Christmas Joy and The Hidden Gift of Christmas

It's been a really festive weekend as we count down the final days until Christmas Day.

I'm very behind on our Advent celebrations, but I'll catch that up when I'm off :)

Friday I worked half a day and Tate had early dismissal from school.  Thankfully, his old buddy Christian goes to his school, so I asked B, Christian's mom if she would pick Tate up from school for me and either let him play with Christian or take Tate to his daycare.  She opted to take Tate home with her and let the boys play for about 4 hours!!  I am so very blessed.  She brought Tate over here on her way to pick up her baby at the daycare!  Tate had a blast!

Friday night, I had a work dinner I had to go to, so Lindsey graciously babysat for me.  Dinner was at the Chef's table at Brennan's and was very nice.  My boss wanted all the doctors and their significant others to go out together along with our office manager and her boyfriend.  Of course I went by myself, but that was ok.  It was a nice evening, the food was good, but I was exhausted and could not wait to crawl into bed.  So I missed dessert, but my tummy was full.

Saturday morning we were up at 5:15 much to my chagrin and goodness I was at my mommying worst.  Poor Tate.  I was fuming, had an awful headache and just wanted to sleep until Monday morning.  No amount of begging, cajoling, hissing or threatening could get him to settle back into sleep.  By 6 I had had it and let him get up.

We were having breakfast with Santa at the zoo at 8, so we needed to be up and on our way early anyway.  I downed 4 Advil, and finally about 45 minutes later the meds kicked in.  We met our friends N and H at the zoo and had an absolutely lovely time.  Of course, I had to bring food for Tate, but he's so awesome...he just happily eats his food and enjoys the experience.  Plus they had hot cocoa which for him was a huge win!  We met Santa as soon as we walked in, got our breakfast, the kids got their faces painted and even met a bunny and a chinchilla!  It was really fun!  Even better as we were walking to the breakfast we got to see some of the animals.  They are super frisky first thing in the mornings; we even saw Johnathon the lion playing as well as two black bears!!  So fun!

As we drove home I told Tate I was exhausted, and that I just wanted a nap.  I told him I would sleep on the couch for an hour and he could do whatever he wanted as long as he let me sleep!!  He's so sweet.  We got home, I got his video set up for him while he was playing with his Legos.  This conversation ensued:

Me:  I'm going to take a nap now, ok Tate?

Tate:  Ok Mommy.  Is it going to be ok if you hear a little noise?

Me:  That will be just fine Tate, don't worry!

Tate:  Ok Mommy.  You do seem tired.

I was out within 5 minutes of my head hitting the couch.  He did wake me a couple of times to ask questions or get my help, but all in all I woke up an hour later refreshed.

We had some lunch and then proceeded to get ready for our party that evening.  My sweet boy offered to help saying:  "Mommy, do you know why I want to help you?"  I said "No."  He said "Because I love you."

Be still my heart.

By 4:00 we were ready for our guests and our annual Christmas Party.  We have people over and then we go over to the swanky neighborhood to walk around and look at the Christmas lights.  The kids had a blast playing;  even better they went outside and played in the driveway happily!!!

My Pinterest snacks:

We then headed out to see the lights!

Two of Tate's buddies from his old daycare came;  it was wonderful to see the boys together again!!  They ran around on the lawn of this house which was like a winter wonderland complete with snow blowing out every 2-3 minutes.  They played hard and long!  

Then it was their turn to see Santa at the winter wonderland!

Then I bundled Tate up into the car, he fell asleep and we made our way home!

This morning we made our way to church for the 4th Sunday of Advent, and Grandmommy came with us.  She had come to the party the night before and spent the night with us!  They had a 'trial' run for the Christmas Eve service.  They don't do a pageant, but invite all kids to come up to the stage to be part of the Nativity.  The kids can be stars, wise men, angels, shepherds or sheep.  The church provides costumes, or you can make your own.  Tate opted to be a star this year!  We grabbed a costume for him on the way out and I dropped the two of them at home, while I made a child-free trip to the grocery store to stock up for the holidays!  WooHoo!

We hung out at home, had some lunch and watched some Doc McStuffins!!  Then we headed over to see The Really Really Big Christmas Show!!  This is our third year going, and it's just a beautiful and amazing performance!  We met my sister there with her family, and my mom came too.

Even better in the atrium is a HUGE train display that Tate just loves, loves, loves! 

The drumline in honor the the little drummer boy....this and the angels performing from the rafters during the song 'Emmanuel' are my favorite parts of the breathtaking show...

The hidden gift of Christmas is the cross.

What a gift it was.  We are blessed.