Christmas Time 2019

Where do I begin?  

I’d say “Black Friday Shopping... obviously!!” But, we put up our tree on November 17, so I guess Black Friday was mid-Christmas Time for us!! We swapped trees with Nan this year and at first I was verbose that’s we wouldn’t have enough ornaments to fill it up. I was wrong. 6 people accumulate a lot of ornaments over the years:). It was a very relaxing time and the kids did most of the tree themselves. Jason added the star and I later added tinsel- who knew that would ever be back in style?!?

Fast forward to Black Friday... I went solo this year. Meg’s not into it and Mandy had a crazy work schedule. I only hit Walmart and a Target late at night, while my girls went out and shopped together at the mall! Then I headed out in the AM to get a few more things. Each year, my online shopping takes over more and more, which I don’t particularly like. Financially, it makes sense though. 

Jennibelle has her first Sweet Sixteen fitmal party later that evening. She was fighting hives all day but managed to have a great time.     Then we spent the next few days at the pediatrician, the ER and then her dermatologist at Hershey. Her allergist could not see us until late January. We never figured out what was causing her reaction.

Jaylee’s Costa Rican missionary friends, the Hintons came to visit while they were in America. If study abroad falls through for some reason, she’s like to spend the summer interning with them. 


We resurrected Monopoly Dinners. Jaylee was out and about with friends for a few nights at dinnertime, so she wasn’t included. It was the first time the boys played real Monopoly with all the real rules (they usually play Monopoly Jr). They caught on so quickly and Jack actually beat Jason after 6 or 7 nights. 


The boys had Star Wars Advent Calendars this year, filled with yummy chocolate... yummy per the boys, I would not have enjoyed it.  They were thrilled to get to eat chocolate each morning before school! 


On Dec 5, Nan and Poppop took the family to Sight And Sound to see Miracle of Christmas after Olive Garden. Poppop is having a hip replacement on December 31 and can walk, but it looks painful. The grand boys sure do worry about him. They little kids were completely immersed in the story, for the entire 2 hours! 




We went to Have Yourself A Merry Lititz Christmas on the 7th, a downtown celebration. We started out by visiting Jaylee at Dosie Dough Bakery then visiting Olio - the olive oil store that burnt down a few weeks ago.  Of course we saw Santa and Mrs Clause. Jackson was too afraid to talk to him but felt bad that Jimmy had to go up alone, so he joined him. 






On Weds the 11th, Poppop treated me to a Wisconsin game in New Jersey. We had a delicious Turkish meal. Unfortunately they played pretty bad, and lost. It’s hard to watch him decline physically!!! Hopefully his new hip will do the trick. Luckily, we had great weather and didn’t get caught in any traffic. 

 

Not Christmas related, but Jimmy has been doing great, in regards to not vomitting much any more!!!  Instead of every 14 days like clockwork, it’s more like once every other month. The GI Dr said we can schedule for a yearly visit and then we may only need to comeback as needed!!!  Woo hoo! 

Of course, the very next night he got a cold and then vomitted 2 nights in a row, but I believe it was mucus related and am not counting it as his cyclic vomitting “stuff”. 


And then there’s WRESTLING SEASON! I’ll do a blog all about it later but both boys started out with a great, undefeated tournament.  Jason is assistant coaching again 


When I asked Jack what he was most excited for this holiday season, his answer was... “The Gingerbread House!” Who the heck would’ve guessed that?!?  So, I made sure we got one along the way. We each took a side. Surprisingly, it’s still standing, 2 weeks later! Afterwards, Jack was feeling really creative and made his Forky from Toy Story 4. 




My Mom’s In Prayer Group at Bonfield had a Christmas breakfast at Tomato Pie Cafe. We also turned it into a mini-surprise baby shower for Nikki Lepisto. U fortunately she woke up sick and didn't want to get out of bed, so I had to ruin the surprise to encourage her to wake up. 


Cookies, cookies and more cookies. 

We baked about 10 dozen chocolate chip cookies. Mostly because the kids (plus Jenni’s friend Drew) kept making minor mistakes so none of the batches we whipped up were exact. Still yummy though!   We also made 2 batches of our Christmas candy. We used to make 10 batches and hand it out to our neighborhood, but that was just too much. 








