I can't tell you how many times lately Aaron and I have looked at each other and said, “geez that was easy”. It seems like somewhere this past year we turned a corner and things with our kids are a bit easier. Easier in the sense of the fact that there aren't daily tantrums, usually no one is crying themselves to sleep, and for the most part we get through dinner with all children eating and smiling.

We took family photos over Thanksgiving with my brother's family and my parents and it might have been the easiest time we have ever had when asking seven children to smile at one time. There weren't any tears, and no one required a lollipop in order to smile. It was a first for our family.

How cute are those seven grandkids?

Then after we got home from Thanksgiving we decided to put up our Christmas tree. This is normally Aaron's least favorite day of the entire year. Seriously, he hates this day. I don't blame him because normally there are tears, broken ornaments, spilled hot cocoa, and bickering over what Christmas movie to watch. It begins with high hopes of being a great family night, and usually ends with time-out's, tears, and mom decorating the whole tree.

Until this weekend. My kids rose to the occasion and it was so fun putting up the tree this year. Aaron took some kids to get a real tree, and I think they thought that was the coolest thing ever. {Also note how Deacon has on summer clothes because there was nothing cold about this day!} Not one ornament was broken. No hot chocolate was spilled, and no one argued over watching our favorite Christmas movie, Elf.

Just when we think things are awesome with these big kids that we have tonight was our first night to do Advent with our family. I know it starts tomorrow, but we decided to start tonight because Lord knows we can't do this every single night in December. One of my goals for this year is to not get so extremely behind with our Advent readings that I feel like throwing my hands in the air and quitting. We can do this!

During the reading Cayden is trying to be funny and starts asking if God could be a unicorn. Amos is mad because he doesn't get to put the ornament on the tree. Cayden and Amos begin a giggle-fest and can't stop during the readings. Then Cayden was banished to his room for the rest of dinner. By the time dinner and the devotional were over the only two left at the table with us were Deacon and Story.

It was then that Aaron looked at me and said, “well, we just thought things were getting easier”.

I tell you all this to say two things …

#1 if you have little ones know that your day is coming where there will be no gnashing of the teeth while trying to celebrate the birth of Jesus

#2  even when these kids start getting bigger they are still stupid kids who do dumb things at dinner and get sent to their rooms.