It’s been over a year now since we removed Red Lake 40 from our children’s diets. Cutting a processed food from our family’s diet was not a natural move for us. However, it has made a HUGE, HUGE impact on our family life and since I decided to do it after reading a blog once, I thought perhaps I should document our experience in case it might help someone else. The summer of 2012 I noticed that one of my children was having outrageous I mean OUTRAGEOUS temper tantrums.

Bet you can’t guess what movie we watched this weekend? little boys dressed as super heroes truly melt my heart… especially this little boy… sitting at breakfast with his tussled hair and sheepish grin… We had a family movie afternoon yesterday and watched The 1978 Original Superman with the big 3 while our three year old was napping. He woke up in time to catch the heroic finish and then fly around the basement with his cape blazing behind him while the theme music blasted from our stereo.

It has been C-O-L-D this past week here in MD. I heard rumors that parts of the bay and various rivers and inlets were freezing. So, this afternoon we took the kids out to see for ourselves. At one of the beaches we visited these ice balls had formed in the river. I had actually seen pictures of them floating earlier this week. Now the ice balls are frozen in to the ice.

I’m going to a baby shower today for my one of my best friends. I met her when we both taught together at a small Christian school, 12 years ago, though truthfully it feels like eons ago. She’s the kind of person that once your friends with her, you feel like you’ve always been friends. She’s also the kind of person that makes everyone feel like her best friend. I was thinking this morning what a blessing she was to me during my early months and years of mothering.

My own paraphrase of a very busy 30 minute period of time here at the circus on our first day back at school at home, based on the “If you give a….” book series. There is no embellishment here. This is how it really went down at the circus house this morning. If you give a mom a minute, she’ll sneak a peak at facebook. And when she sneaks a peak at facebook, she’ll see one of her friends posted a crock pot recipe.

It’s funny how our New Years Eve festivities have changed through the years. Scott and I have never been big party animals, but we did go to downtown Pittsburgh on Dec 31, 1999 to ring in the new millennium with a kiss on the Roberto Clemente bridge. For several years we would watch the fireworks in Annapolis at midnight. Then we had kids. And New Years became a stay at home night.

It has been a very relaxing Christmas vacation at the circus house. My sister in law and her family came in to town the evening of the 23rd. We had too much fun making cupcakes for the kids for baby Jesus’ bday party on Christmas night. She is an awesome trooper. She happily obliged my request to roll out 19 baby Jesus figurines out of marshmallow fondant at 10:00pm. Seriously, worlds best sister in law.

I know it isn’t very seasonal to have 66 degree weather the night of winter solstice. But I gotta confess I didn’t mind it one bit as that was the evening I’d been planning to take the kids to see the lights at Brookside Gardens. I had never been but heard someone talking about them once. Unlike other light displays, this one you park and get out and walk. Which could be a hard sell for 4 kids on a cold winter night.

Dear Children of Mine, 10 years from now when you are wondering what in the world to get Mom for Christmas, I have an idea for you. So write it down and stick it away and remember it when your 19, 17, 16, and 13. All I want for Christmas, is you. It’s true… nothing wrapped under the tree could possible come close to time spent with you. So, if you really want to make my day, ask me if we can make sugar cookies together.

A traditional Christmas card will not be arriving in your mailbox this year from the circus fam, instead I give to you this greeting from me to you. I’ve thought a lot about what I want to say in this card. What image I want to share with you from my family to yours. We’ve had a lot of great moments this year. Many of them I’ve shared on here so I can look back and remember them in the years to come.