Monday, January 05, 2009

so long 2008...


Well.
Here we are.
2009.

I am glad to tell 2008 goodbye... sorry 08, you were just not the best digits for me... I had to learn alot, give up things I did not want to, and be mature... maturity is highly overrated by the way.
We had a lovely Christmas, fraught with cookie decorating, sickness, and new toys. I think one of my favorite parts was Lincoln, insisting we leave out cookies for Santa, so that Emerson's belief in him would be encouraged. (remember, old Lincoln was mr. "santa is dead" at school last year.) So, we leave out the cookies, which Lincoln informed me HE would come back down and eat. The boys went to bed at 8:15. By 8:23 Lincoln was back down here, munching away.
I said, "What are you doing??? Emerson is going to see you! You have to wait until he asleep!!"
Lincoln, crumbily replies, "No, he is already asleep"
Now, as any good mom knows, Christmas Eve is not normally a fall asleep fast kind of night, so I was doubting this. "Are you sure?" I ask.
"Yep! I told him if he didn't go right to sleep fast, Santa would not bring him anything." I went and peeked to make sure, and seriously, if a kid can have a look of "Check me out Santa, I went to sleep really fast" on his snoozing little face, Emerson did.
So, Lincoln eats the cookies, I snapped pictures of him, and off he goes.
Fast forward to midnight, when I go to tuck the boys in, and there is piece of red paper under Em's head... I picked it up and see, scrawled in Lincoln's little handwriting,
"Dear Emerson, thanks for the cookies"
Insert collective sigh of ,"AW, that is so sweet!" I know I did. Emerson was so excited about that note, and Lincoln played it right up.

How does a kid who never believed in Santa, get so into it?

Well, if you remember last year, and the "santa is dead" incident, you may remember, that I promptly took the boys to the coffee shop that day. Emerson had been so good and earned it, once I knew about Lincoln's bold desantatizing (*yes, new word, Desantatizing.) ways at school, I let him know that little boys who ruin that belief in Santa for others did not get ice cream. (He had been told not to tell other kids too, he knew it was mean.)
Well, sitting in that coffee shop, I felt soooo mean when he pitifully watched his brother eat ice cream, and the lady works in there asked if he was having any, and I had to tell her no, he was not. I mean, he had his little head in his hands, his eyes full of tears, and I almost caved... almost. Well, that was a HARD lesson for him to learn, but clearly, a year later, he remembered NOT to ruin Christmas for others, not to say little things about Santa not being real, etc. So much so, that he went to extra efforts to make his brother happy. The lesson worked, it paid off. It made Lincoln enjoy so much fun this year. It was not enjoyable at the time, but in the end, the results were worth it...
I say all that to say this...
2008 was, as I said earlier not exactly a fun year...
There were times I wanted to stomp my foot like a little child and say, "It's not fair!" Times when I wept and begged God to intervene in situations, then felt like He wasn't. Times when I thought, "I just cannot do this."
But it is my firm belief that when God is bringing you through a trial, He is doing so for a reason, and even when it does not FEEL like it, He has your best interests in mind. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! I know I have not felt this way MANY times this year, even recently... but Faith is like a muscle, if we never got to use it, it would never gain strength. That being said, I should look like Arnold on roids at the Faith Bikini Competition this year, but i digress...
Bottom line...
Hang in there, He is not done with you yet either, I suspect...






16 comments:

  1. supercute post.

    i LOVE the bloody snowman cookie.

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  2. I love the pictures! and the story about Lincoln. You're such a good mom :D
    I sure hope 2009 is better than 08. it was tough for me too. much foot stomping going on in my house last year! LOL! Thank you for your words about faith....it really helps :)

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  3. Don't forget: God never gives us more than we can handle. (My favorite saying, btw!)
    It's quite obvious Lincoln learned his Santa lesson and that's what good mommies do: they teach their kids hard lessons in the most painless way possible.
    2008 was a good mommy year for you, even if other bits and pieces were rough!
    Good luck in 2009!

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  4. Lots of cuteness going on here. :) Happy '09!

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  5. Dude, did you happen to freeze any of those cookies? It should be a requirement, I think. If your posting food pictures, fully knowing you have a pregnant reader, you should be able to back them up with actual food products. ;)

    I am so awwwwwwwwwww-ing over Lincoln. What a good big brother. And too funny about Em falling asleep that fast! Love it.

    '09 could be your best year yet! I'm praying so.

    :)

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  6. okay, i'm seriously in fits about arnold in roids at the faith bikini contest. only you, my dear. look for a lil package in your mailbox. i didn't enclose a note because i'm lazy and it never would have gotten mailed. :)

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  7. Those cookies look yummy and so do all of those adorable Santa's elves. YOu never fail to make me smile.

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  8. Awww, Jude, I love this post. First of all, you are so right about exercising our Faith. It's a difficult thing to do at times. But my goodness, the end results are amazing. I love looking back at what God has done. It almost makes you feel foolish for not believing and trusting Him in the first place. He's cool like that! :-)

    LOVE the Santa story. My Jayla has pretty much taught herself that there's no Santa. Kinda sad, but she has. She's the analytical one in our house...next to her dad, of course. So she just kinda "figured it out". But I get the feeling she WANTS to believe in him. And that alone is pretty fun.

    Love ya! Miss ya!!

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  9. what a great story...thank you for sharing :)

    hoping that 2009 brings you the right balance of challenges and joys!

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  10. Love the post and the pics and hope you have a great 2009!

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  11. I can't believe that Lincoln doesn't believe in Santa and ate the cookies for his brother....how old is Lincoln already...and what happened to kids believing in Santa until they were MUCH, MUCH older!!! Yikes I'm scared!! LOL

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  12. I love it! I love how cute Lincoln is eating the cookies for Emer! adorable!

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  13. Anonymous7:13 PM

    Jellybean- Love the family picture... miss you- it is 15 below with the wind chill...be glad you stayed home
    Egg Salad

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  14. Anonymous11:57 PM

    aw I love this post!

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  15. Those pics are so fab. Love to see the boys...are they ready to dirtbike ride with me yet?????? I am so glad that lessons were learned, by all.....I have to go along with you, sometimes it doesn't seem like HE is listening, but, hey, you know, I'm always taken care of...Love and hugs.

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  16. i have missed reading your blog ... thanks for all your messages on my blog. i have been a terrible blogging friend lately ... i feel that i am getting my mojo back tho, its taken a few weeks. I really loved reading your post ... you parent much like me i suspect, the ice-cream incident is something i would do ... it does work tho! its all about currencys - lol!
    love your cute family photo too
    hope 09 is a great year for you ... luv chanel

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