Christmas Catch-up

Ethan is a bit concerned that I'm not getting my Christmas coverage up fast enough, so for his sake -- and the records' -- here is a little Christmas catch-up...

Christmas Eve morning saw me FINALLY getting around to making the kids' ornaments for the year.  It took me that long to settle on an idea for everyone, and in the end, I'm kind of glad my original ideas were never quite realized.  I ended up using my idea for Isaac's ornament for all the kids and I really love the way they turned out! 

But first -- we have to cover the annual Christmas Pageant!  As per tradition, we read through the scripture verses while the kids acted out the story and interspersed everything with song.  I have to say -- the pageant is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. :)

The parts for this year were assigned as follows -- Ethan wanted to be a wise man (mostly because he wanted to be the one to carry the set of gold, frankincense, and myrrh that Grandma and Grandpa gave us last Christmas); Grace wanted to be Mary; Sophie was the Narrator; Jane was the angel; Alex was Joseph; and Isaac slept in the swing. :)

I do have to say that having a newborn baby boy during this Christmas season was a really sweet and tender experience.  I found myself thinking often of the Savior's birth all those many years ago and even more especially wondering what Mary must have thought and felt as she bore the child who would save her and all of us.  There is a song called "Mary's Lullaby" on one of The Lower Lights' CD I've been listening to all season long that really touched my heart as I pondered things from her perspective.

All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, for tonight you are mine.

The wise men are coming to worship their king.
The shepherds are kneeling, their homage to bring.
Out yonder, the star over Judah will keep;
No harm can befall thee, then sleep, Baby, sleep.

Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, but tonight you are mine.

Away, spectered future of sorrow and plight.
Away to the years that must follow tonight.
The pangs of Gethsemane, let them be dim;
The red drops on Calvary, not, Lord, for him!

Oh, let me enfold thee, my baby, tonight;
While legions are singing in joyous delight.
A new star has risen to hail thee divine,
For you are a king, but tonight you are mine.

All mine in your loveliness, Baby, all mine;
All mine in your holiness, Baby Divine.
Sing on, herald angels, in chorus sublime;
Sing on and adore, for tonight you are mine.

Such beautiful words and the melody is so beautiful, too!  I don't think I was ever able to get through this lullaby without tearing up.  It was definitely my favorite song this season.

Once the sacred segment was over, the kids were quickly able to switch gears and jump to the secular.  It's a family tradition to open all family gifts {as well as new ornaments} on Christmas Eve.  And the kids are always SUPER excited to do so.  This year brought them a couple of new books, along with a new puzzle and the game Bounce Off -- which they had all been wanting thanks to the effective advertising efforts of Mattel. They also got a movie called "Once I Was a Beehive" which was actually really funny.

Jane is REALLY into geography these days.  Hahahaha.

Smoochy Pie stayed asleep in the swing all evening long.

When I finally handed out the new ornaments, it was quite gratifying to see how much everyone liked what I made.  :)  I had seen the idea on Pinterest earlier this month, and knew for sure that I would make one for Isaac with his newborn hat from the hospital, along with his wristband.  When I decided {on Christmas Eve morning} to go ahead and make one for ALL of the kids, I was a little concerned about finding everyone's newborn stuff.  But chalk one up for being a bit of a pack rat -- or as I prefer, an "archivist" -- because I totally had a ziploc bag for all of them (except Alex) with their hats and wristbands and any other newborn keepsakes inside!  I was actually pretty impressed with myself that I had kept up that kind of organization all the way through the first 4 kids.  Hahahaha.  And even with Alex, I had set aside his wristbands and other hospital keepsakes in his baby book.  

It took a LOT longer to get those hats inside the bulbs than I was expecting, but mama gets it done, and do it I did.  Let's just say I have a whole new level of appreciation and respect for anyone who has constructed a ship in a bottle.  Hahahahaha.  I kind of love that each bulb is completely different.  Even all the stripey hats --  while similar-- are not exactly the same.  Some had thicker material, some had skinnier stripes, and the pink and blue colors in each were all slightly different shades.

Ethan's bulb included his hat, his wristband, and the felt baby "sunglasses" he had to wear under the bilirubin lights.

Grace had her wristband, hat, and two tiny little bows that the nurses had put in her hair for her hospital pictures.

Sophie had a different hat than the others -- cream colored with a pink yarn bow tied at the top -- and her wristband.

In Jane's bulb, I included a tiny lock of her dark black hair {the kids thought it was super creepy that I had saved it}, her hat, and her wristband -- featuring a super cute row of little rubber duckies that aren't showing in this picture.

Confession -- Alex was the only one I couldn't find a hat for.  {Single tear emoji}. I remedied the situation by using Isaac's striped hat since he got another once we moved to the maternity ward.  I did still have Alex's wristbands, so those ARE his in the bulb.

Isaac's bulb holds his wristband and {other} hat.

Before bedtime, the kids had time to play a few rounds of Bounce Off, leave out the cookies for Santa, and sprinkle reindeer food on the front lawn.  :)  Alex and Jane REALLY loved doing the latter.  After convincing the little ones that Santa couldn't come until everyone was asleep, they headed up to bed without too much of a fuss.

Jane was insistent on leaving a note for Santa.  :)

And that was our evening!  It was quite a pleasant affair.  Once the kids were in bed, Santa and his elves got to work and then headed off to bed themselves.  :)  

Stay tuned for the excitement of Christmas morning...