Two Christmases and a Mystery. Part 2.

Much of the day between the two Christmases include cleaning up my house and searching for new places to store toys. Sometimes, it includes a nap...sometimes, it doesn't. After clean-up, I am busy cooking food for the evening. My standard dishes for this night include meatballs, sausage wrap, fruit and veggie trays.

The kids are bustling with excitement to spend the night at their cousin's house. They prepare toys they are going to take with them, they make conspiratorial phone calls to plan their wake up strategy, and they ask every 5 minutes when we are leaving. A night surrounded by cousins is pure thrill for them.

Skip's family all lives on the same road in B-town, all about 1 mile apart. We live in the same neighborhood as one of his sisters. We all make the "long" trip to her house to set up camp for the night. We gather around for an evening of storytelling and appetizers. The kids, ranging in age from 18 down to 6 months, all run around the house playing with each other. Sometimes even the older ones join in the fun. It is very loud and busy compared to Christmas #1.

The kids all find their ways to our designated rooms in which all of Skip's family spends the night. This year, the kids made a fort in a closet that they SWORE they would sleep in. It lasted about 30 minutes until they all decided that sleeping in a bed would be better. Once the kids are asleep, the real magic begins. Gifts are wrapped, toys are assembled, and Santa secretly comes in and takes over the living room. Each child has their own special chair or section of the couch where their gifts are displayed. The living room could put any retail store to shame.

In the wee hours of the morning, all the adults go to bed. The kids usually wake up about 6:30 and manage to stay contained until 7:00. Then the screaming and chaos begins as they wake up the entire house. Everyone gathers in the hallway until the last person wakes up.

Ten, nine, eight, seven.............

The countdown begins for the mad race on the living room. The kids can hardly wait to burst out of the hallway to see what Santa brought for them. The joyful noises are music to my ears. The morning progresses into breakfast and opening presents finishing with the grandparent gifts.

The things I love most about this Christmas is waking up to a house full of kids that are all excited about Santa. The yummy appetizers that we wait all year to eat. The late night laughter. The ins and outs of housing 23 people, if only for 1 night...bodies are everywhere! The nap that certainly follows a busy couple of days! Seeing my husband laugh and joke and tease his family. It is magic.

Our Christmases are both extremely special to our family. They are alike in some ways and very different in others. I pray my kids find the special moments in both.

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy your holidays and traditions as much as I do!