I am sitting here in a softly glowing living room in the calm of the small hours, before the storm of Christmas actually begins... a brief moment of stopped time, all in readiness, lights glistening on paper and ribbon before me.
The children are, in fact, nestled all snug in their beds. I am the one who can't sleep...
Time then, for a little catch up...
Last Saturday: Welcome to baby Maya! Our friends recently adopted their first baby and we gathered to shower them with love, gifts, and more advice than they asked for. Baby Maya will want for nothing, it is clear. She's got a great village already...
Watch out world! This one, in her fancy dress and earrings!
The kids got all dressed up for the theater, attending Mary Poppins with their Gram while Nat and I finished some Christmas shopping and looked at appliances. She reported that both kids were riveted for the entire two hour performance. I love that my kids love theater and that they are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see it from time to time..
Sunday: A magical night at Stan Hywet. It is always magical there, of course. The Sieberlings planned it that way and oh how well they did their job.
That magic was multiplied tenfold by the addition of lights, fires, and an abundance of decorated trees. Wish I could share with you the beauty of the interior of the mansion, but we were instructed to not take pictures. So these will have to suffice.
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| Upon entering this area of the grounds, dubbed Gingerbread Lane, Ivy exclaimed, "Look mom! It's a world of WONDER!" And it was. |
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| Perhaps my favorite part (aside from how much my kids loved the house!) was the "blue room" in the conservatory. Nothing but blue builds inside a glass space = pure magic. |
With the official beginning of winter break (hooray for not having to go to work on a Monday!!) came increasingly warm temperatures and a few days of adjusting to the strange reality of being together as a family all day long. It's wonderful, being together all day, really it is. As long as we have something to DO for some of that time...
Monday-- ice skating at Wade Oval. Sunlit and lovely, our outing was made better by a meetup with one of Jack's old friends from Pre-K. Sadly the boy did not enjoy skating in the rental hockey skates, but he seemed to cope alright by spending most of the time having cocoa and doritos by the fire pit. Not so bad.
Tuesday: Playdate of the year! A few school friends of Jack's, plus a few younger siblings = six kids playing Mario and Minecraft, making crafts, and playing "Hullabaloo," the game Nat and I have spent our week designing and creating as gifts for the cousins. It did well in its first field test!
Then, an afternoon at the lake. Nothing like beach time on December 23rd.
December lake:
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| The Metroparks continue to impress with their management of Edgewater. We were greeted not only by a calm lake and quiet beach but also by this grand snowman and a "winter maze"set up in a pavilion. Bonus! |
After supper-- off to Trinity for the Blessings of the Beasts service. It was so nice to spend time in my childhood church home. The evening was bittersweet as this may be my last service in this sanctuary: Trinity is selling their building this spring. I'll miss it here, for sure. So many strong and warm memories of this space and the people I spent time with here.
Jack and Ivy seemed to really enjoy the service. And what's not to love about a service that had two read-aloud pictures books, 5 great carols to sing, an 8 piece band including two trombones, and a sanctuary full of dogs and cats?
Corydon was duly blessed, we rang bells as we sang (Jack even read music in a hymnal to learn "Angels we have heard on high!") and the children got their semi-annual dose of religion.
Home to gram's for a few presents and candle-lit time together..
The great present-arranger meets her match...
...and is victorious!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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