It's the little things.
The kids wanted to be mellow at home in the days leading up to Christmas. Which led to ... Miracle #1: the house was cleaned before Christmas Eve. I tell myself it shouldn't matter if there is dust and dog hair around, but this year I vacuumed and mopped and dusted mindfully, paying attention ... and what I discovered is: the process of cleaning was also helping my mind clean out some cobwebs. I was preparing myself for the sacred and holy, and taking care of the things nagging at the corner of my mind so that when the holiday arrived I could just BE with my family. I had ample time to organize so I could do it without rushing or stress. It was truly a gift.
The whole family helped. First, the littles had to don costumes. Alex wanted to ... hmmm ... escape to the tropics?
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| Check out my new boots too! We bought these because all he had was boots or tennis shoes. He loves them. |
He helped move chairs for his sister to vacuum, and even vacuumed the hallway by himself!
Victoria took charge of vacuuming the living room. What, isn't it normal to vacuum dressed as a fairy?
We got ready for church. We even had time to put makeup on, and didn't rush out of the house like crazy people!
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| Mom put some on Vic too. |
Miracle #2: these kids, in coordinating clothes, smiling nicely at the front of the church.
I only had to lay down the law for a solid week leading up to Christmas Eve ... that mom had full veto power over what outfits they would wear. No Batman shirts, tutus, old Halloween costumes, rain boots, or summer sandals (all of which was suggested). Victoria offered that by wearing all white she could be "a snowflake." Yes, a snowflake. What a pretty snowflake! If that's what it takes to get matching clothes ;) ... The day before, I bought two snack bars at Starbucks which were dangled in front of them like carrots to make sure they smiled for the camera and stood nicely (especially Alex...and they made sure I was opening those snack bars as soon as Daddy put the camera down).
Christmas Miracle #3: Singing Silent Night by candlelight. It's always given me goose bumps. This year, I had been singing it with the kids a few weeks before Christmas, so they knew the words and could sing too. Nothing like it. I held Victoria's hand while she held a candle, and Alex helped Daddy.
Christmas Miracle #4: Mason. This kid is adorable and smiley, such a precious addition to the Reed family this year. Getting to be with him for part of his first Christmas was priceless.
Plus, check out the matching sweaters! I loved Mason's and had to order it in Alex's size. Awww ...
Christmas Miracle #5: All of us together for Christmas Eve.
I don't think this has happened yet in the Reed family. Ten humans and three dogs! Including this girl, the canine matriach, Molly:
Piper, taking up her
Victoria was a) super excited and impatient to open up her present from her brother, and b) as always, just loving the time with her grandpa. They've always had a special bond.
The kids' joke: the box of rocks! A week before Christmas they heard this song. And laughed so hard they were rolling on the floor. So of course, Victoria brought a box of rocks to Uncle Adam's house to give to her brother!
Adam was off work, and he and Megan wanted to host. They put on the traditional fondue spread, with a couple twists of their own. The food was delicious.
Adam got some extra help in the kitchen:
Mason sat in his high chair jumping and making little talking noises. Did he want all our delicious food? Did he sense the excitement in the air? I'm not sure, but it was adorable. I took a little video but unfortunately didn't really catch him at his most talkative:
This look: "Mom, they all get fondue and all I get is CRACKERS??" haha.
I will never tire of gathering around a table for holiday dinners.
After supper, time for some presents!
The kids picked out this super soft stuffed dog for their cousin. Adam has since named him Diego.
Mason loved the crinkly paper!
And, he also loves watching other kids and seemingly adores his big cousins. My heart grows every time I see this!
Christmas Miracle #6: Getting all three (very tired) kids to sit at the same time for a photo. It's not perfect, but it'll do :).
Alex opened a Batman "guy" from Adam and Megan. Check out his face here!
Matt and I had brought a present for the Moses family, and had the kids open it up. A big box of matching flannel pjs. I had explained to Matt: how many years do we have where we can do something so nauseatingly cute (as Nina would say)?
