mommymita: Christmas 2013

(reported by William)

It is hard to believe how fast this season has passed. Everyone was really excited to decorate the tree that Henry, Clara and Daddy cut down. We all found our favorite ornaments and tried to hang them as high as we could so they wouldn't get busted by Charlie or the cats. Three nutcrackers and Henry's elf ornament got busted and fixed a few times. We were nervous when we could not find the favorite puff ball milk shake ornament Daddy got in the 80's, it was wrapped in newspaper and almost thrown out in the trash. Everyone seems to like that one, I don't know why.

We went to the Waterloo Farm museum for their Country Christmas event. Everyone was very eager to participate in the scavenger hunt in order to earn a swirly straw. It was interesting to learn how they lived and celebrated Christmas back in the 1800's. It also was interesting to compare it to how people celebrate Christmas now with big blow up snowmen, street Santas and huge lines at stores like Walmart and Best Buy. They did not have Christmas lights but real candles on their tree.

It must have been really cold and they had to make use of everything they had. I thought it was interesting how they did not have refrigerators so they harvested ice from the lake and stored it until the the summer in an ice house.

With our homeschool group we did some fun Christmas activities like planting paper whites, making kite paper window stars and hosting a gift exchange party. It was fun to share these activities with our friends. Clara loved caring for the four sets of paper whites around our house. Their smell reminds me of Christmas and it is really amazing how fast they grow and bloom.

We also had an adventure as we made our way through a snow storm to Nanny and Poppy's house. Normally it takes us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get there but the roads were so slippery it took us over 3 hours. We were concerned when we saw lots of accidents along the way so we said lots of prayers and were so relieved to finally get there. We all had lot of fun decorating cookies and watching movies with Nanny and Poppy.

We also met our cousins at a sledding hill and ended up staying two nights until the roads were clear enough to return. Good thing Daddy was at home taking care of the animals.

For Family Night we watched the LDS bible videos about the birth of Jesus. I noticed how before everyone was really hyper but after the videos everyone settled down and were quiet. Watching the videos made the story really real.

We also celebrated with our annual sleep over under the Christmas tree the weekend before Christmas. We opened some early presents from Oma and Opa and watched It's a Wonderful Life while enjoying Christmas cookies and hot chocolate.

Everyone slept well and no one threw up this year.

We had some extra goat milk so Peter experimented with cajeta, a Mexican treat kind of like caramel. It tasted really good on our ice cream but took a long time to make. We gave some to neighbors and friends.

Our babysitter Peggy came over for dinner then we put on a Nativity in the milking room. Henry wanted to be Joseph so he could have a beard and mustache. He drew it on so hard that it was there for 3 days. Clara was happy to have a turn being Mary and put a soccer ball in her shirt to make herself look pregnant.

Daddy read the story from the Bible and most participants were cooperative except for George who was a wise man and was crying and the goats who were fighting over grain.

We turned the lights off and sang Christmas carols by candle light. It felt very reverent.

I was a shepherd with Charlie and was going to bring in a lamb but he started crying so I put him back. I hope we do this again next year and have more animals participate.

Christmas eve we always go to Nanny and Poppy's house. We always have Swedish meatballs, potatoes, rolls and shrimp. Maryanna ate so much shrimp she later had a nightmare her stomach was exploding. We also had cookies and pie and cake for my Uncles' birthdays. Then as always everyone rushes for their Christmas bag full of presents from Nanny and Poppy. I don't know what everyone else got because it happened so quick and I was so focused on the Hobbit Lego sets my brothers and I got. We loaded everyone in the car before it was too late and got home just in time for milking.

As usual everyone woke up really early. Mommy kept telling us to go back to sleep. At 6 am the thunder of kids racing to their stockings and shaking out the contents finally got Mommy out of bed.

While we were eating breakfast someone noticed the neighbor's horse got loose and was in our driveway. Maryanna wondered if Santa had brought Bill the pony for Christmas as she has been wishing.

The biggest surprise was a puppy named Oscar! Daddy said he got a text from Santa saying there was a box at the elf's secret depot waiting for our family. He came back with a giant box with a loose lid and we all gathered around wondering what was inside. No one was expecting a puppy so when we opened it everyone crowded around each trying to pet it for the first time. Maryanna was so happy she was crying, I was in shock and so excited.

He is a Bernese Mountain dog and will grow over 100 lbs. We are learning a lot about puppies and the responsibility it takes to train them. We had so much fun with him that we did not open any other presents until 10 am.

We played all day with our presents. The most popular gifts were the dress ups. Henry got a pack of mustaches in his stocking and a cross bow, breastplate, helmet and sword. He had fun defending himself from his older brothers all day.

George was happy to play along too with his new armor. The other favorite gifts were the homemade ones which Mommy will report on later.

We played all day with our legos and new marble run components and the younger kids liked playing the headbands game with Daddy. All the while the puppy ran around the house getting attention and peed on the rug a few times.

He was worn out and so was everyone else.

Not everyone wanted the day to end but they were tired.

Clara and I got to camp out next to the puppy for his first night in our home. I wasn't very prepared for getting up 3 or 4 times in the night and playing with him at 5 am. Now we are getting on a better schedule.