The days are flying by, and sure to fly faster now that Advent is here.

Thanksgiving came and went. Turns out on my side of the family, most of them were doing things with their in-laws, in hopes of spending more time with the Lange side during Christmas (Tommy coming to town and all). I was okay with that. I thought it might be better to have a smaller crowd at our place anyway. It left me relaxed during the week, knowing I didn't have to prepare a feast of food. Until the kitchen drain decided to leak.

Dan spent Thurs. morning redoing the kitchen plumbing. I just praised him, reminding him how much money we saved my not having to call a plumber on Thanksgiving day! So now I have nice new stainless drains and new plumbing.

Thanksgiving was pretty nice. I felt like I had a lot to do, but I think it had to do with not being able to get in my kitchen all morning! The 'few' things I had to do, kinda seemed like a lot after a while. I started feeling bad when Rose threw me the 'you never just play with us' bit.

Well, long story short, we got all the food finished and ate around 6. I was so happy to see my two brothers, sister, and mom and dad. I was a bit nervous, as my brother was a bit moody that night, and tensions can run high when that happens. He had a little disagreement with my husband, so I had the delicate role of trying to fix that misunderstanding. Learned a little about family dynamics. Ahh, never-ending family drama. But that 1/4 cup of white wine tasted so good that night, and left me feeling so happy to have my family there, drama and all.

I had a wonderful time making pumpkin chiffon pie with Rose on Wed. evening. Dan came and took the boys with him, so it was just Rose and I. I could focus on helping her make the whole pie without little boys interrupting. How nice. She read the recipe, used the measuring cups and spoons and made just about the whole pie. I was so proud of her. I think she had a good time, but was bummed when the boys came home...and we hadn't played together yet.

Thank goodness this was a four day weekend. We got to play games with Rose so I think we're good for a while. If she only knew how much I'd love to ditch all my housework to just play with her! Hey, sometimes I'll have to do just that.

And that brings us to Advent. This year has been the best for my Advent stuff. The house is cleaned up from Thanksgiving, so there was nothing to de-clutter when putting out my Advent 'decos'. I stored all my Advent stuff in the house this year, instead of with the Christmas stuff. It was so easy to just go in the closet and get out our Advent wreath and candles. I love singing 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' I love the warm glow the purple candles emit, especially in the early morning and at night.

I feel like I've been doing well at a school routine, and am afraid to change for Advent. Yet, there are so many things to do during this liturgical season, I can't just keep doing school as we are. So that's going to be fun trying to figure that out.

And then there's the reason for the season: Christmas. I'm looking forward to Advent, so as to prepare for Christmas. I have a lot of the shopping done for people I need to shop for, and that's a good feeling. I don't feel like doing much else, or going overboard for Christmas. I feel like taking it easy, keeping it simple, sticking to traditions in our family. It's hard for me, because I really do like to do it all...hate to miss a thing. But this year, that's okay.