It's almost the day....

The kids have gone upstairs and will desperately try to go to sleep.  Not going to happen, but they will give it a good try.  I am taking a 10 minute break to watch Ralphie try not to shoot his eye out.  The hub is playing some game on his phone.  We have already gone to church.  It was a wonderful service; my favorite kind.  It is loud and unpredictable, but it is still very meaningful.  G's friends E and CR played the violin and the piano and did beautiful jobs.  G sang and her sister and I accompanied her on ukulele.  The boy said the Christmas prayer.  We are very blessed.  Once we got home, we discovered that the elves had made a visit to drop off some pajamas and mess a little in the house.  They always seem to get in the fridge and eat something.  They left Star Wars miniatures next to the picante sauce this year.  We feasted on the traditional Christmas Eve meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Right after dinner, the hub and I were surprised by our youngest coming down the stairs dressed as Ralph in his pink bunny costume.  It was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life.  I would put a picture of it up, but I am writing on the desktop and not on my pad.  I will flood the next edition with pictures.  My parents and the kids pulled off a good one.  I'm still laughing.  Afterwards, we sat together and read our two Christmas standards:  the Christmas story out of the Bible(we chose Luke's version this year) and Edwin Markham's "How the Great Guest Came".  It was extra special this year as the children took turns reading the passages for us.  We can stress over the gifts and who is going to fix what for dinner, but at the end of the day, we sit down together and remember the real reason for all of this...and we are thankful.  

Sleep well all of you.  I will pray that the reindeer don't damage your shingles and that the elves flush the toilet at your house(they always forget here).  God bless each of you and have a very merry Christmas tomorrow.

Night all.