The 3 Hours Lena Was An Only Child And Other Things of Importance

Last Saturday Lena got to do her favorite thing: pretend she doesn't have brothers and go on a date with Jeff and me.
We ate treats and saw a Christmas Carol at Geva. It had some scary parts. She liked that.
Then a short 3 hours later she fell asleep on the way home and we were a family of 5 again. She didn't like that.
We celebrated our 7th anniversary this year like the true parents we are and attended a lights celebration at Lena's kindergarten. After the kids sang they played a slideshow of them doing various things in their classroom and it was accompanied by a very sentimental country song that made me cry right there in my seat in the dark. Cue the lights! Then we talked about how it feels like we've been parents longer than we've been married. I love being a parent. Being married is ok too. 
And since Christmas isn't for the schools we have to supplement at home with forgetting to water our Christmas tree and eating too many Christmas treats and hastily opening the door to about 30 neighborhood Christmas carolers the other night. I think 2 out of the three children were crying and dinner was burning and I was probably wearing something awesome. Then they sang the figgy pudding part and I smiled and shut the door. I'm a good neighbor like that.

Aside from 3 sick children and a dying tree this week I think we're ready for action on Sunday. And to think I found myself complaining we had to go to church on Christmas! I'm pretty sure that is NOT honoring the true meaning of Christmas. I plan on starting now, after I get Lena's teacher a gift card and get dressed and make a dent in the laundry and vacuum up pine needles and wrap all the presents that are scattered in the basement. Why do I always wait to do that? Next year I'm going to do more true meaning stuff and wrap all my presents as they arrive. 
Or maybe we'll just buy a goat for a family in need instead of it all.


And weather report states it will be 40 and sunny this Christmas day and that is truly a Christmas miracle. 
And the truth is, I am so grateful for the birth of our Savior and the birth of my three sweet children and hard working husband. 
Especially during country songs and Christmastime.