On Christmas Eve day in the afternoon

I kind of got sidetracked from my Christmas Eve recap.  That whole gift of a visit from a great friend just got me all befuddled.

Anyway, gifts ended and it was time for the traditional family brunch where everyone helps.  Cinnamon rolls are a given.  Everyone helps to make and everyone helps to clean up.

Game time is next.  This year we started with a family funny book contest.  I went through all those books where I've written the cute and curious things the kids have said and I made them into a contest.  Andrew won.  See, Andrew, it appears as if there are times when being the oldest is a help not a hindrance.

How would you do with this sampling from our quiz (answers at the end of the post)?

1.  Who thought the angels in the Christmas story said, “Behold, I bring you good movies.” 

2.  Who enjoyed watching the toasts at a wedding so much that he/she said, “I want to be a toaster when I grow up?”  

3.  Who was watching football on TV with Daddy and said, “Look, Philistines!” 

4.  Who said, “I’m a poet and didn’t even figure it out yet,” erroneously assuming this rhymed like the real saying.  

5.  Who saw an inflatable mummy at Halloween and said, “Look, Mommy, it’s the man Jesus brought out.”  

6.  Who watched The Sound of Music and described it this way:  Mom, they have seven children…There was a lady who was a Mun, or something like that.  She was always late and she never got to pray so her punishment was that she had to help this family that has 7 children.”  

7.  Who called shorts, “Legs-sticking-out”?  

We also played Left-Center-Right but instead of playing with chips to be passed around, each child started with 10 pieces of their favorite candy.  We played in rounds of 3 minutes and at the end of each round you could place a piece of your remaining candy into a bag to be kept.

And we couldn't forget the yearly race to finish a task.  Last year it was a small Lego building set.  This year it was a puzzle.  It was funny to watch how each personality approached puzzle making.  All those puzzles get donated to other children in the weeks to come.

This year we added Christmas caroling to the neighbors to our day's activities.  Since we moved here 10 years ago, 5 neighbors have lost a spouse.  Two of these deaths occurred this year, one of them just before Christmas.  It was good to spend a portion of our day spreading the blessing of Christmas.  I hope this is a tradition that continues.

What are your Christmas traditions?

*Answers to the quiz questions:  The questions go in order from oldest to youngest, Andrew, Jesse, Mariana, Shoun, Isaac, Eden and HopeAnne

Christmas Traditions

Traditions are great and our kids need them.  Some come from our home of origin while others morph over time.  I'm definitely a traditions kind of mom.

Ours start Christmas Eve Eve.  Since one of our traditions is to sleep over at MomMom and PopPop's house Christmas Eve, we have our celebration on the day before Christmas.  Thus, the early start.

Christmas Eve Eve includes family movie night except that often, family movie night becomes two family movie nights because it's difficult to find something for everyone.  And Christmas Eve practice at church kind of cut into the Christmas Eve Eve family movie night as well so next year I'm putting my foot down, no one leaves the house after 6PM.  Family and traditions trump everything else, after all.

Anyway, 6PM is the whole family movie.  Then, after the younger kids go to bed, 8PM is the big kids' movie.  So far we've done popular 80s movies but I suppose we will run out at some point and either have to start over or move into the next decade.  It's been fun to introduce the kids to some of our favorite movies and to have mature conversations afterward.  Of course special snacks, not normally found in our house, are included.

Christmas morning starts with a little something to hold you over until brunch.  This year the children found instructions and a daily schedule (with approximate times but enough information so I didn't have to answer the same questions X7 all day long).  Their first assignment, while everyone was gathering, was to write encouraging notes to their grandparents.  When all were awake, or at least upright, we sat down together.  This year we finished the Jesse Advent Tree, then spent some time debriefing from the events of 2013, and had a time of prayer.  Then, one of my favorite parts, reading the encouraging notes we wrote to each other and placed in our stockings.  A few years ago we did this in lieu of stocking gifts and we've enjoyed it so much that it's been a treasured tradition.  I may or may not have cried a bit during this part.

Of course there are gifts.  The children exchange names and that's always a fun time so they went first.  There's always someone who has given it away ahead of time but HopeAnne was the hero of the gift exchange this year.  She had Shoun's name but every time Jesse tried to torment her and ask her again to tell him whose name she had, she'd always respond, "Jesse."  She stuck with it so well that she even had him almost fooled into thinking that she did have his name.  It was all her idea to make Shoun a blanket.

There were a lot of special gifts this year including a handmade picture from Mariana...

...car decals for John (just to make people look twice as he drives around town in a small car presumably filled with 10)...

...a Cookie Monster from Andrew to his Secret Santa, Victor, who promptly chewed on his new toy (Victor did the chewing, that is).  Victor also had Andrew and chose this shirt all by himself ...

