The Massner Tales: Mom's meager review of Christmas 2013

Christmas Season has rolled in and over us now but we are thankful that other than a few near falls, we made it through in fine fashion. With only a few weeks after the Minnesota trip to get ready for Christmas around here, it was a bit of a challenge trying to get our meager decorations up, shop for 8 others, and work 2-3 days each week. Although I do prefer to see and touch what I am buying, I took the plunge many times this Christmas and purchased quite a few gifts online. To put that into perspective, I had my credit card memorized and was becoming very good at the online shopping techniques by the time I was done! ...I don't think Chuck was too impressed by that.

It has been an adjustment having Stephanie out of the house so I am slowly adjusting to this change. I am realizing that with no other females in the house, either the boys need to get out of their comfort zone and do a little work around the house or their mother is going to be sitting in an institution blankly staring at them with a glazed over look real soon! I have to admit it has gotten better in the past few weeks with them being home over break. It will just take a little more 'encouragement' (or nagging- as they call it) to form some good habits. :-)

As I reflect on the Christmas vacation, it gives me such a warm feeling of being blessed beyond measure. I have all of my boys around me, actually playing games with each other and enjoying each others company. It doesn't seem so long ago that the Christmas break was a stressful time of trying to keep my head above water and looking forward to the day they would head back to school. Chaos to the nth degree was how I remember it. Now, we spent many evenings playing games, talking, enjoying family time and, of course, indulging in - what my boys think is the most important part - the unending goodies, sweets, and snacks that are all around us this time of year. It is always an added bonus when we see Matt and Stephanie come in the door to spend their evening with us. For the most part, there was little to no major arguing (with the exception of what game to play) and I felt the Peace and Joy of the Christmas Season! (Something that I missed among the chaos in earlier years) I feel blessed to be in this stage of life and would like to hold on to these moments for a long time.

We are looking forward to whatever the Lord has in store for us in 2014!

The following are some photos of what we did over the past month or so...not necessarily in chronological order but uploaded nonetheless. I am just pleased that I managed to update the blog at all...:-).