It's the eve of Christmas Eve (if that's a thing), and I'm up before the rest of the house. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I bounced out of bed quickly, for the opportunities to sit in the quiet amidst the twinkle of the Christmas trees is running low and I've got to soak it up. Yesterday was Cruz's last day of school. Cruz and I left the house early, picked up white chocolate mochas for Aunt Kelli and Mrs. Plate, and then I joined his class for the start of their reindeer day, helping to make 24 reindeer hats and reindeer food bags with his sweet class of smarties yesterday morning. Then I returned home to Beau and Mila, both off for the day, playing Guess Who in front of the fire, Mila telling him all about the angel Gabriel telling Mary she was going to have a baby and Mary saying, "What? But I don't even have a husband!"
The three of us had lunch together downtown, Mila found the cutest pile of snow under a tree and made her first snowball, and then we went back home to pile in our bed for a quick power nap before we picked up our boy. We needed our rest, after all, because the 2nd annual Jorgensen Top Chef was planned for our night. One of our favorite nights of last year, we gathered in the kitchen to each make our very own dish, then voted on our favorites for both taste and presentation. The winner would get to open the first gift of Christmas, so it was a pretty big deal. Last year, Cruz took the crown with his delicious brownies, although this year the competition was much stiffer. Funny enough, it was a four-way tie for both categories, so we opened our gift together, a fun new game to play before bed.
We played Headbanz well after bedtime, and shared enough belly laughs to last us through the new year. Afterwards, the kids were riled up and wild, and we didn't know if we should laugh or yell. Beau took Cruz to bed, he fell asleep about two minutes after hitting the pillow, and Mila proved to be more of a challenge for me. I helped her dress into a new flannel nightgown, one that came complete with a matching one for her baby, and I watched her dance in front of the Christmas tree and show her dolly all her favorite ornaments. Then I tucked her in, told her she needed to practice staying in her bed because there were just two more practices until the big night on Christmas Eve. Then I practiced myself, three rounds of Silent Night as she rubbed my hand and finally drifted to sleep.
Nothing makes my heart happier than to create this sense of home for these people God blessed me with. To light candles, put on Ray Charles Christmas, and make the house sparkle, to print new coloring sheets, lay out a puzzle on the table, and fill cups of cocoa, ready and waiting for Cruz to be home from school for a long winter's break. To create experiences that make them feel safe and loved. To carve out nights for laughter and wild. To share the magic that one can create through simple acts, like mattresses moved to the living room floor or a cozy road trip just to look at Christmas lights. I'm looking forward to tying up another sweet year this week, to savoring the small moments of beauty, to studying their faces, and celebrating the joy of Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
One last post of some good things we've been savoring this Christmas week...
618. Our Christmas card fiasco and making lemonade. I put great effort and care into each year's Christmas card. Hours of planning which pictures to use, what message to write, and more hours of carefully stamping, personalizing, and addressing them to our friends and family. This year, I sent a shopping bag out the door with Beau on a Friday morning so he could send them from his office. Unbeknownst to be, Beau also took the trash out that morning and somehow threw away our cards. We discovered this around noon that Friday, I ordered another set that arrived the following Monday, and we both decided to take the whole ordeal to Facebook to share in our own way. To say we got a response would be an understatement and Beau will likely be hearing about this for years to come. I lost count of how many people shared the joy and laughter it brought to their Christmas season and we will likely never forget this year's card because of it all. And it just happens to be my favorite one yet.
619. It's by far the best time of year to get the mail everyday, thanks to all these beautiful people (and Amazon, of course).
620. Unexpected visits from sweet friends who bring chocolate and simple paper signs that add so much to my Christmas card display.
621. My favorite Christmas night this year. It was last Friday night and the kids' advent book message said, "camp out under the Christmas tree." While they were at school, I had Beau help me move their mattresses to the middle of the living room floor, pushing them together to make one big bed. This simple act, which took less than five minutes, transformed our night into a makeshift camp out under the stars, where we watched a movie with popcorn, made s'mores over the stove top, and read Christmas in the Big Woods. Then we pretended our living room was our log cabin, and the kids fell asleep by the warmth of the fire and the glow of the Christmas tree. Beau and I eventually let them sleep and went to watch a movie downstairs, but not before I tip toed around them and soaked in the Christmas scene that filled the place.
The place sparkled!
622. Pictures from Christmases past, proof of how much they have grown.
623. Neighborhood kindness elves, delivering hot cocoa kits to our cul de sac.
624. Our house at Christmastime. Sweet mitten garland, my fraiser fir candle from Kate, my chunky knit stockings, handmade art on the fridge, and a pretty piano decked out for the holidays.
625. New ornaments for a tree, including this handmade one from my new friend, Deedra, an IF sister God blessed me with this year.
626. A growing pile of presents, wrapped with care throughout the month. I love the process that unfolds after the shopping is mostly done. I wait until finals are over, then spend a good day laying out all the gifts, arranging packages and wrapping just a few a day at the kitchen island while I watch Kathy Lee and Hoda or a Hallmark movie. They are so pretty under there, patiently awaiting little hands to tear them apart Christmas morning.
627. Packages from Pella, tied up with sweet memories of an unforgettable year.
628. Advent cards from All Things Good Collective. There are simple messages of ways to savor the season on the back of each, and they have made the prettiest garland. So pretty that I think I'll use them again next year.
629. A Saturday morning on Main, with breakfast at Cottonwood and the movie, Elf, in the balcony of charming Oster Regent. Beau declared that Elf is his favorite Christmas movie and I declared that Buddy is my Christmas spirit animal.
630. Another unseasonably warm December day and a stop at the park before our first family Christmas in Allison.
631. The big five, their sweet cousin bond, their shared love of beef burgers, and Great Grandma's sugar cookies. Walks with Mom down Main Street wearing Grandpa's cowboy hats and camouflage coats. We are probably the talk of the town.
632. Christmas duets with Great Grandma. Brings back many memories of me sitting right there where Cruz is.
633. Weeknight snowman crafts to accompany our favorite, What Do Snowman Do at Night, books.
634. A simple Sunday baking day while the boys watched Star Wars. We decided to forgo sugar cookies this year and made three kinds of favorites instead, along with chocolate pretzels and sea salt fudge. It was a wise decision!
635. Christmas week fingernails, five different colors for twenty fingers.
636. Boone and his creative antics.
637. Our little Polar Express night. I picked the kids up from school and took them to the library, where we checked out recipe books for Top Chef and completed an Elf scavenger hunt in the youth collection. Then Beau met us for tacos and we got home after dark, where the kids discovered Boone had moved and prepared quite the night for them. They changed into jammies, I made hot cocoa, and Beau started the car to make it nice and toasty. We listened to Christmas music and visited all our favorite neighborhoods, spotting minion inflatables and the prettiest manger scenes. It's another favorite night.
638. Reindeer cupcakes for reindeer day in first grade. And I didn't even know it was reindeer day!
639. Quiet nights after the kids go to bed, with a cup of tea, a cookie or two, and The Holiday, one of my favorite Christmas movies. Or the first season of Stranger Things, downstairs with Beau. Not very Christmasy, but we are officially hooked!
640. Post-bath games before bed. Right in front of the fire.
The sky is orange, the kids are up, and I've got a Christmas Eve lasagna to make. Merry Christmas (Eve) Eve, friends!
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