Well, in this Erickson household, today was Christmas. (Yes, Dad is working all week.) We try to keep it simple but that's what makes me love it. Christmas Eve is a night where we read "The Other Wiseman" by Henry Van Dyke. Amazing story if you haven't read it. And then we open stockings, which is a couple small gifts and new pjs.
When the girls got up, they were very excited and even wanted to pose for a picture in front of the tree! They were cute! I was so impressed with their patience.
K made a Christmas tree count-down calendar just like Curious George (yes, she still loves him), so she was super excited to cross off the last day and make it Christmas. I don't think the tongue will ever go away either. :-)
Daddy read the story of Jesus' birth and finished off the advent calendar and then we sat down for a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls, bacon and eggs. Yummmmm. We had to sit in the living room because K insisted we eat next to the tree.
These were the gifts they gave each other. Em is holding a gorilla and K has a mermaid whose hair changes color in the bath.
Daddy, who is very anti-barbie, got them Elsie from the new movie Frozen. They loved the movie and since it is all about two sisters, he could not resist. Why do they have the same one? Well, only the oldest one has the power to freeze things...
We spent the rest of the day coloring and doing projects from Nana L and trying on our new dresses, but for whatever reason, (once again) I did not take pictures. They got new boots and shirts from my brother in Hawaii too, and they are soooo cute! There will be pictures of those to come, trust me! :-) Then, this afternoon two boxes arrived. Dad was already at work, when we decided we simply
had to open them. K told me, "Oh Mommy, Daddy will be fine. He would want us to open them."
Their aunt and uncle made them a really neat set of popsicles and candies, personalized aprons, and even money. They were playing pretend shop all evening! So cute!
Oh boy, and their other aunt and uncle sent them a princess castle/cake to add to their squinkie collection.
We had a wonderful day! There is nothing like new toys to give mom a break! (And what did I do with my time? I switched all my clothes into the hallway closet so I could have access to them whenever I want. I'm tired of working around everyone else sleeping! Oddly though, I now have nothing in the master bedroom. Dad gets one half of the house and the girls and I share the other half. Oh well, no one is asking me to stay up all night and sleep in the day...he can have it.)
Tonight the girls asked me if I would tell them a new story. This means make one up and tell it like I have read it a thousand times. I do this often and usually they are cute and adventurous, but tonight what poured out of my mouth surprised me enough that I thought I would write it down and pass it on. Whoever this is for, hang in there! I am obviously in the same place and we are
never alone.
Once upon a time a very, very long time ago, there was a
little girl named Allison. (long pause) When Allison
looked North, she saw water. When
Allison looked South, she saw water.
When Allison looked East, she saw water.
And, when Allison looked West, she saw, yes, water. Now it just so happened that Allison found
herself cold and alone on top of an iceberg.
She could not remember how she got there or why she was there but she
was definitely there. She decided that
the only course of action was to do what her Mother had taught her and pray to
ask Jesus for help. So she prayed. But, as soon as she finished praying, a wind
began to blow and Allison got even colder than she was before. She prayed again to tell Jesus that she was
not happy about the fact that not only was he NOT answering her prayer, but He
was in fact doing precisely the opposite, and now she was more miserable than
before she had prayed and asked for help.
Still, she decided she would try one more time, only this
time she would put on her serious face and use her serious voice, “Jesus,” she
prayed, “Please help me get off this iceberg.
I don’t want to be cold or wet or lonely anymore.” And at this, the wind started to howl even louder
and soon a giant storm came. It pounded
her with rain and sent waves crashing over her iceberg. Furious, Allison tucked her head between her
knees, covered her ears and head, and got as small as she could.
The storm was still raging when Allison felt
a strong bump. When Allison looked up,
what met her gaze was a giant island.
Quickly, Allison slid off her iceberg and went up onto the dry
land. The first house she saw had a nice
gingerbread man on the front so she knocked.
A kind Grandma answered the door and as soon as she saw Allsion, she gasped
in fright and pulled her into the house.
She gave Allison some new, dry clothes, put her right in front of the
fire, gave her hot soup and put a blanket around her shoulders. When Allison warmed up a little and stopped shaking,
she thought about her journey and her prayers and immediately she was struck
with sadness. “Dear Jesus,” she prayed,
“I am so sorry I got so mad at you back there.
I didn’t realize that you sent the wind to save me. I didn’t know you sent the storm to hurry it
all along. You answered my prayers just
like I asked, but I didn’t see it. I was
wrong to accuse you of not listening.
Even while I was mad, you were in the process of saving me. And, you still saved me even though I got
mad, covered my ears and ducked my head between my legs. Please forgive me. Thank you for saving me! Thank you for doing exactly what I asked. Amen.”
God Bless!
