Time Stood Still

I often complain, lament, and/or anguish about the fact that time seems to be slipping away at lighting speed. One minute I have a newborn and the next I have a 10 year old asking for deodorant. Yikes!

I finally decided I had had enough and took on "time" head to head. I discovered it wasn't this great battle after all. All it took for me was to realize I can actually do something about it. I can make time stand still. (Even if it is for just a moment!)

Because Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, the kids had school until Friday! Friday?! That certainly did not give me enough time to have some fun and do some traditional things with the kids. So I took them out of school for a couple of days and set out to enjoy a few days with my kids - without worrying about school, schedules, sports, or anything else that gets in our way. Here's a few things we did:

1. Lights at Temple Square. (Not the actual Temple Square, but the closest thing to it - Washington, D.C. Temple.)

We hit a bit of traffic on the beltway so it was a great stop to make on the way down to Virginia! Sara pointed to the lights and would gasp and babble away. She thought they were beautiful too! (According to my translation.) It was a great way to prepare for Christmas!


2. Decorating Christmas cookies! While I wasn't there for this one, they had a blast getting all messy with their cousins. (I had a to make an emergency trip back home so I could hand deliver mortgage papers to the bank in New Jersey so we wouldn't lose our new house! CRAZY!)

3. Crafts. Thank you Pinterest for some great ideas! All the grandkids made a handprint tree for my parents. Notice we did this in the bathroom for easy access to water! The kids had a great time with this and loved seeing each other's handprints.

Sara was a bit of a challenge. She didn't like getting her hand painted or being yelled at (nicely) to hold her hand still. I just realized that it's her mother taking the picture and not holding her down! Sorry about that guys.

I think it turned out great!

4. Ice Skating! The kids have never been ice staking before so I thought this was the perfect thing to do, especially on such an unusually warm and delightful December afternoon!

This is Zach and Matt skating. They took it pretty easily but took an expected number of tumbles.

Not bad for their first time.

This is Allie and I skating. I had to hold her in front of me for the first few laps while she learned how to walk/skate on ice. When she finally was able to let go she proudly told me, "Mom, I got the hang of this!"

Way to go, Allie!

I had a great TIME with my kids! So while TIME will undoubtedly continue to fly by, it's up to us to make sure we seize the opportunity to battle TIME. Because maybe we'll win a few rounds. I know I just did.