December 21st-January 1st.......

........Otherwise known as The Big Blur
'Twas four days before Christmas when the marathon began, the coordination of visits to include all the clan. With a family so large all vying for time, would Christmas be hectic or nearly sublime? I don't think there's anyone who can't answer that, after 11 years of marriage, we almost have it down pat. It was busy that's true, but we got it together and as each year passes it seems to get better.

For us 'Christmas' dawned on December 23 with gifts from Granny and Grandpa under the tree. They brought them of course, and no thanks to I-15, just before dinner arrived at the scene. Candyland, a hot meal and then the unwrapping left us quite full and happy, all the while laughing. Clothes for the girls and some great DVDs-needless to say the family was pleased! The cookies came out - forget those new pounds, 'cause a good time was had with hugs all around. At the close of the night, the grandfolks went forth and left us to play as they continued up north.

December 24 brought brunch with Grampa Chuck. Yes, more food, fun and presents and imagine the luck! Under the tree was TMX Elmo-even when toy stores had no more to sell though. New baby toys and a turtle that shines stars - it's been blazing constellations every night so far. We giggled at Elmo and played with the toys and generally enjoyed all that great Christmas noise. After Grampa went home, we took a quick rest, then got ready for church - donned our Christmas best. The Christmas story was shared in scripture and song, and when it was over before too long, we went out to the courtyard for a special surprise. There were animals there to pet - just the kids' size! After seeing the cow, sheep, goats and hens and a dab of Purell for a post barnyard cleanse, we said good night to Grandma and went home to our beds, while the gameplan for the next day raced through our heads.

Christmas morning had arrived - we were halfway through, and it was baby's first Christmas. What would she do? She slept pretty well and gave us a break so we actually slept before Hallie was awake. She came in and told us - politely, I might add, that Santa had come-"Come on, Mom and Dad". She was excited to see the gifts under the tree and that Santa had enjoyed the milk and cookies. Santa brought the Dora house and doc kit that was hoped for, penguin bowling for Anna and quite a bit more. After opening the gifts, what seemed a hundred or so, we had to get ready again, it was time to go. Off to Auntie and Uncle's for Christmas brunch, and a few dozen more gifts, we had a hunch. The girls opened toys, books, DVDs and games, Hallie was quick to read the tags for the names. A nice time at brunch, then to Grandma's Hallie goes, a visit to Rose Hills then home to cook potatoes.
Grammie arrived around 2:30/3:00 and we daydreamed of dinner-it was prime rib, you see. Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike hosted Christmas dinner this year. We enjoyed good company and feasted with cheer. Another round of gift giving came after we dined, a more loving family would be hard to find. Then we packed up the sweaters, gifts were in boxes or bagged, and we drove to see Christmas lights though little eyes sagged. We oohed and ahhed at the elaborate displays, then headed home - a pleasant end to our Christmas days. What we could manage, girls and gifts came inside, no trick to guess which fell asleep on the ride. As the night wound down and we tucked them in tight, we cherished the memories as we kissed them goodnight. Our Christmas was magical, as Christmas should be, and we look forward to the many more we shall see.
The holidays were delightful with family so near, we wish everyone great joy in the coming new year.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

When you have children, no holiday season is complete without the annual 'Holiday Program'. Whatever the holiday being featured, it is sure to be the sweetest, dearest and most comical twenty minutes of December (well, other than your kids playing with the boxes the toys came in, that is..) Our Church Preschool Nativity was no different. We had the privilege of being stage parents to a versatile little actress. One night she was to play a sheep and the next night, Mary. A diva in training, she preferred her role as Mary but we convinced her that being a sheep one night might be better than being a sheep both nights. In a glorious production, the children sang their way through the Christmas story, complete with handheld jingle bells, though I don't remember a lot of sleigh travel in Judea.

The two year olds were wide-eyed stars who either cried, yawned (as Hallie did) or sucked their thumbs. Graced with another year of maturity, the three and some four year olds were angels (wearing new wings this year, I might add). Much like the seniors in high school, the pre-K children had finally worked their way to the top of the heap. Basically, this means that they had costumes that took more than a minute to put on and they probably wouldn't cry. They were cast as sheep, shepherds, wise men and the Holy family. And so it came to pass that, led by the teachers, the children paraded in - the littlest and most flighty held by the hand. They gathered around the little manger and obligatory baby doll. {note: Mary, not being allowed to pick up her own baby at home REALLY would have been okay carrying in the baby Jesus down the aisle}
To announce the Good News, they sang 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' followed by 'Mary Had a Baby'. 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star' led the way to the stable and 'Away in a Manger' told us of the baby's first night. At that point, the telling of the story was done because the bells were passed (which Mary immediately dropped and had to dive under the manger to retrieve) and the loud, joyful, seriously lacking in rhythm ringing began. After the quick collection of the bells, the children wished the audience a merry Christmas, in song, and posed for the cameras. It's not hard to guess that the photo session lasted nearly as long as the program as, class by class, the parents were invited forward to capture every memory. Each tear, sneeze, yawn, wave, and squirm are forever captured on the memory cards of everyone's cameras. Access to all pictures is required in order to get the real feel for the evening because, of course, each parent's photos of their child holds the toddler's brief flicker of attention. It's a well known fact that every one else has pictures of your child picking his or her nose and pulling on their hats.



The beauty of Hallie having reached the age of four is that she 'gets' Christmas. Yes we have more work to do now in terms of making sure Santa does his job but, Hallie knows why we celebrate Christmas and understands the message and meaning of Christmas. She can switch with ease between the stories of Jesus and the stories of Santa Claus and knows that the latter is the person who keeps the spirit of Christmas going by acting like Jesus wanted - being kind and giving, and loving everyone. Pretty good for four, I think. You know.....when the world gets too scary and I need a reminder of how it should be...I'm going to her.


For a simple version of the Christmas story watch the clip below. Enjoy!

Santa, the deer and all that North Pole Stuff

It has been suggested that I have somehow caused Hallie's proclivity toward relishing Christmas. Hey, I'm not a fanatic and, though I don't grumble about the mall decorations displayed before Halloween, I concede to waiting until after a certain December birthday to get a tree (never mind that it would dry out anyway) and I wholeheartedly agree that the Christmas music should start after Thanksgiving. So, I'm not hopeless, right? Dear Hallie has come by her love of Christmas honestly and I don't do anything to encourage her further - not really, anyway. Believe me, she is well versed on all things Christmas and if you can get her to sit still long enough, she will fill you in on what you need to know. Here are her thoughts...
On reindeer: "Reindeers fly and they eat hay. They also leap out and play and they stop so Santa could give the presents to happy little children named Hallie (when pressed she includes Anna and Mommy and Daddy). They fly onto the roof pulling Santa's sleigh."




On Santa: "He lives at the North Pole. Santa delivers presents and loves to ride his reindeer all the time. Before they dash away, he calls all his reindeer by name. Elves make the toys and he lives with Mrs. Claus."


On Christmas Trees: "Christmas trees grow from seeds. You get them from the Christmas Tree store and then what you do with them is put it on top of your van. Then you take it home. Then you decorate it with ornaments and a star and lights. Then you go to sleep. Santa Claus comes and brings you presents and your mom and dad have to wake you up when Santa's gone."

She clearly recognizes all the symbols of a secular Christmas and, at this point, sees them as decoration for celebrating Jesus' birth. She has synthesized all the information beautifully. She can distinguish that the two Santa's she saw are different Santas (which is why she asked each one for something different) yet she knows there is one other Santa who pulls the Christmas Eve shift. It's perfectly logical to her and I wouldn't mess with it for the world.

I think she gets it better than we do.