Christmas 2011

Christmas was a complete success!! We spent wonderful, quality time with our families and unwrapped a gazillion presents from all of our amazing family and friends.
It was Maggie's first Christmas where she was really understood unwrapping presents--at first she was pulling one piece at a time and putting it in the trash but by present-palooza 999, she had the process down pat. She loves her Cabbage Patch baby Ella, vanity, and the Barbie jeep. Her purse, books, and "wip-wip" (lipstick) are also favorites.

Ian was the most excited about Christmas and at 3am on Christmas morning, he was wide awake and ready to open Santa! He loved his Nintendo DS and his iPad. I mean really, what 8 year old kid wouldn't be thrilled by an iPad? Thanks Mom & Dad for spoiling him completely. Even I am thrilled about it, even if I have to ask permission to use it! He got a bike and cornhole boards, which I know he loves. He told me the best part of Christmas was just spending time with me. I love that kid.

  I felt like I spent most of the season convincing Will to believe in the Magic of Christmas. He only wanted to convince me that Jesus loved him regardless of what Santa thought and that Elfie wasn't as magical as I claimed he was. He even went as far as to tell us Christmas Eve that Santa wasn't real at all. I think he changed his mind on Christmas morning because Santa got him everything on his list, but this is Will, so I really have no idea.  He tells me he is most thrilled by his BB gun (maybe he won't shoot his eye out?) and his Scooter. But he loves his bike, the iPad (which was a joint gift for he and Ian), and his Nerf Oozie.

My favorite gift of the year? My rockin' new cowboy boots from my in laws! Love, love, love them! Josh and I don't exchange gifts for Christmas. After all, we have each other's love ;)But he did buy me a purple Snuggie for my birthday and I love it almost as much as my boots!

The gift that out gave all? Our decision to adopt a family for Christmas. We have always helped out with Operation Christmas Child, helped with Angel Tree, given to the Salvation Army, but we have never taken on the task of helping to provide Christmas for an entire family. And compared to other years, this was the year that we didn't have the money to do it.  However, Josh knows the father of this family and he came home a couple of weeks before Christmas convinced that we needed to find a way to help this family.Deciding to do something like this is very typical of me. But Josh? It's not that he isn't charitable. It's just that he doesn't usually volunteer us for ANY kind of project. But I could tell that this family and their circumstances were truly convicting him to do something. So we did. It wasn't fancy and it wasn't anything to brag about, but we did it. We got the kids involved and they were so excited to pick out toys for this family of 6 children. Our decision do to this is also why none of you received Christmas cards from us this year...so we weren't being rude, we were just using that money to pay forward all of the great kindness that we have received this year.

I know our small contribution to this family helped make their Holiday brighter, but for us, it made it radiate far brighter than I could have imagined. When I was wrapping the presents for the family, Will came to me with his most favorite Buzz Lightyear and said, "Mom, you know I love this Buzz, but I would love him even more if he could go to one of the boys in that family." Of course, we weren't asking him to sacrifice his own stuff but the gesture was almost more than my heart could handle. So even if Will wasn't keen on Santa or understand the magic that comes with Christmas, I know that his heart understands the importance of giving, even when we think that we don't have the resources to give. He understands sharing our joy with others. Even at 3, he understood that Jesus' love for us is more important than anything else. And despite all of his misgivings about the magic of Christmas, he ended the year knowing the true meaning of Christmas!

To Be Naughty or Nice?

My children LOVE this time of year! Ian especially. He has the magic of Christmas in his heart and he is so excited about presents & cookies & Christmas trees! I love to see Christmas through his eyes--so innocent and sweet. He also keeps reminding all of us that Christmas is really about the celebration of Christ's birth and that reminder is important, especially for me. I am kind of a Grinch. I love the meaning of Christmas and I love my children's excitement but I hate all of the shopping and present hoopla. Probably why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday--just food & family. But I really try hard to get into the Christmas spirit--for their sakes at least.

We decorated our tree right after Thanksgiving. We wrote our lists to Santa--I only asked for peace and quiet and I hope Santa really comes through for me on that one. Maggie is too young of course, but she at least understands the tree is "pwetty" and loves redecorating it every day---we are playing musical ornaments only there is no music and Maggie is the only one moving ornaments all over the tree. She also walks around saying "Ho, Ho, Ho" a lot but so far, no luck getting her near Santa. Creepy dudes in red suits are best for girls to avoid any way.

Ian's list was modest for the most part. He wants a bike, a Nintendo DS, and for his Dad & me to "take a chill pill." I'm not lying. He really wrote that in his letter. His list was much shorter this year than usual. Typically he marks everything in the Toy R Us Great Big Toy Book. But since he is singing in the Christmas musical at Church, "The Great Christmas Giveaway," he seems to understand that Christmas is much more about giving than receiving.

And then there is Will. My sweet but naughty little Will.

At first, I wasn't sure what to make of his indifference about Christmas. In his letter to Santa, he drew pictures of a guitar, a scooter, and a Nintendo DS. That was all he wanted. (You can tell he is the middle child--he keeps his expectations low). But what puzzled me most was his indifference toward our Elf, Elfie. When we came back from the lowcountry for Thanksgiving, Elfie was on the mantle waiting for us. Ian LOVES Elfie. He wakes up super early every morning and searches the house for his new spot. Will didn't wake up early and he didn't look for Elfie when he did roll out of bed. He seemed especially put off by my warnings that Elfie was there to report back to Santa about being naughty or nice. For the first week, Will convinced himself that Elfie was just a doll. After all, if he wasn't real, then Will could be as naughty as he wanted and Santa would never know. Trying to test whether Elfie contained any magic at all, I caught Will trying to knock him from him perch in the living room with a rolling pin. So, Elfie had to get creative...and be naughty too!

Recently, we have woken up to a Christmas tree littered with underwear, a dining room covered in toilet paper, and this morning, our pictures on the wall had notes from Santa signed by Elfie. While my first thought was Will--you know how much he loves to write on anything other than paper--but Elfie was hanging upside down from a picture with the marker in his hand! Will was beyond thrilled. Finally, someone around the house who was getting in more trouble than him! He is 'all in' now and can't wait to see what Elfie will do next. The little skeptic (who happens to be a lot like his Momma in this regard) finally thinks that Christmas and Santa are fun. I can't wait to see his face in the morning...I just noticed that Elfie is on top of a picture, suspending Woody from Toy Story  from a rope upside down over the mantle. What will he come up with next?