While visions of sugar plum (faries) danced in her head

I'm snuggled up in my home, as the winds blow 50 mph gusts past me. There are flurries in the air and I'm taking a much needed break after yesterday!

Oh my goodness, what a fun and exhausting day. And for the sake of keeping it interesting I thought I'd re-cap in rewind mode.

At the end of the rainiest Christmas on Campus, EVER, we ran into these girls. Our intention was to see them on stage, but due to some typos (or something) in the schedule, the hour got late and the rain got harder, so we were making our way back to the car. Just when these young ladies were about to take the stage. Olivia got to meet them (which was probably better than watching them dance.) She got all shy and stuff but talked about them the whole rest of the night. "Why did those ballerinas want to be so nice to me and take their picture with me?" So sweet.
Because we wanted to be on campus when things got started, we left our house at 5 and skipped dinner. Pretty much, Olivia's entire diet yesterday consisted of sugar. In various forms. Candy, cookies, hot chocolate and punch. Don't judge me. What can I say? I'm a firm believer in 'tis the season.

Our friend, Katie, who is a senior this year (and follower of this here blog... hi Katie!) joined us as we walked around campus. It was fun because along the way we picked up 4 other of our student friends and had quite a little entourage for some of the night.

This experience for Olivia is really unique and a highlight for me as a parent. I love exposing Olivia to so many quality role models and I think it also, in turn, blesses the college students as they are away from their families.

I just wish it hadn't been raining cats and dogs last night. I ended up needing to carry O back to the car because the puddles were like small ponds. (About a 10 minute walk. Ugh.) She insisted on wearing her sparkly red Christmas outfit shoes. Never let your 3 year old pick out their shoes when you know they should really wear boots and be done with it. Another practical lesson on "Whose the mama?"

We began our ride on the crazy train yesterday with the cookie exchange.

I made a bunch of appetizers, hosted about 15 girls and laughed a lot.

Each girl brought a batch of cookies, impressively, most handmade. We stood around the table and each person took a turn telling the story of how their particular cookies came to be. It was fun and interesting. I highly recommend adding this element to a cookie exchange if you are hosting one. Several girls stayed for an additional hour and just hung out.

Since having kids, I've struggled between campus ministry and being a mom. This year I've allowed God to stretch me as I've tried harder to integrate the two.

You know what, it has been super fun for our family and I think for the college students too.

The noise and chaos at our house tend to make me want to run for the hills but I forget that's mostly because I don't get a break. Most of the students are craving a little family kind of chaos and welcome the break from their dorms and drama.

Well then, by all means, come and join our drama. There's more than enough to go around!