Our annual shenanigans... our beloved Christmas Jar. It never gets filled throughout the year, just through December when we remember about it. And always on the night that we gift it, the kids run through the house frantically looking for any money laying around. We actually gifted it to a teenager this year! 

 

Christmas Eve started off with a breakfast for champions... Long Johns and eggnog. It was a relaxing morning and then we headed down to Nan’s for our party. And party, we did! 

We each wore a festive Christmas sweater. The kids loved getting to play with all of the cousins. There was no time constraints this year, so it was so relaxed the entire time. There was a talent show that I got wrangled into (Jimmy was too timid to go up and do his dance, so I joined him). The girls did a Zumba routine that they made up and Jack read us a Christmas book that he wrote about a pigeon. Then Poppop insisted that his 3 girls also share a talent (?!?) so we did a moving interpretive dance. Yah... whatever disaster you’re envisioning, you’ve got it nailed! 

When it came to Christmas caroling time, Poppop had actual folder  for each person to use for lyrics. He also hired Jaylee to edit a 1 hour video of us 3 girls on Christmas Day through out the years. I believe it ran from 1986-1996. That was interesting to watch. A few things we all noticed...  we girls had thick Philly accents. I was annoying- trying to be funny, but just annoying. Mandy was always happy, especially with every gift she opened. Meg looked just like Bubba (who knew!!!) Poppop had us all sing Christmas carols each year- I did not remember this, I thought it was a new fascination of his. Poppop did most of the taping and he never ran out of things to say.  Nan wore the same nightgown in almost every video, and boy oh boy was she pretty! And last, but not least... 

Our Christmas mornings were chaos!!!  I always thought we took turns opening gifts- I was wrong. Chaos- and it looked SO FUN!

Around 7:30 Jaylee disappeared and we heard Santa’s sleigh in the neighborhood. Jimmy has the same reaction that we’ve come to expect... tears, pure fear that we wouldn’t get home in time. Once we’re settled in the car and in our way, he calms down and is distracted.  Everyone else loves to hear the bells. Since Jaylee will be away next year, I guess Jennibelle will have to miss hearing them. 

Once home, Thank You Letters to Santa were written, cookies were put out and all the kids piled into Jaylee’s bed. Every time I think of the things that Jaylee will miss next year, I just cry. I am in disbelief that my time as a Mom is coming to an end already. I certainly wish I could have a redo of the last few years. 


















Christmas morning started early... 4am is when we all headed downstairs, but I kept hearing different little voices on and off since 2am. It took about 1.5 hours for us to open everything. I think that everyone appreciated everything this year!!  I LOVE that their favorite part is giving the gifts that they picked out- it makes me feel like I’m doing something right. Even though the kids pick 1 name out of a hat for each other, they decided to each get something for Jaylee since she won’t be with us next year. 

Jack was so pleased that Santa had time to read through his book this year!! 

I don’t usually wear jewelry but I love all of the jewelry I hit this year. Earrings from Jason. A (real) gold bracelet from Jack-that fell off while I was gathering up the trash and sent me on a frantic hunt later in the day. He “just knew” I’d live it because of my arrow decorations in the house- and he was 100% correct!  And then I got a big, fancy heart necklace from Jimmy- he was so excited to give it to me. It looked great with the green light bulb earrings that he bought me last year. He had gotten me a Superman necklace the year prior:)   Jennibelle got me a picture with “our” saying on it. Jaylee bought me a copy of her favorite book and daily devotional. I love it all!! 

After gifts, the boys played with their toys for hours, girls napped on the couch, and Jason & I took a 4 hour nap. When we woke, Jason made breakfast and then we put together Jack’s sport’s net. It was so mild out, around 45’. Nan and Poppop stopped by with a bunch of beautifully wrapped gifts around 1:30. 





















































We had a delicious ham, Mac n cheese and home made stuffing dinner. We ended the night around 9pm watching Christmas Vacation, well, most of us watched;) 

Christmas 2019 came and went quickly but was very enjoyable... exactly what I wanted, for Jaylee’s last Christmas home.