The Best Eve Of The Year

Christmas Eve was simply wonderful. I got in a nice long run, knowing that on Christmas I wasn't even going to try, only to return home to a feast of aebelskivers hot and ready for indulgence. Adam has taken over as head chef of this delicious breakfast tradition from my Dad over the past few years (at my Dad's insistence), prepping the batter the night before and doing the cooking, but my Dad's experience and skill are still required as sous chef: getting the lemons and melons chopped and ready, the butter melted to hot and bubbly, and the powdered sugar, waiting for distribution in heaping white mounds. As ever, they were perfect and gobbled up rapidly.
After breakfast it seemed like a good idea to take a walk in the brilliant sunshine, hopefully burning off an aebelskiver or two. Every trace of fr-fog was gone and the day was warm enough for the kids to completely reject jackets. Although we adults still bundled up.

We had completed our last-minute shopping (except for multiple trips to the grocery), so we spent the afternoon relaxing, basting the turkey, and entertaining the kiddies.

Christmas Eve night our friends the Nunnellys joined us, we love their company, but also having just moved to a new house and still living among boxes, we thought it would be nice for them not to have to worry about putting together a large meal. But Shaina still brought along with her a feast: some delicious homemade rolls, creamy mashed potatoes (seasoned to perfection!), a plate of ham and a chocolate silk pie that was to die for! Contrary to the turkey-that-cooked-in-seconds from Thanksgiving, our Christmas turkey took more time than planned, so we were a little late getting dinner going, but it just meant more fun visiting all together. We added to the food with the turkey, some crudite, green beans with butter and toasted almonds and dark chocolate mousse. And thank goodness Shaina was there to catch some pictures, because once again I found myself unable to take pictures and cook at the same time.
We carried on a tradition started by my sister last year of popping Christmas crackers. It feels so festive to wear the little paper crowns all night and the kids are always excited about the odd little toys that come inside, even Tommy got a kick out of his whizz whistle that he couldn't make work because he was blowing into it backwards.
After dinner and dessert we gathered around to hear a very noisy (as would be expected with 10 kids including 2 1-year-olds in the audience) version of the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2, read by Adam, while the kids held up pictures and put the nativity together piece by piece. Those kids all sure knew the story well!
Before the Nunnellys left with Merry Christmases and hugs we unwrapped Tommy's Christmas jammies and got him all ready for bed, he was getting pretty tired. We thought he looked very Dickensian--and terribly darling--in his "papa hat." Just after our friends left we {should have} put him to bed with one more kiss under the mistletoe before Santa's arrival. But I wanted to get a picture with all the boys together in their Christmas jammies so he waited for bed time. You will see how that idea turned out....Then we set to the business of opening the rest of our Christmas Eve jammies (except for Adam, who got a new robe). I love the Christmas jammies tradition. The boys are always so excited for them and, to be honest, I am too! They are always so cozy and perfect for a cold winter's night!
Another of our Christmas Eve traditions includes opening our "stockings" from Nana and Papa that usually include gifts from their many travels, near and far, from the past year. This year we received items from the Oregon Sea Lion Caves and the Yucatan Peninsula, some new movies, and a few other goodies. The hit of the night was a ceramic jaguar that made a "roar" when you blew into it. In the first picture in this set my mom is blowing into it. I love the look on both Zach and Luke's faces as they realized what it did.
Before bed the boys put out a mug of eggnog and some of our coveted Peppermint Joe Joes, the highly flown in special from Issaquah's Trader Joe's by Nana and Papa because they know they are Santa's very favorite cookie at our house. The stockings were hung with care, except for Ruby's which awaited filling on the floor by her blanket. We were all excited, anticipating Santa's visit, but even with expectation in the air, the boys fell asleep quickly...except for Luke, who rarely falls asleep quickly. Adam, my dad and I popped over to our neighbors' house to say hello during their Christmas Eve open house while my mom stayed with the kids and prepped for the morning, making a delicious spinach and shallot strata. Before bed, and to make it a nice, late Christmas Eve we decided to watch a black and white classic, perfect for Christmas Eve, Miracle on 34th Street. It was about as perfect a Christmas Eve as I could have imagined.

When Super Calls, You Answer

In the week leading up to Christmas, Luke was feeling a bit of the "super" inside himself straining to be free. He did not shrink from it, he did not ignore it, he embraced it! Every day found him dressed as Batman, Flash, or both, alternating endlessly every ten minutes. Batman and Flash mostly hung around at the house, but even when we had to leave they would accompany us on our errand. It was nice having either/or around for a bit, they are both very entertaining superheroes, and quite helpful too.
Every super hero needs a sidekick, so of course Luke liked it best when someone would play with him. I was not a suitable choice because "you're too big for the hat, Mom." But when an older brother wouldn't oblige, he resorted to allowing Tommy to play the part. Tommy loved being included, or perhaps it was just that he liked being able to wear the hat.
Playing superhero boosted Luke's confidence too. So much so that he had no qualms about butting into other people's family photos.
And he was also not too shy to run to the door with his brothers to sing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" when we dropped off Christmas goodies to friends. Even if it meant that our friends were confused for a second or two about which holiday they were supposed to be celebrating until Luke handed over a treat instead of asking for one.
It's nice having you around Batman/Flash! You are welcome to join our family any time. And don't worry, the secret of your alter ego is safe with me, dear Luke. Even without the costume, you are always super in my book!

...Oops, I guess I just blew your cover by putting this on the blog! Oh well, sorry kiddo!

It's a Sign that Something Bad Has Happened When You Have to Wear Wellies In Your Basement

Today after we got home from church at 2pm I began fixing a light late lunch and the boys ran downstairs to play some Epic Mickey while their grumbly tummies waited for food. About three minutes later, Ben came running up the stairs and said with an edge of panic in his voice, "Mom, come feel the carpet, it's really wet!" I figured someone had spilled water or something downstairs, even though they are not allowed to have food or drink down there. So I rolled my eyes and followed Ben down the stairs. But what I found when I reached the basement was unfortunately not any small annoyance, like spilled illegal water would have been. No. I would have liked that very much, considering what I did find. A pipe in the bedroom wall had burst, and half of the basement was covered in a 2 inch layer of water that was quickly making its way, seeping along carpet fiber by carpet fiber, across the basement. Not only that, but my beautiful arrowroot-painted wall was bulging oddly and bubbling along the drywall seam. My poor lovely basement!

I ran upstairs to get Adam, who was changing, screaming, "TURN OFF THE WATER!!! TURN OFF THE WATER!!!" ***insert feelings of total, blank-minded panic*** Adam dashed down, taking three stairs at a time, twisted the water shut-off, and instantly we heard the waterfall that had been flowing in the wall fall silent. But as the water silenced, Luke started crying, sensing the distress and panic of the moment, and then Tommy joined in the cry from his bedroom, the hoped for nap abandoned. It was all I could do to hold it together at that moment to comfort the rest of the kids who were as unsettled as we were...except for Zach, our video game addict, who was still transfixed on Epic Mickey.

The hour that follows a disaster such as this is fast and interminable all at once, as your mind reels for what to do first, what steps to take in what order, all the while you hope that you are somehow mistaken and that it will all go away if you wish it hard enough. Our brains were functioning like poorly-made check lists. For example, we called my neighbor, Dani, to ask if they had a shop vac we could borrow and if they had any suggestions for plumbers. Check! Then, as our brain went on to the next task, we called again and asked if the two little boys could spend the afternoon with them so I could help Adam move our things to the dry portion of the basement. Check! But we weren't thinking very clearly, obviously, and it wasn't until Mike, Dani's husband, came down to see if he could help that he mentioned that we should probably call our insurance...ah, yes, that would be good. So I did. Check! We also called a restoration company and a plumber. Check and check! Hmmm...what next?! On top of that, I had this odd urge to tell the kids I loved them and give them hugs every few minutes.

I was fine for much of it, unless someone called. The second I heard, "I'm so sorry! Are you OK?" the tears started to flow.

Our water has to be off now until the plumber arrives tomorrow sometime. The plumbers and restoration companies are on overdrive right now; we are not the only ones in the city of Colorado Springs who are dealing with broken pipes and flooded homes right now. It's rather unfortunate that I left last night's dishes in the sink, because we now have a mountain of dishes, two days' worth, and no water to wash them with. The boys, on the other hand, think it's great fun that they get to pee outside. And Adam had them use the snow on the back patio to wash their hands before and after dinner which brought a lot of jests and much-needed laughter. But for the pre-bedtime pees we used our neighbors', the Simonds, bathroom so the boys could wash faces, brush teeth and get a good hand washing in too. They also hauled two of their large camping coolers with a tap up to our house, full of water for us to use. Yes, we are incredibly blessed to have awesome neighbors.

The afternoon passed quickly with us moving our belongings to dry ground and Adam vacuuming up water. It was so nice not to have to worry about Luke and Tommy; we knew they were in good hands. We got everything moved out of the wet areas, and the boys did a great job chipping in to help move the things that they were strong enough to carry. I even got one of our freezer dinners cooked and on the table, although that just added to our Dish Mountain. The restoration company arrived around 7pm. They told Adam that he could stop what he was doing, that was what they were there for. Earlier in the day my friend Katie had asked what she could do and I said it would be nice if she had an "easy button." Having the restoration guys arrive kind of felt like that. They took over, knew what to do, and set to it.

