I must admit that I am so happy to be sitting quietly here on the day after Christmas. The hubbub leading up to the grand day was exciting, to be sure, but exhausting too! Now all the secrets are out, surprises have been sprung, and we are all in various stages of recovery from the whole experience.

Here’s a recap of our celebration:

Sunday morning, Christmas Eve, we had a wonderful church service, including a piece by the children’s choir. Laura, Isaac and Luke are all in the choir, so it was fun to see them sing.

Right after lunch on Sunday afternoon, I pulled out the “naked” cutout cookies we had made a few days ago, and the bags of colored frosting I had put together the night before, and we decorated cookies. Laura, Luke, Mike and Amelia had a blast with the various colors and sprinkles. We made quite a mess. Then, promptly at 2 pm we started quiet time. We all rested, and then geared up for the Christmas Eve service on Sunday night.

Michael stayed home with Judah and Mike, while I took the older four children with me to church. Amelia probably should have stayed home with the younger bunch, but she was so eager to have another chance to wear her black velvet & purple dress with her sparkly back tights, so I took her along.

The Christmas Eve service was beautiful. The children’s choir sang two numbers, and I was able to sing a duet with my good friend Bethany. Our voices blend well, and we so enjoyed singing together.

When we got home shortly before 9 pm, the children started to automatically go through their bedtime routines, and they couldn’t have been more shocked at their parents’ queries of, “You’re going to bed? Oh, well if you want to. Don’t you want to stay up and play games with Daddy?” Uncle Todd and Cousin Ben came over and joined in the fun. Of course, Amelia was hurried off to bed, but the older three kids stayed up until almost midnight, learning new card games and having a great time with the gamers in the clan.

Christmas morning, kids started getting up around 7:30 a.m. They were so giddy and excited. Late last week I asked each of them what they wanted to eat on Christmas Day, and I think we were able to satisfy every request! I made a pot of oatmeal (for Mike), hot cocoa (for Luke), we ate decorated Christmas cookies (for Amelia), and later in the day we had MEAT–both chicken and pot roast (for Isaac). I let the children put as many marshmallows as they wanted on their hot cocoa, and I let them have quite a few of their cookies. All in all, I tried to make it a special, extravagant time for them.

None too soon (for the kids) it was time to start our gift time. Ben and Todd joined us and we had a delightful time unloading stockings and unwrapping gifts. Mike was amazed at the Cars backpack/suitcase he opened. It was full of Cars-theme die-cast cars and a Cars bedding set. He finally asked me, with his arms full of cars, “Is it my birthday???” He kept referring to his toys as his “birthday cars”.

Amelia opened a box holding two 3-piece Strawberry Shortcake outfits. She changed into one of them right away, and then a short time later changed again. She looked perfect in her sassy pink duds.

Luke couldn’t have been more shocked and pleased to receive his very own iPod, complete with engraving that says, “Property of Luke Gabriel Lyons”. For those computer geeks out there who like specs, it’s an 8gb special-edition red Nano. Luke and his iPod have been almost inseparable since that moment.

Isaac was tickled to finally have the mystery solved regarding the package with his name on it. He opened his very own Nintendo GameBoy DS Lite, and it’s a black one! He has not enjoyed sharing the one DS that we have already, so now he has rights to his very own game system. Best of all, he and Luke can play games together using the two GameBoy DS’ that we have. Somehow the little systems can recognize each other and the boys can compete against each other.

Laura got her wish and opened a Kodak digital camera. We had purchased a camera for her a year or so ago, but it was so cheap that it was almost impossible to use. We didn’t make that mistake this time. We still got a good price on it at Target on the day after Thanksgiving, but it’s a nicer model that is much more user friendly. I’m looking forward to seeing how Laura’s photography skills develop. Now she can take her own photos and join me at my scrapbooking events.

Michael knew what he was getting for Christmas, but when the package came last week, I hid it before he could get his hands on it. He was a bit taken aback by my forwardness, but I declared that I wanted to retain at least some control over his Christmas gift! He had done everything, including ordering and choosing the engraving, so it was my turn to “do” something, and that was to keep him from opening it before Christmas. But finally the moment came for him to open his brand new black iPod (an 80gb video model). Michael was able to transfer his WHOLE music library onto his new toy. He spent quite a bit of time fiddling with it, and we were tickled to see him enjoy it so much. Laura is especially pleased with her Daddy’s gift, because now she can borrow his old iPod.

After lunch on Christmas Day, we slowly pulled ourselves together and headed over to the Walsh house to spend the afternoon and evening. We played games, ate goodies, had a potluck supper, did a dramatic reading/telling of the Christmas story, and then had a “share” gift exchange. It was similar to a “white-elephant exchange”, but we made it our own by adjusting the rules a bit. Finally we collected our things, picked up the sleeping baby, and made our way home. No one complained about going straight to bed once we got home.

Unfortunately, in the night, both Laura and Isaac were sick to the point of throwing up. My stomach has been queasy since Christmas afternoon, and Michael is feeling a little “off” this morning. He isn’t sure if he’s really sick, or if he’s just having sympathy pains since the rest of us are under the weather.

Now, the day after Christmas, we’re just taking things easy. It’s after 10 a.m. and Laura and Luke are still in bed. Isaac hasn’t eaten anything this morning because he doesn’t feel quite right. I’m doing a bit better this morning, but not quite perfect yet. The youngest three members of the family are the only ones who seem to be just fine. Mike, Amelia and Judah are busy as can be this morning, which is a bit disconcerting to the rest of us who just want to lay around and doze.

Merry Christmas to you all!

P.S. You can see photos of our day here.