Christmas celebrations

On December 22, we loaded up the 15 passenger van and headed to the huge town of Ada for the childrens' annual shopping trip at the Dollar Tree. It was a wild night to say the least. Everyone divided up the children, and the older children helped the little ones, the look on the clerks face was priceless when she saw the line of little children and their gifts.

I had done a lot of collecting of gifts from the salvation army, yard sales, and consignment stores over the past few months, so the children had done some of their shopping at home so to speak.

I cut back on my baking, and limited myself to a few cookies, and then some bar cookies, homemade hot chocolate, and cakes or cupcakes as gifts. I spent less time on my feet which is very important lately.

Christmas Eve we cleaned the house, and I enlisted help in cooking dinner. Tony came by with a gift for Ashley, and stayed to eat with us. The children all opened their gifts from each other, and Grammy later that evening, and before you knew it, it was time to head out for midnight mass.

It was a wonderful gift having all my family at Mass together. Alexandra was so tired, we ended up in the hall half-way through church, as she was voicing her displeasure.

It was 2:00 a.m. when we returned home, and got everyone into bed. Andrew, Kyle, and Tiffiany stayed up to help me get everything ready for Christmas morning, and we got to bed about 4:30. Thank goodness, the children slept 'til 10:00 a.m. They all opened their Stockings, and then from youngest to oldest, opened their Santa gifts. The girls helped me prepare breakfast, and then we all began opening the family gifts, and of course the childrens' gifts from us.

Ben had to go into work for a few hours, so I cooked Christmas Dinner with Andrew and Tiffianys' help. It was pretty simple, I wanted to make it easy for me.

We decorated the tables, and broke out the china, it was a very enjoyable holiday for us.

Alexandra truly celebrated the 12 days of Christmas, as she opened her presents one at a time through the Feast of the Epiphany. She enjoyed the boxes, and ribbons, and wrapping paper. I think opening her gifts over several days allowed her to really enjoy each gift, and didn't overwhelm her.

I truly love the whole season of christmas. The decorations, the fun, the baking, the eating, spending time together, it was so much fun watching the childrens' excitement.

Thank you Lord for the gift of Christmas as seen through the eyes of a child.