Christmas!!!! It's HERE!

Let's add another epic Christmas to our family annals. I love that we enjoyed an entire week before Christmas on Saturday. Mia organized an activity calendar for the week with daily fun activities to bring Christmas cheer. We had to adjust the calendar a bit much to Evelyn's chagrin. The kids attended school through Wednesday, which was a bummer. The district calendared the schools to get out at half days for Tuesday and Wednesday, why not just let the kids attend two full days and get out a day early? I thought that was stupid. 

Our week started off with a newborn session Monday morning with a sweet little boy named James. He was very chubby and content! My usual grocery shopping time was pushed into the afternoon. After eating lunch, cleaning up my studio mess, and such it was 3 pm. I rushed to the store and barely made it out before it was time to start dinner. Our store is still the worst ever when it comes to check out. These days I do self-check out with the little hand scanner and an empty cart instead of using a line with a checker. There was only one lane open with a checker and 15 people in line. Spent more time in line than I did actually shopping. I was rushed to get everything on the table and the kids ready for my piano recital. We ended up going to the recital with empty stomachs because dinner did not make it to the table. The eggplant parmesan was not appealing to 5 out of 7 family members. Everett and I quite enjoyed the labor of love meal after the recital. The rest deserved their stale peanut butter sandwiches. Back to the recital! This year I have 9 students, 3 are my own kiddos. I felt like a disaster walking, half my students completely botched their songs, even forgot the music for one piano performance. The kids started practicing their music back in early November. Please don't get any grand illusions that my piano school is fancy or amazing. We all try our best and keep going. Everett was very excited to choose and practice 3 songs. He was the only student who was excited and prepared to play! Amelia did really well playing I am a Child of God and The Spinning Song, she lacks the desire and "oomph" to play. Most of the time I want to kick her in the bum because she has the talent but hates the process to earn the skill. The kids all earned bags of chocolates and cupcakes for their hard work. Yay! Evelyn freaked out when we got home and learned it was too late for decorating gingerbread houses. Plans need to be fluid!

Tuesday after school we geared up for ice skating at the ice ribbon in Caldwell. The weather was clear in Nampa, halfway to Caldwell a thick, icy fog crept in keeping things misty and cold. I was glad my gloves were in the van and kicking myself for not wearing my snow pants. Ambree came along to play for the hour of skating. We arrived just in time to catch the 3:30 slot. The kids quickly remembered how terrible the ice skates there are, feet were aching within 10 minutes! We were allowed to skate until 4:45 when the zamboni came out to groom the ice. I'd say by 45 minutes into the session most of the people left for dinner or because of aching feet. The kids were delighted to have the ribbon mostly to themselves. Amelia enjoyed zipping around the ice racing style. Phillip stayed with Josie in the training area propped up on buckets because his feet hurt the worst. I had the best time with my comfy feet stuffed in my warm snow boots taking hundreds of photos. That icy fog set the mood for hot chocolates to warm us all up. Nice hot soup for dinner also helped warm us up. The kids can't wait to go back for more ice skating. Evelyn made sure we decorated gingerbread houses after dinner. The boys got their house out but gave up after Everett cut the piping bag too high, they decided it was more fun to suck out the frosting and watch The Grinch! The girls decorated houses, we all watched The Grinch (the newer version made by the same folks who made Minions) and binged on frosting and candy. 

