We decided to skip our CCD Christmas program because after the game we just couldn't fit dinner in anywhere. Isn't it funny how food always gets in the way! Plus, Emily also had a jazz band concert at her school and it conflicted with everything else. Ah, the joys of scheduling four children at Christmastime! Eva wasn't feeling well later in the day and Tony ended up taking Emily to her concert by himself. So after all, I ended up missing both performances! It was actually a decent lesson in giving in when necessary, we just can't do it all, all the time.
Thursday the 16th was even busier! I ran errands and tried to do some shopping but an hour at Target was as much as I could stand. At home I found myself behind on some critical things and quickly became overwhelmed with the number of things I had to prepare for. Wyatt had a song fest at school, I had to deliver kids to their homes, deliver Emily across town to her basketball party, then quickly back home to ready Eva for her girl scout caroling. We nearly had to scrap the caroling altogether when Eva had a rare meltdown immediately before it started. I think she was just exhausted but somehow I managed to help her snap out of it and thankfully the location was very close to home.
I was breathless when we arrived there [late of course] and we scurried into the retirement home and Eva and Sarah in their uniforms stepped right in with the other girls mid-carol. I sat right down on the floor, as the seats were all happily occupied by residents. I watched, I took a video, I sang too. Wyatt helped out by walking one of the young siblings [who was not happy] around the place in his stroller. One of our scout moms accompanied the girls with her guitar and kept them in tune. And then something remarkable happened to me, all my anxiety took a hike. Then, the feeling of relief was overtaken by a feeling of joy. All of my stresses melted away and I walked out of that place a different person! OK maybe that is somewhat embellished but I was definitely breathing better and finally able to relax for a while after the caroling.
That night we were finishing up our teacher gifts and I asked the kids to write notes to their teachers. It was sweet to see them each personalize their packages with their own handwriting. We stayed up too late for a school night, but we got it done. We roasted almonds in different ways and wrapped them up like this:
Here's where I got the labels for the boxes, thank you Patricia Zapata! One day closer to Christmas break!
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