My last post was almost a month ago and I feel like life and everything I thought about the world has completely changed! First, came the shock, followed by anger and then grief. There are those that will claim those of us on "the losing side" are cry babies and need to get over it. I don't know if I ever will. This time a spark has been lit and there is no place for apathy or complacency. And so, as I continue to work and harness my anguish into something productive, life continues.

And here we are! December. The end of the year and the beginning of the holiday season. There are several things I'm looking forward to this month- some holiday get-togethers, experiencing all of sights and sounds of the season through the lens of a two-year-old and lots of family time. There are also a few goals I have this month- documenting our favorite things and blogging more consistently-are the two that I'm really going to focus on as the year ends.

how do you christmas? i wasn't sure what christmas our way meant until i sat down to write this post. after reflecting for a long time i would have to say that christmas our way is slow and filled with lots of inappropriate humor!

last year was the first christmas with rowan and the first year that all of the big kids were home for the holidays. may favorite part was watching them interact with their little brother, having all of their friends over to hang out and visit and sitting around the table laughing at all the wrong things! i become overwhelmed around the holidays and experience depression. having a slow and smaller celebrations helps me maintain my focus. i only wish i'd figured that out sooner!

top three memories of last year are taking rowan to see santa, having all 5 of kids together for a photo and our family of 7 all gathered around the tree watching rowan take everything in on christmas morning.

last year was so joyful that we've created our own december bucket list. i think that it will certainly change a bit from year to year but it's nice to do the things that have meaning for you and your family and forget about everything else!