To kick off our holiday work vacation and the girls time off from school, we had Syd and Samantha over for what has become our traditional pre-Christmas slumber party. It turned out that friends of ours from Life Group Jenn and Sean could use a sitter for their kiddos Emanuel and Lillian to wrap some of their Christmas gifts without little ones getting a peak at what Santa is bringing, so we were happy to have them all. We got a little taste of what being a Duggar may be like with 6 kids running through our house. It was energizing and exhausting all at the same time! Spoiler alert:: we will not be having six babies. Ever. :)
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| Watching the Polar Express together |
To occupy the herd while we were grilling up some sandwiches, we turned on The Polar Express and divvied out chocolate milks. That lasted about 7 minutes. It is just too much fun having friends and family over, especially when you run through the house! We gathered them up for a kid-friendly dinner of grilled cheese, tomato soup, yogurts, and oranges. Surprisingly, dinner time was the least chaotic event of our evening.
Sam played hide and seek with the little ones while Samantha and I got to work making our sugar cookies. And by "making" I mean cutting open the tube of sugar cookie dough, smashing it out, and cutting it into shapes. :) Isn't it
embarrassing amazing that Samantha is almost as tall as me now?
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| Bring on the cookies! |
When the cookies had cooled, all six scrambled in to the kitchen to decorate them. I divided the white frosting in six different bowls, and assigned one to each child. Then every kid got to be a "color champion." They picked a color, and we learned which of the primary colors you would need to make that color. Harper was pink, Emanuel chose green, Sydney purple, Samantha orange, Willa (aka me) had yellow, and Lilly just kept the white. I love it when we can work learning into our everyday fun.
Then came the sprinkles. Ohhhh, the sprinkles. Let's just say that sprinkles and a laid back mama are a bad combination. Years from now when we sell our house, folks will walk through and say, "Well, we loved the house, but the sprinkles in every crack of the hardwoods is a dealbreaker..." because despite my Dyson's best efforts, they will likely still be there. But, oh well. I hope instead of just seeing a less than pristine floor, they see a home where memories have been and can be made. Where kids were allowed to explore and learn. Maybe where their kids can, too. Because that's all this house is. A vessel for our family to use, to entertain, to welcome, to love on those who live both inside and outside its four walls. But, if you want to show up with a broom and a Swiffer, I won't turn you away. :)
The good news for those down-the-road homeowners? They'll have an amazing neighbor at the end of Back Creek with the most amazing Christmas lights. Like we have the last three years, the girls and I packed up after the Eddy's left to go see the display. Andddd, so did all of Roanoke. We waited for forty-five minutes to see the lights. Isn't that insanity? It's always worth it for those little gasps as we pull in. We've already been five times this year since it's just down the road, but Harper was nonetheless amazed. She was especially pleased that "Jesus has his light back!" (the nativity scene had a flood light on it that was out the last time we were through). I hope these little evenings put the light back in these little souls. That they build them up, let them know they are loved, and pile up the deposits in their love bank just in time to celebrate His birth.
