Christmas Memories

"Even though there was a new little one, Christmas was surprisingly calm. Everyone revelled in the day. Mass was quiet as most families had come the night before. There was time and space to truly enjoy the gift of the Christ child in our lives." ~Summer

"I liked going to see baby Jesus in the church. And, mommy, I liked saying prayers" ~Xavier

"Instead of going to Christmas eve Mass, we went to Christmas morning Mass which meant we had to wake up really early. Before we left for church, we opened our stockings. One thing that stuck in my head was when Marie Claire went up to the front of the church and picked up the baby Jesus out of the nativity and kissed it. One of my favorite parts was opening the really giant present from Olivia and Quinton. It was a dolly bed that Olivia and Quinton had made. Also, my grandma got me ranch dressing with carrots for Christmas since I really really like it and we never get it." ~Collette

"We went to church. Then we opened our stockings and presents. My biggest surprise ever was getting a rabbit for Christmas. Grandpa brought the rabbit. I thought it was a big box of coloring things! First we put it in the dog kennel. Then I had to clean the chicken poo out of the rabbit hutch. It was pretty exciting. After I cleaned the rabbit hutch, we had the trouble of bringing it up to the back porch and putting the bunny in it. Her name is Dorothy. She will not bite, but when she is picked up, she will scratch. That's why putting the bunny inside the hutch was a problem. She's a black a bunny and is very nice if she isn't scared. She wasn't scared of much of anything until Blaise (the dog) went back there and now she is scared of everything!" ~Grace

Kolbe watched all the fun from his bouncy seat, quiet and content, until the afternoon when he proceeded to be rather discontented by the whole party. I bounced and nursed and bounced and nursed the afternoon away with him.

"I like getting big round Rowdies. Yup. We make presents. Wrapping and opening them, that's all. We put our Santa hats on. And we...I don't know. We opened our presents and we went to church and, hmm, I liked my big leaf. And I like Kolbe. And we got a package. And we liked eating candy, yeah! I'm so happy, mom. Mommmy? I like you mom." ~Xavier

"It was a very quiet and joyful day.  The children were very relaxed. You know how some Christmas can be full of emotion. It was very peaceful." ~Stephen

"I open presents. We go to church. I reading a book." ~Marie Claire

"Christmas, was what I thought was...Do you know what I liked from Christmas? I liked the blue track, the binoculars and telescope that Gracie gave me, and the cars. We went to church on Christmas. And we ate dinner on Christmas. And, mommy, we did the Advent calendar. Then, mommy, we did sing Good King Wenceslas. That's all I know. That's all the words." ~Dominic

"Well, first thing, I loved opening stocking and watching the children open presents. Watching them bounce on the big orange ball was hysterical. Then, after Mass, I liked watching the open the gifts that I had made, like the bed and stuff. Their reactions were lovely. My favorite present was the set of art stuff although it rivaled closely with the knife. The one other thing that I really remembered about Christmas was eating the roll just because I love those things so much. The non gluten free ones that Nanna and Grandpa brought. I love the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. Alright, I'm done." ~Olivia

"Collette and Marie on the big bouncy ball. She had Marie on the front and they just bounced up and down while Marie laughed hysterically." ~Stephen

"Well, when we first went down to the garage to get the boxes, nobody had any idea what was in it even though had trampolines written all over the cardboard. Once we finally figured out what it was, everyone was extremely excited. Tio, Papa, and Dad and I, we all spent several hours putting it up. And surprisingly it wasn't the actual assembly of trampoline that took the longest, it was the safety measures. They took, probably, more than a third of the time. By the time that it was up, it was getting pretty dark so we didn't really get a chance to bounce until the next day." ~Quinton

2012 Wrap-Up

Well, my blogging spree did not last long and then that guilt at being so far behind sapped any desire to actually get something done. Isn't strange to be paralyzed by the undone when doing it will set us free and yet stuck we remain? Thus, in an effort to myself free, I offer up four major holidays in one fell swoop, err, blog post. Ta-Da!

HALLOWEEN

At Quinton's suggestion, everyone eagerly agreed to be a family of ninjas. Nanna and Olivia lovingly sewed up costumes to each child's specifications. They even had beautiful jeweled dragons, tigers, leopards, and flowers on the back. Marie Claire was dressed as the little Chinese princess whom the ninjas were protecting. Her little red dress, also made by Nanna, is actually Olivia's from when she was the same size. It is so sweet to remember my blue-eyed girls in red.

ALL SAINTS' DAY

Xavier ~ Crusader for Christ

Dominic ~ St. David

Olivia ~ Goliath ( Not a saint, but David's story teller)

Grace ~ St. Bridget

Collette ~ St. Zita

Quinton ~ St. Quentin

THANKSGIVING DAY

For my mom and dad... fond memories to make you smile

Thanksgiving was lovely, just lovely. We spent the morning cooking at home before heading down the mountain for some serious family fun. This is my children's home away from home. They love and know every corner. Before everyone escaped to their favorite playhouse, casita, or playroom, I managed to snap a few pictures- Four generations of love captured here. What a blessing! Oh, and that's Xavier in his most favorite padded helmet. He literally wore it to pieces. The boy loves hats, red hats. It makes me smile.

