Christmas 2018

'Twas the night after Christmas and all through the house,
LOL dolls littered the floor, like crumbs for a mouse.
The stockings were empty, and just sort of hung there
The kids had rifled through them, they had presents to tear
Calvin was napping, thank God for that
Dad left for the store, wearing his Santa hat
Mom was so tired of cooking and cleaning
She could hardly remember the Christmastime meaning
The dog was on his 314th nap
And so she grabbed her computer and put it on her lap
It was finally time to blog, now that the big guy left town
To make the memories last, she'd write them all down.

Every Christmas, I think I'll remember what gifts I got my kids, what special moments we shared over the holiday break, and how we did it all, but I never do. So this year I'm going to share my top memories, if nothing else for my children to look back on someday and know how much this time meant to me. First a few random photos from my phone.

Faith reading a Christmas book with her piano teacher, Granny B

Gabby at her Gingerbread house party with Grandma Jan

Calvin, rocking the Rudolph filter

(In somewhat of a chronological order)
10) The Lindquist Christmas at Rob's Grandma's. We opened our gifts one by one and I cannot recommend this enough. It is so fun to see the joy on each kid's face as they unwrap their gift and take time to say thank you. Then we went to watch our niece act in a Christmas play. She nailed her lines, and the pure delight of the children's and adult choirs were exactly what makes it feel like Christmas.

Kylee is the second from left. Photo by Proud Uncle Rob

9)The next day we celebrated with the Davis side. The funniest part was trying to take a grandkid picture, with ages ranging between 22-1. This year my future nephew was in charge of holding Cal, but was holding him as though he was 3 months old and couldn't sit up. He looked confused as he attempted an ab hold for the next two minutes. Meanwhile my niece wouldn't look at the camera and one of the silly faces just looked sad. I like to think we were laughing with them and not at them during this. And at least the cops didn't show up after someone "practiced dialed" 9-1-1 this year.

8) The McNamara family celebrated Christmas Italian style with lasagna, spaghetti, and garlic bread. And cheesecake because that deliciousness crosses borders. The kids were running around trying to create a way to catch Santa using the video baby monitor and the iPad. It was quite ingenious and I have to thank my bro-in-law for helping point out some major flaws in the system thinking like the big kid he is.

7) The Weis Christmas. It's so good to see my cousins who were like brothers and sisters to me growing up. I have spent pretty much every Christmas Day with them for as long as I can remember. While some traditions have changed, it is so neat to see our family continue to grow and Grandpa Bud just loves it!

6) Our immediate family Christmas was probably the last with Faith believing in Santa. While it's bittersweet (I don't want the girl going to middle school as a Santa evangelist) I love how much she wants to believe. Her big Christmas gift from mom and dad was a Raddish subscription. Each month she'll receive kid-friendly recipes and her own kitchen tools. We have to supply the groceries, but I will say we had a great time baking hot cocoa cupcakes and focaccia bread on Christmas morning together. Also, my skills in the kitchen are the equivalent of a third grader, so it's a good match.

5) Gabby Grace was so grateful on Christmas morning for her "blue fluffy flower" and "green bunny" from Santa. That kid never makes it easy with her unique requests. Her big gift from mom and dad was an Instapix camera, basically a polaroid camera with "films" in it. She has always had an eye for photography, and the camera was a hit!

4) Cal's didn't really get a big gift but got a Tickle me "Momo"and added to his Lego collection. He also got a baby with a magnetic binky. We call the baby "Steve." He really just likes throwing everyone else's presents around the house. I was impressed with his unwrapping skills for 20 months old.

3) Rob and I promised we wouldn't get each other anything since this year's big gift was Apple watches to each other, but we both went and got the other something. When his gift was labeled "fragile"I thought we bought the same thing, but he got us new wine glasses and I got us a teapot like the one we drank from in San Francisco. Figured with three kiddos, it wouldn't hurt to try to recreate that moment of Zen.

2) One of my favorite moments from every holiday is during the Christmas service when everyone sings Silent Night. It reminds me of when I was a kid, and so excited for Santa to come, and to see my cousins, and open stockings with my sisters, and bake Christmas cookies. While I miss having close to zero responsibilities, it's fun (and turns out quite a bit of work) to create that magic for my kids. Sure it stresses me out a bit and I get overwhelmed with all there is to do, but then it's here and I get to sing this song with my family at church.

1) This year we were all healthy for the holidays. Just a few days later and both Faith and Gabby both caught a virus and it's been terrible. While I hate to see them struggle, it is such a stark reminder how much we take our health and simply feeling good for granted. I plan to be more grateful to feel good in 2019.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!