Wednesday, December 29, 2010

wonderful.















This had to be the best Christmas so far.
I'll admit that I may say it every year, but it really was great.

We had a Christmas Eve candlelight service at church and then took the kids out with my MIL to a Chinese restaurant. The kids loved it and were all dressed up in their Christmas attire. Parker basically drank about 12 cups of hot tea so he could stay up all night to catch Santa (which he knows is Daddy). He made it to a little after midnight and missed Santa. He promises that next year will be the year he catches him.

The kids were all really happy with their gifts-- some claiming that they got everything they wanted. Since we rarely enter the malls and the kids don't watch tv, they aren't bombarded with all the advertisements and enticements of the free market, so they don't have that sense that they 'need' to have all kinds of new things. That doesn't mean that they don't already have plenty-- we could certainly do with a little less stuff around here, but it's always nice to get something new!
Even though we have eight children, God has blessed us abundantly and our kids are probably closer to being spoiled than not having enough.

From a parent's perspective, Sophia was kind of the star on Christmas morning, because her reactions when opening gifts were so exuberant that she immediately brought a smile to our faces. And Pearl did begin to squeal with joy when she saw the play bake set my MIL gave her. Overall, everyone was quite satisfied and very appreciative. Sourpusses and stinkfaces were absent all day.

Since we had no Christmas morning service, we had all the time in the world (no rushing, thank God!) and my husband was able to cook us a big breakfast-- an eggnog french toast casserole with whipped cream on top, crispy bacon and tater tots. This was great since it kept us all very full until dinner late in the afternoon. Baby back ribs, coleslaw, baked beans, olive bread, rice and sparkling cider were all on the menu for that evening. I know it's not your usual Christmas dinner fare, but we're not your usual family. The kids and me loved it and after cleaning up, we had a nice, quiet evening at home. Wonderful.



5 comments:

Leanne said...

Ah, I'm glad your Christmas was so wonderful!!

I would venture to say, if your home is anything like ours, even if your kids didn't have a lot of stuff, it would still seem like lots, just with the sheer numbers of people!!!!! I always wonder how we got so much stuff in the girls' room, even if we go in there and collect three garbage bags of garbage and get-rid-of stuff!!! Just did that not too many weeks ago and now it seems it's time to do it again!!

Speaking of not being a normal family where holiday meals are concerned, we always have make-your-own deli sandwiches with my folks every Christmas! How's that for unusual?

Take care! Happy New Year! May God be new and fresh in your life this year.

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

It sounds wonderful!

Thank you for sharing!

Carla said...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your darlings!!

Kelly said...

Will you post that Egg Nog French Toast Casserole recipe? It sounds incredible!! And where do you get Olive Bread? That sounds really good too!

Amy Jay said...

I spy the Melissa and Doug cookie bake set in one photo! Is that the one Pearl got from your MIL? My 3-year-old got one of those for Christmas, too, and it is her favorite gift!