What a perfect way to start wrapping up the year -- by another super-post (my new word for the days when I dig through the dregs of my memory and try to get it all down.) So here I wrap up the stories, my gifts to my family and myself as memories of these simple moments fade.
THE PAGEANT
I'll start by saying I'm sad that I still don't have the video of the little kids' preschool Christmas program. I was hoping to have it by now to share, but you'll just have to imagine with me what took place two weeks ago. Their teacher put Maddie, Jon, and Ben next to each other to make photography easier for me. Though it was a well-intentioned plan, I could have warned her it might not be a great idea. ... So my three little Christmas "angels" were all decked out in button-up shirts, slacks, and one had on a pretty plaid dress with black tights. As the preschoolers are all belting out different tunes of the same songs, Miss Maddie was holding the hem of her dress so proudly. She didn't even let go when it was time for the arms to go in the air as the kids shouted, "There is no room in the inn!" Thankfully, the tights hid the panties, and the teacher whispered at Maddie to keep her dress down. Yet, she still had a grip on that hem, and it did come up a few more times as she pranced. Meanwhile, just next to Maddie, Ben and Jon had their own little comedy skit going on. They smiled so proudly, so sweetly at their Mama. A few minutes later, Jon lifted his shirt to reach into his back pocket. His little tummy was like a beacon and, as he reached farther behind himself, he turned himself in a circle until he finally pulled the grocery list out of his pocket. When he started folding it into an airplane, the teacher reached over and took it away. He just smiled sweetly. Then Ben, seeing that Jon got a bit of attention, put his arm around Jon (all while the rest of the show goes on). Ben smiled big for a photo with brother, but the sparkle in his eye let me know quickly that something was about to happen. Ben's arm reached around Jon and poked Jon in the ribs. Jon kept smiling like it was part of the show, then as he continued to sing, he plopped his index finger in his mouth. Between song verses, he twisted the finger to get it good and slobbery...(see where this is going?) ... with a smack, that finger came out of his smiling mouth and flew into Ben's ear to wiggle a bit. Ben's eyes gave away the disgust, but he kept his smile big as he reached across his own little body to punch Jon in the gut. Jon's eyes got big, and I almost heard the "oof!" as he bent over. All the sweet little children were still singing, Maddie was still dancing with her dress over her face, and Jon stood up and stuck two fingers in his mouth. Again, the Wet Willie made its way to Ben's ear. So that show went on till the end of the other one. The teacher, off to the side, continually tried to stop the wet-willies, tickling, and punching on the front row, and each time she did, the boys grinned for the cameras. How they kept those huge trouble-making grins on, I'll never know. Later, I asked them to tell Allen what they did. Jon explained that Ben was tickling him, so he returned the favor, "I painted him with my spit thumb." Unfortunately, I didn't get much on film, but the lady in front of me said she would share the video. I'll post if I get it -- in case this wasn't enough to laugh about.
WATCH OUT SPARKY!
Last Sunday, we all went to church, came home for lunch, then put the kids down for naps. Allen went up a time or two to shush them or get them back into bed, then all was quiet. I was in the kitchen and Allen was
snoozing watching football when we heard the screams, and Jon and Ben were running down the stairs crying. When I calmed them down, they tearfully said that the fire cut them. Ben was holding his thumb out wailing and I could see that there was something wrong with it. His thumb was black, but my first thought is that it was from a Sunday school craft. When we got to their room, I found a safety pin in front of the blackened outlet and we realized they got zapped. Allen found another safety pin that had a melted tip and a hole in the cap-end. Thankfully, the breaker tripped and it wasn't any worse. Ben did have an ugly burn on his thumb in the shape of the pin he held to the socket, and Jon may have gotten a little zap, too. Whatever happened, the nightlight is gone now, the safety plugs are back in place, and the little boys are talking about the big fire in the wall.
TOOTH FAIRY
Not as much of a story, but the tooth fairy did come again last week. I've already lost track of how many teeth Will has lost, but the last one out was next to the center top ones.
