Christmas was certainly a whirlwind of activity here at the Passanita Nut House. We had relatives from both sides of the family as well as boyfriends of our older girls and miscellaneous friends and neighbors over at different times. Our youngest boys were very much acclimated to what they THOUGHT Christmas was about. Yep, they have been Americanized and thought Santa had become boss of Jesus! Well we corrected that little misconception pretty quickly and now they know the reason for the season and were much less confused about how Santa fits in to the picture. The excitement level was still just as big but they enjoyed doing the secret Santa with their older siblings. Since the older kids were spending their own money they decided that it would better if they only bought for one person. We thought that would be a good idea as well since it is more about giving than receiving so we didn't mind having them give lots of little things (notes, pictures etc.)to each other all month as they prepared for celebrating Jesus's birthday.
So many little art projects came home with the boys that I had hard time "disbursing" them all. Yuri class did a month of giving where each child was to bring in something they had made for each child in the class. Mama was pretty smart about this little endeavor. We went to Target and I let him make his own Christmas card with the picture he liked best (one with his tongue sticking out of course) and then he put the words on it. I thought that was better than sending some additional art projects home with all the other kids. Great idea to get the giving part of the season but getting that much stuff all month was a little too much. Mama has now built 3 gingerbread houses with 2 classes of 5-7 year olds as well as iced cookies with the preschooler. What a site that was! I enjoy every minute of it though. I'm glad this is the second time around because I wasn't as concerned about how things turned out and had more fun watching and helping them do it any way they wanted it. One house had a canon in the front and only one side of the roof done and the other had a couple of blobs of icing with pretzels sticking out of it but it did have a door and a chimney. There were kids who did make patterns and put things on just so but mine were not among that group but mine had alot of fun in the process so that was all that mattered to me. We don't take too many things very seriously anymore and have discovered that simply enjoying all the little quirks that the kids have is much more fun that trying to make them fit into a mold. I think that would be an exhausting adventure with these guys who are very set on how they are going to do things. Some things we do insist on but we have to pick our battles or we would be having battles every day. Not doing that! They are healthy and happy and learning so I'm thrilled.
The Christmas Eve Service was very nice and and everyone had on their best outfits to sing to the Lord. We all loved the traditional songs and the solemn ones that remind us of what a great gift that baby in the manger was to all of us.
Christmas morning arrived quite early with Yuri coming in with big wide eyes to let us know that Santa had indeed come and had brought gifts. They had left some Reindeer food (dry oatmeal with glitter in it) outside and were pleased to see that the reindeer had left some candy for them. Once Yuri had woken up the house there was a flurry of squealing from all the little boys and a flurry of "Can we get up a little later" from the older kids and grandparents. The squeals won out and we were down stairs before we knew it. Yuri was the ring leader and went about segregating everyones presents and then the paper frenzy started and all the squealing continued for the next 45 minutes as they opened up their treasures. We intended to only get them 2-3 things per child but we forgot that the grandparents and uncles would be getting them things as well. Everyone had a ball and enjoyed being together. Rob made a great meal of turkey and the trimmings as well as homemade ravioli and meatballs. Everyone wanted to take a nap after the meal but the boys were ready to have us put things together and add batteries to things so they could play so we did that first. Needless to say, after a day of excitement, candy, and lots of stimulation, the boys were wired for sound and then melted at about 6pm. After a hot bath and some sit down time they each had reached their limit and bed time came early that night. The adults then proceeded to play cards and games and enjoyed grazing on the leftovers until about midnight when we all just dropped in to bed as well. Whew! what a day.
