Finding.

 I remember the feeling of pure excitement as a child at Christmas time.  I would count down the number of nights left that I had to sleep, before Christmas Eve knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to sleep very much at all that night, and I was okay with that. 

 I knew, if I could just sleep a little bit, long enough for the magic to happen, I could sneak out to the living room, where the lights and music played softly all night long.  

 Then, I would listen to the music, watch the tree and lights, and soak in the magic that is Christmas:  

Music, Family, Thinking of the Savior, Christmas stories new and old. . . 

 This year, peace of the season has been a bit more illusive.  I'm not really sure why.  I've probably been too busy, and focused on getting things done and taken care of, checking them off my internal list.  I helped out in Lily's class today for their Holiday party.  I read them Christmas Oranges, and remembered how much I loved the simplicity of the story, and started to feel the calm.  I also finished several of the things I needed to  which brought it's own relief.  

 So, have you felt that Christmas feeling yet? 

teary eyed.

There were more parents than usual walking their children to their classrooms this morning, instead of dropping them off in the carpool line. I didn't even mind that the car in front of me was taking a long time to move on, it allowed me to watch her all the way to the front door where the principle was standing guard, and said a happy hello to my sweetest kindergartner, because she truly is: sweet, kind, and completely innocent. I am just completely heart broken for all of the families affected by this senselessness. I know there is an eternal plan, and that those sweet babies are in loving arms now, but it just doesn't make it any better.

Doing things.

Once upon a time, we used to go and explore new places at least a few times a month, sometimes weekly. Then, our kids got older, our lives became more busy, and the time to just be together exploring dramatically decreased. Last Saturday, we took a small page from our "used to do all the time" book and went to the North Carolina Art Museum. Just because. We looked. Paused. Pondered. Quandered. Cultured? The grounds themselves are quite lovely, and quite large. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, and the feeling of being together as a family, just for the sake of being together. We did notice that we had missed an entire building of exploration, but only AFTER we left. That just means that we have another day {or more} to go back and see more.