Christmas Programs with LOTS of children are more than a bit chaotic. Stella, Chloe & Claire you had your program on Wednesday. Stella, you were an angel. Let me rephrase. You were dressed as an angel, and you looked angelic for the first 5 minutes. Chloe & Claire, you were stars. Let me rephrase. You wore star necklaces - or rather - you chewed on star necklaces.
The curtained opened, and I could tell that Stella was searching the crowd for mommy. Big eyes darting left & right - you knew I was there. Finally your eyes found me, and locked on. A BIG smile, a BIG wave, and a Big change on your face. Oh boy! I could tell in that instant - you wanted to get off of the stage. Quickly. Uh, Oh. Stella, when you get that set look on your face, it is NOT a pretty site when your way is deterred. Luckily, Papi was also there to capture it ALL in pics.
Chloe, you REALLY enjoyed the program. You were not frightened by all of the strange faces looking your way. You were just curious about it ALL. Some of the children were dressed as various animals (customarily it would have been farm animals since your school was telling the story of Jesus' birth - but there were a few lions, giraffes, and dalmatians there too). You LOVED these animals, and most of the time you were pointing and 'talking' about the animals. You began to chew on your star when you saw Claire chewing on hers. You love food, and I'm sure thought you might be missing out on something tasty. You are my child!
Claire, I am not sure what you thought of the program. I think you thought this was all a bit much & a bit childish. You seemed rather bored with it all, and barely moved. You did test out your star, but quickly realized it was not worth your chewing effort. I also have to note, that I was very happy that everyone kept their Christmas bows in their hair - a Paulino girls first!
Jillian you had your choir program in the evening. You looked beautiful in your blue & red polka dot dress. You really LOVE to get all fancy! You were SUPER excited to finally have your turn to go on stage and sing. You have been a VERY supportive sister to Abi in her singing adventures, but you were more than excited for it to be you. You enjoyed the singing, and mommy video-ed all of your songs. Though, I realized while looking at the videos that mommy cannot wave & video at the same time. Still, you truly love to sing, and I cannot wait for more of your programs!Christmas Season and sickness seem to go hand in hand. Right along with Christmas programs, presents, cookies, tree decorating, etc. we also seem to have kleenex, cough drops, tylenol, and warm tea. All of you girls seem to have a bit of runny nose & a slight cough - but nothing too extreme. So who gets sick - I mean SICK? Mommy. ugh. I was not good. I felt like I was swallowing knives, and just felt like poo - stinky poo. Papi really helped out & I slept as much as I could, though ALL of you chose that week to wake up as much as possible. Abi & Jillian, you both really tried to help out & take care of mommy & I loved it. Plus, it hopefully gave me small glimpse into the future. The future where 5 daughters get to take care of & pamper mommy.
Ok, back to reality. The house was . . . uhm . . . shall we say disaster? That may be too mild of a word, but we'll stick with that (I won't even mention the laundry). Anyway, Jillian you were SO very helpful playing with and entertaining your sisters - thank you. Abi, you brought me blankets, warmed up my rice sock (my cheap heating pad), and gave me massages. What sweet girls I have. Now if you can transfer that sweetness to picking up all of your toys we'll be in business. With all of my talk of slowing down during the holidays - I really had an opportunity to SSSLLLOOOWWW down. A little too down actually.
As I was in my warm house sipping on tea, with all of you healthy kids running around, and I was feeling like poo - well, I was grateful. It was ALL God to give me a moment of eternal perspective on His provision & goodness. Grateful to have a warm home. Grateful to have 5 healthy kids. Grateful to have food & drink. Grateful to have an extremely helpful husband. Grateful that a young teenager traveled a far distance on a donkey while 9 months pregnant, so that she could give birth in sub-standard conditions. Grateful that she gave birth to her & my & your Saviour. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Grateful that I have a God who loves me enough to:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Philippians 2:6-7
Christmas time is like - should be like - every other time of the year. Filled with generosity, love, sickness, gratefulness, stress, etc. - and most of all Jesus. Jesus who came to live among His creation so that we will see a picture of love & relationship. Girls, may we live out that love & that relationship every day of the year!
