Here I am blogging away when we have a house of 22 people
arriving in 5 mins. This is how I know blogging is a de-stressor for me.
Christmas Eve was pretty much close to my perfect day and
exactly what Christmas is for me. If we were not all sick-still after 3 weeks-I
would have been able to enjoy every single delicious second…but I settled for
most.
At Trent we went on a family skate in the beautiful
forest. It is so incredibly beautiful there and we were close to the only people
there too. Then we went out for pain au chocolates and hot cocoa at the bakery.
At the cottage for some shovelling and skiing on the jump we created in the
front yard and met up in the Jacuzzi all five of us with all the windows open.
I loved that day.
Home to the city where my Mom was there with fondue and
homemade soup and we just hung out. After dinner my Mom and I and the boys
watched a very non Christmas type of movie (the three our elf brought hoping
they would fall in love with for Christmas were not very popular with my kids!!)
Hubby and Beauty went to mass at 11pm at the Catholic Church. I was sooooo
happy that Beauty wanted to go with her Dad as it is really not my favorite
thing on Christmas Eve but Hubby loves it. Most years we all go…..but most of
us would way rather settle in in our new Christmas pyjamas and watch a movie.
Hubby loves the music and the choir and so happy that Beauty and he want to go
together. A tradition that works well for all of us!
The kids and adults all loved their new Christmas Pj’s
and no one ran away. A great start!
And this morning although all still super sick (I am so
bloody tired of saying this) we had a great Christmas morning. Everyone loved
their gifts and we had hot cinnamon rolls in between.
I got so many nice gifts this year but may favorite was
that my husband had all our old VHS tapes put onto DVD……amazing. So our wedding,
the babies first years, baptisms, first steps. We watched about 30 minutes and
I cried and cried and cried. For the simplicity and joy of those years, for my
Grampa who I loved so much, for how young Hubby and I looked!!!
Just watching this one out of 20 videos was the highlight
of my year. To look back and remember those moments..brought us so close…..so
together…such incredible memories…..such wonderful and precious years that I
never ever want to forget. Since we have not had a VCR in years it has been
over a decade that I got to see my babies! All the videos I watch are from the
last 5 years and it is just not the same to watch kids as it is to watch babies.
There is nothing like watching your baby on a video. And your husband rocking
him, and singing to her, and dancing with her and loving her. Precious
memories.
And now a house full of people in a few minutes. Looking
forward to that part too as lots and lots of little kids that still believe in
Santa.
I reflected on my kids today at Christmas as every Christmas
the same thoughts go through my mind: Very grateful, totally excited, very
thankful, very wild, very entitled in many ways (even though they always say
thanks), very hyper on vacation, better with the structure and routine of
school days than on vacation, totally passionate, totally into life. Love them
to bits and drive me crazy all wrapped up in one. Part of “V” in 2013 will just
be accepting it all and loving it all as it is. I have to accept my family is
often loud and chaotic. Yup.
And they are still, the same babies they were 15, 13 and
11 years ago. One is running in a circle biting his nails with the most
beautiful face and smile you might ever see, one is softly following him with
his blue eyes blond hair taking up and making his own unique space, and one is
trying to fight and find her way amongst these boys…..pushing them away and
pulling them towards her. None can ever be found on their own. All are usually
rolled up in a wrestle or a ball half wrestling and have cuddling. My three
bears. Always were-always will be. No one has changed at all it seems.
Merry Christmas to our old selves and our new selves. To
the friends and family alongside us in
those old videos that are still in our
lives now and to the friends and family that we will hold in our hearts forever
through our memories and through now our DVDs which will never let us forget. We
wish you all wonderful Christmas time in your family and very Happy New Years
There are a few things about our yearly Christmas that
make me proud and that I want to remember:
1-We always every year put a big effort and host. Each
year the party grows. I love that our children see us do this. For me it is the
true spirit of Christmas to go out of your way, to welcome people to your home.
To share and offer what you have with others. To share your abundance and your
blessings.
2-To make amends and to treat family with the utmost
importance. Even if you did not always get it right it is never too late to
start., Can you imagine that it would be possible that we would not have known
these beautiful 8 children???????? I cannot imagine this….but it could have
easily happened. I am proud that we know our mistakes, we know how to fix them,
and we know how to make it right.
Goodnight!!!!
PSS-And Elf on Shelf (aka Balz) made Christmas great.
Thanks Sister!! He made me look forward to it and cherish it more. We will be
sad to put him back in his box tomorrow. When my kids look for him they are wild,
and chaotic, and fight over who gets to see him first, they whine when if he
does not bring chocolates that day…so we probably don’t have the ideal elf finding family, but he
brought a little joy to all of us each day nevertheless and I am grateful for that.
