last "this week on the island" for 2010

the very last day of the year! wow. these past couple of months have been a blur and i'm wondering where the time went. i decided to take down all the christmas decorations today. the officer is working late due to the new year festivities downtown. so i thought i would do something productive. i was taking down the christmas tree, looking at all the ornaments while listening to taylor swift's speak now album. it was free on amazon a while back so i thought i would download it. there was a song that came on while i was taking down all the ornaments. it's called never grow up.

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in and turn on your favorite nightlight

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have honey
If you could stay like that

(Chorus:)
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you
Wont let no one break your heart
No one will desert you
Just try to never grow up
Never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mama's dropping you off
At 14, there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out
Someday and call your own shots

But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember she's getting older too
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your PJs getting ready for school

(Chorus:)
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up

It could stay this simple
No one's ever burned
Nothing's ever left you scarred
Even though you want to, just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what is sounded like what your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I had is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my nightlight on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up
Oh I don't wanna grow up
Wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh I don't wanna grow up
It could still be simple

(Chorus:)
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even through you want to, please try to never grow up
Don't you ever grow up
Just never grow up

lyrics found here. you can listen to the song, but scrolling down the playlist at the bottom of this blog. on the playlist, scroll down until you see the song never grow up. you should try to listen to it but don't be in a sentimental mood because you will cry like a baby. it's a very sweet song though.

yeah i teared up a little while listening to it and thinking of my girl.

moving on though.

we've had a great christmas. at our house, we do not do santa claus. we never have. our kids know who santa is, but we've always tried to focus more on the birth of Jesus during this season. i know every family does it different. we usually fill the kids stockings and get them a few gifts. we decided to open stockings and presents on christmas eve morning. after we opened presents, we got ready and went to my mom's house. it was a lot of fun. my mom produced a play for the entire family. she had costumes and a part for everyone, even those who just wanted to sit on the couch (they were the star or held a sign). the officer was able to play the distinguished part of the donkey. it was important. he had to take mary, my daughter, to bethleham!

he did a great job. the red thing on his head are his donkey ears (reindeer antlers). you make due with what you have. it's a fun memory for us to look back on.

on christmas morning we woke up and made a nice breakfast. after breakfast, we sat down and read the advent book written by kathy stockman and beautifully illustrated by her husband jack stockman. i had received the book as a christmas present and even though you are supposed to read one portion of it every day in december, we decided to read it all in one sitting. it's a really neat book. it tells the story of Jesus's birth, but each "day" you open a set of doors and read a portion of the story. even though my daughter couldn't read it this year, she participated by opening some of the doors. we each took turns reading and it was a joy to hear my son reading his portions. we decided we would do this every year. i love picking up new traditions. next year our daughter should be able to read it with us. you can purchase the book on their website.

after we read the christmas story, we headed to the officer's parents. we stayed the weekend with them. even though it was little cold outside, the officer and my son were able to shoot of my son's rocket. we only had three engines. the second launch landed in the pond. luckily the officer was able to fish it out.

the last launch landed a tree, but it came down easily too. i think the bigger boys had as much fun as the smaller boys did. isn't that the way it always is?

sunday morning we were able to go to church with the officer's parents. i don't think the kids have ever gone to church with them. they had a breakfast and a small worship service. i always love going to the christmas service with family somewhere.

on monday, my nieces came over for the day and stayed the night. it was chilly outside, but they played a lot outside. my niece, a, and my daughter made some chocolate chip cookies. that evening they watched a movie. let me just say thank you now to my nieces who compromised a lot when it came time to pick a movie. they are 3 years older than my son so they don't have the same interests in movies.

this week has flown by and now it's new year's eve. i'm so glad i have this blog to be able to look back on this year and remember the things that have happened. God has been good to us this year even though we don't deserve it.

good-bye 2010!