Our story begins with a photo shoot. On the morning of Christmas Eve I sat the kids in front of the tree in their pajamas in hopes of capturing some fun, fesitve photos. Josie, Jamie, and Johnny are becoming accustomed to this ritual and I've found that they're more likely to smile when I bring out the tripod and set the camera to auto-timer. They like the beeping count down... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Click!
This last one would have been perfect if Beast hadn't walked in front of the lens.
We did eventually change out of our pajamas. There was lots to do that day, including one last trip to the mall to see Santa. Jamie wouldn't stop asking to see "Ho Ho" and I had promised him we'd go that morning while Daddy was at work. Our Santa stop was followed by a grocery store trip for last minute supplies. By noon we were all in the kitchen, baking a pair of pies.
I had six extra hands.
Josie and Jamie and Johnny all wanted to be a part of the process, which makes for great memories but not the best pies. Instead of adding 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. ginger to my pumpkin pie filling, I distractedly did the opposite. It took a lot of Cool Whip to cover up that mistake.
After the pies had been baked and while a small pot of spaghetti noodles was boiling on the stove, I sat down at the table with Josie to help her write her first ever letter to Santa. "Dear Santa, I want a doll. And a bell. And surprises. Josie." As she colored pictures at the bottom of the note, I thought to myself: Doll? Check. Surprises? Check. Bell? Uh oh....
I helped Jamie write a letter to Santa as well. His read, "Dear Santa. Please bring me a boat for Christmas. I am trying to be a good boy. Love, Jamie." He scribbled all over the paper and noted that his chicken scratch was a picture of a boat and that the dots were little fishes. By this time the noodles were cooked and drained and while the sauce was being heated we crammed the kids' letter into envelopes and slapped some stamps on the corner, then rushed them to the mail box. I knew that 6 o'clock on the evening of Christmas Eve was a little late for mailing a letter to the North Pole, but Josie and Jamie didn't think a thing of it. They were excited. And I was confident that Santa would get the letters in plenty of time.
After dinner and baths, the kids were all changed into their matching reindeer pajamas and we sat atop Josie's bed for a couple bedtime stories- The Polar Express, upon Josie's request, and The Night Before Christmas, a traditional favorite. Finally, the children were nestled all snug in their beds.
The first thing I did after their nightlights were glowing bright was dig through my closet for my tub of paint and brushes. A bell? Josie had mentioned wanting a bell from Santa weeks ago but I didn't realize how serious she was about that request until she wrote it down in her letter. Luckily, I happened to have an old bell- it came as a door hanger that I won in a gift basket but the boys had yanked it off and broken it apart so it was sitting in a drawer waiting to be fixed. With the right alterations I knew that Josie wouldn't know the difference. So I painted a quick "Josie" on the front and added some pizzaz to the top. Bell? Check!
While the red paint was still drying, I began to haul presents from the garage (where they were being kept to avoid unwanted early unwrapping) and place them under the tree in as photogenic of an arrangement as I had energy to. I took a step back and admired that brightly glowing symbol of blessings and love.
Of course, with each trip from the garage to the tree I had to stop at the bookcase and take a bite of cookie from the plate that was left for Santa. I had to make sure that both the giant frosted sugar cookies were gone by morning. Being Santa is a tough job, but someone's got to do it.
I sat down on the living room floor and began to stuff the stockings full of goodies- pajamas, plush toys, Pez dispensers, chocolate Santas, lollipops, and more- with one eye on the job and the other on the TV, watching The Christmas Story. The big gifts had to be torn out of their boxes and decorated with a big red velvet bow. A doll for Josie, a pirate ship for Jamie, and a boat for Johnny.
Oh, and the bell!
Once the gifts were under the tree and the stockings were stuffed and presents arranged, there was only one detail left to attend to. The cookie plate. I managed to eat a full cookie and a half but by that last half a cookie I had reached my sugar overload level. I confess, I threw it in the trash and immediately took the trash to the curb to dispose of the evidence. Oh ya, and while I was outside I remembered to grab the letters from the mailbox that were placed there only hours before. What a giggle that would have given our mailman... I wrote out a quick note to the kids from Santa and stuck it under the plate that was littered with crumbs and a few half-eaten carrots.
I was finally in bed by 11:05 PM and then up again at 5:40 AM. Surprisingly, Johnny was the first one awake. I rocked him quietly for a while in an attempt to stave off the maddness that the day was sure to bring. But Josie and Jamie stirred soon after and we headed downstairs all together. Josie whispered to Jamie in the stairwell, "Let's see if Santa came..." And once she turned the corner I heard her shout, "He did! He did!" Jamie ran to the couch and grabbed his ship proclaiming, "Ma boa! Ma boa! (My boat! My boat!)" Johnny was happy watching from his perch on my hip, until he saw the candy. Josie dumped her stocking out onto the floor and Reese's cups and Hershey's kisses went flying across the carpet. Johnny threw his weight towards the shiny foil wrapped treats, grabbed the closest one he saw and brought it back to me. "Ma!," he asked me to unwrap his treasure. The next ten minutes were filled with quiet Christmas contentment as the kids stuffed their faces with candies and explored their new toys.
The events that followed are a blur of red & green wrapping, boxes, bows, and tissue paper in my mind. The kids tore through their packages with continuous smiles and shouts of glee. All I could think about was how generous our friends and family had been to us. We opened gifts that had traveled from California, New York, Maryland, and Virginia- Concrete proof that love knows no distance.
James had been awake most of the night doing work aboard the ship so he came home feeling a bit grinchy. But unwrapping his Colts gnome, a gift from my sister and her husband, was enough to conjure at least an amused smirk.
I knew that James wasn't firing on all cylinders when he asked me, right in front of Josie, if I had stayed up late after the kids went to bed to paint her name on the bell. I gave him a dirty look. "Uh, no," I replied, "It's from Santa." Josie helped me set him straight. "Yeah, Dad! Santa gave it to me!" He fell asleep on the couch as soon as the presents were unwrapped and snoozed while the turkey cooked in the oven and kids played with their toys on the floor. Johnny was entranced by his rock 'n roll Mickey from Grandma and Grandpa. He gave Mickey a "kiss" on the nose and laughed when he started to dance and sing. From then on, he thought he had to bite the nose to make the toy work.
When Jamie wasn't playing with his pirate ship, he was dressing up as a pirate knight.
At the end of the day when we asked Josie what her favorite part of Christmas had been she said her Rapunzel doll and the large cardboard house, which unfortunately I failed to take a picture of. Not a word was said about the bell. Kids are so fickle.
Our Christmas day full of toys, goodies, games, and play finally drew to a close after a big turkey dinner with all the fixings. Jamie snuck a taste before prayer.
Then we folded our hands, closed our eyes, bowed our heads, and thanked the Lord for sending his son Jesus Christ to be born on earth so that we could all know eternal life through him. Then we ate.
And our Christmas story ends with a house full of happiness, thankfulness, and love. Merry Christmas!
