Brian took some time off before and after the holiday so we got a few good 'family' days in (as Abigail has dubbed days everyone is off and stays home). Christmas Eve was nice and cold and we all set out early for a good cup of coffee at our favorite locally owned place. We were there by 8:45, wide eyed and feeling our oats. We walked into a nice surprise. The coffee shop was not only serving a holiday brunch but a local group of young teenagers was performing on string instruments. All of their red sweatered smiling supportive family members were there in full spirit to cheer them on. It was so festive and unexpected. We ate our hot breakfast , enjoyed our coffee and whip cream (the girls had big cups of hot cocoa) and listened to beautiful violins and cello's play classic Christmas carols. It felt very Norman Rockwell-ish! :)
That afternoon we had lots of craft items to finish up. Brian and I got in strange moods this year and made a lot of our gifts for the girls and family. Not sure why! So we spent most of the day down in the basement finishing them all up. It was fun work though. I really enjoyed doing something creative again. It's been years since I got lost in creative details. I used to really enjoy things like that but that half of my brain has been sadly ignored for a while now. (not sure what in the world I've been doing!) The girls were dears and stayed upstairs and busy, beautifully content together in the simple excitement of the day.
By that night I was too exhausted when 7 o'clock rolled around and we decided not to venture into the cold for our church service. It's a tradition I love to do as a family but this year I couldn't bare to go through the process of rounding up the kids and getting them decked out for the holidays again. It was too much after our home made handiwork all day. So the pretty matching Christmas dresses didn't get worn but we had a nice quiet evening at home cozy and warm together. We curled up in the Bit's bed as a family and read "Clopper, the Christmas Donkey" with them. It's the cutest children's book about the Christmas story from the eyes of the donkey that carried Mary. The girls know it's a special time of year. We are careful to keep the deeper meaning in the forefront of all the Santa Clause hype. I know Chloe doesn't get it but Abigail does.
She loves a birthday and she knows it's all about Jesus this time of year. This too was the first year she knew the 'secret' of Santa. She hit me at the right honest moment this summer on a random drive home. She asked again (she used to ask all the time) if Santa was real. I started by giving her my usual answer of "sweetie, what do you think?". I think she kept asking because she was never satisfied with my answer. Abigail Grace is no dummy! She knows when something doesn't add up and she will keep at it until she gets to the bottom of it. When she pushed the issue this summer, I told her the truth. She got it and didn't seem sad at all that we'd been playing up a false idea for the past 6 yrs. And she was excited to play the role to let Chloe have some fun with the sentiment of it. There's no harm in the Night Before Christmas, we love that book too. I don't think Abigail ever really bought the idea of St. Nick but Brian and I never really sold it well. There are more important concepts to stress into a child's mind and heart then a fake man who watches if she's naughty or nice all year. We'd rather stress the real One who actually does exist and loves her enough to die for her. We want her to learn right Godly choices with tangible eternal blessings then simply earning more toys come December!
It was really the first year Abigail got what Christmas Eve was too and she had a very hard time falling asleep. Brian and I were so tired and tried so hard to stay awake until both kids were good and out. It took until about 11 then Brian and I got to work. I love that part of the holiday. When it's all finally done and I get to play and arrange it all in the room. It's one of my favorite moments as a parent. The old Fishers of Men employee comes out and I get to do displays again to make an area look as appealing as possible. I used to love to play in Dad's bookstore making things look nice to sell. I always snap a picture of the finished product of packages but evidently this year I forgot.
This year I was more anxious then in years past. Brian always passes out cold pretty quickly but I laid awake, even as exhausted as I was, thinking it all through. Hoping I didn't forget anything, hoping I got it even between the girls. Hoping I did enough to make everyone feel as special as they deserved. It was a new stress I hadn't felt before but the kids are older. They notice more. The pressure is on even if I'm the one putting it on myself, it's still there.
Now tiptoeing through the silent, ready & eager, no one stirring not even a mouse house....was nice. The tripod and video camera was in place to capture memories. The baby gate was up to prevent overnight peeking. I walked room to room looking at the girls. Another favorite time of my day. They looked so sweet in their new jammies, and there is something so wonderful when they're ..well...quiet! Ahhh, it was all set and ready. Of course Dad's play a huge role in the event that is Christmas morning, but few would deny most of the time the parent that bears the burden of it all getting done is the too pooped to pop mom at the end of the day. A load we happily bear for the joy of our families!
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The day went well. Even despite my classic blooper of dropping the video camera 10 seconds after the children walked in the room. Oh well, we can just remember Christmas 2012. We enjoyed unwrapping. It went by much faster then years previous. Hard to space it out. I guess at this age they just go wild and that's good too. A highlight for me was giving Abigail the fairy house I made her. She got a glow in the dark fairy from a friend this summer. She loved it then lost it after only a few short days. We never found it despite turning the house upside down for weeks. I had to hunt all over the internet for the discontinued toy. A little nook of a store in upstate NY had some left. It took a phone call to the manager but he sent me the little 69 cent toys. I got the 3 sister fairies and divided them up around the house with little rhyming notes about their lost green sister. Abigail was adorable going from spot to spot to read the clues and move to the next sister rescue. We finished in the freezing cold carport with bare feet and the finale of the favorite green fairy in her new fairy house. She loved it!
I think Brian's highlight was giving Abigail the Disney stock. It is something he has had such joy in sharing the world of Disney with his 2 sweet girls. He loved giving her "A little piece of the magic" as the plaque says. I think Chloe's favorite was the larger then life train house her grampa Mike gave her. She squealed with delight as Brian put it together.
We ate our splurge of butcher cut fresh bacon and cinnamon rolls by Grammie. Mom and Dad came over for lunch and we enjoyed giving Dad his corn hole game. He loved it! It was a great time with them then we headed to Deana and Greg's by dinner to play with the other half of our family. It was such a blessed day. Good memories made and good pictures. We have so much to be thankful for. and that's exactly what we are...so thankful!
