In an effort to just get it done, I decided to post about all of our remaining Christmas things all at once.
For starters, this is the gift we gave to Paul's parents this year. A custom family memory game. Not incredibly hard, but more work than you would want to do last-minute. In other words, if it's something you want to try, don't procrastinate. I learned that Mod Podge wants to dry (cure) for a long time. Days. Weeks maybe. I kept having the picture tiles stick together, which would have been avoided with more time and patience. But other than the stickiness, I was pretty happy with how it turned out.
Next, here is our first family meal at our new (to us) dining table! This has been a month of trial for us in several ways (nothing majorly traumatic, but a post for another day), but the blessings given throughout have been unmistakable. I consider this one of those blessings.
We have a great next-door neighbor name Elaine. Ever since we moved in she has been looking out for us and rendering unexpected service. A couple of weeks ago the doorbell rang one evening and I answered it to find our real estate agent's mother bearing a tray of Christmas cookies for us. (That may sound random, but it's not really. Our agent's parents live a street behind us, and are next-door neighbors to our back-door neighbors, who are in our ward.) After delivering the cookies and wishes of a merry Christmas, she said that she had heard from Elaine (who she has known for many years) that we didn't have a table. (We've been using a folding plastic one since our DT days.) She said that she and her husband had one sitting in their garage waiting to be got rid of, and asked if we would like to have it. Simple, unconditional, generous. A blessing.
So now we have a real dining table that more than fits our family. We can have dinner guests more comfortably and the food can actually be on the table, not on the kitchen counter. And plates and things won't slide toward the center of the table, although when you have a child (or two) who spills his milk on a regular basis, that feature can be kind of nice.
Third, simple pleasures. We had a family movie night watching the Muppet Christmas Carol. The boys love to watch the popcorn popping. It's such an easy diversion (and snack!) to keep little boys entertained.
Fourth, playing by mama's feet. It seems like 80% of my time is spent in the kitchen, and about that same percentage of the boys' play occurs right behind my legs, no matter what I'm doing.
Christmas Eve. I hope we haven't set a precedent for ourselves with the late hour we finally went to bed, but it was fun to get things ready for Santa knowing that one little boy in our house would really remember what he found in the morning.
Santa answered the call for more train tracks, and even set them up ready to play when the boys woke up.
Paul's sister and her family gave us this Nativity as part of their Christmas gift to us this year, and we love it!
The stockings were hung and filled with fun things, including letters to the boys from Santa himself.
Benjamin eagerly asked all day long if he could get the cookies ready for Santa. When it finally came time, he carefully selected each gingerbread man to go on the plate and was very concerned about not forgetting the milk.
I suggested leaving a little note for Santa, and this is what Benjamin wanted to write:
We finished off Christmas Eve by taking treats to friends and neighbors, delivering Secret Santa surprises, watching the Nativity video with the boys, and completing our Christmas ornament advent from the Friend magazine.
I couldn't sleep all night because I was anxious about the boys getting out to the living room before I woke up. Luckily Paul woke up before the boys did and we all went out together. The train tracks were well-received and we had a fun time discovering what Santa brought.
The boys were delighted with their letters from Santa.
Benjamin eagerly handed out presents, and Rhett was content to play with one or two new things and didn't show much interest in anything still wrapped.
I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but Paul made me a spice rack that I love! It has made a huge difference in the kitchen by freeing up an entire counter top that used to be home to most of my spices. Now they're neatly on the wall and out of the way and I am so happy with it!
We ate Christmas dinner with our friends the Katschkes and had a great time visiting and playing games. Benjamin helped me make some Christmas cards a few days beforehand, and this is the one he made specifically for the Katschkes. He picked out the paper and told me just where to glue each large, red sequin.
He even signed his name on the back. (A huge achievement, since we know he can do it but rarely will because he gets frustrated when it's "not very good.") When I reminded him that the E only needed three lines out to the side he said, "Well, this one has four."
And that's it! It was a great Christmas at home, and we're only disappointed that there was no snow. Now we're looking forward to the new year, although I'll be spending another
lonely New Year's Eve while Paul is at the stake dance. (Prayers for a blizzard would be appreciated.)
