Christmas

Today was Christmas! The overload of gifts and food was here all day it seemed.

We opened gifts in the morning and the kids woke up excited because they could see the gifts under the tree. Santa even opened up the magazines that the kids used to circle all of the items that they wanted. He ate his snacks and drank his milk and the reindeer even ate the food that Sidney left out for them. Her class made a special mixture of oatmeal and green and red sprinkles that they could put out on the snow for the animals to eat.

Sidney truly believes in Santa and although she had some questions as to how he did some things (why does he go down the fireplace and not just come through the front door?) you can still see the look of wonder on her face and her happiness.

Those of you that are familiar with the story, "The Polar Express" will understand where this is coming from. The kids love to watch the movie that this was made into and we have watched it several times this holiday season. In the movie, one of the little boys gets a bell from Santa. It isn't fancy, just a bell that fell off of one of the reindeer's' harness. Sid has wanted a bell more than anything. We saw Santa at a mall and she told him she wanted a bell, every note that she writes to Santa or about Christmas, she writes a bell. Today, she got her bell and she loved it.

Micah got lots of stuff too but unfortunately for us, he didn't have as many gifts to open as Sidney. We will have to watch that more closely next year so they have equal amounts to open. I think he is still in overload and his brain is trying to catch up from seeing all the new things. He got to have some time tonight playing with some of his new train parts so I think he enjoyed that.

Quinn wasn't that involved with Christmas this year. He did have a fever today, probably from his recent vaccinations. This is the first day that he truly hasn't been a happy child.

We celebrated Christmas with the Schild family this past weekend. The kids had a blast playing with everyone and seeing all the animals. Micah calls the dogs, the orange dogs. One is a golden retriever and I think that is what he considers to be the orange dog.

Chris and I actually got to see a movie. There are so many babysitters that we can use while we are visiting there so this was a real treat for us. We went with my parents and my oldest brother to the "National Treasure" movie. It was pretty good. Quinn went with us and was the best baby! He watched the movie with the biggest eyes you have ever seen and then after about 10 minutes, I held him close so he would fall asleep. He didn't wake up again the entire time. Quinn, that was your first movie!

We also got to see baby Kendra this weekend. So cute! She really isn't that much smaller than Quinn and she looks great. Their mom and dad don't look too tired either :)

There were some interesting moments over the weekend too and a lot of conversation about two of my brothers. They both don't live at home and one just recently moved out. One brother moved out of the house about 3 years ago and I had only seen him once since he left. His state of living is pretty sad but is also something that he could change if he had the will and desire to change. He sleeps in a car, eats a meal most days at The Salvation Army and it seems as if his most prized possession is his cell phone. He was at the house on the day we celebrated Christmas and he really hasn't changed much since I last saw him. The other brother didn't show up, which was sad for me and I think it really was sad for my parents. Micah just adores him too which in a way, I am glad that he is so young that he didn't really realize that he wasn't at the house otherwise it would have broken his little heart. This brother needs help but has been given so many chances that you would think he would understand that his options for his life are scarce unless he starts to take account for what he needs to do to make things right again. The next few weeks are going to be tough for him I think because he will be losing some of the things that he treasures most. His family will always be there, maybe not to be his shelter, but our love will always be there for him no matter what he is doing with his life. His things that he has in life are soon going to be taken from him because of his lack of responsibility. I have told him that he can always call me at any time but he hasn't. Hopefully it won't be three years until I see him again or until he meets his nephew for the first time.

We ended our night reading the Christmas Story and saying a Christmas prayer. We had a great time with all the family and friends that we saw over the weekend and look forward to the rest of the family that we will be seeing! The kids are already talking about our next adventure.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!