December 23rd

Last night I could not go to sleep after heading to bed. That is one of the most frustrating things. Because then I get frustrated and that riles me up so sleep is even farther away. Wordament on my Windows phone is my friend at times like that.

At 6:30am this morning, I finally just got up out of bed. I'd been tossing and turning for hours. No sense in just lying there with things running through my mind and not sleeping. I came downstairs. Krish and Bird were up. They played Wordament with me for about 20 minutes then Merek came downstairs. I made him some toast and hot cocoa. It was a morning to sleep in for Brad and the girls. They all got up around 8:30am. Gotta love Sunday mornings for that.

We got ready for church at St. Michael's. When we arrived, we received some scary news. Mother Ann (the priest) was in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs. She is set to retire early January and this was to be her last Christmas services with the congregation. Life can take some unexpected turns sometimes. The priest who will be interim until the new rector begins in the Spring conducted the service today, and will be there tomorrow for the Christmas Eve services. She did a nice job with her sermon and helping us feel calm and comforted as we worry about Mother Ann.

Tomorrow is the Christmas Eve pageant. Krish is going to be Joseph. Lina will be an angel. I'm not sure what Bird and Merek's parts are. They had a little rehearsal after church for the main roles. I got to visit with Erin, who is home from college. She used to work in the nursery when Bird was in there. He wouldn't go into the nursery unless Erin was in there.

After church, while the kids were eating snacks, Irene brought in a plate of cupcakes. She asked the kids, "does anyone want a cupcake?" It was so funny to see all the kids' faces light up and "ooohhh" escape their lips. Of course, they wanted cupcakes!

We headed home and I immediately got to work on treats for our caroling goody plates. I made fudge, perppermint bark, Magic Cookie Bars, big soft ginger cookies, sugar cookies, and Fritos No-Bake snacks. The girls helped a little bit, and Nana was a big help keeping the dishes in the sink washed so we could reuse bowls and cookie sheets. In all, we baked and decorated for about four hours. It was actually pretty fun. I have no idea what the boys and Brad were doing during that time. Oh wait, they were out in the backyard for about an hour playing football. I think they worked on the puzzle in the dining room, too. Krish loves doing puzzles. It is one way to help him channel his endless energy.

Brad was making pork chops for dinner. I made mom's brown rice. The Seahawks game started at 5:30-ish. They watched a little of it before dinner but then taped the rest. We made up goody plates for caroling and headed out the door about 6:30.

Fletcher
Robinson
Beck
Heinz
Lane
McNames
Mather
Krivanec
Mullins
Huseman
Christensen
Miller
Johnston
Helman
Query
Kinghorn

We got to all those houses in a little over an hour. Only a few of them weren't there. Caroling is a tradition my family did while I was growing up and I think it is fun for our family to do it together. People seem so happy when we come by to sing. I even got to hold little Miss Maya when we stopped by their house (though she cried and wasn't very happy for me to hold her). We'll go to a handful more houses in the neighborhood tomorrow.

The girls are busy planning some special surprise for the boys on Christmas morning. They have big plans to make the morning extra-exciting for their brothers. I love seeing them do that.

Merek was very tired tonight after caroling. He came home, ate a few little snacks, and then went to get his blanket. He laid down on the floor next to me while I was checking the weather forecast online. I carried him upstairs, helped him brush his teeth, and tucked him into bed. He still likes me to sing his five songs and help him say his prayer. I love those quiet, tender moments with him.

Off to wrap those presents . . .