It has been a full December! We didn't do several things I had mentally planned (Living Nativity, free train show, Lessons & Carols) but I need to keep reminding myself that the girls are still young and there are (hopefully) many years ahead to enjoy those things. And thankfully we didn't have as much sickness as we had last December! There was a lot of oil diffusing, chest rubbing, and handing out of probiotics and vitamins at our place- anything to help keep sickness at bay!
Tim did take three of the girls to Breakfast with Santa one Saturday, while I stayed home with a sick Audrey. Evie and Audrey also went to a Bethlehem Walk at a local parish with their aunt, uncle, cousins, and my mom, and we made it to both of Evie and Audrey's school Christmas programs, which were on the same day. Audrey was Mary in her pre-k pageant and Evie sang with her class in the older grade program.
Tim also took the older three to the dollar store on Christmas Adam to pick out gifts for each other, which I'm sure was a hoot; I don't think anything was a surprise. ;) On Christmas Eve we went to my parent's house for an appetizer dinner and enjoyed our neighborhood's farolitas on the way home!
We went to our usual Sunday mass time for Christmas morning mass; I do LOVE mass on Christmas Eve but after years of trying different parishes and finding every.single.one packed to the GILLS (our parish had six masses just on the Eve!), plus combating post-nap grumpiness and dinner time, we found going in the morning works well for us.
On Christmas morning I had to wake up Cora and Heidi, and when I brought Heidi down she looked at the tree and presents and then turned to me and said, "Mom! We got you chocolates!". Such a sweet girl!
We enjoyed opening some presents, threw some food in front of the girls and headed out the door-
And that's when our Christmas morning became eventful.
The mini van battery was dead ("as dead as a doornail"). After several minutes of doing the things that help re-charge it with no success, Tim told me to go ahead and take Evie and Cora to mass in his car.
Very thankfully mass wasn't crowded at all, we sat with my parents and brother, and Tim, Audrey, and Heidi made it to mass by the readings (Christmas miracle!).
We were having my family over for Christmas brunch right after mass, and my sister had texted me they would be at our place before we got back from mass (as far as I knew, they had no way to get in).
Well, when I pulled up to our house I took one look at the place and was certain we had been burglarized (burgled?). I saw my sister's van, but the garage and front door were wide open, and one of the front windows had been jimmied up. We have ancient storm windows without screens and they are such a pain to open that we never open them. (Also, it was super cold and windy.)
Then my brother-in-law came out and told me that Tim had left a door open for them, and they had gone ahead and started a fire in the fireplace but the flue wasn't open, so the house filled with smoke. Haha, something we've definitely done before! NBD.
This stinker is continually snatching Mary from the Nativity scene and keeping an iron clasp on her |
After the chilly start to the brunch the rest of the day was relaxing. :)
Evie took it upon herself to tape up some self-made decorations, adding a bit of cheer to our walls. ;)
Cora's favorite presents were her baby doll and a ball one of her sister's picked for her- I love how little it takes to please youngin's!
Cora's favorite presents were her baby doll and a ball one of her sister's picked for her- I love how little it takes to please youngin's!
[Somehow Cora chipped her front teeth in November, and days before Christmas Evie got glasses. It was heart-wrenching to see her try them on and watch her face as she realized how much better she could now see. Poor thing!]
After naps we went over to my parent's again for a Christmas feast (and some eye-gouging, in Tim's case).
I have seriously done nothing productive this past week and am a teensy bit dreading when the to-dos of next week hit me in the face, but first ringing in the New Year.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!