Sammy enjoying the boys' new "Cars" racetrack - the one requested item which we probably overpaid for which they loved.
Opening up the "Cars" present.
The stockings and our scary little robbers.
A 3 kids together moment.
Christmas at Dino and Shannon's...big cousin Grace and super keen Sofi with our little Anna...and the ever fun and lovable Auntie Angie.
Anna, 4 weeks!
Gingerbread house fun.
Sammy's current little phrase to Anna is, "hey there cutie little Anna!"
Awwww.... 
time to play...
Can you see the resemblance?!?
Movie night - watching the "Cars" movie, intended for Christmas but discovered earlier, and therefore watched earlier.
Anna, 3 weeks!
This is how I found Sammy one day...typical Sam. Loves his food. And is...officially potty trained! He's been accident free for a few days now, woohoo!
Today was a quiet day, filled with completing the advent calendar, putting baby Jesus in the manger in our nativity scene, and then giving presents to the boys and each other, and then reveling in sweet laziness for the rest of the day. I did a 400 piece puzzle mostly by myself with a bit of help from our super puzzle boy Sam (he's been known to do a 48 piece puzzle completely by himself) and a few by Julio. The boys got bellaclavas in their stockings, and new hockey sticks, and Julio and Luke tried to make a little rink in the backyard so some backyard fun happened today, with the help of gently falling snow all afternoon long. All in all, a cozy day as the boys played and played and we did nothing much of anything, very purposefully. Well, Julio has been studying a bit, but I've mostly done a puzzle and tried to distract Julio by making him play Ticket to Ride with me. The good man he is, he obliged me two times. This has been a good day.Yesterday we decided to have a mini party with a few friends and it was a lovely, relaxing night. Good conversations, good food and drinks and hyper kids made a good time. Funny how by 9pm everyone was gone except one friend, who doesn't have kids. She helped make us feel like we weren't complete oldies and we had good chats in an unusually calm environment with her once everyone else left.
I've been thinking a lot about "the real meaning of Christmas" this year...how we always try to tell the story of Christ's birth in a different way, to see things from a fresh angle...and how when we do this year after year it's kind of hard to be impressed in a fresh way and how really, that's a lot of pressure. I have to admit something - after all these years, I still don't get it. I don't get how Jesus went from being in heaven to being in a manger, from being only God, to being God and man. I don't really understand the immensity of His love, the gravity of His sacrifice starting in the manger, the purpose in His coming and in His dying. Will I ever? How do I talk about these things with my children when I still don't understand it all? I'll tell you what I do know...yesterday morning I started my busy day of cleaning and prepping for the party with some quiet time reading my Bible and praying. Trying to somehow put God first in the midst of my crazy life of distractions. My prayer was that I wouldn't be stressed about the work ahead of me, of trying to make things perfect, of having unmet expectations, but rather that I would enjoy the day, get things done, and have a home where Christ was central and that somehow we would celebrate Him at our little party. I'm not totally sure if that all happened, but I felt such joy all day yesterday, was able to clean the house, squeeze in a nap, make supper and party food, all without any real stress. That alone is my Christmas miracle. It may sound silly and small, but what I do know is that putting Christ first in my day has never served me wrong. Oh to do that daily, maybe by doing so, somehow I'll start to understand these mysteries of faith. Or at least marvel daily at these mysteries.