Everett, Evelyn, and Josie got to wear PJs to school on Wednesday! All the class parties and movies made for a fun last day of school before break. It snowed a bit overnight which added a bit of magic to the air. Phillip was also allowed to wear PJs but he was too embarrassed so wore comfy Harry Potter pants and a different hoodie. Our activity for Wednesday was going to the movie theater. I drove to get tickets at noon since I wanted to use the gift vouchers but was unable to use those online. I picked up Mia, Carson, and Clare from school on my way back because they only had lunch then dismissal. I worked most of the afternoon painting ornaments in two 25 Days of Christ kits for Sara and Esther's Christmas gifts. Only the ornament kits were available so DIY it was. Amelia helped me paint some ornaments. We left for the theater after dinner. Mia, Evelyn, and Josie watched Sing 2 at 7:20; the rest of us watched the new Spiderman movie. I was late the show (only missed the plethora of previews) because I got two large popcorns for everyone to share. We thought the movie was awesome! After the movie there was not one but two post movie clips. Justin made everyone laugh when he said, "Marvel! Just take my money already!" Pretty much. Amelia said the Sing movie was really good, lots of fun music. We decided to not see Encanto because it was coming out on Disney Plus Christmas day. Even with the $30 movie vouchers it was still expensive to take everyone out to the theater. Those days might be past us, better to pay $20-30 at home than $95 at the theater. I stayed up until 11:30 painting ornaments because the Ostler's were leaving for 4-5 days, delivered her wrapped gift before Sara went to bed! She crept over to my door, we were whispering like teenagers caught red-handed. 

The kids thought Thursday was Christmas Eve! It sure did feel like the day before Christmas. I had Everett and Evelyn wrap Amelia's gifts while I worked on sealing the ornaments, cleaning, and general chaos stuff before Christmas. Justin and I felt prompted to help the Salas family. I contacted Sister Fife (the new RS president) with my idea and for direction. Their needs were larger than we could afford at this time. Someone suggested I text/call asking for donations but that did not feel right to me, too much pressure and forcing someone to feel obligated to donate. The Bishopric asked for monetary and gift card donations if anyone wanted to serve. Several families in need were helped out in addition to the Salas! Yay! One gal was given custody of 3 children last moment, I hope the gift(s) were enough to take some of the pressure off. We asked the kids if they wanted to donate some of their money to buy a gas card for the Salas. The kids were happy to dig into their wallets for some dollars! We all went to the gas station for a card, the kids handed over their cash, we walked out with the card. Next we drove over to the Salas to deliver our small gift with a Christmas song and smiles. They came to church, even sat with us for Sacrament Meeting. Thursday morning the kids woke up to find various cute Christmas crafts to play with for that day's activity. Justin and I ran an errand to Fred Meyer's for a couple more imperative items...and another stop at Home Depot. Justin helped me get a length of MDF to close off the cube shelving for a doll center upstairs. I love the Home Depot also cut the pieces to length with their fancy saw. The hutch top is finally upstairs, ready to become part of a doll house for the girls. 

Will the real Christmas Eve stand up? Friday! The day started out at 6 am with a very nervous Evelyn. She had a full throttle panic attack before 8 am, throwing up and shaking her hands. Christmas magic is not worth the anxiety. Cuddles, hugs, and mental imaging helped get her through that new experience. We need to rethink the strategy for next year. I had a TON of wrapping left to tackle, once again the kids helped out wrapping stuff. I think they wrapped 60% of the gifts this year! I started work on sugar cookie dough and draining cherries for the best cookies of the year. We worked hard to get bedrooms, the loft, and the downstairs cleaned up. Evelyn was having a very hard time but cheered up when I told her Nelves sometimes deliver Christmas Eve cleaning treats! Sure enough only 5-10 minutes passed after we finished before the doorbell and knocking went crazy, bells jingled softly inside the house. Magical! The kids each got a cute little gift and a treat to enjoy. Josie needed some help with her Tangle Pet, a kitty wrapped up in yards of yarn, the yarn is used to make a bed and stuff for the pet. The Nelves can't go wrong with darling, tiny squishmallows. So cuuuuuuute. Justin took the kids to run a few errands while I worked through the rest of the gift wrapping. I got the important stuff wrapped and ready for some Nelves to deliver. I was rushing around then realized there was no schedule, so we took our time extending the Christmas Eve fun. Justin fried up the bacon, Everett wrapped up the sourdough bowls in foil and stuck them in the oven, Amelia helped open clam cans, and I worked on the soup. We finally ate dinner around 7:45 pm, with glowing candles and the most magical clam chowder of the season. Josie even tried the soup and at least drank her broth. Clean up was simple since we used paper products. The kids each decorated 3-4 cookies with frosting and lots of sprinkles. Amelia had Nativity costumes ready for the Luke 2 reenactment. Justin read the story starring Evelyn as Mary, new plastic baby as Jesus (Gabby the rest of the year), Everett as Joseph and shepherds, Josie as a glorious angel with a star, Phillip various animals (donkey, sheep, Hank), and Amelia as 3 wisemen in 1 with a stretchy walking stick. My favorite part of the day was singing Christmas Carols around the piano, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Noel. The Nelves attacked the front door ringing the bell, knocking, and bells all at the same time. AHHHHHHHHHH! It's Santa TIME. Wrapping paper flew around as kids unwrapped PJs from the North Pole. Evelyn loved her outfit with matching doll PJs. So exciting. The Nelves rang their jingles to nudge the kids upstairs. We almost forgot to arrange Santa's cookie plate and milk. Evelyn got out celery for Rudolph to try this year. Amelia and Phillip got to stay up later and help bring down all the gifts stashed in my room and closet. Evelyn finally fell asleep and slept like a log until 7 am...thanks to a little dose of nyquil. 

