An Almost Quiet Christmas Eve

It was just the four of us this year. It made for a quiet Christmas Eve, unless you count Little Man's incessant whining for no apparent reason. (We always blame that kind on teething whether it's true or not.)

Christmas Eve day started out with a trip to the gym. My husband and I were able to workout while the children played in the childcare center. We ended the time at the gym by taking the children to the basketball courts and letting them chase basketballs around like maniacs. They got in the way of several one-on-one games, but everyone was kind about it. It was Christmas Eve after all. In fact, this was probably one of my favorite moments this year. I can't describe how happy it made me to watch my husband, who is a phenomenal daddy, run around with two healthy and happy children. He chased them and lifted them up so they could dunk the ball. At that moment, I realized I had all I could want for Christmas. Then, the rest of the day happened and, well, it wasn't bad, but let's just there were times I could add a little peace and quiet to my Christmas list.

We decided to follow up the trip to the gym with lunch out and furniture shopping. We were thinking, "hey, it's Christmas Eve, no one will be at the furniture store." Well, we were wrong. Fortunately, we did find a dresser for Little Man's room, so the baby will now inherit his dresser. This is good as the baby had no place for clothes or a changing. Though, my husband did remind me that the baby won't care where it's clothes are stored or it's little behind is changed. No, this is true, but the little one's hormonal mommy cares. Daddy was kind enough to agree that a new dresser was in order. So, we found the dresser and waited forever in line with everyone else who apparently thought it was a good time to pick up furniture. Needless to say, we won't be making furniture shopping a Christmas tradition.

Of course, by this time it was after nap time. Big Sister and Little Man fell asleep in the car. This meant that Big Sister was NOT going to sleep at home. I left Daddy to fight that battle while I braved the grocery store. It was as I expected--crazy. I managed to get what we needed and some. I hauled it home where I had a little breakdown over the fact that we needed to leave for church in two hours and how in the world would I make potato soup for a Shepherd's meal after church? It was going to be bedtime before I'd have the potatoes in the pot. The Shepherd's meal was scratched in favor of lasagna. I felt somewhat frustrated that we wouldn't be able to start that tradition this year. But, the lasagna was good and ready to heat up after we got home from church.

The Christmas Eve service was a family service. Our children are used to going to the nursery or children's church. They've been going to the nursery since they were a few months old. This was their first experience inside "big church." Need I say more? I suppose I could at least be grateful that no one got burnt on a candle. Or, I could apologize for the copious amounts of goldfish cracker crumbs we left on the floor.

We returned home for a dinner that everyone seemed to enjoy, a rarity around here. Then, it was time for the Christmas Eve presents which were pajamas. Big Sister was happy with the sparkly snowman on hers, but little man couldn't have cared less. It was exactly what I expected.

The children went to sleep pretty easily and it was time to haul up the presents. We did so and were amazed at the amount. We were trying to keep it simple, but we forgot the generosity of the grandparents who also sent gifts. It made for quite the display under the tree.

I finished baking a birthday cake for Jesus, that despite my best intentions, would have to be decorated and enjoyed in the morning.

We collapsed into bed tired from a long day. Despite being exhausted, I was almost too excited to sleep, as I could hardly wait to see Big Sister and Little Man's faces Christmas morning.