Thursday, December 6, 2012

That Was Fun

Yesterday was an exceedingly busy day.  There was the typical madness of getting the kids ready for school, then the kids' morning mass at church, a long overdue cleaning of a massive fish tank, a haircut appointment for me, a little girl with a big cold, an early release day from school for the kids, little St. Nick presents to prep in secret, a boy scout meeting for Joey, homework, and Tommy's 1st Reconciliation. Somewhere in between all that we managed to eat once or twice.  

Throughout all of the craziness the kids jabbered on and on, reminding me again and again, that St. Nick was coming and that we had to get our stockings out.  I finally let the kids get their stockings out just before we left for church for Tommy's first confession.  As we all piled in the truck I remembered that I hadn't let the dog out and hurried back inside (wink, wink).  A few minutes later we were on our way to church.

On the way to church we saw a small SUV up on a curb repeatedly backing up and then smashing into a sign.  Not sure if the person needed medical attention or if the driver was drunk we pulled over and Todd jumped out of the car to go help while I called 911.  Todd was able to calm the inebriated driver and we waited until the cops came.  Then back in the truck we went and hurried to make it to church in time.  Like I said, it was a busy day.

We made it to church just in time. Tommy was very nervous and I was honored when he wanted to practice with me, trusting me with his deepest darkest sins (like fighting with his brothers and disobeying his parents- I had no idea!).  Soon he was coming out of the confessional, all smiles and clean soul.  

"How do you feel, Tommy?"  I asked.

"I feel light as a feather.  And clean as a shiny new dish!"  he answered.  I guess that's good because big brother Joey had just said the same thing after his confession.  Yay! Clean souls (and dishes) all around.  Doesn't get better than that!

But wait!  It does get better!  There's more!

Before we headed for home we decided to stop at the kids' favorite treat, the dancing house.  A house near ours that is completely covered in lights from the tip of the roof to the very front of the yard, and it blinks and "dances" in time to music.  Oh the joy!  

After 15 minutes or so, and before our hearts could explode with excitement, we finally headed home for the night, eager to relax.

But no relaxation was had, because, what was this?  St. Nick had come while we were at church!  Haha!  Eureka!  What a wonderful surprise!  That St. Nick is a sneaky little guy.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of Joey's face (who is wise to the whole St. Nick/Santa/Easter Bunny thing) when he saw the stockings waiting for us when we got home.  I think he was seriously contemplating reviving his belief in the magic of Christmas.  It was priceless.

After much dancing, and screaming, and playing, and eating of candy, I actually got the kids to settle down for a millisecond so I could capture one quick picture (okay it was more like 10 pictures but that was only because Grace kept having coughing fits, poor dear).


It was definitely a tiring, busy day but also a blast.  It was one more reminder to myself that if I can just relax and go with the flow life can be loads of fun.

14 comments:

Mom24 said...

What a wonderful day! I'm so happy for you. We've never done the St. Nicholas thing and I regret it, my kids, of course, would have loved it.

I hope you have lots more goodness tucked into all the busyness of the next few weeks.

Kat said...

Mom24- I know. It does seem to be too much stuff (toys, candy, etc) crammed into a small frame of time, so I can see why people would skip it. But, we just get our kids little dollar toys (notebooks, silly pens, cheap trucks, a tiny pink purse) and a few pieces of candy. Thankfully, our kids are excited over little things. ;) It is fun. They always are thrilled, and this one was a surprise since they were expecting it in the morning.

Bijoux said...

I've never known anyone who celebrated St. nick day. I thought it was a European thing! How fun for the kids.

Weird story about the drunk repeatedly hitting a sign. How drunk would you have to be? Glad no one was hurt.

Kat said...

Bijoux- It actually turned out to be a sad story. The policeman had to call us later and ask for details and he told us that the man had found out that day that his ex wife died. He was twice the legal limit and he was three blocks from home. He felt awful and was very thankful no one was injured. Kind of a sad situation and I feel badly, but he can't be out on the streets like that.
On a very sweet side note, my oldest told me that when he went into confession he asked the priest to pray with him for the man that was in the car (and that was before we found out about his ex wife dying). Aww. My sweet boy.

Anonymous said...

Just read the follow up. How awful. I'm glad no one else got hurt.
We had St. Nick here, too. Have to--this whole area's Dutch!!!

Hilary said...

This post is just full of life as it is. Sad story about the man but lovely sentiments from your beautiful kidlets.

Riahli said...

We don't really do the santa thing around here, but I'm always talking to my kids about St. Nick... that being said I didn't even know there was a St. Nick day? I just might have to look into that! Although we always do stockings Christmas morning and it's my kids favorite thing so I know I can't take that away... Not sure I have the energy {or the want} to do stockings twice. :)

So sad about the drunk man... glad no one was hurt because that would have made his pain even worse!

Riahli said...

We don't really do the santa thing around here, but I'm always talking to my kids about St. Nick... that being said I didn't even know there was a St. Nick day? I just might have to look into that! Although we always do stockings Christmas morning and it's my kids favorite thing so I know I can't take that away... Not sure I have the energy {or the want} to do stockings twice. :)

So sad about the drunk man... glad no one was hurt because that would have made his pain even worse!

Kat said...

Green Girl & Bijoux- I think St. Nick's Day (it is in celebration of his feast day in the Catholic church- which is today) has European roots. My family (and the area we live in) is mostly German so everyone around here celebrates it. It is just meant to be a nice little things, but I think some people make it a pretty big deal.

When I was little my folks would put popcorn balls, and Hot Wheels, and Bonnie Bell chapsticks, and candy canes in our stockings. My mom said that they used to get apples and oranges in their stocking when she was little and they would be thrilled. I was just looking at some folks' FB pages today and saw that they give their kids video games and cash and tons of big items. Kind of surprised me. Makes me feel a tad cheap, but my kids seem happy with it.

dawn klinge said...

That does sound fun. I absolutley love your new header picture!

Unknown said...

I think you have a wonderful family. You are very lucky.
Happiness can be read from your kids' eyes. Thats very important I think.

Unknown said...

I love it when Santa does that kind of thing. It sure does make the older ones think, doesn't it? :)
Sounds like a pretty good day.

Wisconsin Girl said...

I'm trying to hard to work on that relaxing and going with the flow thing...it really does work, but it's so hard to override the get stressed and overreact mode:) So glad you had a busy and wonderful day and are enjoying the season! The snow we had this weekend helped bring the holidays into focus!

Karen Deborah said...

I never heard of doing stocking on a different day you'll have to tell about this. love the story and the children and the whole day even the drunk tee hee

Words To Live By

Be grateful for each new day.
A new day that you have never lived before.
Twenty-four new, fresh, unexplored hours to use usefully and profitably.
We can squander, neglect, or use them.
Life will be richer or poorer by the way we use today.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could;
some blunders and absurdities crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be
encumbered with your old nonsense.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson