A Very Merry Christmas

It was indeed!

I laughed...I cried...I laughed until I cried (particularly when Jeff was reading the Matthew account of the Christmas story, and was reading from the Bible that had been given to Josiah at the beginning of this school year when all the first-graders in our church were given a new Bible...the--ahem--adult language in it, in regards to Joseph and Mary's relationship was a bit surprising, to say the least...and it was a kids' Bible!).

I thought these must be the best days of our lives, when Jeff and I are surrounded by our young sons and I have one nestled in my womb, when my parents are here and can fully participate with my family in our celebrations. One of these days, there will be an empty spot, whether through death or someone taking a trip or one of the boys growing up and leaving home or... But for now, every place is filled, and I am filled with gratitude for that!

The gift I was so very eager to give was this one below: the first volume of Life on Sylvan Drive, printed out in book form and given to my parents. I knew they would love it, and they certainly did. They can hardly wait for the next installment, but unfortunately it looks like it will be a while until that happens because I just discovered this morning that Blurb's system and Blogger's system can't communicate right now, so there is an indefinite delay in Blurb's ability to slurp my blog into its system. Boo hoo! Guess I'll have to look around the Internet and see if there's another company out there that will work with Blogger. Meanwhile, my parents can savor the feel of a real book in their hands as they read my words. There's no fan like a parent, I tell ya! :)
I gave Jeff clothes; and to be perfectly honest, they were clothes I got at various thrift stores. They are in excellent condition, and Jeff loves me even more because I'm a tightwad and don't waste money. We're two peas in a pod when it comes to thrift shopping! :) Clothes are a boring gift though; but the surprise get-away we recently had at a Bed & Breakfast was also part of his Christmas gift, and that was more exciting than new shirts!
One thing that struck me this year was how much Josiah was reading. Last year, he was not nearly this advanced in his ability to read; but wow, what progress he's made in a year! He was reading labels, directions on boxes, names on packages, all kinds of stuff. I'm so proud of him! He told me this morning that his two favorite gifts were the marble run set (shown later) and this giving bank that my parents got for him.

Tobin enjoyed lots of snuggle time--here, on Grandma's lap, he practiced his kazoo skills (not a new gift, but a hand-me-down toy from Josiah and David that Tobin enjoys sucking and chewing on these days)...

...and lots of time on Grandpa's lap. Grandpa helped him open his gifts, all of which came from thrift stores. It is truly amazing what high-quality, excellent-condition items can be found at thrift stores. Tobin liked this learning bug (and David played with it a lot today during his quiet time; I knew the older boys would have to check out Tobin's gifts!)...

...and this soft fabric book about sea creatures (probably the gift Tobin has paid the most attention to in the last 24 hours)...

...and this rain stick. Actually, I think I got the rain stick for myself because I love the soothing sound it makes...and being able to see the pretty beads inside this one is a bonus. :)

David was delighted with his gifts and usually wanted to pause and look completely through each one before he went on to the next one. At the end of our gift-giving time, he had a pile of a few unopened gifts beside him, after all the rest of us were long done opening ours, because he took so long with each one--which is a good thing, of course!

This year I took Josiah shopping by himself to buy a gift for David from Josiah, and also took David one time to get something from him for Josiah. I think it's helpful for the boys to have the experience of giving something that they picked out, rather than simply receiving. It's important for them to learn the joy of giving early on in their lives, and I think this simple exercise did indeed help in that area.

David was thrilled with this Preschool Fun book that Josiah got for him, and I'm thrilled that Josiah wants to be David's teacher as he does this book. :) I remember an educator speaking once about the importance of children having someone younger that they can be the teacher for; they learn so much by stepping into that role, as well as feeling proud of themselves for being able to do that.

Here is the Marble Run set that Jeff ordered off Ebay for the boys. It was definitely a hit! They played with it so much yesterday, and again today. It brought back lots of good memories for me of a similar set that my brother David and I had as children and all the fun we had with it.

I had written previously that we weren't having anyone over until Sunday, the 28th; that's when my brother David and his family from Pennsylvania are coming down for our family Christmas. However, as it turned out, we did have two extra guests with us yesterday, and I'm so glad we did! My friend Judy, who lives in North Carolina, happened to be in the area and available to come over yesterday since her family get-together isn't until this weekend, too; we all had a great time with her, and she hit it off great with the boys--getting down on their level to play, literally, and just generally having a blast with them! Judy and I have been friends since elementary school; she's definitely my longest-lasting friend...hmm, that sounds funny...let's see, she's the friend that I've had the longest and stayed in the most contact with through the years. Make sense? Anyway, she knows things about me that very few other people do...and she still likes me enough to come over. Amazing! :)

Our other guest was Jane Burkholder, a friend of ours from church, a woman whom we all admire for her gentleness, faithfulness, strength, and a host of other good qualities. When we were sitting down to eat, David saw that I had not arranged for Jane to sit beside him; and he said several times, "But I wanted to sit beside she!" "Her," I said, "you wanted to sit beside her?" "Yes," he said mournfully. :)

Today has been a wonderful day-after-Christmas for us. New clothes have been worn by Jeff, new toys have been played with by Josiah and David and Tobin, new books have been read to the boys, a new figurine has been admired repeatedly by me (Cherish by Willow Tree--a perfect gift for Jeff to give to me this year). And in my energetic spurt this morning, accompanied by zeal to bring order back to our home and life, I managed to completely organize Tobin's room, getting out the boxes of maternity clothes I'll soon (very soon!) be needing from under his crib where they'd been stored, packing away his 6-9 month clothes, unpacking his 18 month clothes, etc. His room seemed as good a place as any to start my joyful work this fine morning!

To finish up this looong post, I'll just mention again that it really was a wonderful Christmas. Truly wonderful. And we still have another celebration to look forward to in two more days!