Thursday 31 December 2009

December Daily - Days Six, Seven and Eight

Day 6 - It was so difficult to capture the excitement that the kids felt with the magical appearance of presents in the place of the carrots and apple we put out for Sinterklaas's horse! Eden's face in the top picture is classic, and they are so focussed on opening the presents in the bottom picture...these kids have really helped me understand the magic of Christmas that I have lost. So cool. Anyways, again this was a full digi layout, just printed off and glued onto the chipboard folder (back of Day 5) - I just sanded the edges to keep it looking neat.


Day 7 - Mike built a skating rink in the back yard, and I had to get that on film as well. I can't remember where the background paper is from - I didn't like the colour, so I painted it, and pretty happy with how it turned out. I made sure that the front and back pictures were the same size, so I didn't have to worry about seeing the backs of anything...


Day 8 - I was about halfway through the month of working, so I decided to just do a journalling page (this is all about this Christmas, and this was a BIG part of our December, after all). I just matted a journalling block, and again, this is all digi...


And here is the journaling...

This December isn’t quite turning out how I had envisioned it when I started this December Daily project. A few weeks ago, I recieved a phone call, asking if I could fill in for a short term subbing position until the Christmas break. After much humming and hawing, I took the position, knowing that December would be hairy, but weighing the benefits, it seemed like a good decision. And for the most part it has been a good decision. It has confirmed for all of us that in the stage of life we are at, there needs to be a parent at home. It has confirmed for me that I want to be with my own children, not someone else’s kids all day. It has confirmed for us that while the money is nice, we’d rather have more family time than more stuff and more money.
The decision of me going to work for the month of December has meant that this project of documenting the Christmas goings-on of the Stoltes has had to be put to the back burner. And this, too, is actually a good thing. I have had to put my perfectionism aside for the moment and decide that yes, this is good enough and no, I won’t be able to do everything that ali or elizabeth or cathy does. I’ve been given the gift of reality. Reality that the moments with my kids are far more important than the pictures that I take of the moments. That even if I don’t document those moments, those moments will make them better adults. That even if they don’t have every single cute thing written down that they say each day, what matters more than documenting it is that I will be there to hear it.
This doesn’t mean that I won’t document and write and scrapbook all these things anymore. It just means that most times it is far more important to be than to do. And that is the greatest gift that I have been given this Christmas season. So, even if I don’t get this project done each day, and this December doesn’t look like I thought it would or could or should because of the work that I have done outside of my home this month, the work that I have done has given me the perspective that I needed. I wondered at the beginning of December why this job just fell in my lap, and I’m pretty sure I know why now.


On another note...hope you all have a safe and happy New Year's celebration!
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