Sorry, can't blog now...

...Wii are kind of preoccupied. Back soon, promise.

Merry.

This, I do not understand: how is it that only a few days ago the winter solstice brought us the shortest day of the year? And today, December 24 is unquestionably the longest day of the year?

Today I spend wrapping up some last minute tasks (although I am not a high-pressure Christmas kind of a person) and preparing Christmas Eve dinner and getting the house ready for tomorrow morning's chaos.

But mostly today I spend pacifying the children, who will not think they can possibly wait until tomorrow morning. Whose happy anticipation threatens to spill over at every minute. Who will spend the day carefully watching the gifts under the tree and making sure the fireplace is ready for Santa, and who will by tonight be checking the skies and listening for bells outside their bedroom window.

Christmas here will be a magical day. I hope it is for you too. I wish you much happiness.

Weekly Winners

The week before Christmas, and we ate some pomegranate.


And had a snow day.



Or two.




Somebody got sick.



We dreamed a little.

And explored a bit.

And watched, and waited.

See all of this week's Weekly Winners participants here, at sarcasticmom.com.

Three Kids Christmas Blowout: Great Big Happy Family

This was all my cousins' fault. My older cousins, I might add.

Because of them, I was sneaking down the stairs in the middle of the night, barefoot, on Christmas Eve. I crept past my parents' bedroom. Past the room where my aunt and uncle were sleeping. And slowly, slowly, I descended, hoping the stairs didn't creak. Hoping my parents wouldn't wake up. Hoping to find magic.

This was bad. I was a very good girl. But this? This was very, very naughty.

And it thrilled me. In a terrible and beautiful way.

I was six years old, and my cousins had come for Christmas. We all camped out on my bedroom floor in our sleeping bags, even the little kids. After our parents tucked us in, we were too excited to sleep. We talked. We planned. We were going to catch Santa Claus.

Steve must have been the ringleader. He was, after all, the oldest and wisest. So when he declared he saw the red glow of Rudolph's nose outside the window, I just knew he was right. When he and his sister, Laurie, announced that somebody was going to have to go downstairs to bust the jolly old guy, I was right there with them. And when they told me I was the one to go, well... I would have followed them to the ends of the earth. I didn't like it. But I did it.

Downstairs I crept. I made it as far as the living room. That was all I needed to see. The room was overflowing with presents, glowing blue in the moonlight. The floor was covered, and the evidence was overwhelming: he had arrived. He had come and gone in the blink of an eye, had disappeared before I had seen him, and had set the scene for a joyous Christmas morning.

I was relieved. My mission was complete, I hadn't been caught, and I had pleased my cousins. Best of all: I had found magic.

I don't remember what I got for Christmas that year. It doesn't matter. What I remember, 32 years later, is the unbridled delight of that night. My belief was enchanted, my anticipation electrifying. My cousins had helped create one of the happiest memories of my life.

Until recently, my kids didn't have any cousins. Then they had two. As of this week, they have three (welcome, Jaden!). And any minute now, there will be yet another (hurry, Baby, hurry!). This is a mere handful compared to the bushel of cousins I have, but no matter.

They will be family; they will be cousins. Our brothers and sister and their children will come to visit at Christmas or during the summer or on birthdays. And our children will run off together to play and and to pretend and to scheme and to forge years of memories of their own.

My kids don't know it yet. But these cousins are the best Christmas gifts they'll ever receive.

First snow

(My first Wordless Wednesday offering....)

Three Kids Christmas Blowout: Stocking Stuffers

More Christmas Joy, Three Kids Style! Today Evan shares his thoughts on justice and stocking stuffers. Feel the love....


Oooo, Evan's really thinking hard about this whole Santa Claus bit. Today on the way home from the grocery store he asked, apparently apropos of nothing, "Mommy, what's that thing that Santa brings you if you're not nice?"

"You mean coal?" I offered, wondering (hoping! foolishly!) if he was finally deciding to rectify his pre-Christmas behavior.

"Mmm-hmmm," he agreed.

He gave this idea some serious preschool thought. I could almost hear the gears turning in his sweet little head.

And then with complete glee and certainty and all the attitude a four-year-old who is out of arm's reach of his older brother can muster, he turned to the back seat and announced: "Hey Jensen! Know what?! You are gettin' coal for Christmas this year 'cause you are soooo naughty to me!!!"

Well. Glad we got that clarified, then.

Three Kids Christmas Blowout: The Tree

Christmas: it's coming! Or perhaps you were already aware. Anyway, I'm going to do some posts to let you know how we're doing Christmas, Three Kids Style. Chaos! Fun! And Very Much Happiness....

This is the Year of the Homemade Ornament.

You know that gorgeous tree on the front of the Pottery Barn catalog? Gold and bronze and white and perfect?

Yeah, that's not our tree. Not even a distant cousin.

Our tree is garish and bright and mismatched. It looks like Buddy the Elf got drunk and decorated. It's a real tree that's a little droopy and has some great big holes. It is perfect.

So, the handmade ornaments. It has been Arts and Crafts Central around our house. Here are the older boys proudly showing off some of their handiwork:

First they painted about 7425 wooden beads and put them on strings for garland. (Thanks, Grandma Jeri, for the artistic supervision. Oh, and the 5527 beads you personally painted.) (And also, thanks to Mr Lady for the superb idea, which somehow inspired me to do all the rest of the homemade stuff.) It looks like this:

Then they made candy canes out of beads and pipe cleaners. I remember these from when I was little. I thought they were beautiful. Still do:

Then Jensen went over to Grandpa Bill's workshop and used a (gulp) jigsaw and made some wooden ornaments for us. As an added bonus, Jensen returned home with all of his fingers. And some of these:

Then we made these cinnamon and applesauce cutouts that made the house smell so strongly of cinnamon that our eyes watered and the baby sneezed uncontrollably. These are another Blast from the Past; I remember making them with Mom when I was little:

Then we put it all together, and it is perfect. I know, I know: the tree leans. Perfect. And we don't have anything at all on the lower branches, because the decorations are so beautiful that Caleb cannot resist eating them. Again, perfect. The kids? love it. I? love it. Jeff? um, doesn't really say much about it, but I'm just sure he loves it too. (He's just reserved....)

So, behold: The Most Beautiful Christmas Tree Ever. Oh, and Pottery Barn? Yeah, you wish your tree looked this good.

If you have any ideas for handmade decorations, please leave a comment. We're definitely making more next year.