Christmas Joy

The days have been laid back, but full.  Knut has been home so much that I’ve been able to do many things that are normally impossible, like get my hair trimmed.   Silje and I got to go on a little date last week to get our hair done followed by a little lunch at our favorite cafe.  Knut and I spent an evening rolling out lefse, which we don’t seem to get to every year.  It’s our favorite, and although it’s time intensive, it’s always worth it.

The snow pictures were taken just before Christmas.  The forecast showed that we were to get a few more inches to top off what we had, making it prime cross country ski conditions, and I had a houseful of skiers who went to bed that night excited for the snow they would wake to the next day.  Something went horribly wrong, though, as the snow turned to rain in the middle of the night, and melted all the snow that we had previously built up.  The kids woke up to brown grass and a gray sky.  It didn’t go over well for anyone, and we ended up not having a white Christmas after all.

I was steadily working on the kids’ Christmas presents, but there was still a few short hours of work left on Christmas Eve because there was so much baking to be done as well for Christmas brunch.

It has been a wonderfully relaxing time, but trying at the same time because some of our kids need routine more than others, and our days have lacked routine.  So every time we ask them to do something, they feel especially picked on.

Christmas Eve was especially difficult for one of my kids who was yelling and tantruming the whole day long.  I was having to discipline, and hold my ground on Christmas, and I didn’t want to.  I wanted everything to be rosy and happy just this one day, and I soon let it dominate my attitude.  I became a first class grump.

On top of that, Silje came inside from feeding the animals in the morning with a limp rabbit.  One of her holland lop bunnies (“Princess”) was found lethargic when she was doing morning chores in their cage.  We assessed the bunny on the kitchen table, and the best we could guess was it had some heart attack or other spell during the night, which can be common in rabbits.  If that was the case there was nothing we could do besides make it comfortable.  Silje still held out hope, and nursed the rabbit for about 3 hours, getting about 2 syringes of water through it’s mouth, and gently petting it.  Princess stopped breathing, and Silje begged us to keep the body in the barn just in case we were wrong.  Out of sympathy, we agreed not to bury her right away.

We got through Christmas Eve and ended up having a wonderful time at Grandma and Grandpa’s (Knut’s parents) with all of the cousins.  When you include my kids, there were 14 grandchildren there, with 1 more in utero as one of my sister-in-laws is expecting her first and had the cutest baby belly.  It gets so loud as most of the kids are age 6 and under.  Silje and David are the oldest of the cousins by a few years.  They had so much fun, and it was hard to push back the thought it was going to be one of their last Christmas’ together for a long time, as my brother and sister in law will be moving with their 5 kids to the middle east this spring for his job.  It’s a very long way away.  It will be a good move for them, and their kids will see so many wonderful and beautiful things over there, and I’m so happy for them, but still.  The middle east is a long ways away.

Because of the rabbit situation, and crabby kids, I didn’t get any of the things done that I needed to Christmas Eve, and ended up staying up until about 3am finishing up all of the work for Christmas morning.  At that point I decided to leave some things undone, and just give the kids what was done, or at least mostly done.  They didn’t seem to mind the least.

Christmas day was my favorite.  It was just our little family, and the stress of getting stuff done was behind us.  It was a day of snuggling and smiles.  Knut found a way to let me have a good nap late morning.  We ate, and played with toys, and finished the day by joining Knut’s cousins as we gathered at his grandparent’s new home.  His grandparents are in their 90s, and up until a very short while ago still lived in their house by themselves.  Besides some eyesight problems, they have been so healthy.  About a month or two ago, they had to move into a nursing home for some new health reasons, and I know it was a really difficult move for Knut’s grandma especially.

Anyway, it was so fun to see their new home which is just so beautiful.  There was a play room for the little kids in the nursing home, and a big meeting room where Knut’s numerous cousins and aunts and uncles all fit comfortably, and we played games and ate cookies just like every other Christmas.  I’m so thankful that they were able to move into a nursing home that still provided a way for Grandma to host a Christmas celebration.

Silje was just a gem at this Christmas party, as she offered (without me even asking) to take the 2 little girls to the play room so I could talk with some of the adults.  I kept checking on her to see if she needed a break, and she kept saying “Mom, we’re good.  Go talk.  Have fun.  I’ve got this.”  She’s getting so old.  Oh, she blesses me.  She brought her little sisters on her lap and read them stories, and played with them.  I didn’t have to do any chasing.  She’s so determined to show me that she’s old enough to babysit.  I keep telling her she still has a year or two to wait, but she’s trying to prove me wrong.

Knut got me a new Bible that I’ve been wanting, along with a pair of cozy, wool socks.  He knows me so well.  Also, I told him what I wanted.  Actually, I told him I wanted a spinning wheel, but he convinced me I have no time for yet another hobby.  He’s right.  Someday.  Actually, maybe next year.  Maybe.

Today I’m catching up on the enormous laundry pile that has accumulated, and just walking around the house, picking up stuff and putting them away.  Pick up, put away.  Pick up, put away.  Repeat.  The house isn’t really that messy, but we’ve been in vacation mode, and I’m ready to move on.

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas!