Into the New Year

So here we go officially into the new year. So far, so good.
Krystyne came home from WI on December 29th and spent the holiday with her friends. While she enjoyed her visit she was happy to be home. Doug and I spent our first New Year's Eve awake (we've managed to fall asleep the last two years!) and were actually able to have a New Year's kiss. Granted Fiona had a lot to do with our being awake but that's not important. :) Allie and Jane came home on New Year's Day and were glad to be home, too. As much as they enjoy their trips, they enjoy coming home and being with what is most familiar.
I'm so happy to have the girls home. The break is nice, but having them home is better. We had a good family-based weekend. I really love it when we get a chance to break away from the normal every day stuff that can get so routine. Without the occasional change of pace it's easy to find yourselves in a rut that is difficult to get out of. You stop appreciating those you are closest to.
Saturday morning we all got up and went to breakfast. Not an easy feat when you are trying to get 6 people functioning and dressed before noon! It really was a lot of fun. I caught myself laughing often and thought how wonderful it is that we can have this kind of fun together. Everyone was joking and teasing each other. We even slipped a couple "parent moments" in there that might have actually been listened to! When you have the chance to reach them it's best to grab it. It was great to see Krystyne and Allie interacting so well too. They've been rather adversarial lately. All part of the life of a middle school girl. Your sister is some sort of alien disease at this point. Doug had to pop into work for a few hours and the girls and I ran errands. We had our first family dinner of the New Year and the friendly tone of the day seemed to carry through the whole night.
Today the girls and I headed off to find a new church home. The girls have asked for some time now if we could find a church to go to. I've searched online and tried out a couple and haven't been able to find something that I've enjoyed as much as Seattle Unity. However, an hour drive (each way) is a little much every week and we needed to find something closer to home. We went to Tacoma Center for Spiritual Living and I think we'll be going back. I really enjoyed the service. There was a lot of music and singing and a great message for the week. The girls really enjoyed the kids portion of it. I'm glad this is something that they've expressed an interest in. We'll see how it goes. After the service we picked up Doug and went to see Bolt in 3-D. It was a little more expensive than the regular version but the kids really enjoyed it. We thought it was pretty funny, too. And Doug got a kick out of being able to tease me for crying at a Disney movie. But it was SAD! LOL We decided to take the girls to the buffet place for dinner. They always like going to buffet restaurants. Doug says that the way the girls behave in a buffet restaurant shows how good of a mom I am. Since they always go for the good food and veggies before trying to go for dessert. I think they just like to choose what they get for dinner. I was just amazed at the fact that they were all still getting along and laughing. It's been a long day and Fiona had reached her limit for being out and about but it was so fun to spend all this time with my "little" family. Since we've been home everyone seems to have gone their different directions. Krystyne's been in her room, Allie and Jane have been either on the computer or the Wii and now it's time for bed. Jane even went without her normal 5 trips for something to drink, to pee and just-one-more-hug. We go back to our normal schedules in the morning. I think the girls are ready for it. I know I am.
So here we start out the year with a wonderful family weekend. Spending time together and just enjoying each other's presence as a family. As we head back in to our routine I am content. Most of the laundry is done (Thank you my darling husband), the kitchen is mostly clean (thank you my darling children) and all is well.
What a great start to what will be a great year.