Singing a Silly Song

when you haven't updated your blog in such a long time, it's hard to know where or what to post . . . At UC school doesn't start until the end of September, so we always expect to be busy Sept. & Oct. Then we expect November to be less busy. But, we always manage to fill our time and before you know it, it has flown by. so in November we went home to Illinois for my dad's 50th birthday. Then we left the kids at my parents and went to Atlanta for a conference. It was great for John and I to get away without the kids and the conference was great. Donald Miller, who wrote "Blue Like Jazz" did a pre-conference that we attended. It was a small group and at one point John answered a question that Don had asked and apparently Don like his answer. He pointed at John and said "Brilliant!, brilliant". I guess we wanted to ensure that John didn't get a big head, so we razzed John the rest of the conference and no matter what he said we would respond, "Brilliant!" Coming back from Atlanta we landed in the lap of Thanksgiving. John's mom, dad, and brother came to our place and we had a great time (even though I burnt the stuffing). John's mom usually makes the stuffing, but I didn't want her to worry about having to make anything because she drove all night Wednesday night to get here on Thursday. Next year, I'm handing that duty back over even if she is sleep deprived! Now that Thanksgiving is over we are heading into my FAVORITE time of the year. I know the primary reason this is my favorite time is because it is a family tradition to celebrate Advent. As kids we always took time each Sunday of Advent to "prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child." And now we celebrate with our kids. I am listening to Christmas music and bring up the decorations this afternoon. I think advent with be even more special this year as my kids are getting older and are able to participate even more. I expect December will fly by, but I hope it passes with peace, love, and joy.