Funny side story about the pjs. After we left church and were on our way to Cloquet, Victoria suddenly piped up from the backseat: "mom! We forgot pjs!" I said, "We have pjs." (Which was the truth. They just happened to be wrapped in a box). "Mom, are they in the diaper bag? I didn't see them!!" "Don't worry, we have them." "Mom, are they my SHOPKINS pjs?" "Victoria, sometimes you just need to trust and let yourself be surprised."
So when we opened the box and she saw pjs, she laughed and said: "Mom!! You tricked me!!" What a girl. She loves being "tricked."
Cute and cozy pjs, cute and cozy kids, and a grandpa to give snuggles!
Opening another gift from Adam and Megan ...
Each kid got their own glove and ball! They've never played catch, and Auntie Megan is the perfect one to help them out with that.
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| (Alex wouldn't be in the picture) |
A few more gifts ...
And then, all too soon, it was time to head home! Alex fell asleep in the car but Victoria was determined ... and stayed awake the whole way home so she could responsibly take care of the cookies before heading to bed.
Christmas morning, Miracle #7: Shared anticipation. This just brings back so many memories of Christmas mornings shared with my brother. Magic and excitement! This was Alex's first peek of the tree after Santa's visit. (Victoria, of course, had peeked right away when she woke up).
Here is the video of their excitement:
Christmas Miracle #8: Santa came!
And I love the special gift tags on the presents!
Stockings were left on the couch.
First we opened stockings.
Good stuff for the puppies too!
This was Anna's first Christmas with us and her first stocking ever. So. Much. Fun.
I just love this smile!
Christmas Miracle #9: Teamwork. The kids were in charge of handing out presents, and even teamed up on the big heavy one!
I still can't believe they carried this!
These two were so good at their job ...
Christmas Miracle #10: Handmade treasures from the kids, true gifts from the heart. Victoria wanted me to open this one first ... a tile she had decorated at school "It has a house and a Christmas tree and presents!"
She gave this, a "pocket for holding stuff" to Daddy. She was so excited about this she told me about it every day, and I think she even called Grandma and Grandpa to tell them what she had made Daddy.
Alex gave us a sun catcher made with hand painted tissue paper. Why didn't I get a picture of that?! Oh, yeah ... because every second he got, Alex played with his toys and didn't have time to pose for pictures with Mommy!
Poor kid ... we had to keep interrupting his playing to make him open presents ... LOL.
Shortly after we started opening, the pups were ready to score spots on the couch!
Alex opened his present from Victoria, a large box with a pencil, bouncy balls ...
... and this "guy" he saw at Legacy Toys and cried over because he couldn't have it while we were there. Check out the look on his sister's face, the secret glee from knowing she is giving him EXACTLY what he wanted.
From Santa, Victoria got some Shopkins:
Granny Gail made the coziest, cutest bathrobes for the kids. Both of them hugged them right away! Ha ha ... it was so cute.
Santa also gave them nerf guns. The kids (Alex especially) had oohed and aahed over the ones their cousins had, and I suppose Santa had figured Victoria needs to defend herself.
The amazing thing about the nerf guns is the kids' amazing powers of observation. The first Santa present Victoria chose was actually a small one, and when she unwrapped it she immediately recognized nerf bullets. Almost instantly she pointed to the pile of presents and said: "Santa must have put a gun in another present!" I said, "oh you think so, hmmm?" and she said, "Yes!"
Much later, when Alex finally decided to open his big Santa present, it was the box with the gun. He instantly said, "ok, where are de bullets?? Dere must be bullets here too!" haha ... smart kids.
More from Granny Gail ... this cute owl shirt.
American Girl clothes (a huge hit).
A wooden craft birdhouse/garden kit ... maybe Mommy will get to help build!
From the Chunglunds, Alex quickly got absorbed in a book of 5-minute Star Wars stories.
And Vic got this cute and super soft Leia shirt.
The kids got books from Mom and Dad too. Alex's is about pirates, although you wouldn't be able to tell from what you can see ... gotta love a boy who gets absorbed easily!
