Walmart.  ($5)

We cut down our Christmas tree (in the dark) on Friday night.  We are decorating it tonight for family night.  No, I'm not even stressed or apologizing that it wasn't done by Thanksgiving.

Saturday morning we all pitched in and cleaned the house.  (I love happy house cleaning!)  I feel caught up from Thanksgiving.

Sunday church was so refreshing.  I'm grateful for a few hours each week to worship, give thanks, and recharge with my family and friends.  (Don't you love singing Christmas songs at church?!)

We had friends over last night for dinner. Want to hear a funny, sad story?

Our church is having a Christmas program next week.  I offered to watch little ones so Todd and some other parents could go to song practice.  At the last minute, I offered to make dinner while they were gone (for all 21 of us).

I hadn't planned a good large crowd meal.  I was making pork chops, applesauce, homemade Mac n Cheese, glazed carrots, creamy green jello, green beans and pumpkin bars for dessert.  Pork chops for a crowd is tricky.

Our power had gone out that morning, so I checked a wall clock in my garage to reset my microwave.  Even with a house full of 14 little ones, I still had dinner ready at 5:30.  (I'm pretty good at planning so everything is done right on time.  I remember I used to have to write everything down and do math to figure out what to cook when.)

5:30 came and went, and nobody showed up.  I kept things warm and waited.  20 more minutes and not even my always early friend had arrived.  When I picked up my phone to call Todd, I noticed it said the time was 4:50, not 5:50.   

Ugh.  My clock was wrong!!

Ugh!!!! Seriously?!  I just laughed... 

Not the end of the world, but I really did have a beautiful dinner that just had to sit for an extra hour waiting.

The good thing was, I fed all the younger kids on paper plates before their parents showed up.  (I cut up a bunch of pork chops before I served the kids, so I didn't have to go around cutting for an hour.) A few kids were so sad that we weren't having Kraft boxed Mac n Cheese.  My kids were trying to convince them that homemade was better because it had more cheese.  (Cute kids.)

Then, I turned on a Christmas movie, cleaned up, and set the table for a nice adult meal (using my new gold chargers, they were so fun).  

[Reading over what I wrote, it sounds like "I" did more than I did.  In reality I had many little elves that set the fancy table, helped distract and feed the youngest kids, grabbed extra spoons from the pantry and stirred the cheese sauce.  I love a house full of sweet, HELPFUL children!]

One of my favorite things in the whole world is sitting down around a dinner table, eating good food, with friends and family.  I love a casual meal where everyone talks and has seconds.  

After a nice evening with friends, we (meaning Drew and Anna) cleaned up and we (meaning Todd and I) put the little ones to bed.  We (meaning Todd) turned on a beautiful Christmas devotional and we (meaning Todd and I with our four oldest) watched a beautiful message.  I love for my kids to hear orchestra music mixed with inspiring talks about Christ.

There is a sprinkling of snow out my window (white is beautiful)!  My home smells like pine.  Totes of decorations are waiting in my garage.  We (meaning Eve, Ben and I) went to the library and checked out a bag full of Christmas stories that we read each nap and bedtime.  My calendar is filling up with choir concerts and plans to decorate gingerbread houses.

This is a beautiful season.

I'm grateful to be alive and to be able to make this season bright!

Happy Monday!

Life is good.