A Christmas Memory

This has to have been one of the best Christmas holidays I have had yet. Probably, our children are at perfect ages to experience the magic of Christmas. All in all, it was a fabulous event....

But, nothing goes off without a hitch at our house. So, the "hitch" came on Christmas Eve. We had been at MeMe and Pop's house for a couple of "sleeps" and were coming back home on the morning of Christmas Eve. We got into town just in time to make it to the 12:30 showing of Alvin and the Chipmunks. This was Claire's first experience at the movies. So, with popcorn, Coke, and snacks we began the adventure. They all did great, and the movie was really cute. I'm not positive that the other people in the movie thought that Claire screaming, "ALVIN!" at the top of her lungs periodically was as cute as we did. But, oh well.

Next, we went home to enjoy a relaxing afternoon of naps and playing with some early Christmas presents. Later in the afternoon, we began to see problems. Caleb was getting VERY upset while playing a soccer game on the Wii. And, when I say "upset", you must picture that he's actually playing soccer in something as important as...let's say....THE OLYMPICS! and not doing well. The emotions that you would imagine during such a situation are what we began to witness. Collin went without a nap, because...it was Christmas Eve. If you know Collin without a nap, I need not go into detail.

So, a little before 5:00, we all go to the church for the Christmas Eve service. There is no childcare during the Christmas Eve service, because families are encouraged to worship together. Since you know that I have a 6 year old, 4 year old and 2 year old, I should probably stop here and let you just imagine how the rest of the night went.

But, I'm not. On our particular pew, there was jumping, crying, eating (SUCKERS!), noisy wadding of paper, more crying, more jumping, and the kicker was Claire elbowing the head of the person sitting below us in the balcony. After much singing, several solos, a few dozen instrumental solos, scripture reading and a candle lighting ceremony...ONE HOUR LATER...we were leaving that horrid pew. I did not make eye contact with the lady whose head was elbowed just minutes earlier.

That probably sounds like enough. I wish!

No, we had to spend some time waiting for Scotty to finish up before leaving. My better judgement told me to get the keys and wait in the car. However, we chose to wait in the welcome area. It was a VERY brief yet VERY horrible wait. I don't remember all of the details. But, I do remember telling the boys (as seriously as if I believed it myself) that if they did not calm down, I would call Santa as soon as we got home and tell him to LEAVE one of their gifts in the North Pole. I didn't say it quietly either, so I'm pretty sure I was the topic of conversation in the privacy of at least a few homes that night.

Things get kind of blurred in my memory from there until the point where Claire bounded out of one of the nice, cushy, chairs for the floor. At that point, Collin wanted to "help her" stop jumping, so he grabbed her legs WHILE SHE WAS IN THE AIR. She landed on her mouth just past the rug onto the bricks.

The white, Christmas shirt got pretty bloody, the boys got a not so fun talking to in the car and we went to Mazzio's to enjoy a nice, Christmas Eve dinner. Believe it or not, we really did have a good time. I guess part of the magic of Christmas is that even the traumatic is soon to be forgotten when Santa is ON HIS WAY!

There were so many wonderful things that we experienced during our vacation. I hate to share this horrible event and make it seem that our entire holiday was full of small disasters. It definitely was not. But, I had to share this story just in case there is anyone out there that thinks we always have it together. (I'm laughing even as I'm typing. Surely, there are none of you left.)

We definitely spent some time being thankful for ALL of our gifts. Christ Jesus is our first. Family and friends to share in our journey of life is close behind. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday as well and are looking forward to a great new year. Personally, I can't wait to see all that 2010 holds.

And, for any of you who haven't already heard the previous story...Claire is fine. Her front tooth may be a little out of place. But, it's not noticeable. It only affected her eating for that night and all of the blood came out of the white, Christmas shirt. So...I think it can be counted as a very minor incident. Those three are capable of much, MUCH worse. :)