After reading through the Nativity, we opened up our Christmas pjs and got ready for our Christmas spread, involving meats and cheese and crackers and spring rolls and mozzarella sticks and chocolate milk and... no one ate it. Except for me. I ate a lot. I only have a cold. Not even. I'm fighting it, so it's not even full blown. It was delish! But I hated seeing the kids not have an appetite on Christmas Eve. It's an outrage! Seriously though, it broke my heart. Especially Zoe. JUST EAT you little thing! We suffered through a Christmas movie that Joe picked out. Next time, we will suffer through MY choice. The kids liked it though. I guess.
After our Christmas movie night, I got out my guitar and we sang some Christmas carols. We did that the night before at our friends, the Major's, and had a blast, so we went for round two. It was meant to be something to calm the night down before bed, but instead got us all excited and riled up. All except poor Noah. His fever hit again and he looked like he was ready to barf. We sent him down to bed with a barf-bowl. Merry Christmas to the ground.
Santa's got to have his cookie and milk. This was our first year putting out carrots because according to Jackson, you can't forget the reindeer Mom! What was I thinking all these years?! Worst Mom ever.
We also got to say our good byes to Jolly Holly. Who else is going to bribe my kids to get their chores done without complaining? Or go to bed---stat? Or treat each other nicely? Bitter sweet I tell you. I'm okay with her going home to Santa though, because every once in a while she would forget to move and it would stress me out just a teensy. See you next year! Or until the next Elf-Sarah movie. She's quite the little actress.
Joe was such a trooper this week. He did all the grocery shopping and meal planning. I could really get used to this. And late last night before Santa came, he had to prep our Christmas meal for the next day. Saddest part was he was feeling queasy and nauseated all day today, so our dinner turned out to be Christmas cereal. No one complained as they all still had no appetite. I was the only one who silently mourned. I got to smell that thing all day long BBQing outside. And then it was snatched away. I think next year's Christmas wish for me is going to be a sick-free house! Sadly, this also meant cancelling with our friends, the Major family, who we were planning on coming over to join us that evening for Christmas dinner. Boo.
Well, the kids made it through the night without throwing up or fevering or coughing themselves into a fit. Joe was the only one who did not sleep. Poor guy. We all enjoyed our Christmas cereal after digging into the stockings. Then it was time for what the kids have been dying for all month. Or basically since Halloween ended. PRESENTS!! The Indiana Jones mini-figures were worth every penny just to watch Noah play with them all day (take that Joe). Jackson has a new best friend called, Zoomer, the robot dog. Ellie wore her Super-Woman costume all day long, and Zoe enjoyed eating everyone's treats. It might not have been a nutritious day but I was just glad she was eating something!
We spent the rest of the day playing board games (I ate my words when Joe brought home all these board games and puzzles. Apparently the kids loved them), and of course enjoying all the new toys. Joe spoiled me again this year. I should know by now that he always will! And he makes me feel like an idiot because he always says, "don't spend any money on me. We don't have any money to spend." Probably because he is spending it all on me! He bought me a djembe, a bunch of musicals on dvd, and a tablet. What the heck? This is what I got him: a mug and socks. I went shopping with the kids and asked them to help me pick out a nice MAN-mug for Dad because he is always stealing mine and we only have one. So Jackson found this beaut that was covered in cats that said, "You can never have too many cats." Perfect. And then he picked out a pair of the ugliest and brightest socks I have ever seen. They at least look cozy and I will probably steal them on really cold days. But that is all I did for him. Oh and I wrote him a love note. That's priceless, right? Does it cancel out my crap gifts? Oh well. I think we have both learned that Christmas is all about the kids anyway. I honestly could get nothing under the tree and I wouldn't blink. Don't get me wrong, I love getting gifts. But watching the kids open their gifts is honestly the best. Ever. Oh, ...and I love giving well-thought out gifts. I have been dying to write about these two gifts. I'll start with the ones I gave Sarah and Jenny. This Summer I came upon a garage sale that was selling a bazillion porcelain dolls. And since they are so darn expensive online, I bought two for a total of $6 bucks. Nice. The poor ex-owner had no idea what my intentions were and I hope she never finds out. The live across the street! Anywho, I proceeded to cut off their heads to continue on the legacy/tradition of hiding doll heads on each other. This time I wrapped up their bodies with a creepy note attached and hid their head somewhere in each of their houses. They have yet to find them. Jenny's has been hiding for 2 months already and no sign of her. At this rate she'll likely find her by the time they move out! And Sarah? We'll see!!! Mwahahaha! Morbid I know. In fact, as I was cutting off their heads I felt a pit in my stomach, like their souls were going to haunt me for doing this to them! Good thing their bodies and heads are FAR from my house. Merry Christmas ladies! And to my parents, grandparents, and those close to me that I thought would care, I made a CD of the kids singing church songs from the Hymn book and Children's Song book. Last year, the kids were sent home with a CD that the Primary presidency put together and we listened to it on the way to and from church. Probably the most reverent times had on Sunday were in that car as we listened to the songs. And then I thought, "I would love to be listening to my kids sing these songs." And then I thought, "let's make that a reality and turn it into a Christmas gift!" So I got started on it last March because I knew it was going to be a process if I wanted this to be finished in time for Christmas. The kids needed to learn the tunes and lyrics, so we started singing different verses for each song during our FHE's or before bed time. It took a long time and a lot of effort, but they learned them, recorded them, and we managed to put together 9 whole songs throughout the year (right up until a few weeks ago)! This also meant I had to brush up on my piano sight-reading skills. It was a good thing for me, too. And I learned a lot about my kids. I learned that Jackson is truly a perfectionist and that if he doesn't get something right on the first try then he is a failure. Gotta work on that! He also has some real natural talent when it comes to singing. Makes a Mama proud. I learned that Noah has possibly theeee cutest, raspiest, all-boy voice I have ever heard! Aaaaaaand he's mildly tone-deaf. Ha! He also doesn't have a lot of patience. He wasn't so concerned with failure as he was with just getting 'er done! Ellie's head was constantly in the clouds. She was the best at singing things from memory (because often I would have to record one line at a time and be done for that session). But if she had something set in her mind, she would sing it that way over and over no matter how many times I would coach her to sing it differently. Oh my. Hilarious. But mostly really annoying for me. All in all, I feel like this was such a good experience for all of us and although I made it for my family members far away, I feel like this was truly a gift for me and something I will treasure forever! I cry a lot listening to the children singing songs about Jesus and it just melts my heart. I hope that those words will carry them through their life as they continue to grow their testimony of the Savior. I am so grateful for this time of year when we can celebrate his birth and try to be a little more like Him. Merry Christmas!