The kids invaded the parental space at exactly 6:59:41 Christmas day. Evelyn was worried about the stockings because they are usually right by their bedrooms doors. Instead the stockings were in order in the loft. We think the new Nelf rules made Santa stay far away from the bedrooms. Makes sense. Stockings in the parent's room! The best way to start Christmas morning. Josie adored her new lip gloss collection, Santa gave her FOUR lip glosses. I quite loved the set of flipping chickens in my stocking. Amelia sported a cute new hat, Justin enjoyed man soap, the boys had funny gifts and legos to play with. I found a pair of gnome PJs pants in my room. So, I put those on as my outfit for the day...sweatshirt included. I read this year's Santa letter while the kids enjoyed their stocking stuff. Then I went downstairs to make sure Santa came, start Christmas music, and other mom chores before the kids could come down. Josie got to come down first. Her first thought was...."the PRESENTS!" Josie loved the Peek-a-roo and the coolest fuzzy Koala box with lots of koala stuff inside. Evelyn was very surprised to find not only a Rainbow High doll, but a closet thing too! Everett got a stack of pizzas and a penguin dressed like a dragon. Phillip squeaked when he came downstairs and noticed the large hippo, then he read the name tag, HANK?! More strange sound effects. Amelia got two chunks of Parmesan cheese. Strange request but Santa is a jolly, happy soul. Took no time at all to rip through all the presents under the tree. Justin totally surprised me with a lodgepole cast iron enamel pot, a grow garden thing, and new tweezers of doom. I quite savored watching the kids open gifts they did not expect. Phillip and Amelia divided the gifts putting some under the front room tree. We had Christmas bagels (bagulls) during intermission. Then on to part two in the front room. The boys were completely surprised with the carpentry tools and wood! It was all over way too soon. Paper, boxes, tape, and piles of crouching kids littered the entire house. Justin started up Encanto on the TV...I went to take an hour nap...that lasted more like 5 hours. Goodness, I felt so guilty for missing most of the day snoozing away. Too many late nights staying up past 1 am working on Christmas stuff finally caught up to me. Once I finally rolled out of bed the girls drove over to the Palmers in order to deliver a joint gift for Clare and Mia then my gift to Esther. Clare was very excited to get the doll making kit. Idaho delivered a glance of Christmas snow just for magic's sake. I spent the next 4 hours making Christmas dinner. It was a fantastic meal of Carne Asada nachos with all the trims and toppings any person could ever want...including pickled carrots. I lost a game of checkers to Everett, played dolls with Evelyn, snuggled Josie and her panda-kangaroo thing, slapped Phillip on the bum, and chatted with Mia. It was the best lazy day ever, nothing can top Christmas at home in PJs while snow rages outside. 

Sacrament meeting was a scace event, only 30 people tops attended. The Primary sang Away in the Manger, boasting 5 kids, my 3 plus two Flake boys. Good thing Everett can sing loud, which he did. Evelyn and I worked on organizing the doll area. It is nice to finally have a space where the girls can spread out and still contain the mess. A lovely soft 6-8 inches of snow fell during Temple table. We jumped right in to studying the Old Testament. It's going to be a fantastic year.