Capturing Contentment in the Everyday…

Pretty, Happy, Funny, & Real

It was all of these things and more.  It was the sticker shock of LEGO buying subsiding in the realization that we’ve just provided years of imaginative creations for them–and watching it start to happen.  It was the happiness of a girl very satisfied with her ankle-length snowman nightgown.  It was the joy of driving around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve.  It was the joy of waking up on Christmas morning, opening our stockings, going to our first-ever family Christmas morning Mass (usually we’ve gone the evening before), and then coming back to light the fire, eat the cranberry-orange bread, and open the presents.  It was the fun of having grandparents stay over and decorating their room before they came.  And the real that all this happened because HE came.

So here’s this year’s Nativity according to Trooper:

This year he guided my hand to the place where he wanted the stickers only about 60% of the time. This was the first year he actually allowed himself to touch the sticker, to hold it in his fingers. Amazing.

This lovely shot of the hearth.

This one from Christmas Eve, after the Christmas light drive.

Egg Nog and cookies! (except for Trooper, who is having mac & cheese)

Before Mass, the stockings!  The children race to the couch in anticipation.

Present opening after Mass provided Sunshine with an excuse to sneak Trooper’s iPad and get some playtime.

Trooper does about 85% of his school on the iPad. It has been amazingly beneficial for him academically. In this picture Sunshine is playing around with the BOB Books app. However, it's not all academics. The family favorite is still Angry Birds.

I don’t have pictures of the dinner that followed present opening.  My camera battery had died earlier in the holiday, and needed to be recharged.  Fortunately it’s up and running again.

"Robin Hood and Little John, walkin' through the forest, laughin' back and forth at what the other had to say...."

He got his "diny-saurs."

I got my mug. I wanted this pretty badly, I admit, hinting repeatedly to Haus Meister. Not only does it fit in with my British obsession, but with at least one resident Princess and a son who sometimes acts like a Rajah or something, I wanted a tangible reminder of my superior rank in this household. 😉

and a smile to end the post.

 Merry Christmas to all.