A big part of that is just the age of my kids. They are old enough to understand what is going on and "get" it, but young enough that if I gave them three things from the dollar store wrapped under the tree they would think it was the greatest thing that ever happened to them. Every little thing - from making gingerbread cookies to give to their teachers to re-organizing all the ornaments they could reach on the tree each day - is just magical at this age.
The weekend did have an odd beginning though. Traditionally, we make use of whatever days Christopher has off work before Christmas and head to the cabin. We head down to his mom's house for Christmas Eve, and then to our house for unwrapping presents the next day.
Here is a picture of LAST Christmas "Eve-Day". About three to four feet of snow, and clearly accessible only by snowmobile.
And here is the current backyard in our cabin.
We drove up and parked in the driveway with our truck. It was really cold though, and since there wasn't any snow to speak of, we really didn't go outside. But we still had fun nestled in the cabin. I read a book and made a batch of caramels (those things are tricky, but I swear I will get the hang of it someday), the kids watched movies and played around, and Daddy relaxed and enjoyed playing with the fire in the wood stove. I even did the preschool thing and got some little foam crafts for the kids to make.
After that, we headed down to the annual Skarda extravaganza. Since all of Christopher's siblings played instruments seriously in high school, they now have to break them out once a year and see if they can do Christmas songs for the party. Usually there is only mild success, but that's part of the fun. This year a couple of the grandkids did songs on their recorder, and I broke out a piano/organ duet I played with my mom ten years ago and we tweaked it so Christopher and I played together. Again, mild success, but lots of fun.
One of my sister-in-laws has made a nativity dress up set with enough for every grandchild to have a part (no small feat), and so the kids get all dressed up and act out the scene while the story is read. This year, Kaitlyn was one of the angels, and Tyler was a wise man. They both took their parts very seriously.
And then, if you sing loudly enough with the Christmas Carols, Santa Claus comes! Tyler was SO excited, which was actually a bit unusual for him.
And then we headed home. But since the kids had a late night at Grandma's, they slept in. And since I'm pregnant and can't get comfortable, I woke up early. That gave me plenty of time to get a "before" shot in.
I was worried how the day would go, since church was at 9am. I mean, you can't actually complain about leaving your presents to go to church on Christmas, but . . . I was worried it would be hard to pry the kids away. When they woke up we let them investigate their stocking and open one present from Santa, and given how much they loved that we almost wondered why we bought them anything else.
When we first told her about Santa and presents, Kaitlyn had a list of up to ten things that she wanted to ask Santa for, and it was fun to see what rotated off the list and what kept coming back on since she could only remember three or so at a time. But by the time she met Santa in Disneyland, she was firm. She wanted Aurora Polly Pocket, Belle Polly Pocket, and Cinderella Polly Pockets.
I know this smile looks really fake, but trust me, there is true love here. She asked me to take a picture of her with her Polly Pockets before she even opened the package. She has been in heaven all day.
Christopher's family has this interesting tradition of a "Santa Table". Every year, Santa would leave a large pile of food on a table for them - just random things that everyone likes in the family. Fruit, candy, nuts, you name it. So this year Santa left us a table of food too.
After that, we went to church. In fact, since the kids just ate candy from their stocking instead of actual breakfast, we even got there in time to hear prelude from a trio of French Horns. We have some great musical talent in our congregation, and I was just in heaven. Now I think we should have church on Christmas every year!
But back to presents we went.
And this is always how the better part of Christmas is spent. Lounging around and investigating all the new toys.
Whew! I only planned on checking out the pictures tonight, but somehow I couldn't resist editing them all and writing up this post. It has just been such a great day though - the kids were truly enthralled with the presents and activities, I had the most fantastic time at church listening to the music, and we had a wonderful day together as a family. I guess you just have to enjoy the great moments when you can!
No comments:
Post a Comment