Merry Christmas to All!

Today is Christmas Eve! We have been baking and playing trains and we even watched the Muppets Christmas Movie. Did you know there was a recent Muppet Christmas Movie? I thought I was checking out the old Scrooge story, but no, this was made in 2002. Its been a very relaxing day. Due to the weather the older kids are with us for Christmas Eve, and this has not happened in years. The deal has always been he can have them on Christmas Eve, but I have to have them Christmas day. Having younger siblings, its very important for them to be here with us! Its been fun to have them here today. Adrienne made a wonderful dessert for the big family gathering tomorrow and she has wrapped all the gift exchange gifts.

Its been a sad week in some ways. A friend from church lost her brother to cardiac arrest on Tuesday. He was such a happy guy, a friend to all and he will be missed so much. I ache for Donal, losing her brother, I ache for Brenda, who has lost her husband too early in their life. I ache for Ron and Janeal for losing their son. I ache for his two daughters who will surely miss him so much. And for all the rest of us who knew and loved him. I know there is a greater plan and I am grateful for the knowledge of eternal life that I have and that his family is comforted by this knowledge too. But I cannot help but reflect on how hard it must be to be left behind to finish this life without one so loved. It scares me, could I ever be so strong?

I am listening to Christmas music as I type this, I love the song by Bare Naked Ladies with Sara McLachlan-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. An awesome song! We had a special Christmas Family Home Evening tonight. We read the story of Christ's birth in Luke and made sure all the kids could answer the question of why we celebrate Christmas. Even Joseph got it! We sang some Christmas songs, then Annalina loaded up a plate with cookies for Santa. We got the kids to bed around 7:30 and they were ready to get this night over with! They promised to come get us when they woke up, and honestly they always do. I don't think either would have the courage to come down snooping around, but you never know! It will be interesting to see how early they are up. I am imagining about 7am. We got room darkening shades in their room and that was a very smart investment! Keeps it nice and dark in there. We also have a air purifier that we run at night. It helps with allergies and is a great source of white noise. Sure, my kids will probably have sleeping issues later in life, perhaps even needing therapy to learn how to sleep through the light and with background noises. But hey, I am getting my beauty sleep now, and I desparately need it. I'll pay for their therapy later in life, really I will!

So it has warmed up a bit today and the trees are have been shaking off their snowy coats with the breeze. It snowed this morning, adding a couple more inches to the pile, then rain fell for a while, although we still have quite a bit of snow. This has made me a bit sad. I love the snow and am thrilled to be having a white Christmas, even if it is a slushy messy white! I am so grateful for the beauty snow brings our area, a beauty we rarely get to see. I have been happy being inside with my family(though they may or may not feel the same about being stuck home with me!). I have enjoyed our outings back in Camp Ireland and just playing in the snow out front with the little kids. I honestly could do with another week of this! Its just so beautiful! I will not complain about this storm, which our area has not seen anything like in 40 years. But I will also try not to complain about the meltdown, the constant drip, drip, drip as the snow slowly disappears. At least now everyone will be able to make it over tomorrow for our family Christmas party!

I hope you have all been good this year and that Santa will be making a stop at your place later this evening. We checked Norad before bedtime, Santa was in Canada, looks like he is in Michigan now, so I better head off to bed. I'd hate to cost my kids their gifts by being up and around when Santa gets here!