Photo-A-Day #2817

Eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa has become so much more fun now that we have kids. Seeing the wonder and excitement in the eyes of a 5 year old child is amazing. This whole month Eva has been interacting with our Elf on the Shelf, Fitzy. I know that many people are not thrilled with this thing but in our house he’s seen more as a guest than some sort of tattle tale. Eva has enjoyed his antics except when he made her an elf in the family photo. The like our elf and she will miss looking for him every morning.

Eva and I also had a daily ritual of opening our Star Wars Advent calendar. She was thrilled to get a Santa Yoda on the very last day of Advent. It thrilled her to no end.

I got home from work, took a 3 hour nap and then we started cleaning up the house for company. We host everyone at our home for a chicken stew and desserts each Christmas Eve. This year was really nice and quiet. We had my Mom & Dad as well as my sister, Tara and her husband, Erik. We all fit at the family table (my Grandma Theresa’s table that I love) and were able to talk and have fun and enjoy each other’s company as well as the foods that everyone contributed.

But before dinner we went to the 4pm Christmas Mass at Sacred Heart. This has long become our favorite Mass and the one that works for our family dynamic at this time. There is no way the kids are going to make it for midnight Mass. This Mass is special also because it has the children’s choir, which I think will include Eva someday. It also has a very special visit from Santa. At the very end of Mass a reverent Santa Claus come in to the church. He doesn’t say a word but goes to the Nativity scene and kneels to pray and then he leaves. This is usually the moment when the entire church watches silently and with wonder. The kids are so excited but also are quiet. There is always some kid who yells out, “Santa!” which provides a little levity but for the most part it is a very respectful moment that gets the kids excited and shows them a connection with the reason for the season, Jesus’ birth and also the giving of gifts via Santa.

At Mass one of the songs was Go Tell it on The Mountain. This was a song in Eva’s special class program at school. She was belting out the song while doing full on choreography to the words. It was great, she as so fun. Both kids were wonderful during Mass especially after being at church for 3+ hours (have to get there early for a seat).

We came home and had everyone to the house for the annual chicken stew. After dinner Allison brought out some cupcakes that she made and the fondant cake toppers that she won at a church fair. They were so cute and had Santa, Frosty and Rudolph as well as a tree and some presents. Eva attempted to make her way through Rudolph and finished off his head. The rest of us simply enjoyed how beautiful they were.

It was a good day, it was a nice night and we are eagerly awaiting Santa with the hearts and minds of five year olds.