Getting UN-stuck

So, I'm back. I'm determined to get back to blogging this month. I got stuck in a month of icky-ness in November, then the holidays seemed to take over in December. So, here's January... and I'm going to go for the proverbial new start with a new year.

~I've read another good book, so I'll review that soon.
~I've taken some great pics (mainly of the kids), so I'll share those soon.
~I've reflected on the crazy, icky month of November that had me in a funk, and so I'll share some lessons from that soon.
~And I'll try to not get stuck in the big stuff and start sharing some of the small things with you.

So here's my first attempt at re-entering the blog-o-sphere! :) Thanks for checking back in and reading my blog!


Some brief highlights from the holidays:

1. Christmas cards! I love getting them. It's fun to display them and see the number grow. It's so nice to see great family pictures, and read sweet sentiments. And it's good to catch up with friends we only connect with via cards once a year. We got a ton of them this year, and I hope to reciprocate soon. I loved every one of them!

2. Kids being kids! Emily dressed up and sang into her new microphone in true diva style a lot over the last couple of weeks. Trey got a motorized scooter and he continues to ride it until it runs out of charge, come in while it charges, then head back out again to run it down again. Timothy has had a blast with his new DS... sending messages to his cousins on their DSs has been a favorite. And George has thrown more balls over an over again these last few weeks, that he must be developing quite the muscular arm! Without the schedules of the regular school year, the kids have had fun just discovering playing again!

3. Music and Dancing! Whether it's jamming in the car to pass the time on a long trip, getting better at DDR or Wii Fit aerobics, or be-bopping around the house with an ipod in the ear - all of us have been loving the music this season! And we have some kids who have the MOVES!

4. Down time! With the kids and our schedules, it's hard for me to truly have down time EVER. But this vacation, when we went to spend the week with Leon's parents, we had NO SCHEDULED EVENTS... well, maybe one when the whole extended family came over (with 16 kids ages 11 and under!). But other than that, we just laid around, played Mario kart, read some, slept late, took naps, let the grandparents take care of the kids a lot - and all this for a whole week! Wow! I'd forgotten what it was like to have NOTHING to do! It was wonderful and needed!