Our Holly Jolly Christmas

My camera is bursting at the seams with all of the Christmas pictures that I have been taking over the past few days.  I wish I could share them all, but really, there are only so many pictures of opening presents and showing off new toys that one can stand.  I know I will cherish them, though, as well as all of the memories from this Christmas.  We had a wonderful holiday, filled with all of the things that are important--- family, time to slow down and enjoy being together, thoughtful gifts and love shared with each other.  And the kids had a blast!  My title to this post is in honor of the fact that Lauren sang this song ALL CHRISTMAS LONG.  For whatever reason, it has become her favorite this year, even though she only knows half (at best) of the words.  I just love listening to her sing.

I found myself thinking back to last Christmas a lot these past few days.  This time last year, I was super pregnant (and super sick of it) and had the worst sinus infection of my life that couldn't be medicated due to the pregnancy.  To say I was miserable was an understatement.  Add to that Joshua's case of pink eye on Christmas Eve that had us homebound and we were a real joy to be with.  I recall laying on the couch while the kids opened their gifts, just trying to muster the strength to enjoy them.  Oh how much has changed in one short year.  Mara is here now- causing trouble everywhere she goes, but smiling all the way.  We were all healthy this Christmas....my Christmas miracle, and no one had any trouble enjoying each other and all of the festivities.

We headed to Lewistown on Saturday morning for the big Richard Family bash at Stacie and Noah's house.  The kids had an absolute blast playing with their cousins in their garage that Stacie had outfitted with toys, a slide, and all sorts of things they could ride.  My choice of those cute little white leggings was a horrible one--- they were filthy by the time the evening was over.  But as I have always maintained, I have learned as a Mom that the dirtier the kids are, the better time they have had.  We had a great time catching up with cousins that we haven't seen in a long time.  Since last year, the Richard family has expanded by 3 new babies- Mara in January, Reed in February and Hayden in November.  To say that our family is blessed with beautiful, fun, healthy kids is the world's biggest understatement.  They are loved by so many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents that it's hard to imagine.  I love nothing more than knowing that my kids are getting to experience Richard Christmas celebrations just like Libby and I did growing up.  We made a few special crafts to give to Grandma Shirley and Bill, and Pappy Fred and Freda with all the kids handprints in the shape of a Christmas tree.  It turned out so cute, and I think the kids all had quite a lot of fun painting their hands.  We used little baby Hayden's footprint as the star on our tree--- and it was perfect. 

On Sunday morning, we headed to Maitland Church of the Bretheren for the cantata that my Dad was conducting and that a whole bunch of wonderful family and friends were singing in.  It was wonderful!  I did a good bit of kid wrestling with Mara to keep her quiet and relatively calm in the pew, but ended up having to take her out to the nursery for the last 10 minutes or so of the cantata.  Jason had also made two trips out of church with Josh and Lauren to use the potty.  It was comical, although not to him.  We headed back to Nana and Pap's for our family Christmas celebration at their house, complete with lots of presents, time to spend with Pappy Ray and a yummy lasagna dinner.  We had a really great day together.  The kids had tons of fun playing with their new toys.

We returned home on Monday around lunch time and had a very quiet Christmas Eve at home.  We had made the difficult decision not to attend Christmas Eve service at the church because of the ages of the kids.  There was just no good way to manage the evening service with the kids' bedtimes and keep our Christmas spirit in tact.  I knew that even if we did go, I would end up in the nursery within the first 20 minutes of the service with Mara (and likely Lauren and Josh) leaving Jason sitting alone in the sanctuary.  And something about just being together as a family on Christmas Eve seemed the priority.  And so we stayed home.  We ate a nice supper, put out our cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and the reindeer, got tubs, watched the Polar Express together, and got ready for our Christmas morning excitement.

At 5:45, Joshua was standing beside the bed, asking if we could go downstairs to see if Santa came.  Seeing as I had just laid down in bed for the first time around 4:30, I opted to let him take a peek and continue to close my eyes a bit longer.  In retrospect, I should have just gotten up, because he continued to pester me for the next hour and fifteen minutes about going downstairs to get down to business.  We finally woke Daddy and Lauren at 7:00 and then headed downstairs together.  The kids were beside themselves!  Santa certainly was good to them this year.

Mara showed little interest in actually opening presents.  In fact, most of that red pile (which was hers) was still wrapped up at supper time on Christmas evening.  She was too busy bothering Josh and Lauren and getting into their wrapping paper scraps and boxes to open her own things.  So, we'll save a few for her birthday next week and bring out the other new things Santa brought her when she tires of playing with the toys that are out. 

 This was Lauren wearing the new tiara and necklace/bracelet that Joshua picked out for her on his shopping trip with Daddy.  I thought it was sweet because Joshua had accidentally stepped on Lauren's old tiara and broken it, and he told Jason he wanted to pick out a new one for her.  Lauren loves it and says it makes her feel like a real princess.  What a sweet boy Joshua is turning into.

 I loved this picture of Lauren playing with her princess castle in her Strawberry Shortcake ballgown and her new tiara.  She was in absolute heaven playing with her new things and declared that every gift she opened was just what she wanted.  What I loved most about Joshua and Lauren both is that they said 'Thank You' after opening each and every gift.  I am a sucker for good manners and really appreciated seeing that in them on Christmas.

Joshua continues to love to dress up as characters and pretend.  His imagination is one of my favorite things about him.  This was one of his favorites-- Peter Pan.  He also got a Hulk costume (complete with fists), an FBI costume and a cowboy costume.  All have gotten quite a bit of wear time since Christmas morning.

After our family fun in the morning, Jason's parents came down to exchange gifts in the afternoon.  We had a great time with them and the kids certainly had fun opening the things they brought for them.  Mara did a little better job, and with some coaxing, opened her things from Grandma and Grandpa, but was more interested in the boxes and paper than anything else.  It will be interesting to see how she handles her birthday next weekend!

Among all of the wonderful gifts I was given, I was thrilled most of all, to have these three...the joy of my heart...to spend Christmas with.  I am loving how our own little family traditions are shaping up, and I find myself wondering what our kids will remember about Christmas at home when they are older.  I know that Christmas memories with my family are some of my most treasured ones, and I count it a great blessing to have the opportunity to be writing our own memories with our own little family. 



The gift of God's son is one that I try every single year to wrap my mind around.  But "God with us" means that Christmas can be every single day of the year--- He came to be with us always, not just on Christmas morning.  My prayer this year is that my life would speak to honoring that gift in word, thought and deed, throughout the coming year.

Merry Christmas, everyone!