The Afterglow

The day after Christmas is one of our favorites. We have one rule. We do nothing but play and spend time together. No cleaning or organizing. No busy. This year, we played with new toys, built lots of Legos and piled onto the couch for a movie. 

Abby modeling her new sweater from Grandma.

Blurry Lego building party

Princess playtime with Daddy 

Oliver is always happy when it's a movie afternoon. 

 We introduced the kids to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe for the first time. This little love kept us laughing during our movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAc4lNHSRgA

We had a pretty rough night a couple of days after Christmas. Maybe it was the post Christmas crash. Maybe the reality of living in a house of sinful human beings. Probably a combination of both. There were attitudes flying and frustrations mounting. I'm thankful for Joe who led us well in this moment. He took all the female emotions, gathered us on the couch and pointed us to Jesus as a family. We talked and prayed. The girls went from a very emotional 10 to a calm and peaceful 2 after the Lord broke through the resistance. What was shaping up to be a bad end to the night, ended up being the sweetest moment for our family because we pressed in instead of giving up. The girls curled up with both of us on the couch and fell asleep in our arms as we prayed. A grace gift to us and a reminder to me of the process God has called us to as parents. It isn't easy. We often get it wrong, but I'm thankful for these moments of grace and beauty when we are reminded that it isn't about behavior, it's about hearts. 

A couple of days after Christmas, Grammy and G-Diddy came to town and the fun continued with another celebration! 

We exchanged gifts, played games, went out to a fun dinner and had a great time watching everyone take a turn at Twister. 

G-Diddy introduced the girls to edamame before dinner. Once they got the hang of how to eat it, they liked it. One of the things I like about the restaurant we went to is that they have a more extensive kids' menu. It isn't just chicken fingers and mac and cheese. Abby looked at the menu and asked if she could order BBQ ribs. I love that she tried something new and really enjoyed it.

Hanging with G-Diddy before bedtime

Everyone (except me and a napping Juliet) headed out the next morning for a walk through the winter weather!  It was cold, but refreshing to get outside.

After the cold walk, everyone came inside for hot chocolate. Personally, I think G-Diddy and Oliver made the best decision and took a little nap! Oliver is always looking for a cozy lap to curl up in. 

With only 24 hours together, we packed a lot of fun and special memories into our time! Looking forward to the next time we are together again.