The damage: Our carpet pad will be torn out and replaced, the carpet will be dried using industrial fans over three days, the baseboards will be removed and trashed as well. They need to take a section of the drywall in the bedroom out, also for the garbage, and pull out the insulation in that same part of the wall that was soaked through.

The blessings in this afternoon are plenty: We have insurance. The deductible will be a bear, but at least that's all we have to pay, that and the plumber fees. We have great friends and family who called or emailed to commiserate, give love, and offer help. It is fixable, even if it's annoying and a little heart-aching.

Josh is a little disappointed that we are getting it all dried up and fixed. He was kind of excited about an indoor basement swimming pool.

The pictures don't really represent how awful it all looked. With the carpet, it was hard to get a good representation of how deep the water was in a photo without a camera that you can put on the ground into the water, but we have a half-inch pad and 3/4-inch shag and the water was standing on top of it. And the wall is totally bulging out, but you can't really tell. They had to drill holes in the walls where the baseboards will cover to make sure the water gets out and the air gets in. The the picture that says it all is the one of the giant hole in my arrowroot wall.

Fr-Fog and Other Pre-Christmas Happenings

Because I am behind, I am going to go in order here, so we'll start with the days leading up to Christmas, which brought two long-awaited visitors, my parents, and some freezing fog, which for simplicity sake, we just called fr-fog. The days were full of happy visiting and last minute shopping, as well as the great consumption of delicious delicacies (as is always the case when my family gets together). One of my New Years resolutions must now be to get rid of these happy holiday pounds, although they were worth every bite! We were sad that my sister and her boyfriend, Jason, couldn't come out to celebrate with us this year, but he was busily delivering last-minute packages for UPS, so we understood why they had to stay in Cali and settled for missing them.

The day my parents arrived, the fog was thick and temperatures were in the teens. Driving back from the airport after picking up my dad, there were sections of the road where we couldn't see more than 40 feet around us. It is creepy, but it causes the coolest phenomenon when the fog literally freezes to things as it comes into contact with them. The bushes become spiny and encased in glass, the grass evolves into a thick, white shag carpet, each water crystal is so obvious and lovely; it almost looks like it has snowed just a dusting, but it has not, and you can tell when you get up close and everything looks as if it holds a dangerous beauty. My mom couldn't stop taking pictures of the fr-fog, she was so fascinated. My dad, Adam and the boys didn't let it stop them from having some outdoor fun, as a matter of fact, I think it added to the fun! And to Luke, the fr-fog meant a tasty cold treat! There was much relaxing, but also some exercising (which unfortunately didn't do enough to combat the enormous caloric intake--just a minute, I need to unbutton the top of my jeans--ahh, better). I got in some nice long runs with three other adults to keep the kiddies entertained, and we also all took some walks together as a group through our nearby "brown space." The boys were delighted to find some frozen-over ponds to slide around on (don't worry, they were only a few inches deep). Luke was a little sad that we wouldn't allow him to get to the frozen part by walking through the unfrozen water, but Zach came to his rescue and helped him out by carting him around to the frozen side on his back. Ruby, however, preferred the unfrozen bits and was so happy to romp through the nasty, mucky water. Merry Christmas, Ruby girl!
Zach spent a vast majority of the three days preceding Christmas after my parents' arrival playing with his 10th birthday gift that they brought with them, an RC helicopter. You can see it in the upper left hand corner of the photo below slightly camouflaged by the holly berry garland. Zach absolutely loves it!
We also had a fantastic opportunity to go caroling with some friends from church at a local retirement community. It was reminiscent of the caroling I used to do every year with my family at one of the hospitals in Seattle when I was in middle and high school, for all the poor folks who were stuck there, too sick to go home. I loved that I could share this night with my Dad, who was the co-orchestrator of our hospital caroling sessions. It was fun seeing all the grandmas and grandpas enjoying the songs, and often hearing them join in. During our closing song "Silent Night" I looked around and about 2/3 of the folks were singing along, eyes closed, slight smiles lifting their lips and curling at their eyes, feeling the goodness of the Christmas spirit. It was a great night that was filled with the true meaning of Christmas, and I am so glad my friend Bessie took the time to organize it and invited us all!
And then came Christmas Eve....

Back Tomorrow!

I've been on a total mental vacation, but I've got a lot of good posts in the works all about our holidays! The first will be coming tomorrow. Thanks for not giving up hope. :)