That wasn't supposed to happen!

You may say I'm a dreamer...and you would be totally right. Despite more days, events, holidays, and get togethers that have gone disasterfully wrong, I still cling to hopes of warm, fuzzy holidays. Christmas Eve this year was no exception.

I had worked extra hard to get all of the shopping, wrapping, visiting, baking, and partying done this year so that we could have Christmas Eve to do NOTHING! I really wanted a quiet day of movie watching and quiet reflection. Ha! Do you remember that I have 3 kids? Apparently I had forgotten.

We went to Movie Gallery the night before and stocked up on movies and I was really excited about a National Geographic movie I got about Polar Bears for the kids. I thought it would be fun to watch and educational. Sarah set up a blanket on the floor for a picnic and I set to making some grilled cheese sandwiches. All was well until Kate grabbed Sarah's tea and Sarah grabbed it back out of Kate's mouth causing her to bite her tongue and bleed everywhere! I got that taken care of and was getting the sandwiches out of the sandwich maker when Sarah said, "Okay, I made room for you. Me and Eli have little spots, but we made a big spot for you since you have a big bottom." Thanks so much Sarah! After several attempts to sit down that included a few trips back to the kitchen for tea and paper towels, we finally started the movie.

Wow, I didn't realize exactly how that movie experience would go. Let me share what I remember; "Mommy, do whales bite?" "Do walruses bite?" "What do whales eat?" "What do fish eat?" "How many whales are in the ocean?" "Do foxes bite?" "Why are they fighting?" All I can say is thank the Lord for Google. Did you know there is a whale called the unicorn of the sea that has a big tusk that grows out of it's head? I do now! :)

About halfway through the movie Kate got choked on her sandwich and threw up on me. Yay. One movie, 900 questions, bleeding and puking. As Eli is famous for saying, "That wasn't supposed to happen!"

Christmas Eve night we had a come and go service at the church for families to come and take the Lord's Supper. I have to be honest, I was a little bit hesitant about this. Since Josh would be performing the Lord's Supper when I took it I was not sure who would be wrangling our children in a sanctuary full of lit candles. This was weighing on me when we began to get ready. I also realized that even though I had carefully planned and shopped for Christmas Day, we had nothing in our house to eat for supper that night. So, I called Pizza Hut. They were closing at 7:00 that night and it was 5:45 when I called. The service started at 6:30. We live 30 minutes from the Pizza Hut and no, they do not deliver to the metropolis of Montrose.

This was starting to feel like one of those math problems on the ACT. If you have 3 kids to dress for a church service and it takes 15 minutes to catch the 1 year old, 45 minutes to find a pair of shoes that match, and you have to make an hour trip to get pizza, what time will you get to the Christmas Eve service? a) 15 minutes after it starts, b) it ain't happening, give it up or c) how much time is alloted for the trip to the institution?

Well, since it was come and go I decided we would get ready, go get the pizza, get back toward the end of the service and that way maybe most people would have already been and my kids could wander without disturbing people.

Sarah got herself dressed and I was very thankful for that. But, once she was dressed she looked at me as serious as a heart attack and asked "Should I wear my Hannah Montana wig?" Now that had me rolling. But it got even better a few minutes later when kicking dress up clothes out of the way on the floor. My mom had given my kids a bag of my old dance costumes and I happened to notice that my pep rally skirt from high school was in there. I picked it up and Sarah asked, again as serious as a heart attack "Are you going to wear that?" First of all, that skirt wouldn't fit around my neck now, much less my "big bottom". Secondly, couldn't you just see us busting up in the church in a Hannah Montana wig and a pep rally skirt!!!! That was a visual that caused me to laugh hysterically everytime I thought of it.

Well, we were finally all dressed (sans wig and sans pep rally skirt) and headed out the door when I heard it. The bottom fell out. It was pouring!! We made our way to Pizza Hut anyway and I was so thankful for a drive through window I could've hugged somebody!

When we did get back to the church no one was there. In spite of the chaos of the day (or the normalcy, depending on if you compare it to my everyday life or someone else who really is normal), the time at church turned into quite a blessing. The sanctuary was completely dark except for the candlelight and that was the first time that I've ever taken the Lord's Supper alone. It was a very special moment especially since it was my husband performing it. Then, to make it even more special Sarah took her first Lord's Supper. It was really awesome being there just as a family and being able to explain everything to Sarah. This Christmas had extra meaning for me to think that God sent His baby to earth so that my baby could accept Him into her heart!

Things didn't go exactly as I had planned that day. Of course, that is how the Isrealites felt wasn't it? Jesus was supposed to be a mighty king and ruler, not a little baby. Things don't always go according to our plan, but we can rest assured that God is always in control and His plan is always best!!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!