We decided to brave the midnight mass for the first time as a family and it was only slightly a disaster. We put the kids to bed in their church clothes and then commenced operation trim the tree/find and wrap the presents that we had hidden in all the nooks and crannies our basement has to offer. Once it was time to go we just got the children up, put on their shoes and coats and loaded them up in the car. I think it would have been completely fine had the mass not been really long--beginning with carols and then continuing with what Chris dubbed, 'the Mozart mass.' I don't know if that's its actual name. It was beautiful, with the full orchestra and choir, but by the time we hit the 'peace be with you's' the children were officially done and we exited the church with our dignity still somewhat intact.
Santa arrived sometime after we got the children back into bed and then we were all up again by six, ready to see what he left. Well, the children were ready. I could have slept another five or so hours.
Highlights from the morning included:
Margaret officially taking over Henry's role as chief candy thief. I didn't think anyone would be able to steal the title but she cannot be trusted with any amount of candy within sight. Or out of sight. She is not particular--and also undeterred by little things like "danger" or the possibility of "falling off of the counter" and "cracking her head open."
John wandering around giving us toys and telling us that they were our "celebrations!" His "celebration" were the Rescue Bots that turn into dinosaurs that Santa brought. He said it was a good thing that Santa brings things that I would never buy like more Rescue Bots and giant Lego sets and drones that are destined to crash and break into bits. Isn't it though?
Overhearing David chastising Henry in his sternest voice saying, "Henry, it's Christmas," in an attempt to convince Henry to just let him build the giant Lego set--because obviously Christmas means handing over your favorite present to any sibling who might want it.
I only managed to craft one gift this year and that was a doll cradle for Margaret. We found it at a garage sale last spring looking a bit bedraggled and David said he wanted to get it for his sister and ran back to the car for the money--which I thought was so sweet. Once I got it into the car though, Chris asked me what the five dollars that David told him I needed was for. Apparently David wanted Margaret to have the cradle, but not enough to spend his own money to buy it. I painted it up and sewed a little mattress to go in it and I think it turned out pretty well, despite the fact that I cannot get the measurements right for a doll mattress to save my life. I know I should make it bigger than the actual measurements of the bottom of the bed, but by how much? I even made this one with boxed sides and it was still an inch short all around. Luckily Margaret only noticed the fact that she now has a cradle that's considerably larger than her last one and all of her babies can fit in it. And she is amassing quite the baby collection.
All in all, it was a wonderful start to the Christmas season, despite our less than stellar mass performance. We played with new toys, took a walk to the park to give that drone a go in a spot with minimal tree hazzards (not me though, I never even changed out of my jammies), and had a seafood feast prepared entirely by my husband, If that's not winning at Christmas day, I don't know what is.
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