Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time
This Christmas has been a wonderful blessing for me and our family! We spent Christmas Eve with the Chaffins this year, which is a rare treat because usually Christmas Eve is reserved for Luke's side of the family. However this year things were a little different to accomodate late arrivals from out of town. On Christmas Eve, we met my parents at a methodist church for a candle light Christmas Eve service. Mandie and Matthew got to work on their manger stickers during the preaching, then we all sang Christmas carrols with the congregation, then we passed the fire from person to person. M&M's favorite part was holding the fire. Whitney held little Michael during the service, and he slept in her arms most of the time. While he was preaching, the preacher mentioned a verse out of the book of Luke. Matthew had been very busy with his stickers, but when he heard the word "Luke" his head shot up and his eyes grew wide and he exclaimed in a voice loud enough for at least 3 rows in either directions to hear: "LUKE! He is talking about my DADDY!" Matthew is really freaking me out right now because he seems so big! I can see the toddler in him turning more and more into a big kid every day. We all returned home to my parents house to pop our traditional poppers and then eat a bite. Then Robin, Dickie, and Grandmother came by for a quick visit. While they were there Whitney read a Christmas book by Max Lucado and the story of the birth of Jesus out of the book of Matthew. Alas, it was time for the kids to open their presents. My mom went with the Disney princess theme for Mandie and the Toy Story 3 theme for Matthew. Little Michael had no theme. Thankfully, however, he could care less as long as he is well loved and well fed. We really enjoyed seeing Aunt LaJean during this time, she is such a treat to have around at Christmas time. We went home and put out milk and cookies for Santa and threw reindeer food on the lawn. Then we all gathered on Matthews bed to sing jingle bells about 10 times before calling it a night.
The next morning was Christmas morning. Luke and I woke up before the kids and hurried to get the camera and the video camera ready to see the expressions on the kid's faces when the discovered that Santa had actually come to see them. We had been ready for a while when Luke decided he was tired of waiting on them to wake up, so he went in to wake them up. It took them a few minutes to find their presents, because Santa had left them by the fireplace and not under the tree. I guess he was in quite a hurry because he left the doors to the fireplace open on his way out. M&M were very good this year, and Santa treated them well. He left them a Melissa and Doug art Easel, stockings full of little trinkets, a Littlest Pet Shop House for Mandie, and a Transformer for Matthew. Michael also got a little toy and a stocking full of bathtub toys. Luke and I both recieved a pack of mixed nuts in out stockings, apparently Santa was not as pleased with us as he was with our children!! After playing all of Christmas morning with our goodies, we all went down for a long Christmas day nap (praise the Lord!) and then we headed over to the Grand Parent's house on Luke's side. On the way over we were listening to The Chipmunks rendition of "All I want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth" and decided to take the CD in with us so that Mandie and Matthew could sing it for everyone for Christmas. That was pretty cute, at first they were a little shy, but as the song went on they got more and more comfortable and they were laughing and singing like silly gooses! They even got up on MiMi's coffee table to use as a stage. However the best part by far was when Matthew elected to turn around and pull down his pants for no apparent reason after the song was over. Apparently he wanted to show everyone the big boy underwear he got in his stocking that morning from Santa. We opened presents and ate a delicious gluten free meal (thank you so much MiMi for going gluten free for me!) MiMi and G-Dad got M&M&M some little rocking chairs with their names on them. They are really cute, I'll have to post a picture later. Then all of the Cooper's came over to listen to the guys play and sing. I am so blessed to be married to such a talented musician! Luke, your skills on the piano and guitar are truly amazing! It was a real treat this year because the little cousins are old enough now to hold a microphone and sing along while their dads play. That was really fun! Matthew and Noah really played hard that night, it makes me look forward to Matthew, Noah, Michael, and Micah all playing together as they grow up! I was able to sneak away for a few minutes for a Christmas walk that I really enjoyed. I think overall everyone was really able to celebrate the birth of Christ! Praise the Lord!!
I spent most of today un-Christmasing our house. I gotta say, it' looks a little bare and it really needs to be vacuumed! There are little green pieces of Christmas tree and other random greenery all over the floor! We are still looking forward to the New Year's celebration coming on New's Year's day. I am so glad every year to have a chance to give and recieve with our family, and more than that the opportunity to teach my children about the birth of Jesus Christ. At the candle light service, all the kids gathered on stage to hear the reading of a kid's book entitled "Love Came Down and Christmas". I didn't pay a lot of attention to the actual book, but I was deeply moved by the title. On Christmas night so many years ago, God sent love down to earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Love did come down at Christmas, Praise the Lord for Jesus! For the life He led, the death He endured, and the example He gave! Thank You Lord.
The next morning was Christmas morning. Luke and I woke up before the kids and hurried to get the camera and the video camera ready to see the expressions on the kid's faces when the discovered that Santa had actually come to see them. We had been ready for a while when Luke decided he was tired of waiting on them to wake up, so he went in to wake them up. It took them a few minutes to find their presents, because Santa had left them by the fireplace and not under the tree. I guess he was in quite a hurry because he left the doors to the fireplace open on his way out. M&M were very good this year, and Santa treated them well. He left them a Melissa and Doug art Easel, stockings full of little trinkets, a Littlest Pet Shop House for Mandie, and a Transformer for Matthew. Michael also got a little toy and a stocking full of bathtub toys. Luke and I both recieved a pack of mixed nuts in out stockings, apparently Santa was not as pleased with us as he was with our children!! After playing all of Christmas morning with our goodies, we all went down for a long Christmas day nap (praise the Lord!) and then we headed over to the Grand Parent's house on Luke's side. On the way over we were listening to The Chipmunks rendition of "All I want for Christmas is my 2 Front Teeth" and decided to take the CD in with us so that Mandie and Matthew could sing it for everyone for Christmas. That was pretty cute, at first they were a little shy, but as the song went on they got more and more comfortable and they were laughing and singing like silly gooses! They even got up on MiMi's coffee table to use as a stage. However the best part by far was when Matthew elected to turn around and pull down his pants for no apparent reason after the song was over. Apparently he wanted to show everyone the big boy underwear he got in his stocking that morning from Santa. We opened presents and ate a delicious gluten free meal (thank you so much MiMi for going gluten free for me!) MiMi and G-Dad got M&M&M some little rocking chairs with their names on them. They are really cute, I'll have to post a picture later. Then all of the Cooper's came over to listen to the guys play and sing. I am so blessed to be married to such a talented musician! Luke, your skills on the piano and guitar are truly amazing! It was a real treat this year because the little cousins are old enough now to hold a microphone and sing along while their dads play. That was really fun! Matthew and Noah really played hard that night, it makes me look forward to Matthew, Noah, Michael, and Micah all playing together as they grow up! I was able to sneak away for a few minutes for a Christmas walk that I really enjoyed. I think overall everyone was really able to celebrate the birth of Christ! Praise the Lord!!
I spent most of today un-Christmasing our house. I gotta say, it' looks a little bare and it really needs to be vacuumed! There are little green pieces of Christmas tree and other random greenery all over the floor! We are still looking forward to the New Year's celebration coming on New's Year's day. I am so glad every year to have a chance to give and recieve with our family, and more than that the opportunity to teach my children about the birth of Jesus Christ. At the candle light service, all the kids gathered on stage to hear the reading of a kid's book entitled "Love Came Down and Christmas". I didn't pay a lot of attention to the actual book, but I was deeply moved by the title. On Christmas night so many years ago, God sent love down to earth in the form of Jesus Christ. Love did come down at Christmas, Praise the Lord for Jesus! For the life He led, the death He endured, and the example He gave! Thank You Lord.
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