Christmas 2007

Christmas was a wonderful affair. The children slept in til about 6:56 which I consider a great gift given their excitement of the past few days. And with the stockings on the end of their bed as Santa's parting gift, we were able to get another 30 minutes from it. Finally, the children were ready to sit on the steps while Andy and I got everything ready: the tree lights on, the x-mas music on, orange juice poured, and the cameras ready. Christmas was so much fun; I


love watching the children open their presents. I also love when I can surprise Andy with things he really wants too. After opening presents we had a few hours to get ready for my family to come over. We had a great time. It's so much fun to be with family and enjoy one another's company. And the children pretty much play all night long with only a few needed kisses. Dinner was wonderful and Andy made a Maple roasted turkey. It was great! Merry Christmas.

The Last Present

One of the things that has made our Christmas so exciting this year (2007) is that someone who loves us (so the note said) has been leaving us pieces of a nativity scene for the last two weeks. The first time we got a part of the nativity scene, one of Noah's dad's friends brought it in for us. We hadn't even realized that there had been something on our front porch. Andy and I were a little puzzled that this friend would bring us this as a gift; we didn't quite realize that he was only being the messenger. We began to realize it when the next night, there was again wrapped up in the same clear bag and beautiful Christmas ribbon another porcelain figure. I put the two together and thought they looked nice. And then we got another...and another...and another. It has become such a source of fun for us to try and see who it is that is leaving us a nativity set. The children can't wait to see what the next piece is and always say, "Is it going to be the baby Jesus?"
Tonight is Christmas Eve and we have just had our final delivery. Wrapped in the clear plastic bag is the manger which sits empty. Along with this bag, also delivered, was a package with a note to open up this present last on Christmas morning. As Andy and I realized that the baby Jesus must be wrapped up in the gift for tomorrow's unwrapping, we both became teary eyed. The magnitude of the message, and its true applicability for tomorrow, filled our hearts with tenderness. Andy, spoke first and said, "This is the true meaning of Christmas." We don't know who is leaving this gift for us, but the love we have felt from it has been truly amazing. We love the message and the opportunity for our children to once again be reminded of the reason we celebrate this holiday. We are grateful for the birth of that baby, whose birth is unique in all of history. And as we open up that last gift tomorrow as a family, we shall place him gently in the manger to complete both the nativity scene and our holiday.

Christmas Eve 2007

I sit here blogging as Andy wraps the presents he won't let me see (translated means they are for me), enjoying the wonderful lights of our Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations and scents that abound on the main level of my house. I love the peace of right now as I know the morning will bring quite a different feel.

Andy and I have just nestled the kids in their beds and I am sure visions of sugar plums are dancing in their heads. We went on the website to find that Santa had entered Florida and I am surprised that the kids actually settled down into their beds. Well, Noah is still awake, I just went and checked. He is worried that Santa will not know what to bring him as he didn't sit on Santa's lap this year. We told him not to worry, there are elves in Gaithersburg watching and listening and reporting. This is the hardest time of year for children to be good and to hold it over their heads that "Santa is watching" is, I think, sheer torture. Ahh, the creatures are stirring.... Noah has just knocked on our bedroom door to tell Andy that he can't sleep. Oh the excitement.

Anyway, I can be so distracted....

With a free and open day today (no dinner to prepare for) we wanted to do something that the children would remember. Se we decided to make gingerbread houses. What a fun activity. Everybody's came out completely different, even though we used the same candies and the same frosting. Some of us had trouble right from the start getting our house to stay together and thus the house ended up as a "candy mountain." Others were deemed too bare so the artist was put back to work to address the minimalist attitude (which I actually think derived from , not a lack of enthusiasm for the project, but rather, too much enthusiasm for the materials and thus they ended up not on the house, but rather in the tummy.) Everyone was such a good sport and enjoyed the easy banter as we sat together in the spirit of Christmas togetherness, each of us focused on the gingerbread houses that lay before us on the table. The big question becomes what to do with them, now that they are done. Any ideas? Maybe an auction on ebay? Food for the reindeer? Next year's table decorations? Merry Christmas!

