Merry Christmas!

I am sitting on the couch, laptop on lap, in cozy new pj's (courtesy of DH and kids), glancing over at DH who is playing with his new digital photo frame (which already has hundreds of photos downloaded). Slowly, one by one, the adults have peeled themselves off to bed. The children have finally wound down. What a glorious, blessing-filled day! Just a few quick thoughts, so I don't lose them in the busy-ness of cleaning up, putting away, and family time over the next few days.

1. We have the most amazing kids!!!! Last night, when DH and I turned in at 10:45, I mumbled that, if we were lucky, the kids would let us sleep until 6am. They did us even better... they let us sleep til 6:45am! It practically felt like vacation!

   
   

2. I love video cameras! I never need to lose the excitement in the kids' voices this morning, and the looks on their faces... especially when BigBro read the note from Santa explaining how he couldn't fit the wooden playhouse down the chimney and left it by the swingset instead. They all wanted to run outside, in their pjs and bare feet, to see it. We convinced them to let Dad go outside and take the tarp off the box. Now, we await two or three reasonably warm days for Mom and Dad to put it together. Hey Santa... how 'bout lending us some elf help?

   
   

3. Father's homily at mass this morning was one of his better ones. Typically, if Father walks down into the center aisle to deliver the homily, it is going to be one of the better ones, and today was no different. He talked about how Jesus was born into a "closed society:" the Roman Empire in which you believed that Augustus Caesar was the Son of God or you were killed. Jesus was born, humbly, into that society... and through his humility, forgiveness, and love, changed everything. We each live in our own "closed societies," whether we are closed by our own sin, or by the destruction of family dysfunction/alcoholism/drugs/etc. And yet, today, we celebrate Jesus' birth and His Presence in our lives, and if we let Him, our personal closed societies can also be forever changed.

   
   

4. It is such a gift to have my parents and niece here this year. I love when DH's family and my family are all together. Everyone gets along and I don't have that twinge of missing my family, even while enjoying DH's family. It was especially nice this year, since my Dad had his Santa suit, and made a post-dinner visit with a few packages that had fallen out of Santa's sleigh last night. How kind of Dad to help the old guy out today, so he could get some rest after circumnavigating the globe last night!

   
   

5. We stopped by DH's company HQ tonight, to drive through the campus and see the lights. On our way, we hit about 6 red lights. LilBro, totally and completely wound up, started calling out "Green Light" until the light changed... completely convinced that it was his words which actually changed the light. Then he would giggle and giggle. I wish there was a way to bottle that giggle.

   
   

6. "Merry Christmas, Mama. I love you," whispers Princess after I go back upstairs to settle down two wound-up sons, well past bedtime.