The Eve of the Eve

It is the day.  Well, actually, it's the day before the day.  Or, to be more precise, it's the day before the day before the day!  What I mean to say is that tomorrow is Christmas Eve and the beginning of the official Christmas celebrations in the House of Francl.  And I'm looking forward to it more than ever for two reasons:

Reason #1

Reason #2

It's been a full run up to tonight.  But let's be honest.  We're all "busy."  All the time.  And then in the days leading up to Christmas, it's even more BUSY.  But busy is blessed because it means we have things to do, people to care for, places to go, ways to get there, and so many things for which to be thankful!

Yesterday I was overwhelmed by all that I didn't get done while Chase was away at work.  Namely, about 9 loads of laundry that had been waiting [I don't want to admit how long, so I won't] to be folded.  It was the only thing on my "To Do List," and I didn't even come close to getting it done. I think I managed to get about 8 shirts folded by the time Chase walked through the door.

Sure I accomplished other things.  But I was so frustrated with myself.  Ashamed that I couldn't manage my household well enough to even fold the laundry.  I mean, it should have been folded the day it came out of the dryer, not [I'm still not telling how many] days later.  Not to mention all the other things that hadn't gotten done.

It's the struggle.  The daily-ness.  And it sounds so stupid as I sit here and write it.

This season, it's not about the daily.  Or maybe it is.  It's about a day that was so different than any other day in the entire course of history that God himself sent his Son to this earth to make His debut.  And then, because He was so proud and because it was such a miracle of an event, God sent a crazy-ton of angles to fill the sky and announce the amazing thing that had happened.  I get that - the day my kids were born, I wanted everyone to come see, I wanted to show them off, I wanted the world to know how very lucky it was to have my baby in it!  Imagine how God must have glowed as the Heavenly Father that day.

And because that one day that was so different from any other day ever before, every day after it holds not simply the promise of Hope yet coming, but instead holds Hope itself.

What a gift.  What an amazing time in which we live.  And what a shame that I get lost in my own expectations of myself and crabbed around my house over some [no longer] stinking [even if it wasn't folded] laundry!  (To put your minds at ease, it's all FINALLY folded.  At times like this I vow to never let it pile up on me like that again fully knowing at some point it's painfully inevitable.)

Not again, or at least I'm going to try not to be a crab again even if/when the laundry piles higher than Everest.  There is so much I didn't get done this season.  The daily countdown calendar I was going to do with Lily says we're still 9 days away from Christmas; there are cookies that will never get baked; I still haven't watched 2 of my favorite Christmas movies; and you wont' be getting the Francl family Christmas card until after Christmas.  BUT...

But there's Hope.  Thanks to that babe so many years ago in that manger.  That babe who left perfection and came to... well... to us.  And let's just be real here - I'm not perfection in the least.  That anyone would leave perfection to come down here for me?  That's a miracle.  And God happens to be in the business of doing miracles!  Praise His name!

So while we were not folding laundry this last week, here are some things we WERE doing, and I think you'll agree, they were way more fun than laundry.

We took Whitaker to the vet, which the cat didn't particularly like, but we non-cats enjoyed.  In the picture below, you can see how Whitaker rode on the 20 minute ride to the vet (see him behind Lily's hat).  He stayed there the whole time, peeking out the window over his girl's shoulder.  And on the 20 minute ride home, he sat curled up in the lap of Lily, his girl.  They fight, they pick on each other, but those two entertain each other for hours and they love each other dearly.

We went to the library and (finally) returned our overdue books. And we had a great time.  Our library is a wonderful place - they have tons of books (can you believe it!?!  Just kidding.), toys for Connor to play with, and an adorable puppet theater.  Lily is at the age where she's pretending and making characters talk to each other.  They have wonderful little conversations and here she is putting on a puppet show for me and Connor.

And speaking of Connor, he doesn't stay in one place very long.  He's developing and learning and growing like CRAZY.  When I watch him play and explore the world around him, I can just see the wheels in his little head turning and processing.  He likes things that make noise, especially if they make noise when he shakes or hits them (like drums or maracas).  He learned to clap recently, and we hit most things to see what kind of a sound they make.  Except the cat and dog.  We try not to hit them.  Or the sister.

A couple of days ago, he was doing his little "worm" crawl across the living room where Chase and I were talking and Lily was playing, and Lily all of a sudden broke into our conversation.  "Mom, Connor sat up by himself!"  And sure enough, he had!  From his worm crawl into the sitting position all by his big self.  :)  ...aaaaaaand the big sister noticed it first.  She's 3.  And she noticed it.  And she knew it was a big enough deal to interrupt our conversation and notify us.  *sigh* We have great kids!

And today, he chased this pink balloon all around the living room, including all the way around and behind the recliner.  And that hair, compliments of his nap.  Isn't he great?!?

Hope.  And not just Hope for the sake of hope, but Hope for Eternal Life.  Merry Christmas.