One Last Christmas Post

Since I shared my traditional "Christmas Eve and I'm finally headed to bed" picture from last year I thought I'd share this year's too. It'd seem weird not to.



I also wanted to share a few shots of Christmas morning. I had wanted show how my giddy little LV looked in his Darth Vader get-up. Pretty cool. Darth baby was cute too. lol

Ho Ho Ho or Something.

Santa managed to make it here. What took me until 3 am to wrap was unwrapped in a matter of minutes. We smiled. We sang. We had a merry Christmas.

I haven't downloaded any pictures yet, but can't wait to. We have had a wonderful day. You should see LV in his Darth Vader get-up. Priceless. Lots of things contributed to the day, making it memorable. Here's a list of just a few of the highlights of my Christmas Day...

Church. How awesome to have Christmas fall on Sunday. We went to Vern's parents church to see Kori sing in the choir. They sang a version of the First Noel that used Pachelbel's Canon as the music. Two of my favorites wrapped up in one. Beautiful.

Gifts & kiddos. LV was beside himself with Joy. We managed to surprise Brandon. He was happy. Kirsten reacted so well to her more grown-up gifts this year. She got no toys, but was happy. Whew. Vern was good to me. He really listened. A nice thing.

Family. I spoke with my dad, thought about my sister & nephews, hoped my mom was having a good day and enjoyed some time with my in-laws. I married into a wonderful family. Today was one of those days I truly appreciated that fact.

Food. Breakfast out as a family yesterday. Mmmm... Today we had turkey. And mashed potatoes. And popcorn balls. 'Nuff said.

I had a great nap with Elijah after dinner. Perfection.

It was a truly wonderful Christmas.

If anyone else finds this, I hope yours was too.

Warm Wishes

The kids are bouncing off the walls. Tonight is Vern's family's Christmas party. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. For all intents & purposes it's here. Christmas is upon us.
I promise to take the time to upload some pictures from the next couple of days. At some point. (It's just that it takes so looooong to upload directly from the camera. Maybe Santa will bring me a new card reader.)

This is what the tree looked like before I headed to bed on Christmas Eve last year. (Note there was nowhere to hang the laden stockings in that house either.)

For anyone else who still pops in, may you have a very merry Christmas. I didn't get to doing cards this year. My apologies. I hope that those whom I love know it & know we're wishing them the warmest, sweetest Christmas ever.

Three Days?!

I am in disbelief that there are only a few short days until Christmas. This month has flown by.

Today was a fabulous day though.

I finished up the stocking stuffers while out today with Lauren, so we're officially finished with the shopping & ready to wrap. I think the kiddos will be happy with what we were able to do. For a no-bonus year it seems crazy that we could almost fulfill their wish lists. Of course, they did a good job of not asking for everything under the sun. Love my sensible kiddos.

Vern brought me home some See's Milk Chocolate blue & silver foil balls.
Mmmmmm... They were so good and he's sweetheart to bring me home a treat.
I enjoyed them (and even shared a few) while playing WoW with Julie & Kyle. Fun!

Time for bed. Wrapping is on tap for tomorrow.
I can't put anything under the tree yet though. Little Vern can't handle actually seeing that there are gifts for him without begging to open 'em every 5 seconds. I made the mistake of putting some from Grandma under the tree & had to put them back away after seeing how it tortured my child. Silly little boy.

"I bring you good tidings of great joy..."

Christmas Questions

Yay! I was tagged by Kristi to answer these fun Christmas questions on my blog.

Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog? Hot chocolate!

Does Santa wrap the presents or just set them under the tree? Everything gets wrapped unless it's a pain (like a ball or a bike.)

Colored or white lights on the tree/house? White for the last few years. Kirsten keeps asking me to bring some color back. I prefer white on the tree & solid colors if we were to do color somewhere else. We shall see.

Do you hang mistletoe? No.

