This is the December 29 assignment from the Holidays in Hand class I took from Jessica Sprague.
At Christmas, all roads lead home. ~Marjorie Holmes
Write about the importance to you of holiday cards and letters - photograph holiday correspondence. I usually share our holiday letter on the blog because I do one. :) I love them. I love reliving our year and noting the highlights. I love trying to capture each child's personality in just a few sentences. I love getting them, I love reading them. I love cards - regular cards and photo cards. I display them in a green wire basket that is shaped like a tree and I have spiral-bound scrapbooks full of past years' holiday cards and letters. Usually two years-worth will fit into one album. The girls love looking at them!
This year, I included a small photo of each child beside their little moment of holiday letter fame. I also included a family photo (used a "premade" at Sam's rather than do one myself...I'm trying to recreate it, but PSE is giving me fits. I'll upload it later!) So, with no further ado - here is the 2009 holiday letter from the Eggs.
Was it just me or did 2009 zoom by for you, too? Wow. When Elizabeth Jane was born, I had a dear friend say to me, “The days will sometimes seem long, but the years will be so short.” I didn’t “get” it then – but now? I understand all too well!! Time is flying, my babies are growing up and we’re trying to relish every minute of it (and not always succeeding, I admit!)
Elizabeth Jane is six, about to turn seven!! She’s in first grade at “Egg... Academy” and doing wonderfully. This year, I’m glad to say she loves reading just as much as she loves math! She spent a week with her grandparents in Tennessee in May and is hoping for an even longer visit with them in 2010. She is a Daisy Scout and loves being part of Sparks in AWANA at church. She’s still anxiously awaiting being old enough to play volleyball. She is such a sweet girl with a tender heart and helpful spirit. We are thankful God has blessed us with her.
Katherine Martin (Nin) is five now. She’s in kindergarten and we are homeschooling her as well. She loves math and reading. She’s more excited every day about the words she can sound out. She loves to sing, dance and perform – though she gets shy when she thinks anyone other than her siblings might be watching. She is also a Daisy Scout and in the Sparks Club in AWANA. She’s the family clown and often makes us laugh aloud with the things she does and says. We love our sweet NinNin and are thankful God has enriched our lives with her.
Anne Lancaster (Annie or Bitsy) is celebrating her fourth birthday on the 22nd. Her Sunday School teacher said, “Annie has such an infectious love of life!” and she does! Annie is the child who happily greets everyone with an impish little grin and wrinkle of her nose. That photo? Totally Annie! Of all our girls, Annie is the most outgoing. As we are walking through church on Wednesday nights after Cubbies (Annie is a Cubbie in AWANA this year), I hear “Hi Annie!” or “Annie! I need a hug!!” from girls and boys through all grades. Annie has the ability to make all of us smile and see the bright side. She is most definitely a precious “Christmas gift” from God.
Thomas Harrison (Harrison or Buddy) is 22 months and now we’re beginning to understand the difference between boys and girls. This little guy is a bundle of energy! His sisters have trouble keeping up with him, much less these old folks who are his parents! His vocabulary is beginning to take off – when his sisters let him talk. He loves cars and balls (he is a boy), baby dolls (showing his sensitive side), all sorts of technology (showing his “inner geek”…yes, he is my child!!!), and most of all…chocolate milk. “Chocolate” is one of his favorite words. He’s recently started hugging me and saying, “I uh you” (I love you) – needless to say, I melt every time. He has added so much to our family – and if you don’t believe me, ask his other little mothers, errrr, ummmm…his sisters. They’ll tell you “Harrison is the cutest baby boy God ever did make.” I know I’m biased, but I have to agree.
Brad (Daddy) and Gina (Mommy…that’s me) are still competing for the title of “Most Boring Couple on the Planet.” We’re both in the same jobs we’ve had for many years (thankfully – that is not a complaint!!). During basketball season, Brad can still be found sitting courtside and wearing stripes for the UALR Men’s and Women’s basketball teams…24 years now. I am helping with Elizabeth and Katherine’s Daisy Girl Scout Troop (momentary lapse of sanity). Once a month, a big group of us who graduated from McClellan in the ‘80s get together – and it’s been fun to reconnect with old friends and schoolmates. Otherwise, we spend our days being Daddy and Mommy to all the kids in The Shoe (which is how my childhood friend John lovingly refers to my clan) and we are amazed that ten years ago we were beginning to think there never would be any little Eggs running around!
