A Fun Christmas Surprise!

Hope you all had a VERY Merry Christmas!  We had a great one here, despite the fact that it was all over much too soon :0(   Andrew will be 10 years old in just 2 days, so I realize I don't have much longer to celebrate Christmas in such a fun and childlike way (although, there will hopefully be grandchildren someday...).  I just love the JOY children bring to Christmas.  Yes, it is all SO very tiring, but the smiles and laughter makes it all SOOOOOO worthwhile.  And the family time we get to enjoy is priceless. 
The biggest highlight this year was snow and sledding on Christmas eve.  We got to go to Christmas eve service with our hair still wet from our time spent sledding together.  Honestly, I'm fairly certain that was one of the best family times we have ever had.  We went to a local park with some huge sledding hills and there weren't many other people there (not many people are crazy enough to go to a park with huge hills on the entrance drive during a snowstorm!).  The snow was pouring out of the sky, and everything was so white and pristine.  I just love how quiet and beautiful it is when the snow is coming down like that.  And our kids had SO MUCH FUN!!!  I can't say I have ever been sledding on Christmas Eve before.  It was certainly worth ignoring the final Christmas preparations that needed to be completed  at home. They got done later... MUCH later :0)

Caleb's Christmas Program

Caleb's preschool program did not disappoint!  He looked absolutely PRECIOUS up there, just singing his little heart out :0)  Singing Jingle Bells was a highlight for Caleb because he got to ring jingle bells during the song- he talked about this every single day for two months and just COULD NOT wait to get to do this in front of an audience!  My biggest fear is that he would not let go of them when the song ended and it came time for the teacher to collect them from all of the kids.  Much to my relief, Caleb did relinquish the bells without a fuss!  He just had to sueeze in that little extra ring first!!!  LOL :0)

The Wonder of Christmas

This one is for Carrie and Amanda...

Wow! This month passed by so quickly! Is tomorrow really New Year's Eve already? I never planned on taking a month off from blogging, but clearly that is exactly what happened.

This year was different from any other Christmas I have ever experienced as a mother. This year, I was painfully aware that the childlike wonder of Christmas is almost over for my oldest three already. I spent every moment of December just trying to soak it all in with them, and it was just wonderful! Our time was spent baking, playing in the snow, singing Christmas carols around the piano together, driving around looking at Christmas lights, shopping and wrapping gifts for family and friends, and talking about what it must have been like that to be Mary or Joseph during the time of Jesus' birth. Understanding of the miracle of Christmas is beginning to take shape in the minds of my oldest three, and I know that their childlike wonder is being replaced with something even better... a deep awe for the gift God gave all of us

For Caleb, the childlike wonder of Christmas began this year. Caleb fell in love with all things Christmas and quickly learned countless songs, learned more about the Christmas story, and just LOVED his visit to Santa. Just like last year, Caleb answered quickly and clearly when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas. He looked Santa squarely in the eyes and said, "I want drums, please". When Santa asked if he had been good, he looked down and said nothing. Mommy and Daddy had to tell Santa that yes, Caleb had been a good boy this year and that he had made some mistakes, but that he is always learning and improving. Santa agreed that this is indeed what he is wanting to hear, and that Caleb would be getting his drums. And so Caleb got drums for Christmas and has been filling our house with "music" ever since. Thanks, Santa!!! :0)

Merry belated Christmas to you all and may you be filled with Christmas JOY each and every day of the New Year!

C's First Christmas

C had a great first Christmas! Although it was surely overwhelming and confusing to him at times, he took it all in stride... even his first visit to Santa surprised us. The big kids all wanted to go see Santa, so C tagged along. We knew full well C would most likely be terrified by Santa, so we told him he did not have to sit on his lap or talk to him if he didn't want to. Once we got there, though, and he saw his brother and sister sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas, he decided he had to do the same. Before I could even snap a picture, C walked right up to Santa, allowed Santa to hoist him up on his lap, looked Santa straight in the eyes and said "TRUCK!" loudly and clearly before Santa had even spoken a single word to him. He then quickly hopped right back off of Santa's lap and calmly returned to the safety of Mommy and Daddy. Santa would never have believed C spoke only Russian just 6 months ago and has never been to visit Santa before! And guess what?

C got a truck for Christmas (actually, he got several)! Santa did not disappoint :0)

Below are some pics from our Christmas family picture-taking party. In order to get the kids to smile for the pics and to help them to see it as fun, I decided to call it a picture-taking party and let them each take a bunch of pictures. Not only did the kids have a blast, they actually took some really cute pictures! We will be using this tactic a lot more in the future! Oh- mute the music and listen to video at the end... you can hear C's Russian accent (trills his R's and says kreesmees)... so cute :0)

We hope you all had a very blessed Christmas and may your New Year be full of JOY!