Twas two nights before Christmas; and in my room and the
lounge; only one kid and one kitty; were staying the night.
The sound of my keystrokes seems loud in here tonight after
two fun sleepovers; though I also have the contrast to the Christmas concert at
the church – especially the amount of noise that more than a thousand people
can make before and after the show. It’s
been a long, exciting day, so let’s get started with the recap.
Mom, Dad, and I had company for Tai Chi. Ethan woke up in time to come upstairs with
them; and Ehlana and Rowen got up when I did.
The twins had to play normal toddlers while we had company in the house,
so Dad and I helped Ethan and Ehlana with that before exercising; and then Mom
and Rowen took over helping them while Dad and I started working on breakfast. We ended up tag-teaming in the kitchen after
Kara and Nicole woke up, and when Grandma and Grandpa came over; it was barely
controlled chaos for a while.
I’m not suggesting that my grandparents brought the chaos
with them, but their kids and grandkids had a very enthusiastic welcome home
for them, and taking the fun level up a dozen notches had all of us fired
up. It’s a good thing that we got to
have lunch with Grandma and Grandpa too.
We didn’t even come close to getting through home and away story time
while having breakfast; and we were all running around after eating while
either helping out in the kitchen or getting ready for church.
The morning service was awesome – or at least the part of it
the kids and teens were there for was.
That was mostly because some of the teens performed a couple of songs
and a skit that were previews for the Christmas concert. In Sunday school, we had fun getting
everything organized and ready for the concert set-up that was going to start
shortly after lunchtime. Rowen and I got
to work with Stephanie and some of the other older girls; so that was bonus fun
for us – especially when Stephanie had a pair of Violet and Dillon stories for
me that Dawn had not written about in her email.
Rowen went home with her parents and brother after church,
though that was just for a quick change before they’d be opening the store for
the afternoon. We were still going to be
playing together for most of the afternoon, but I think the parents
collectively decided that Ethan, Ehlana, and I should have a little alone time
with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Dad while we could have an hour or two
together. I’m really glad that we did
get to do that, and as always; Grandpa had some great stories for us.
When we did meet up again to play, Rowen and I took Ethan
and Ehlana with us; picked up Kara, Eddie, and Nicole; and went to the park for
some chilly playground action. There
were lots of kids there, and Eddie and Ethan needed us to wander over to the
football field to check out the action there for a while. With lots of visitors, the pick-up football
was more competitive than usual – or it would be more accurate to say that the
boys needed to try harder to show off than usual. That kept Ethan out of the game today, but he
didn’t seem to mind, and he and Eddie just had fun watching and running around
by the bleachers for a while until Eddie was bored and ready to move on.
There was hot chocolate and bakery snacks for us at Uncle
Adam and Aunt Leanne’s house when we got there; Kara, Eddie, and Nicole took
care of most of the story time entertainment for their family; and then Rowen
and I took Ethan and Ehlana home for some quiet Christmas fun time in the
lounge until dinnertime. Honestly, it
felt a bit weird to be doing an easy dinner night at home instead of the buffet
at the Inn we usually did the first Sunday that Grandma and Grandpa are home
from a trip, but that wasn’t part of the holiday plans this year; and I guess
it was nice not having to rush around to eat and get ready for the Christmas
concert. Rowen and I certainly had fun
with Mom and Ehlana getting dressed up and spending a little extra time doing
our hair in braids and curls.
The church was packed to overflowing, and every available
space that could safely be used was filled with extra chairs. I loved getting to see the finished set for
the show, and it’s pretty cool to be a part of putting that together; even if
it wasn’t a big deal compared to most of the work I do for the family
business. The backdrops, props, and
decorations certainly set a perfect mood for the evening as we waited for the
show to start.
It’s probably because of my initiation into the world of
instrumental music that I appreciated the show tonight even more than in past
years. I’m even more determined to learn
to play piano after tonight now too. Mom
would probably tell me that I’ve always been like this whenever I get fired up
about learning new things, but music really is becoming something that touches
me the same way my Magi gifts do. The
only thing that I don’t have an answer for is why it’s happening now. Maybe I’ll study that sometime – but not
tonight.
A lot of the teens were performing tonight, though there
were the usual handful of regulars doing the solos, duets, and ensembles. The skits were all entertaining, and often
funny too; while the music ranged from heart-warming, sweet, and tearful to
upbeat and joyous. Ninety-five minutes
and a standing ovation later, we all moved into the reception hall for drinks
and snacks; and we spent nearly another crazy hour having fun with our family
and friends before Mom and Dad took Ethan, Ehlana, and me home for the night.
Mom and Dad took care of getting Ethan and Ehlana off to
bed, and I came straight up to my room to end my night with some quality
Jacuzzi time. After soaking in the tub a
bit too long, spending extra time on my hair for the second time today, and
doing the rest of the bedtime routine; I climbed into bed with Mandy and got
started on an abbreviated check of email, news, sports, and entertainment. There wasn’t any news from Woodvale or Granite Park tonight, but I did get an email
from Aunt Grace assuring me that she and Mark were having a very happy
Christmas weekend so far. She didn’t
offer much in the way of details, but I’m sure that Mom and Aunt Leanne will
get her talking next weekend; and I’ll probably find out about more stories
than I need to hear.
Rowen and I have a lot planned for our Christmas Eve day,
and we’ll be playing and shopping with some of our favorite people too; so I
should finish this up and get to sleep.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
