I make calendars for my family and Christopher's family, but siblings were very late getting their pictures to me, so I just took it easy on those.
Somehow, I made my own chaos.
First, I decided that rather than buy presents for Tyler's teachers, I would make them. He has ten teachers and aides, so this wasn't a small decision. They often wear utility belts to carry the radios and pencils and everything else they need, so I thought I would make them. Honestly, it was an easy project, until you multiplied it by 10, but I did make it.
At this point, it was crunch time for something I hadn't been able to figure out since almost a year ago. I found red and gold curtains in a clearance bin at Wal-Mart for $1 each. Naturally, I knew they had to be formal dresses for the girls. (I know this is not normal.) At first I wanted to make Easter dresses, but the colors are very Christmas-y, so I put it off. Meanwhile I collected more fabric. A gold shimmery sheer was on clearance at Jo-Anns, and a friend gave me a neat red diamond-gathered red from her stash.
I was having a tough time figuring out how to make the colors work though! I knew that Kaitlyn's needed to be made from a pattern my mom got for me- Simplicity 2463. She love dresses that "go all the way to the floor", and this pattern was a princess dress all the way. Jasmine's pattern was a free one I got online- the Party Dress. I knew that, since I didn't have an endless supply of either fabric, one dress needed to be gold with red accents and the other red with gold accents. I had a panic attack when I saw how much the red overpowers the gold on Kaitlyn's dress, but thanks to a quick call to my mom, we were able to sort it out.
I know that sewing is silly, in many respects. I could buy fancy dresses for . . . $20? $10 on a great sale? So yes, I know that the fabric costing less than $10 for everything doesn't make it a great deal, because it took about two days non-stop. But there is something about a handmade gift that means more. Even as young as these girls are, they have been treasuring these dresses more than any others in their closet, and part of that is that they saw me working on them so much, I think. I taught Jasmine the names of the colors, and she was so proud to point out which parts were red and which were gold. And she constantly asks for her red dress to wear. Kaitlyn wore it to two weeks of church in a row, and countless times in between.
Well, it was 9 pm Saturday night when I finished Kaitlyn's. Then I quickly put together a bow tie for Tyler to match. If there was more time, perhaps he would have gotten a vest, but bow ties are nice and quick.
And when I handed it to Tyler, Christopher said "where's my tie?" I warned him that if I made him a matching tie, he would have to be in the "matching clothes" picture after Church the next day, but he persisted. "I want to match Tyler!"
At which point I realized that I would be the only person not matching if I didn't think quickly. Since I was the one putting in the work, that seemed wrong.
Whew! I made it! I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw this picture. My kids even all smiled nicely for me!
Once I got past that day, Christmas preparations were a breeze. On Christmas Eve day, I even made a to-do list in crayon for the kids to follow along with all the treats to make and such. Their favorite was the Gingerbread houses, of course.
Tiny ones are always SO elated when you give them free reign. They get so tired of people helping them, and they don't care if it looks perfect. They just want to know they did it! I don't let her do things all by herself very much, but in this case, Daddy helped for a while, and then she was off on her own.
Mostly she squeezed out the frosting and then ate all the candy. But she was really happy about it!
Kaitlyn was very focused on her little village, though.
And Tyler has his own creative direction to go in.
In many ways, gingerbread cookies are still the way to go, I think. They are easier for the kids to decorate, since you don't have to worry about them collapsing, and then you can just eat them afterward. But tradition is what it is!
Which of course meant that we were headed over to Grandma Skarda's for the biggest party of the year.
The kids got really into their parts in the Nativity play.
Jasmine didn't want to keep the donkey costume on, but I bet she will get into it next year.
Then we had the talent portion of the night, since Grandma didn't want to leave out the kids who don't play instruments.
Kaitlyn demonstrated her crab walk.
And Tyler showed off an interpretive ninja dance of some kind, which was actually kind of hilariously awesome.
Then we got to the music. Kaitlyn played Christmas Bells are Ringing . . .
. . . Christopher and I played a "O Holy Night" piano and Euphonium duet we worked on, and then it was the annual horn concert.
Given how much all of them practice, it is partly for laughs.
And then Santa came!
Other kids jokingly asked Santa for candy or gum for Christmas, but Tyler carefully explained that he needed an iPad, because the other one is dead.
Kaitlyn told me afterwards that she was pretty sure he wasn't the real Santa. "Oh, really?"
And then there was the tiny stinker. Jasmine told me, in no uncertain terms, that she was not going to go to Santa. I got angry grunts any time I mentioned that I was willing to carry her, or whatever else I thought would help. But then after ten minutes of this, Daddy walks up and asks if she wants to see Santa. "Yup!" she said happily, holding her hands up to be picked up.
Stinker.
Then we unwrapped the Christmas jammies, changed, and headed home!
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