The Nativity of Our Lord 2012

Merry Christmas! The children were rearin' and ready to race downstairs at 5:58 a.m.

Opening stockings

A very popular gift were these "spiders," which are LED lights on flexible legs that attach to things. The children usually stay up in bed reading by flashlight, so these should come in handy.

Margaret's favorite gifts of the whole day happened to be stocking stuffers: slippers and a baby doll from Target totaling less than $5.

We attended the 9:00 a.m. Mass, which was absolutely lovely, if not the exquisite sensory experience of a Midnight Mass (oh, the music!). We've tried the Midnight with the children and find that they scream a lot and don't fall asleep peacefully in the pews, then are wrecks the entire next day.

I walked in a few minutes after Chris and was searching for my family in the pews: My eyes settled on my husband at the altar rail where he was showing the children the nativity scene which, at our parish, is set out only upon arriving at Christmas day. I sat in a pew and watched them, teary at how much God has blessed me (us).

After Mass, we enjoyed a fancier-than-usual breakfast at home as cooked by Chris (thank you, hon!): bacon, amazing hash browns, bagels, and eggs. Then we began opening gifts!

Two of the top favorite gifts of the day happened to be things the children received in triplicate: They each received new mud boots and they each received little quilts I sewed for use with dollies or stuffed animals.

The dolly quilts: I've long wanted to learn how to quilt, but have not had the time to take a class. I decided on a whim one day that I could guess how a quilt might be made and give it a try on a doll's size scale. I made my first one (the butterflies, above) and made interesting mistakes, which got me understanding better how real quilts probably are constructed. The next one (blue) I made was much improved and the third was even better. Now I'm even more interested in taking a quilting class! The children dragged their quilts around all day, wrapping them on dolls, using them as prayer rugs, hiding things inside of them.

Outdoor bike-riding and afternoon naps ensued: then we enjoyed a dinner of chicken Parmesan, mashed potatoes, leftover fettuccine Alfredo, and broccoli with butter crumb sauce.

Dessert for this tired, pregnant mama was thanks to a frozen Sara Lee cheesecake with some store-bought Christmas sprinkles and whipped cream to dress it up. As one who thinks everything should be properly cooked from scratch with the purest ingredients, having to find ways to cut corners (change priorities) in order to acknowledge my own limitations is a real spiritual stretch for me. Spiritual Growth Through Sara Lee!