Christmas 2011

Wow! Another Christmas here and gone. With little kids who take naps and go to bed early, the day goes by too fast. If I'm honest, I probably packed a little too much into today. I was not expecting the crazy over stimulation of my three-year-old. Tristan hardly ever has a melt down and he had a couple today...oops, my bad. You live and you learn.

Last night as we put our nativity set back together after a hard day of play, I snuck baby Jesus into my pocket and Tristan was not happy when he could not find him. Our Christmas morning started out with the first gift of Christmas. "To the Conway Family, Love God" Inside was baby Jesus from our manger. Tristan got very excited and said, "There he is! He was in here waiting for me!"

The morning was full of presents, laughing, a little fighting, and lots of fun. There were books, a Bible, Batman, the hit of Pop the Pig, and of course what would a Christmas with three boys be without capes!!! My little superheros were adorable. Tristan kept coming up to us asking, "So what seems to be the problem here?"

I was thrilled that four out of the five of us would eat the Christmas morning casserole... guess I will be making a bigger one next year. Finn spent the whole morning with

various snacks in his mouth and Ian scribbled away on his Doodle pad. The last few years Neil and I have drastically scaled back on gifts for each other, first cutting out presents and eventually stockings. This year we were down to nothing and it felt GREAT!!! Turns out I wished for nothing and in return got a beautifully written letter from my husband filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. Truly wonderful. Turns out people were right that being grateful for what you have really is a choice. I have NEVER had a Christmas where I didn't wish for more, have secret desires, or wasn't disappointed by what I did receive... until 2011! What a year, what a journey!

I had a great time making gifts for the boys this year. A bucket for their new band instruments, band shirt for Brothers Thomas, and Angry Birds game, puzzles, and a fun ice cube activity for the bath. Can't wait to do more and more homemade gifts as the years go on. Maybe start earlier than I did this year though. I look back at the gifts my dad made me over the years as some of the most special gifts I received. Maybe I couldn't appreciate that at 16, but now... priceless. I think I should do the same for my boys.

We ended the day singing happy birthday to Jesus and having a party for him. All in all a good holiday. Yes the day was fun, even though it was a bit overwhelming. I think next year we will go a little smaller. While it was all great, I think a little less stuff will make it more enjoyable. All that stuff didn't leave a whole lot of time in our short day to remember

what it was really about. Glad we did a lot of teaching before the holiday so it was not totally lost in the stuff laying around our living room. No sweat though, no holiday will ever be perfect, but I do have some great ideas of how to make it fit our family a little better next year.