I’ll close with our traditional Christmas greeting – one of my favorites to remind us of The Gift of Christmas:
Was it just me or did 2009 zoom by for you, too? Wow. When Elizabeth Jane was born, I had a dear friend say to me, “The days will sometimes seem long, but the years will be so short.” I didn’t “get” it then – but now? I understand all too well!! Time is flying, my babies are growing up and we’re trying to relish every minute of it (and not always succeeding, I admit!)
Elizabeth Jane is six, about to turn seven!! She’s in first grade at “Egg... Academy” and doing wonderfully. This year, I’m glad to say she loves reading just as much as she loves math! She spent a week with her grandparents in Tennessee in May and is hoping for an even longer visit with them in 2010. She is a Daisy Scout and loves being part of Sparks in AWANA at church. She’s still anxiously awaiting being old enough to play volleyball. She is such a sweet girl with a tender heart and helpful spirit. We are thankful God has blessed us with her.
Katherine Martin (Nin) is five now. She’s in kindergarten and we are homeschooling her as well. She loves math and reading. She’s more excited every day about the words she can sound out. She loves to sing, dance and perform – though she gets shy when she thinks anyone other than her siblings might be watching. She is also a Daisy Scout and in the Sparks Club in AWANA. She’s the family clown and often makes us laugh aloud with the things she does and says. We love our sweet NinNin and are thankful God has enriched our lives with her.
Anne Lancaster (Annie or Bitsy) is celebrating her fourth birthday on the 22nd. Her Sunday School teacher said, “Annie has such an infectious love of life!” and she does! Annie is the child who happily greets everyone with an impish little grin and wrinkle of her nose. That photo? Totally Annie! Of all our girls, Annie is the most outgoing. As we are walking through church on Wednesday nights after Cubbies (Annie is a Cubbie in AWANA this year), I hear “Hi Annie!” or “Annie! I need a hug!!” from girls and boys through all grades. Annie has the ability to make all of us smile and see the bright side. She is most definitely a precious “Christmas gift” from God.
Thomas Harrison (Harrison or Buddy) is 22 months and now we’re beginning to understand the difference between boys and girls. This little guy is a bundle of energy! His sisters have trouble keeping up with him, much less these old folks who are his parents! His vocabulary is beginning to take off – when his sisters let him talk. He loves cars and balls (he is a boy), baby dolls (showing his sensitive side), all sorts of technology (showing his “inner geek”…yes, he is my child!!!), and most of all…chocolate milk. “Chocolate” is one of his favorite words. He’s recently started hugging me and saying, “I uh you” (I love you) – needless to say, I melt every time. He has added so much to our family – and if you don’t believe me, ask his other little mothers, errrr, ummmm…his sisters. They’ll tell you “Harrison is the cutest baby boy God ever did make.” I know I’m biased, but I have to agree. Brad (Daddy) and Gina (Mommy…that’s me) are still competing for the title of “Most Boring Couple on the Planet.” We’re both in the same jobs we’ve had for many years (thankfully – that is not a complaint!!). During basketball season, Brad can still be found sitting courtside and wearing stripes for the UALR Men’s and Women’s basketball teams…24 years now. I am helping with Elizabeth and Katherine’s Daisy Girl Scout Troop (momentary lapse of sanity). Once a month, a big group of us who graduated from McClellan in the ‘80s get together – and it’s been fun to reconnect with old friends and schoolmates. Otherwise, we spend our days being Daddy and Mommy to all the kids in The Shoe (which is how my childhood friend John lovingly refers to my clan) and we are amazed that ten years ago we were beginning to think there never would be any little Eggs running around!
I’ll close with our traditional Christmas greeting – one of my favorites to remind us of The Gift of Christmas:
And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans -- and all that lives and moves upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused – and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.
- Sigrid Undset
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