...noise makers for Victor made by Eden and HopeAnne (yes, they did use empty pill bottles and yes, we did cover up the labels so he wouldn't look like such a druggie, and yes, we did use childproof caps and yes, we did hot glue gun the lids just to be safe)...

...footie PJs from the boys, who insisted I open their gifts at the same time, just to be fair...

...handmade scarves from Jesse...

...and tune in tomorrow for the best gift of all (but here's a hint)...

The littlest mother in the house

Victor's face is in no way indicative of his feelings for HopeAnne.  These two have a very special relationship.

At least once a day, my very active seven year old asks if she can hold her brother. She calls him Buddy.

Immediately her hyperactivity and inability to focus are gone as she cares for Victor.  And a little Cosby Show doesn't hurt.

She talks to him.  "Don't cry, Victor.  Don't worry, I understand.  I was a baby once, too."

She sings to him.  He's either going to love or hate the musical Annie.

She's not afraid of his crying; she speaks softly, gently jiggles, or changes position.

She is a very nurturing littlest big sister.

Unfortunately he's getting so big so fast that I don't know how much longer she'll be able to hold him.

But until then, I know a little voice is going to come to me each day, "Mom, can I hold Victor now?"

Sister love

This is Mommy's New Man but it was bound to happen. . .

When you have older sisters, you can expect a dress or two, painted nails, maybe even hair ribbons.

Eden had been dying to try her doll clothes out on Victor.

Matching dresses!

Victor's hoping this means he's done with the sister love.

Orphans no more

I don't know if I've ever missed an opening at Allenberry when my kids were in the show.

This was hard but I am so thankful for a few pictures,

just for a sneak peek.

I'm told that it's a wonderful show and that Eden and HopeAnne do an excellent job as orphans in Annie. Well, okay, they all do, but we're a little biased.

It's no coincidence that Annie, a show about orphans, is the show currently running at Allenberry, at the same time we're in the process of bringing Victor into our home.

Seven years ago, Mariana played the role of Molly in this same musical, her first stage experience.  That musical ran just after we welcomed HopeAnne into our home.

And now HopeAnne is playing an orphan herself.  How I wish her birth mother could see her!

If you are close to Allenberry, you won't want to miss this timeless musical of love and adoption.
July 10 - Aug. 11
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, Children 4 - 11 years old are admitted free with a paying adult.
This is for dinner and theatre or theatre only.
Call to redeem this special (no online booking for these tickets), (717) 258-3211

And for Victor, who is an orphan no more...

Day 4 of no bradies.

He failed his room air test after an hour.  However, the nurse practitioner is going to try again in 48 hours.  She seems to be fairly convinced that he can go home without oxygen.  So, let's pray it's true!

He did pass his hearing test.  I wasn't worried about it one bit.  The boy follows voices and definitely hears all the commotion around his bed.  And besides, John and I both sign and we have friends who are deaf.  Victor would have fit right in.

He weighs a whopping 5 lb. 9 oz.

Our court hearing is scheduled for Monday but so far the cheapest flight doesn't bring us home til Thursday.  That's okay, the end is in sight!

Artsy kids

I don't know where my children got the art gene.  It certainly didn't come from me.  While I enjoyed creating, and often spent a lot of time on art projects, I can remember my middle school art teacher writing comments that implied that I hadn't spent much time on it.  Obviously my effort wasn't noticed. So, the fact that my children can create with marker, paint, photography, and colored pencil is astonishing to me.

Another woman in our adoption consultant's group had designed notecards as a fundraiser for their adoption.  I ordered some of her cards and also asked her more information about how and where she created the cards.  I gave the kids an assignment, create a work of art under the theme, "Adoption is..."

And this is what I got...

Well, actually, I cheated on this one.  Andrew had just taken it for photography class and I loved it.  So I included it in the notecard collection.

But he also took this one of two hands forming a heart which I thought perfectly represented adoption in our family.

This is Eden's contribution.

And Mariana has been on a series of hands.  She made a few options but I chose this one because of the butterflies.  We had a butterfly launch at HopeAnne's adoption.  I love the symbolism of new life.

And finally, HopeAnne's addition.  I think a bit of explanation is helpful here.  Hope drew 9 petals to represent the 9 members of her family.  Her new sister (this was before we knew about Victor and the little girls were hoping for a sister) is in the center.

Each card has a verse written inside.

So if you're interested in any notecards, they're available from a King family member near you.  We have packaged them in packs of 10, 2 of each design, for a minimum donation of $10 toward our adoption.

Today Victor is allowed to take a bottle for 4 or 5 of his feeds as long as he is ready.  We've already done 2 and he did just fine.

And the best news yet from the nurse practitioner:  "So, I think you'll be ready for discharge in 2 weeks.  Maybe sooner."  Praise God!  Pray us home.