A Whirlwind Christmas

We were late in getting ready for Christmas this year.  Except for listening to holiday music on the radio as we drove around town, there was little in our life to recognize that Advent was upon us.  This week, however, we feverishly pulled ourselves together and began celebrating Christmas before it's too late!

We finally got a tree this week and the boys were elated!  The lights were glowing, the music was playing, the children were making a mess and breaking ornaments...er, I mean, the children were helpfully sweeping the pine needles off the ground and hanging the ornaments with care, right?

We eventually distracted them away from the tree by pulling out their Nativity.  This Little People set keeps their eager little hands busy!  Caleb loves to make the donkeys pull the wagon and put Baby Jesus on the roof while Kai loves to throw everything on the ground.

Then, yesterday we celebrated Christmas.  We realized a couple days ago that it would be our last chance to do so until after New Year's.  Between Eli's work schedule and our holiday travel plans, we're booked till next year.  So after a quick jaunt to the store for some last-minute stocking stuffers and a last-minute gift-wrapping session, we were ready to celebrate!

When we came downstairs in the morning and the boys realized something was different from our normal morning routine, they were a little confused, then moderately intrigued, then overwhelmingly excited when they realized there were presents to open.  "Presents, Mama!  Let's open it!"

It was a fun morning, to say the least.  Caleb's excitement and awe was amazing to watch.  Kai's contented interest and willingness to share toys was delightful to see.  They truly captivated our hearts!

On a different note, there was one other event sandwiched into our Whirlwind Christmas this week.  Our Small Group (that's reading through the Chronicles of Narnia) had a "Banquet at Cair Paravel" and we, naturally, decided to dress up for the occasion.  In order to dress like Narnians, I pulled out my old prom dress and Eli pulled out his hobbit costume and we decided to be Prince Caspian (as he might look on the Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and Ramandu's daughter who ultimately becomes Queen of Narnia.  It was a lot of fun!  (And yes, I really did wear this blue dress to prom my senior year.  Our prom had a Camelot theme and I wanted to enjoy it for all it was worth, so my mom made this dress for me and I loved it!)  The party was fabulous - everyone made food from a Narnia cookbook that someone had, so we ate great food while playing Pictionary and chasing the kids around.  We feel so blessed to be part of such a fun and engaging Small Group this year!

All that to say, this week has been a Whirlwind Christmas for us.  The holiday celebrations will continue next week as we venture to Michigan to see my family.  We haven't seen my parents and my older sister's family in five months, and we haven't seen my twin sister's family in a year, so we are very eager to get home and see everyone and let the kids play!