Christmas 2010

I don't know why, but this Christmas I was feeling really STRESSED and it had nothing to do with preparations for Christmas. So, we made a few nice changes that really simplified my life. One thing that frustrates me is that when Noah and Brad are on "vacation" from work and school, I feel vacationy, too, but then I end up getting super frustrated and stressed because there is no vacation for me- I still have all the same work to do. So after talking with Brad, we implemented some simple meals and even went out to eat one night to give me a break. We had everyone do "team cleans" for 15 minutes at a time throughout the day which kept the house in decent order. It was really nice because I was able to enjoy the holiday a lot more. Christmas Eve we had a darling live nativity, and we put together costumes for the children.

I think the angel, Gabriel was my favorite!
But he sure was getting tired and ready for bed. His favorite thing to do when he is sleepy is to breathe in his blanket. It's completely endearing.

One of my other favorite parts is playing Santa. I love wrapping the gifts, carefully placing them under the tree and stuffing the stockings and imagining the looks on the children's faces. We don't even get the children gifts from us because with three sets of generous grandparents wanting to give presents to our children, we feel it would only detract from the spirit of Christmas. So instead, we set aside a small budget for stuffing stockings. Brad was in charge of Noah's and I had fun with Amalie and Gabriel's.

As always, every year I worry about making sure our family has the most important focus during Christmas- the birth of Christ, so all that month, we had that focus, and it was really sweet. We had a Family Home Evening lesson one night about giving gifts to Jesus and Amalie realy caught on! We taught them that the gifts they could give were acts of service and kindness and keeping the commandments. Even though Amalie had the worst behavior ever that month, she also had many amazing and sweet moments where she would clean for me or make my bed or choose to willingly keep the commandments.

On Christmas Eve we decided to do "hay for the manger" where each time the children did an act of service they got to put a piece of hay in the manger to make a softer bed for baby Jesus. the children went NUTS over this idea and were serving and helping so much that we decided to extend it a few days!! Imagine how amazing I was feeling when my children were being so obedient and serving me and Brad and each other. It was truly heaven.

Christmas morning was sweet because I felt that they had really grasped the reason for the season. They were especially patient with us as we did our morning routine of prayers and scripture reading. Amalie had woken up with a swollen eye, so she looked a little funny, but it was better by the end of the day. We love taking our time opening presents so it usually takes about two hours with the kids stopping to play and put together each present. But I love savoring the moment!!!

We had so much fun playing with the kids. We especially enjoyed playing with Lego's. Brad and I both love to play with Legos so much that sometimes we get carried away and wish the children (namely, Gabe) would just go in another room so we could finish our creation in peace. But it is a blast to build with the older two.
This year I tried to just relax even though my house looked like a tornado had blown through. Well at least until later in the day, then I made them clean up. I was proud of myself for holding back, though.