SOLSTICE ECLIPSE
It was such a weird day -- the first day of winter was so warm at 83-degrees the kids wore shorts even when they were playing outside. When I read that there would be a total lunar eclipse on the winter solstice, I thought it might be a neat thing for Will to see. What I didn't take into account was how late it would be. In the end, it worked out fine. We put all the kids in bed that night at the normal time (around 7 pm). Allen and I went to bed at the normal time around 10, and set the alarm for 12:30am. The eclipse was supposed to start at 12:34. We looked outside and were disappointed that it was so cloudy, but when I stepped onto the porch to look for the moon, I realized we might see a little bit of the show. We woke Will, then Allen and I took him to lay on the front lawn and watch the eclipse. We all got sleepy and cold and came in about the time that the moon was completely eclipsed, but the clouds were piling up more and it was getting frustrating trying to watch. We all climbed back into our beds and slept.
MIDWEEK NATURE HIKE
Since Tuesday had such beautiful weather and the warmth was predicted to last a few days, we made outside plans. Wednesday, our family went to a nearby park and walked the nature trail. I chose one that had ten letterboxes, but after we found three, I realized I was getting too frustrated to continue. It seemed like either Allen or I was fussing at the kids to stay close, keep their fingers out of the black ink, bring that back, etc., so I put away the letterbox stuff and we just walked. The point was to have fun, not fuss. Some of the kids needed a bit of direction, so we started looking for letters in nature to spell "Merry Christmas". Jon, Will, and I had the most fun doing that, but Maddie and Allen helped, too. We had a lot of trouble finding an H, so Allen came up with a great idea... it didn't make it to the final greeting, but I wanted to share it here.
COUSIN TIME
Thursday ended up cold, just like Wednesday, but we still had a great day. Our crew drove to meet Jason, Jenn, and cousin Beckham at the fishery. After a few hours of watching fish and trying to catch fish, the kids were all getting tired and hungry. Jason and Jenn found a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was awesome for our late lunch!! There was barely room for all of us since the restaurant only had five small tables, but we managed. I loved the turkey wrap I had with jalapenos, coconut, and pecans. Mmmmm.... The kids snoozed all the way home, then we had ice cream for dinner and cereal for dessert (yes, in that order.)
CHRISTMAS EVE-ING
Christmas Eve was a nice, mostly lazy day. Well, it was relaxing even though we seemed to get a lot done. Each of the kids wrapped the gift they chose for another. Instead of overwhelming our home with toys by each of the kids buying for the others, instead of overwhelming the house with more cheap stuff we don't need, instead of spending way too much money, instead of skipping gifts altogether, ... we drew names out of a hat. We still wanted the kids to each have the joy of choosing a gift for another person, wrapping it, keeping it a secret, so we put our six names in and everyone got to pick a $10-15 gift for another person. It seemed to be quite fun for everyone. So the kids each got to come in our room, pick a paper, wrap the gift (or at least tear off and stick on the tape,) pick a label, put the names on it, pick a bow, and put the wrapped gift under the tree. I got such a thrill out of the way the kids signed their names, that I had to snap a few pictures of the ones I got to help with. Since Ben was getting me a gift, Allen helped with that one.
To Will, From Maddie
To Maddie (M, lower A, D, D, lower I, backward/upside down lower E), From Jon
To Dad [star -- a favorite shape to draw], From Will
Allen and the kids baked cookies while I hung stockings, and later, the kids and I had fun decorating them with icing, sprinkles, and crushed candy canes. We had an early dinner then went to the Christmas Eve service at church. It was called a silent service since there was no talking, just a string ensemble playing carols and hymns while we sat or took communion. It is a bit comical that it is called "silent" when the room was full of families and children (aka: not so silent). As the instruments played, I was having to shush Maddie next to me as she made up lyrics and sang to the tunes. I finally told her she could hum along, but to quit talking. I suppose it all went okay, but it was a stressful 30-minutes for me since I felt like the kids were distracting others.
We came home, got ready for bed, put out cookies and chocolate milk for Santa (and oats for the reindeer), and Allen read the Christmas Story from Luke as he has every Christmas since we've had kids (and a few before that.) Allen and I made breakfast, set everything up for Christmas morning efficiency, did a few other last minute Christmas Eve preparations, then went to bed .... knowing we'd have to get up early to keep up with the kids :)
