Winding Down the Year

Here we are at the last Saturday of 2006 and the second to last day of the year. Where has it gone? Seems like this one has been extra fast in flying by. Of course, we've been extra busy, I suppose, with R. being born in May and M. entering Kindergarten in August, joining J. (2nd grade) at all-day school.

I'm not really one for making New Year's Resolutions, but it is nice to look back over the year and remember. I always look forward to the end-of-the-year issue of WORLD Magazine - it's always interesting to look it over and say, "I didn't remember that happening this year!" One thing I'm liking about this blog experience is that I'm doing a better job of keeping a sort of journal of my thoughts than I've done previously, so I can look back over what I've written and see some of the light-hearted things I've thought about during the last few months and some of the more serious things, too. I'd like to start a personal little notebook where I can write down some of the things I might not want to put out here, too. It's good to keep a record of the things God puts on our hearts and that He teaches us as we read His Word throughout the year and remember.

So, what are we doing on this last Saturday of 2006? Not much, and it's nice. D. has been out working on his "Man Barn" shed that he's been building in the back yard. My husband is becoming quite a handy-man, and I'm impressed! He got several gift cards to Lowe's for Christmas and is using them to finish this big project and to start another one we've been discussing. The boys share the bonus room upstairs, but they don't have a closet for their clothes and things, so it is hard for them to put their toys away. I did get the playroom finished and organized (a pause while I do the dance of joy.....) and right now they are using the closet in there. But D. and I have been thinking about how we could take the attic space which is accessed from the boys' room and turn part of it into a type of closet for them. The other night we stood in that chilly space for a while checking out how we could floor part and wall off part, adding a door to the rest and make a little closet there for them. We'd even have room to hang clothes. Then we could move their stuff out of the playroom, move R. into the playroom so she could have the bigger closet (her clothes are just little-bit sized right now and she's already running out of room in her current closet), and turn R.'s current room into a guest room and put a guest bed in there. Then when people come to visit, they could actually stay with us rather than at a hotel! And the really impressive thing is that D. says he's pretty sure he can do all this! I'm so proud of his handy-man skills.

D. also took J. for a run this morning. Now that J. is growing and getting a much bigger appetite all of a sudden, and also showing much propensity to be like his Mommy and rather sedentary, D. thought maybe they could have some bonding time in this way and try to instill some healthy habits at the same time. D. gave J. a step-counter, and that has just lit a spark under him. I'm getting updates every so often on how many steps J. has taken today. (And I'm fighting the urge to have my eyes glass over with each update.) He's Monk, remember?

Now D. is taking both boys for a haircut, then when R. gets up from nap (will it be a long one today, dare I hope?) we're going to Pizza Hut for lunch so the boys can use their "Book It" coupons from school, and then this afternoon, when it's supposed to be rainy, we're going to take down the Christmas decorations. I always try to get them down before New Year's, because, to me, there is not much that is more depressing than Christmas decorations in January. I went with J. to a birthday party once in February, and that family STILL had their tree up. Boy, that was depressing to see. Might as well just leave it up for next year and decorate it seasonally at that point, but I digress (not that this whole post hasn't been a huge digression from the cleaning I ought to be doing right now.......)

Did I say we weren't doing much today? Well, at least it's good family time and it's enjoyable. Must go do some cleaning now while the men of the family are out and R. is napping.