Merry Christmas!!!

Of course I made a chart. I've made lists, I've made lists of lists, and this year I actually made a chart. But before diving into Christmas Eve, let me back up to tell you Justin was able to take the day off work this year on WEDNESDAY, which was the BEST GIFT EVER. I attended the kids' winter parties at school, got a few last minute things done and even went to lunch with a friend. It was amazing, and I'm hoping it can be a new tradition for us!

Someone told me they'd learned their favorite Christmases are those when they treat Christmas Eve kind of like a Sunday. She cooks and does everything possible beforehand so they can enjoy the day, so this was our attempt at the same. Having the 23rd was a huge help so although we cleaned the 24th, we didn't make trips to stores or bother with other incidentals. It was beautiful. Here's the plan we followed Christmas Eve, and truth be told it's pretty much what we did and when!

Chimney Sweep Izzie

Shake those hips, girl! Got a little "Rudolph" on in the background, so she was dancing. :-)

What beside the promise of Santa could get these kids to work so hard with such huge smiles on their faces? I couldn't waste the opportunity, and believe it or not the entire house was clean by noon. That was our "service to family" because the kids did each other's chores, and a few extra. Notice Izzie cleaning out the fireplace - she came up with that one on her own for Santa.

After lunch our "service to friends" consisted in taking gifts to the kids' friends, taking a few young women things around and dropping things off to the missionaries. It was pouring rain but Izzie and Erick were eager beavers so nobody else ever had to get out. Sweet! We sang songs in the car and I know, it sounds so idyllic, but this NEVER happens. It's like the happy fairy sneezed on our house because everyone was smiling through it all. I wish I could get her to come around more often!

Dinner was scrumptious - Roast lamb with a red wine and currant sauce that was absolutely to die for. Ask me for the recipe, the lamb we bought at Costco. It really was amazing. Then we unwrapped pajamas and watched the kids' new nativity movie. The one in which they starred. I hope I'm never called to do a roadshow because I'd be terrible at it, but we did manage to get the kids to act out and narrate the nativity on film last week for a gift and they cracked up watching it themselves Christmas Eve. Thank you Justin for producing it!

Then of course it was time for peppermint icecream and bed. The kids were down around nine, Justin and I followed around midnight. Then I was up again by 6:30 staring out the window while I waited for the kids to get up. I know, it's like I'm 6! I was SO excited I couldn't sleep. When the pitter-patter of Izzie's feet came down the hall I was ecstatic. Audrey broke down and cried at the barrier we'd made in the hallway to make sure not one child got in there before they others, or before my camera, but managed to pull it together for a grand entrance anyway, probably because she was on camera via skype to my parents. Cheese!

As for the rest of the day, fruit soup (made from the fruit in the kids' stockings) and waffles for breakfast... then a lazy day building playmobil sets and playing checkers in front of the fire in our jammies. Izzie made paper snowflakes, Matt painted the couch pink with candy canes. It was great. Here's what the kids got:

All in all a fun and amazing holiday. For the first time in a long time I feel no Christmas letdown sitting here after all the fuss has died down. Some years just work, and for a reason I still can't figure out, this was ours. Please tell me if you know what makes the difference, because I think some years I do the whole dance much the same, but the overall feeling is different. This year I was standing at the kitchen sink, watching a fat cardinal out the window wondering if the day could really get any better, and like something out of a movie it started to snow. This year was nothing short of a gift. I do still have cards I haven't sent, the fishtank is still empty and a million other things didn't happen (probably the most blasphemous being that we ate Christmas dinner in our street clothes instead of dressing up - dressing myself and four little kids got dropped last-minute from the list this year), but that didn't stop Christmas from coming - it came! Somehow, it came just the same. It truly is a miracle. Hope you had your own happy day as well!

Merry Christmas!!!