Merry Christmas!

Even though Maddux was in her crib singing a fast-forward version of "Jingle Bells" until 11:05 last night, both she and her brother were awake around 8AM. We turned on the tree lights, put the pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove, cranked up the Christmas music, and went in to greet the munchkins. We quickly got dressed so we could go downstairs and start our day.

Eli remembered that the first thing we do is put Baby Jesus in the manger (since now He is here!!), so as soon as we went downstairs, that's what Eli did. We also quickly revisited our discussion about Santa and the three gifts, so Eli was excited to see what might have been left. He said, "I'm gonna open them all right up!" We'd talked about that and decided that Santa has to go to a LOT of houses, and he doesn't have time to wrap all of those gifts, so Santa typically just puts bows on his gifts. Sure enough, there were three gifts for Eli and three gifts for Maddux near the Christmas tree! Eli got two different Lego sets and some new 'BOB beginning reader' books. Maddux got a talking Woody (Toy Story) 'doll', a Dr. Seuss book, and a Crayola coloring 'thing'. The kids loved it. They played and played until we had breakfast (Dutch Babies and strawberries and orange juice).

From there we started with the gifts under the tree. Although taking turns to open isn't the easiest for a two and four-year-old, Eli and Maddie did pretty well. They each gave Mommy and Daddy special gifts, and Eli was VERY excited about giving those gifts...especially the one for Daddy. We took another break to play and good family fun followed. Maddie's play-doh factory got opened and the four of us sat at the table and made burgers, fries, hot dogs, pickles, chips....everything!

Next on the agenda was the stockings. We decided (as a family) to open the Jesus Stocking first, since it was Jesus' birthday. (*Side note: We haven't talked about who put the gifts in the stockings yet...the story we're going with for now, if and when they ask, is that Santa fills them if they're empty, but usually families fill them. We figure this leaves the door open for us to do a name draw for stockings in years to come. Plus, we put gifts in Jesus' stocking, so it may not make sense to them that Santa then fills theirs.) Eli and Maddux definitely got a little squirmy as we went through His stocking, but the end was amazing. Even though they were antsy, when we finished the last item, I decided to press my luck and ask them to pray with me for the families we helped in His name. I then asked them each to pick one of our gifts to Jesus to pray for specifically. Eli picked three: the family we bought mosquito nets for, the kids we bought soccer balls for, and the chickens we bought for a family. Maddie chose the kids we bought blankets for. I started the prayer and then passed it over to Eli. He did great...praying for the family, asking God to help them to not get bitten by mosquitoes, then Maddux took over, doing her very quiet, whisper prayer (pretty much the sweetest thing ever since she forces her eyes shut while she does it), then Lehr, and even after I closed us, Eli asked to pray more. He'd forgotten to pray for the chickens and he didn't want to miss them. It was really really good stuff.

After naps (well, Maddie's nap), we opened the last few presents and played until dinner. Maddux and I put the finishing touches on the birthday cake for Jesus and we ate our feast of fresh pasta, homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. The kids each had a piece of cake and then we took a family walk. It was awesome! We bundled up in jackets and walked up the street to see the lights and Nativity Scene. Baby Jesus was now in the manger and the kids were very excited about that. Eli and I had a blast walking, running, skipping and bounding (he has taken to doing boot camp with me when we go for walks). Before we left the house, Eli told me, "I hope Daddy and Maddux leave first so you and I can walk together, just us." MELT!

The day has not been perfect. There have been some stern words, a few almost time-outs, and some frustrated 'why are we trying so hard' moments, but the good parts have far outweighed those times, and these gems have proven to us why we strive to do Christmas this way. Sure, the kids love the presents, but we have not opened much (at least by today's "Super-Sized" standards) and they could not be happier. They have been mindful about whose day it is. The four of us have spent quality time together, and nothing has been rushed at all. The focus has been off of the material and more on the experience. The togetherness. The celebration of Jesus. The one-on-one time with the family. The gratitude for what we have, excluding the presents.