Merry Christmas 2018

Fa la la la.  After a much-anticipated, hyped and busy season, Christmas came--and then went in a flash.  Because of Bowl travel plans (that changed then changed again), we bumped up our celebrations a day, doing our traditional Christmas Eve on December 23.  We had a festive morning at church, followed by a day of  preparation, relaxation and celebration. 

Everyone pitched in to cook, set up and prepare for the day.  We pulled out all the stops on setting the table with our Christmas finest and dined on the traditional fillet (with Grandma Lolly's red sauce) and all the sides.

With our bellies full we gathered in the living room, and the boys could barely contain their excitement as they distributed each gift.  I smiled watching them go from gift to gift thinking that it was just yesterday that they would bring each gift to Chris or I to help them read the recipient's name before proudly taking it to the person.  The days are long but the years are short.  So true.

Chris does a wonderful job of taking the boys shopping so they can pick out the perfect gift for each person.  The best part for the boys is that they take their own money (that they've saved throughout the year) and with joy spend it on something they are certain the other person will love.  Every year they nail it.

This year Brady gifted me a gift card to my nail salon, certain I'd enjoy getting my nails done.  Know what?  He notices every time I do.

Ty asked for a very specific sweatshirt, one that matches his dad's. You see, he has watched his dad wear an oversized baseball/coaching sweatshirt since the last baseball season; and when it came time to dream up a Christmas list, that sweatshirt was at the top.  He wanted to be just like dad.  Shame on you, kid, for teasing him about a short-sleeved sweatshirt and making him come home questioning his choice.

Chris generally gives the boys reign over what to get the other person; after all, they know each other the best.  Although we weren't enthused with Brady's choice for Ty of a PS gift card, Ty thought he had won the lottery.

In the days leading up to Christmas Ty placed a notepad and pen on his door with explicit instructions to write our wish lists to him.  He didn't want the same generic lists we doled out to others, but wanted to know how he could gift us something extra special.  I gave him a few ideas, but without a doubt, the #1 wish for me was a date night with him--an uncompetitive, unplugged gift of time with Ty.  That's exactly what he did.  Love.

When I say the boys always know what to get the other, I mean they always knock it out of the park.  This year, however, Ty took a chance on Brady's gift.  We've hung out with another family of girls who know every word to Hamilton, and Brady has never been able to sing along given he's never seen the play or heard the music.  Cue Ty's gift so now Brady can be "in the know."

In a non-Christmas Christmas gift, if the boys in this house get a dog, mom gets diamonds...

When the kids are older and the plan is to be away from home for the next week, prepping for Santa is both slim picking and less of a priority.  In fact, we had to insist that the boys write notes of which they wrote more of a note of complaint than the warm fuzzy Dear Santa letters.  (One was upset that he hadn't received a laptop or $200 tennis shoes from his parents -- are you kidding me?!?! -- while they other implored Santa to show compassion to his dear brother.  What in the world??)

In fact, the grudge carried over to "Christmas morning" when it was discovered that the Big Man didn't leave those items either.  Truthfully, I wasn't feeling all that merry and bright either and would have much rather settled for returning every.single.thing from under the tree.  Because, you know, when desires turn into expectations and thankfulness turns into entitlement, I'm not for that.  So, we pulled the players in for a time out, gave some extra coaching and sent them back into the game.

With this Christmas Eve being our Christmas Day, we traveled down to Missouri where we could spend a couple of days with the Lipiras.  In this season I'm learning to let go of things by picking my battles based on what's truly important.  Most of the time I fail.  Miserably.  This time, though, I let go of insisting the boys wearing the "proper" attire I had packed them for Christmas and dealt with an unfestive gym-look.  While my insides were a knotted up ball of angst at my planning and preparation not going according to plan, my outsides just let it go because it was possible to have a good day regardless of our attire.

Remember that everything-Christmas-related party look I have going on all season every year?  There are four of us who do the same thing.  Although sometimes we do plan, a majority of the time it just happens.  That's what sparked the planning anyway; we live in different towns and would show up for the weekend with bags packed of the same clothes.

If only we could find a way for my dad and brother to join the fun.

And then there's Precious that's just too cute.  I'll let you decide which one.

When this guy shares a chair and puts his arm around you, you sit there for as long as he does even if you can't feel half your leg.

Because even in spite of the complaints and the expectations and the plans and the changes and the hustle and the bustle, there is one Reason for the season.  Three boys this year means three birthday cakes for Happy Birthday, Jesus.