Christmas with Andy's family

Our friends made us this wonderful lemon cake for Christmas. Tobin wanted her to make his birthday cake for him, but when it didn't happen, she must have stored the idea to make this for him (and us) at Christmas time. It was so much fun to be surprised with this.

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with Andy's family on the 23rd. We usually do a Christmas Eve dinner but some had plans to travel and we didn't want them running into Santa's sleigh so we had our "traditional" dinner early. Lamb is usually our main meal and this year didn't disappoint. Andy made a wonderful lamb with stuffing,...mmmmm. We had roasted rosemary potatoes (I actually helped make those and realized that there actually was something called rosemary), Andy's mom's wonderful holiday jello salad, and green beans.

The real fun started when Andy pulled out the karoake machine that, due to unconcealed packaging, became an early Christmas present rather than one that remained hidden until Christmas morning. (I don't think the kids have realized that maybe they should be complaining that Daddy got his present before Christmas, why shouldn't they.) I will tell ya, that karoake brings things out in people that you didn't know existed! It took a while but Andy's brother and his son had quite the fun time with it. We stayed up til 1:00 in the morning, singing the night away. I must say that Sarah, Ali and I make quite the singing trio!!

What kind are you?

My sister found this great website for when you absolutely have nothing to do, no where to be, or no people to see. Yeah, right. Anyway the quiz I just took was, "If your life were a movie it would be...." And would you know, they had it right. If my life were a movie it would be a Drama:
You're rich in feeling and emotion. You constantly play life out in your mind, imagining the "ifs, ands, or buts." You constantly feel like the world is your audience, which might inevitably affect your sanity! While your passion is endearing, the over-dramatics may grow a bit too intense after a while.

When you have nothing but time on your hands, check out this fun site.

I hope the Holidays are finding you bright and merry!!!

Wrapping Daddy's heart for Christmas

Brenna is such a delight to have in our family. She can wrap EVERYONE around her little finger, especially her dad! She has stayed home from school for the last two days with a bad cold. She actually fell asleep today for the first time in ages which lets us know that she really isn't feeling well. Anyway, Andy had to take her to the mall to run an errand and she talked him into taking her to Build a Bear workshop to make a dog. That is so typical: Andy can not resist those eyes and that charm she knows how to dispense at the right times. So, the dog is cute and Brenna named him Max. I have banished Andy from taking her anywhere before Christmas.

We have managed to get our lights and garland on our Christmas tree and that's it. We haven't been able to get the ornaments on the tree yet. I think there must be some Scrooge in our house or something. Anyway, in the this set of pictures, Brenna decided to write on a leftover Halloween skeleton that she loves Santa Claus and because it needed ornaments, she decided to put the skeleton on the tree. Only Brenna would think it full of Christmas spirit to put a skeleton on the tree. Andy laughed the hardest of all. I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas spirit.

Brenna's birthday

I can hardly believe my youngest turned six last Sunday!! It is so weird for me to think that my youngest is older than my oldest was when she was born. Brenna woke up, as is the tradition, to candy and streamers strewn about her room. The Primary children's group sang "happy birthday" to her in church as she stood in the front of the room with all eyes on her! This is her version of paradise. After church we were able to have lunch with some of her cousins. After we returned home from lunch, Brenna would have bouts of excitement. I would see her just burst with the need to say something. I caught her telling her webkinz stuffed animals and her dolls that it was her birthday. She had them sit in a row and sing to her as well. She was so cute and full of life. This is the way I always want to remember her: little enough to be cute and melt our hearts, but old enough to entertain herself. Six seems like such a milestone for her as she is now closer to ten than to her birth day. Wow--crazy. Enough thinking like that.

Later that night we gave Brenna her birthday present: an American Girl doll, Nicki. Brenna has been asking for an American Girl doll since last Christmas when she got her 1st American Girl doll.

We have been reading the Nicki story which is actually full of fun as she trains a service dog and takes care of her horse, Jackson. Brenna said we had to hurry and read the story so that she could tell her cousin Julianna what Nicki's story is. We had a great day. Happy birthday baby girl.