 After pictures, everyone scattered for playtime, making the sweetest candy turkeys, and dining on a delicious dinner that pleased everyone. Now that's saying a lot with my picky crew.

After dinner, the crazy kids donned bathing suits and headed out for a swim. While the spa was heated, the pool most definitely was not. However, that did not deter my children. They jumped in, gasped for air, swam furiously for the hot spa, and did it all over again laughing and laughing the whole time. The evening ended in pajamas, cozily watching a movie. I am so thankful for my beautiful family, the love between generations, and bountiful holiday celebrations. God is Good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Our Christmas was quiet and family focused just like Thanksgiving. Extended family arrived to celebrate a few days before, we attended Christmas Eve Vigil in another small mission, and celebrated Christmas morning at home with loved ones. The children really shone this year with all of their home-made presents. Collette sewed and embroidered cookie pouches, Quinton made an amazing array of wooden gifts, and Olivia knitted and sewed with love. I think some of the most special moments was the exchange of these true gifts of the heart and hand. Even I managed to squeeze in a few days of sewing to make play food for the girlies. There was so much joy in the giving this year. The baby Jesus must have smiled sweetly upon them!

Olivia and Dominic's birthdays will show up soon. And then I can move on into 2013 with a happy heart of memories recorded, even so briefly.
And Peace to His people on Earth!

A Christmas Review

I had these grand visions of organized joy and merriment for Christmas this year. You know the kind  that involves baking scrumptious cookies, sewing delightful gifts, crafting beautiful decorations, and weaving memories of love and thanksgiving. I don't know what possessed me given the recent birth of lucky number seven, latent nesting hormones? Anyway, one by one each ideal gave way to a simpler reality. Cookie dough was eaten raw (come now, you know that's the best part :-), all gifts were delivered by the men in brown, decorations were pulled from the dusty boxes, and crafting, well, crafting was non existent. We did weave though.

My big boy was laden with gifts as he grumbled in perfect Hoshmakaka style.

St. Nicholas day was quietly celebrated.

The Prophet Isaiah preached of the coming Light.

And we brought home our tree on Gaudette Sunday. What joy! Do you know that we almost bought a tree from the back of a semi trailer at Costco? It would have saved us a few dollars but all the man did was grab a shrink wrapped tree from the dark recesses and gruffly chuck it on top of your car. Stephen wisely said, "Um, No!" and drove us over to the corner lot with twinkling lights, merry music, and purple flocked trees. Yes, that last one was strange but it delighted the kids. So, six crazy monkeys ran up and down pine scented rows, squealing with excitement. See, weaving.

Christmas Eve rolled around much sooner than it should have and caught me by surprise. I scrambled around and managed to dig up coordinating outfits for everyone. Hair was clipped and curled while dresses were pressed and, Ta-Da, my handsome crew was pulled together.

I tried to take a quick family picture before Mass but, as Stephen and Quinton had hustled in to save us a pew, I was shy by one. Marie woke just in time to be royally irritated at the whole event. And poor Collette was suffering from a wicked allergy attack which caused her eyes to swell up. Thus, I'll post the photos here for memories sake but pass on framing anything.

Christmas morning was a blur of excitement. I loved the intensity as round eyes gazed every which way trying to take it all in and little feet bounced and pranced with uncontainable energy- A little bit of magic in the quiet of the morning. Everyone was truly thankful for the gift of babies, both in the manger and in our home. 

St. Nicholas brought motion in the form of skates and a trampoline for the little boys. He must have known the children's longing for speed and Mommy's longing for the sofas to last a little longer. After breakfast and clean-up, more family arrived with the biggest surprise of all- A trip to Disneyland! It is crazy how excited I am given that we live an hour and half from the place. However, Stephen and I had finally given up on the idea of going as a family given the constraints of our budget. Look for Disney photos and merriment in May. Hurray!

Little Miss Marie celebrated her first Christmas. I had the sweetest little set of Christmas pajamas for her. You know, the kind that beg to part of some holly jolly photo of a perfect cherub's first big holy day. Well, hmm, I couldn't find them so not only is she in ordinary pink p.j.'s but this is the one photo that I managed to snap. Oh well, she had a lovely day. I promise. :-)

Now, as this is most extraordinarily late I must just hit post. This silly thing has been written for at least three weeks now but somehow time has flown and I have not managed to even push one critical little button on the computer. So much for one of my New Year's resolutions!

Merry, Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to You

On this last day of Advent,

we wish each of our loved ones

a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!!

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King