When do you decorate? By the first week of December.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Hmmmmm... I love a good cheese ball at Christmas. I love gingerbread too. With my hot chocolate. :)

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Another hmmmmmm... I have lots of great memories of yummy food & fun. I loved being the first to wake up & I'd turn on the Christmas lights and enjoy the quiet. I still do. I used to go with my mom to pick out a tree by Dominion & the two of us would haul it home. I usually got to decorate it (I don't think anyone else was all that interested.)

How and when did you learn the truth about Santa? I honestly have no clue. Must not have had much impact on me.

Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Yes. Just one each. Same as when I was growing up.

What kind of cookies do you set out for Santa on Christmas Eve? lol Do you know my husband? This is not exactly a priority. I'm glad to have decorations up. ;)

Snow! Love it or hate it? Love it. Love to play in it. Love how pretty it is before people step all over it & ruin it.

Can you ice skate? Absolutely. I am Canadian. We froze our yard one year (remember Robin?) and they used to make rinks at the local elementary schools. Plus there were several nice rinks close by if you weren't into lumpy bumpy stuff like that.

Do you remember your favorite gift? As a child? Um, I loved getting clothes. I remember how happy I was to get a flourescent sweatshirt as a pre-teen. The year we each got a Simon game was cool too.

What's your favorite holiday dessert? Christmas isn't Christmas without a box of turtles. That's my must-have Christmas sugar.

What's your favorite holiday tradition? I loved walking with my mom & looking at lights late at night. Now it's a late night drive with Vern, but it's just as special

What type of tree? A nice artificial one. 14 years old. I'm ready to get a pre-lit one. Hopefully next year.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving. Not that I don't like recieving too, but nothing is cooler than my kiddos' excitement Christmas morning. I stress too much about other people liking their gifts though.

What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Just one? I love Christmas carols. I've typed out complete lyrics to two on my blog so far this year. lol Um, how about I go traditional & get to list two? Today they'd be O Holy Night & The First Noel.

Candy Canes, YUCK or YUM? Eh. Not my first choice but not yuck either. Somewhere in the middle. I mean, it is candy after all.

I hope that Carin hasn't already been tagged with this, since that's who I'll pick on. There's no guarantee that she reads this, but it's worth a try.

Bursting.

I won't even try to put into words how proud I am of my little girl tonight. Bursting at the seams and wanting to share even though there's no time to edit. (Please excuse the stage/flourescent lighting.) In any light Kirsten would have shone.

She danced...

I was in tears by the end of this dance. The good kind. I hope Kirsten will continue dancing throughout her life. If only as a hobby. She's meant to. She's just so talented & graceful. Other people's parents felt the need to tell her so.
In case you couldn't tell which ballerina belongs to me...

Oh, and she sewed her own costume in sewing class. Cool, huh?

She sang and she acted...

Her choir teacher gave her a hard solo and told her she could do it. She sure did. See that block in front of Kirsten? She stood on it & sang her little heart out. Her teacher was beaming almost as much as we were afterwards. Another something she should continue. A wonderful performance.
Kori (Vern's sister - top picture) performed her song beautifully, and Kenyon's girfriend Lottiana was amazing. (Top & second last of these pics.) I was proud of them too. All of the kids did so well - and the college auditorium they rented was full of friends, family & schoolmates. What an achievement. What a wonderful celebration of the birth of Christ. I wish I could share more pictures, but this post is monstrous as-is.
Kirsten said the hardest part was all of the costume changes. She was in several scenes of the play between songs. She was soooo tired by the end of the night.

Back home I recieved an encore performance from a little girl who didn't want to take the stage makeup off just yet.

Just a little while longer mom.

Sweet dreams baby.

A Quiet Day & Christmas Spirit.

Tonight is the Christmas program at the school. Kirsten is nervous, but she'll do wonderfully. I know it. Besides, I've seen her practice her dance & have had her sing her solo to me countless times. She's beautiful. She'll shine. I'll take pictures. No promises of perfection under the icky flourescent lighting, but if you know me you know there will be pictures. Lots & lots of pictures.

