Christmas 2011

I just downloaded or is it uploaded?? Anyways all the pictures from Christmas this year were taken on mine and Clays cell phones. HA HA So needless to say they are all a bit grainy and I really dont think I will be making a photo album this year. I did however just come across this picture and even grainy I LOVE IT!!!

Funny thing about this picture is this is ROUND 2!!!
When they first came down Clay was holding Abbi and we forgot to put her in the picture!! The kids ran down and saw all their presents and were so excited to start opening, when I looked at Clay and saw Abbi. I said "OH NO!! Abbi was not in the picture!! We got to go back to the steps!!" None of the kids cried or fussed about it, it was almost like they were used to mom messing up and forgetting something (HA HA)

This year we did something new with the kids for Christmas, we spent a portion of our gift money on making "Compassion bags" for the homeless.
 In each bag:

• track card from church
• handwritten letter from Clay
• bottle of water
• juice box
• cup of apple sauce
• can of meat
• crackers
• power/energy bar
• fruit snacks
• tooth brush & paste that was donated by local dentist

We were able to make just under 50 bags. Clay also packed up a lot of his warm clothes into a bin to hand out to who ever we found. Neither Clay or myself were mentally or emotionally prepared for what we did find. I think in all honesty the kids handled it all better then Clay and myself did. The kids went head first right into it. How do I explain it all. The day we put the bags together Carly and Jacob both wanted to help. Clay added his special touch with his letter. The kids and I added our touch writing "Jesus Loves you" on all of the bags. We put them all together on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day after Abbi's morning nap we headed to downtown Raleigh. The kids were asking a bunch of questions and Clay and I had no answers. We finally just told them we had no clue, that we had never done anything like this before and we had no idea what to expect or how to answer all their questions. We drove around downtown and got a little lost but found exactly what we were looking for!! There was a large court yard common area type yard with a bunch of different church vans handing out Styrofoam plates and singing carols. Clay parked the van, got out and asked one of the distributors if it would be ok to hand out the bags we had made and got an "Of Course!! Please do!!" The kids could not get out of the van fast enough. They stood there a bit dumbfounded as did I when I first got out. Then I just held Abbi tight and walked into the crowd. Clay and Jacob carried the bins of bags and we were swarmed by the homeless. For me it was a bit unsettling just because I was mom there with 5 kids and I watch way too much crime TV shows and I was scared something would happen to my babies. I was not scared of the people, just what could happen to my children. My children had smiles on their faces and nicely handed bags out and danced around to the Christmas carols. They noticed things like the shoes on the homeless feet and our children told us "When we come back next year we need to bring shoes."
After all the bags were given out Clay went back to the van to grab his bin of clothes. This was a moment I dont think I will ever forget. A man came out of nowhere when Clay held up a pair of pants and yelled that he needed pants and made his way through the crowd. He looked like he had been homeless for quite some time. He then proceeded to ask Clay if he had any "underwear". This really hit me. Still does. Underwear is something I have always had. I have never had to go a day in my life with out any. I just take it for granted to have things like shoes, underwear, socks, clothes. Never have I not had any of these things.
We had a mom come up to us and ask if we had anything for little girls. Carly then stepped up with the 2 jackets she had grabbed from her cubbie and the few toys she had grabbed from her stash of toys and handed them to the mom.
This was definitely an experience like none other! My own kids taught me so much!
We will definitely make this a yearly tradition!