Feeling Hobbity

I am so happy right this very moment.  Just picture.  The Salt Lake Valley is actually getting a little pre-Christmas white stuff on the ground, though I am not going to allow my emotional well-being and holiday spirit to count on it hanging around all the way until Christmas.  I'm just going to really really hope it stays.  I am sitting on my cozy green couch with my feet up on the ottoman, the lit tree beside me, medieval carols playing on the stereo and a fire in the stove.  The fire is even being so good as to crackle merrily as I type along.

I was going to comment on the fact that the kids are all out and about at the moment and I'm enjoying the quiet, but I can't quite bring myself to enjoy that overmuch seeing as how it was just yesterday that such a tragic tragic shooting happened in Connecticut and I am dwelling in the gratitude of having my sweet little family while also praying for each family and friend affected.

Yesterday Troy and I were lucky enough to have a date with our big kids. We dropped Bundle off at a dear friend's home for a long babysitting stint so that we could take the big kids to go see The Hobbit.  (I owe my friend BIG TIME.)  The theater we went to was quite a ways away, and so was the correct theater which we drove to next. As we were driving I decided that it would be a good opportunity to talk to my children about what had happened that morning in Connecticut.  My kids were deeply shocked and sweet Bitty started crying and didn't stop for a half hour.  I must say, however, that the conversation became one that I will never forget, as we talked about faith and hope and how it all connected to Christmas. I hope that perhaps for the first time ever my dear children (at least the older two) have a deeper understanding of just what it is we are celebrating each year.  It was a conversation I will never forget, and I hope that they will not either.

Once we made it to the theater and into our seats, all was well and we settled in to enjoy pretty much every single moment of the picture.  This past fall, Troy got excited about the upcoming movie and decided to read The Hobbit to Chase and  Romney.  You know, we don't always have a family book going but when we do it is just the best.  The kids look forward all day to daddy's evening reading and even though sometimes they don't seem like they are paying attention as they play quietly on the floor it turns out that they are catching everything.  They had so much fun seeing the book come to life, even though there were several goblin moments in which Bitty dove for cover under my arm or behind her fingers.  This is certainly the most intense movie she has ever seen....oh my gosh, I hope you're not all judging me for taking her to a PG-13 movie!!  I just couldn't leave her out after she had been every bit as much into the story as her brother and parents.  (Okay, Stomper isn't 13 either...)  Oh well.  So be it - we had an awesome time and frankly I can't wait to see it again.

And now I feel as though I am all snugged up in my Hobbit Hole and ready for afternoon tea or diner or supper (I already had elevensies).  I am grateful for a moment alone to enjoy this Hobbity little scene, and I will be even more grateful when my kids are back in my arms.