It's been a quiet day at home. Elijah is still trying to get better. Little Vern has been watching Back to the Future & I've been doing laundry. Exciting, huh? I don't have any shots of LV engrossed in his movie, but here's Elijah just being him.

And I'll share what I've been humming as I work. It's a very pretty Christmas song. :)

Samuel Tells of Baby Jesus

Said Samuel, "Within five years a night will be as day
and baby Jesus will be born in a land far far away."

Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing.
How blessed that our Lord was born;
Let earth recieve her King.

Across the sea, in Bethlehem
Lord Jesus came to earth
As Samuel had prophesied,
And angels sang his birth.

Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing.
How blessed that our Lord was born;
Let earth recieve her King.

Six Thumbs Up

We took the kiddos to see Goblet of Fire on Saturday and loved it. I've never seen LV stay put and stay riveted like that. (Not even for the last Star Wars, and the boy is a self-proclaimed Jedi.) It was a little more intense and less for younger kids than the previous movies (as you'd expect - it's the same with the books.)
Very good movie.
Six thumbs up.

and toss it way up...

That's his favorite part. He giggles when you say it. And daddy is his favorite person to play it with.

Just thought the blog needed a dose of Elijah. :)

His Secret

I love Christmas. The meaningful aspects, the fluff & everything in between. The whys, the hows, the tastes, the sounds, the sights, the giving, the recieving. All of it.
Vern does not.
He is one who's considered a scrooge-type by many. He doesn't care much for Christmas trees, thinks the lights are a waste of electricity. He rolls his eyes when I start listening to Christmas music in November. He isn't into wrapping presents or stuffing stockings.
A self-proclaimed grinch.
But I know him well enough to just smile and let him think he's fooling the world. He may care less about Christmas fluff, but he's one of those dads you'll find at Toys R Us fighting the crowds on the last day to make sure our children have enough. I put together idea lists, but he is the gift-giver. He's good at finding cool gifts for people and I swear he enjoys that part. Immensely. That's been his thing. He may not enjoy all of it, but his heart is there for the important parts. The faith in a baby who's birth we celebrate, and the giving and sharing with those around you. It makes me smile to think I know his secret.
He is no grinch.

Fives

Five things I love about Winter...
1. Fresh-fallen snow
2. Soft sweaters
3. Playing in the white stuff (tobogganing, building snowmen, cross country skiing...)
4. Hot chocolate
5. Baking

Five things I love about December...
1. Christmas
2. Watching my children perform in the school Christmas performance. This year kirsten is dancing (the ballet performance is to Mary did you Know - I'll be needing tissues.) She also has a solo in the choir and two parts in the play. My little performer is way excited.
3. Eating out (I love this all year round, but especially in December)
4. People are generally happier.
5. Singing Christmas carols.
Five things I love about Christmas...
1. Lights. Pretty Christmas lights. Especially on my tree. At night. Alone. While listening to the Forgotton Carols.
Bliss.
2. Christmas carols. My favorite music. Really.
3. Treats ( Like gingerbread, divinity & popcorn balls. Mmmmmm...)
4. My children's smiles on Christmas morning.
5. Being around people I love.

My to-do list

I thought I'd start one for tomorrow...

~Make Vern his cake
~Whatever it takes to make Elijah feel better. Poor sick little one. He's been goopy & feverish.
~Hug my kiddos.
~Make waffles for breakfast. Eat 'em with LV. :)
~Start planning Christmas gifts. (No, I haven't shopped yet. But I'm starting to think about it.)
~Laundry *sigh* There's always lots of laundry.
~See if the library has the next book in this series. I devour books much too quickly.
~Go through Kirsten's closet (It's time to see how much she has that actually fits.)
~Blog

There are probably a billion more things, but right now all I wanna do is sleep.