Chirstmas Eve

What a great night! After naps, Eli and Maddux got dressed up in their holiday duds: Eli in last year's slacks and sweater vest and Maddux in her pink tutu skirt. Eli was so cute, calling his get-up 'work clothes'. He was so excited to dress up in 'work clothes just like Daddy'. The kicker is, Lehr never wears wool pants or a sweater vest. I guess it was the button up shirt that did it. Eli's outfit was topped off with his cool grey hat...he was quite a hit at church! Our Christmas Eve service was about an hour due to children staying in the service with their parents. Eli loved the music and the candles, and he sat very well with Daddy while the pastor talked. Maddie was another story. She sat for one minute here, 30 seconds there, but she was never attentive. I brought a few books and some snacks which helped, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The good news is, I never had to leave the service! After the sermon and lighting of candles (which Eli got to participate in), I took Eli up for communion with me. He wanted some 'juice and crackers', but I explained that this was a special ritual he would get to participate in when he was a little older. Then I told him Mommy was going to stay on the steps and pray, and I asked him to pray with me. Eli put his little hands together and prayed with me as I thanked God for the gift of Jesus and for all of the special gifts we received this year. I was blown away by his focus, especially given all that was happening around us with communion and music on stage.

After the service we went to dinner with another family at a nearby restaurant. It was so nice to be able to sit and celebrate with them on such a special night. They have two children also, so the dinner could have been interesting. However, Lehr sat at the end where three of the four ankle-biters were, and he kept them in check! (That could not have been an easy task considering Mad Dog was one of the three and she was not wanting to eat or sit or anything else Lehr offered her.) Once we were full of food, we piled back in the car and drove to see a few Christmas lights. The best ones (by far!) were located in a neighborhood down the street from our neighborhood. They decked out the whole yard and house, Christmas Vacation style. Music, lights, candy canes, Santa, reindeer, snowflakes....they had it all. We got out of the car to take a closer look and the kids were in awe. Maddie kept running back and forth in front of the house, pointing her finger and saying 'do. do. do. do.' (This is her version of counting.)

Then it was off to baths and a short story about the Christmas story before bed. We incorporated the Nativity Scene in our Bible reading, which I think was really fun for Eli. He got to point out all of the people when they came up in the reading.