On with the show!
Like last year, our Christmas celebration officially began Christmas Eve morning with a visit to the Holiday Express exhibit at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. There are a few trains, the most luscious and vivid poinsettias ever, fresh-smelling conifers, and amazingly creative birdhouses. This year there were also beautiful stained glass panels of birds. It's not a big display--but it's tasteful and beautiful and fun enough for kids.
After checking out the toys trains, we walked over to the conservatory. They had a scavenger hunt for plants with practical uses in daily life. Mary felt very proud to find the banana tree. (We also found a chicle tree, a rubber tree, a cacao tree, a kola tree, a coffee tree, and many others. It's a really interesting exhibit! And they finally got rid of that weird fake sloth.)
We took the long way back to our town (so the little ones could doze off if they needed to), and in the process we hit all the Madison hot spots--Willy Street, State Street, Capitol Square, campus, Monroe Street. Madison is such a great place to live!
We stopped for lunch at McDonald's. Greg's grandparents had sent a McDonald's gift card, so we splurged and got the works! Happy meals and ice cream shakes. (And, happily, everyone's tummies were feeling a-okay at that moment, except maybe mine.)
Then it was home to prepare our feast. While the boys watched T.V. downstairs, we girls put on our aprons. Mary helped me make chocolate balls. She was a great helper!
In years past, we've always enjoyed a big Italian feast on Christmas Eve. Greg makes some good Italian dishes (he did live in Rome!), and he's taught me pretty well. So going Italian was a safe bet for something yummy. But now that I'm getting more comfortable with more traditional fare--like turkey, ham, and roasts--I thought we'd go more American traditional this year.
So in honor of my meat-eating boys (Mary and I couldn't care less about meat), I cooked up a yummy sirloin roast, using that super slow method I'd heard about on NPR.
And everyone enjoyed the meal! (Perhaps the boys a little more so than the girls.) It was a miracle! Our entire Christmas weekend was punctuated with Mary's throw up on Thursday night and Greg's on Sunday night. And in between it was a roller coaster of tummy aches and recovery and tummy aches again for everybody. The stomach flu didn't totally waste all of us. But it did make us all think twice about food. (Never before did I realize how many holiday traditions revolve around food!!) At Christmas Eve dinner everyone felt great. A much-appreciate little miracle.
After dinner we prepared for our play. (See here for a glimpse of how we passed the time while Daddy did the dishes.) Once again, Mary was Mary. (She loves it!) Mary picked Daddy to be her "boyfriend," as she put it. David wanted to be the donkey, the innkeeper, the angel, and all three wise men--as long as he didn't have to wear a costume. I filled in as the shepherd. David took charge and bossed everyone around (which, quite frankly, was a relief, since it's usually Mary doing all the bossing), and Mary glowed with pride as Baby Jesus' mommy.
Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem:
Would you like to see the birth of Baby Jesus? You can't see him in the manger--he's not born...
But then, Ta-dah!! There he is!
What a proud mama.
And here we have the three wisemen (David), taking a break with their camel.
But finally the wise men arrive, with gifts, of course.
The end! (Oh so adorable. As usual: See here and here and here for other Christmas Eve Nativity Cuteness.)
Next we opened our Christmas Eve presents. The kids each get a book and new pajamas from Mom and Dad to enjoy on Christmas Eve. (This year they also got cuddly new robes.) David and Mary also get to exchange gifts with one another, as well as give their present to Mom and Dad. (This way gift-giving amongst ourselves stays intimate.) David loved the Ninja Spinners from Mary, and Mary went nuts over the Build-a-Bear ballet outfit David picked out for Hello Kitty (Mary's bear). David gave me the latest Wimpy Kid book (hooray!) and Mary presented me with a bunch of cute new spiral notebooks (because she's used up all mine). David gave Greg a tie, and Mary gave him two packages of new highlighter markers (because she's stolen all his). It was a fun and happy gift exchange.
Just look at these adorable kids! Don't you want to squeeze them? I love Christmas Eve.
Afterwards, we enjoyed dessert (cookies and chocolate balls) and prepared the house for Santa. The kids colored him pictures, put out cookies for him, and found celery for his reindeer.
Then we settled down to finish up our Christmas Eve business. We opened the next to the last door on the advent calendar. Behind the door, among other things, was the Baby Jesus for the presepe. The animals were already on their way to the stable--
It was time to place Baby Jesus, and bring the animals to him. (This year it was a badger who led the way.)
A presepe usually has all different kinds of people who come worship the Christ child. But we obviously do things a little differently around here . . .
We lit the candles and sang Christmas carols. This year's favorites were "Christmas Bells" and "Stars Were Gleaming." Also, Mary was quite obsessed with "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."
Then I cuddled on the sofa with my sweeties and read their favorite Christmas books...until at last we heard the unmistakable tinkling of sleigh bells outside the window. David rushed to his bedroom, wondering if any moment he would hear Santa's ho-ho-ho in the living room. Meanwhile, Mary was hiding under her blanket bawling. She had been so cute and excited about Santa Claus this year--but I think she likes him better when he's at the North Pole than creeping around her house.
I kissed them goodnight, and Greg did too. And they fell fast asleep.
Then Santa's elves got to work. We were happy with the results...
(How classic is that? A super cool Star Wars toy and a super sweet baby doll?! Our kids are at such fun ages for Christmas!)
Then Santa's elves went to bed, with visions of a happy Christmas morning dancing in their heads.