Vic got a northern lights necklace from Dad.
As for Mom -- well, I got this far, took a picture, and texted it to Nina saying "so far so good."
The pups had more for them too ... toys for playing with:
... and snuggling with.
And "stealing" the kids' bathrobes to use as pillows.
Or, in Piper's case, being covered with them.
It's so exhausting when you have to wade through a pile of paper and boxes to get back to your couch!
Miracle #11: Leaving Grandpa speechless!
Last fall, we were at my parents' house and Victoria, as usual, was wearing her trendsetting mismatched socks. My dad, to be funny, started teasing her, asking what she was doing wearing "one pink sock and one gray sock?!?" Victoria giggled, and he kept teasing her, and then she turned to me and whispered, "Mom!! We need to get grandpa to wear mismatched socks!!" She hatched a plan to give him mismatched gray and pink socks. The devious look on her face as he starts to open the bag is priceless!
Grandpa starts to smile ...
... and then guffaws as he realizes the joke is on him.
He shows off his socks and just said, "oh, Victoria, I just love you!"
Christmas Miracle #12: The family doing Legos and playing cribbage. We all sat at the dining room table. Victoria and Grandpa worked on labeling all 42 of her bullets with a letter "V" (yes, this is a Victoria thing to do). Matt helped Alex build Legos while Grandma looked on. And I took out a cribbage board and played cards with my dad.
Growing up, I remember my dad and grandpa playing cribbage at family holidays. I sat on my dad's lap as he chose his cards and pegged, and later on I learned and was able to play myself. Life is short, and the last few years I've been preoccupied with the littles and haven't had much time to relax on holidays. But now, I often think I don't know how many years I'll have to play cards with my dad, and I won't take it for granted. As we all sat at that table doing our thing, sipping on drinks and munching on cookies, the holiday felt like one of the most relaxed in a long time. That no one felt rushed ... priceless.
Oh, yeah ... and we stayed in our PJs the whole time!
The relaxation continued even after Grandma and Grandpa (and Molly) left. Left with tons of free time, Victoria started creating. Here she is with her space helmet. It has a holder on top for a flashlight, a patch over her eye (I can't remember what that's for), and a chin strap made from pipe cleaners.
She is showing it off while riding in her space ship ... made from cardboard, a birthday hat (can't remember what that was for either) ... and cushioned with paper towels and duct tape. Love it.
She then demonstrated how her spaceship doubles as a robot with storage:
One more family celebration! The day after Christmas, we gathered with some extended family at my cousin Brooke's house.
Miracle #12: Giving the kids memories of extended family gatherings. And relishing every moment of catching up with my family.
Sarah was in town too!
We took a hay ride ... pulled by a truck instead of horses. It was quite lovely and we sang carols and drank hot chocolate (perhaps spiked with a little Bailey's). My uncle even passed a flask around for the adults to keep warm LOL.
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| Adam, Megan, and a bundled-up Mason. |
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| These guys found the warmest spot! |
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| (Almost) the whole gang |
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| Evan, Toaster, and Sarah |
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| The kids are hanging here with their cousin Jett |
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| Sisters! Jeanne and my mom |
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| Eva and Brookie |
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| Sarah, Toaster, my mom |
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| Brooke and Jeanne |
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| My dad and I with Vic and Jett |
Admittedly, it was cold. But the snowmobiles were warming up, and I had a confession to make: I, A BORN-AND-BRED NORTHERN MINNESOTA GIRL, HAD NEVER RIDDEN A SNOWMOBILE. Thanks to Ryan's encouragement, I not only got to ride one for the first time but DROVE it! To make it more memorable, Victoria rode with Uncle Adam, so she and I had our "first snowmobile rides" on the same night. It was a blast. My thumb got super sore, but I would totally do that again.
Back inside the house, there was supper and lots and lots of play time for the kids.
For all of these miracles, I'm so thankful, and my heart is bursting. To all of my amazing family who come together at this time of year: you are so very special! This Christmas represented everything I have always loved about the holiday.
