Almost Christmas Eve Eve

Tonight Matthew declared that he couldn't wait for tomorrow as then it would be Christmas Eve Eve.  We have had a nice day today just hanging out, taking a little break from all school work for the next several days.  I spent most of the day working with Kenny and Angela on his wooden doll house trying to get it put together..yes, this is the one from his birthday a year ago that is still not complete.  We just haven't made time for it but have pulled it out now and again to work on it.  It's been a busy 12 months for us, and we usually don't leave projects half finished like that.  It was nice having no schedule, sleeping in late, playing much of the day in between loads of laundry and picking up the house a bit.

I am suddenly not feeling terrific, fighting what feels like asthma or the beginnings of some sort of bronchial mess.  Hoping it doesn't progress as I don't have a fever or feel awful, just wheezy a bit and a  throat clearing cough over and over again. 

Then there is the dog.  Sunny...the hardest ever to train dog on the planet...the cutest little thing too but MAN is she hard headed.  She got into something and was sick all morning and afternoon, so I spent the day going from one section of carpet to another cleaning as the kids also helped.  It has been several hours now so she must be over it.  And no, she is NOT yet house trained...partially, yes, but not fully by a long shot.  Would it be ok for me to ask Santa for instant training for her?

Speaking of Santa, we had a delightful little surprise today.  Olesya received a letter from him!  She had written a letter to him saying it was her first Christmas home and she didn't even know what to ask for but wanted to say "hi".  We addressed it to Santa, North Pole and stuck a stamp on it, knowing it would go to the dead letter file.  Well, some kind soul over in Denver is sending out letters on Santa's behalf and we got a cute response back.  Eyes widened and she skipped down the hall to show her brothers and sisters. It was a special little moment for all of us.

You know, with kids such as ours, experiencing the fantasy of childhood can be so important.  They have lost so much and they yearn to go backwards to a place and time where they can recapture even a sliver of what was denied them.  Some are forced to grow up so very fast, and more than anything they want to be able to simply be a kid for awhile, and childhood should be filled with opportunities to imagine and dream.  I am glad that Olesya had Santa, even if only for one year.  I know we are soon to leave all such things behind with most of our kids, but at least they each will have had a taste of the innocence and wonder that many of us were lucky enough to have when we were young.

So now, we wait...we wait for Christmas Eve and candlelight services, we wait for dinners spent with friends, and we wait to commemorate the birth of Christ.

It's worth the wait.