All Ready!!

Well, the shopping is finally all done and I'm ready for the big day and not a moment too soon. Sometimes it's very difficult to keep straight in my mind what we are doing gift-wise for each child and when I get to the store I simply can't remember what I went there for. So I wander around and hope that my faulty memory kicks in or that sudden inspiration strikes. Or, I just call my DH and pick his brain, which is usually nearly as faulty as my own, considering the fact that it's three years older than mine. But I think we got all that we planned to do done, now it just needs to be packaged appropriately and set under the tree. Whew!!!

We are in the middle of two family gatherings at the moment, so I thought I'd take a minute to post. My aunts and uncles on my mother's side always have a Christmas Eve lunch. They time it that way so that people can come, eat, visit and still get home in plenty of time for immediate family traditions. It used to be held at one uncle's home, but we have gotten so big as a family that we have had to hold it at a church for the last few years. I love going. It's the only time I see most of them, and I like being able to count on seeing them at least once a year. I love that my mom came from such a large family (10 kids). There is never a dull moment when they are all together and the love that they have for each other and for their parents is abundant and spills over to the rest of us. Having the dinner in the gym at the church is great. There is plenty of room for the kids to run and play. This year someone brought gym hockey sticks and balls and nets. It was a hit. H was the only casualty, getting konked on the head with a stick, leaving her with a bump and a small cut. We also played a fun word game where everyone wore a 'penny' with a letter on the front and a letter on the back and there were six teams. A word was called out and it was a race to see which team could spell it first. Fun trying to figure out who had which letters and whether they needed to face forward or backward to make the word correctly. In the final spelldown, the Welch family team won.

We are resting and waiting before heading off to the Welch family Christmas Eve tradition. My DH grew up in a large family as well, eight kids, and they never got to eat out as a family, except once a year. Their dad would take them out to a nice restaurant on Christmas Eve. So when Grandpa W is in town, he takes all Welch relatives in the area out to dinner. This year we are going to Carraba's. Pollo Rosa Maria, here I come. I HEART Carraba's. If you've never eaten there and get a chance to, DO! Yummy food.

When we get back we will do our little traditional Christmas Eve activities. This year the girls and I will be doing a small program we 've worked on in school, reciting and acting out Luke 2 and singing appropriate Christmas hymns. I hope they are not too tired and grumpy from the day's festivities to do it. Then the kids will open their sibling gifts and we will hit the hay, hopefully leaving plenty of time for the jolly old guy to stop by.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!