Merry Christmas, Little Loves and Lilyisms

Quite unlike the Grinch, I love Christmas - the whole Christmas season!  It is Christmas Eve, and in anticipation of the great day tomorrow, I thought I'd record just a bit of the lead-up this year...

 

My view while hanging Christmas lights. 
Spencer slept inside (I had the monitor) while
Lily and Connor played outside.
Here they're digging in my planter.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving weekend we decorated and watched Charlie Brown
Christmas for the first time.  It and the Grinch have become fast
favorites around here, both working their way into Connor's limited
spoken vocabulary.  "Grinch?" and "Brown?" are frequent requests.

Connor sitting in the ornaments' storage box with
his truck.  He was a big helper in decorating the tree.

Despite his small size, Connor wanted ornaments
hung all over the tree.  I mean ALL over the tree,
including on the star.  In fact, if all the ornaments
could have been on the star, I think he would have
had us put them all there.  Daddy and I limited it
to two.

Helping me make Christmas goodies. These two are really
fantastic!  They (mostly) don't taste ingredients while cooking,
and they (mostly) don't snitch the goodies when they're cooling...

This was Mommy-sanctioned beater licking.

Spencer snuggling with Great-Grandma Francl
on Chase's birthday, just a few days before Christmas. 

A focus around here lately has been sibling interactions - mainly
trying to limit the fighting and bickering and promote positive
play together.  We struggled for what seemed like weeks, and then
one day, we had this - happy playing together - and it seems to
have been a bit of a breakthrough.  Hurray!  It was a whole day
with almost no fighting or squealing (except in delight)!

We always celebrate Christmas Eve with Chase's
family.  This gift to "Ant Steph" was from my
nephew, Tyus, sitting in the middle of the other two
boys.  He's in elementary, and they made a really
cool wooden sign that they painted at school.
His mom told him he could give it to anyone he
wanted, and he picked me!  He painted it himself,
he wrapped it himself, and he wrote the tag himself.
It's one of my favorite gifts this Christmas!  Totally
unexpected.  It blessed this ant's heart to no end!

Just before we started opening presents at Chase's family's
Christmas.  Lily was clearly excited.  Connor had no idea how
excited he should have been.  Spencer slept through almost all of
the opening festivities.

Hurray for Christmas!

He is so cute it's almost too much for this momma
to take!  His first Christmas Eve and he's 2 months
old on it.  Here he's a little concerned/interested in
what his cousins are doing nearby.

We got home from Grandma and Grandpa's house well after the
kids' bedtime.  We tucked them in and then prepared for "Santa."
"He" came!

Full stockings.  Full tree.  Full heart! 

 

Christmas is easily my favorite day/time of the year.  Sure, it's "commercialized."  But I don't have to celebrate it that way. 

 

As Chase assembled one of my presents tonight (a stool for the kids to stand on while they help me cook in the kitchen), he commented how this is easily one of the very best times of the year to have kids.  We, as parents, get to celebrate again through our children - the light in their eyes, their eager anticipation, their wonder at the holiday. 

 

Last night as we drove home from looking at Christmas lights, Lily sat in the back seat and sang her own little made up songs....

 

"I love my parents, because they give me presents!"

"They show love by giving presents."  (At least she gets the reason for presents...)

 

Her songs shifted from presents to Adam and Eve:

 

"...but they said 'the serpent made me do it.'"

"They lied.  But God still loved them even though they disobeyed."  (We've been dealing with lieing lately.  Maybe I'm getting through?)

 

"Jesus was a present to uuuuuuuuuuuussss."

 

Christmas time with children.  The birth of the Christ-child.  Celebrating His birth some 2,000 years later.  What a treasure.  How blessed I feel tonight as I wait with eager anticipation mirroring theirs for Christmas morn. 

 

Merry Christmas, little loves.  Mommy can't wait to see you in the morning!