when christmas is magical

over the years i've heard various people say that christmas is best with 4-6 year olds, so we are entering our peak magical years, and this one did not disappoint. there were many little bits of delight this season that i want to remember. 

• jack watching 'white christmas' very intently, following the story and asking questions, not wanting to miss a second

• clapping our christmas lights on and off with archie

• jack waking up on christmas morning and exclaiming "santa came for real life!"

• archie's delighted laughs

• the pure excitement about every gift that was opened, not matter who it was for, and no matter what it was [even the light up toothbrushes were met with unbridled enthusiasm]

pretend christmas in st. louis had its own kind of magic. we started the morning with stockings and presents. there were a variety of piano performances [jack had a whole routine ahead of his songs, which included cracking his knuckles, which cracked us up]. we ate christmas dinner and my mom's stuffing. we played games. and at the end of the night we were all in the living room together sitting near the tree, the floor littered with christmas, watching elf, eating skinny pop and snickers trees, and drinking sparkling juice. i looked around and felt so thankful for this wonderful life.

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rubix cubes and library books

donald is a very good gift giver. like, really good. i like to think i'm pretty decent myself, but honestly, he's a lot better. it is very rare for him to strike out. but even when he does, he does it well. which brings us to the tale of two christmases.

one summer, before we were married, i went on a mission trip to mexico. on this trip i learned how to solve a rubix cube. what can i say? i'm gifted. when i returned home i wanted to keep up with my new skill, but alas, i did not own a rubix cube. i went to the store to see about getting one but decided not to spend the money. which is exactly how 99% of my trips to the store end. donald, keenly observing my new found interest in the cube and aware of my penny pinching, started scheming. he thought to himself, if shelly would love one rubix cube, how much more will she love ALL THE RUBIX CUBES?!? so when christmas rolled around he excitedly presented me with my gift and i opened not one, not two, but three rubix cubes. the first was the original 3x3 cube. the second was the more challenging 4x4 cube. and the third was a rubix cube tissue box cover he had commissioned a coworker to make just for me.

it's at this point in the story when most female listeners swoon at his thoughtfulness. and i did. i swooned. but at the same time i was wondering what in the world i was going to do with all these cubes! since i can't hide my thoughts very well and donald can read me like a book, he knew something was up. we now know that while gifts is one of his top love languages, that one falls to the bottom of my list. 

i'm more of a quality time girl, so this christmas donald concocted a little adventure and combined two of my favorite things: scavenger hunts and the library. one afternoon he told me he needed to run a few errands and a little while later he called to tell me i should come find him at the library. so i hopped in the car and found him on a library couch with a basket and a book. he handed them over and said 'merry christmas'. inside that first book [snowball fight by jimmy fallon] was a clue, which led me to search the stacks for a book about another of my favorite things [corn]. there was a clue tucked in that one too and i zipped back and forth across the library as fast as i discreetly could collecting a big stack of books about all my favorite things. it was awesome and i was smiling so big that my cheeks started hurting.

ultimately we did part ways with the mega cube at a garage sale, but we still have the original rubix cube...and i think that kleenex box cover will now live with us forever as a priceless dyer family treasure.

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the twelve dyer days of christmas

technically speaking i think our christmas festivities stretched over ten days instead of twelve, but i'm rounding up.  we had a house full of friends and family staying with us and stopping by all week leading up to christmas and that's just how we like it.  our sleep schedules took a bit of a hit, but it was definitely worth it.  [plus we're pretty spoiled in the sleep department to begin with, so we can't really complain]  

this was also the first year for me to not be in st. louis on christmas day.  fortunately my family is flexible and we just pushed everything back twenty four hours and had 'pretend christmas'...i hardly even noticed the difference!

so to remember this week of fun and festivities, i've created our own 2014 version of the twelve dyer days of christmas...

12

the number of times i jumped up and down after we opened gifts with my mom

11

the number of interesting raytownians we encountered at dyer family bowling night

10

the number of friends who came over to visit...plus four more via skype

9

the number of meinhardt's playing and singing at the annual sing-a-long

[including the brand new baby ava]

8 

the number of succotash games we played

7

the number of overnight guests that stayed with us

6

the pounds of potatoes mashed in the church kitchen for the cockrell christmas eve

5

the number of $5 bills frozen in to a block of ice for carson's christmas gift

4

the number of songs i sang in the lakeland christmas eve choir

3

the number of happy hosts [i'm counting dag]

2

the strings of lights glowing in the living room

1

magical week of christmas festivities

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a very merry bearcat christmas

this year during the dyer family christmas festivities our niece maddie requested that we all sing the twelve days of christmas together, which when sung correctly is the holiday version of the song that never ends. during this rousing rendition i recalled another version i penned many years ago entitled 'the twelve days of christmas: sbu style'.

and so without further ado, i give you my entry into the great leslie hall door decorating contest of 1997...

on the twelfth day of christmas c. pat taylor gave to me...

twelve chapel skips

eleven meller's wraps

ten trips to springfield

nine soccer players

eight singing blue headz

seven days vacation

six bolivar drivers

five engagement rings

four football games

three loads of laundry

two parking tickets

and a freezing purple fountain in the forum!

sad to say we didn't take home the prize, but this little gem is a prize all its own.

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i heard the bells

today is the fourth sunday of advent. the fourth sunday of expectantly waiting for the coming King. his hope. his peace. his love. his joy. 

earlier this month at church i was re-introduced to a well known christmas carol. i learned that the song we now know as "i heard the bells on christmas day" was originally a poem penned by henry wadsworth longfellow entitled "christmas bells". henry wrote this poem in the midst of personal tragedy. his oldest son had been severely injured in the civil war, and his wife had died unexpectedly when her dress caught fire and they were unable to extinguish it. in short, things were not going well.

the fourth verse says this:

and in despair i bowed my head
“there is no peace on earth,” i said,

“for hate is strong and mocks the song

of peace on earth, good will to men.”

but then...the bells rang again.  

then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;

the wrong shall fail, the right prevail

with peace on earth, good will to men.”

at the end of that service, we were invited to come to the front where we rang a large bell. with each clang we were reminded that no matter how dark the days, God is there. he is not dead. he does not sleep. and he is our peace.

this year, peace has been a bit of a challenge for me. perhaps it's because planning a wedding in essentially three months does not naturally lend itself to being a peaceful experience if you're an artistic, type-a like myself. i'm working on it. and in the meantime, i have this song playing on repeat.

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special delivery

if you’ve been checking your mailbox in anxious anticipation of my christmas card, i’m sorry to say you may be disappointed. i’m breaking tradition and blogging my card this year, so here it is for you to enjoy.

this season i’ve been especially mindful of the realities of life; people who are hurting in the midst of a time of celebration and joy. even though holidays are especially difficult for some, i think these hard times actually make the birth of our savior that much sweeter. the other day i heard a chris rice song on the radio and i haven’t been able to get the words out of my head:

tears are falling, hearts are breaking

how we need to hear from God

you've been promised, we've been waiting

welcome holy child

how great it is to be able to rejoice in that fact. that even in the midst of a life on earth that is often hard, our savior has come. he didn't come to make our lives perfect, but he does bring us hope. so welcome holy child...we're so thankful you came.

enjoy this celebration of the birth of our savior, and treasure the time you spend with your family. it's a blessing. merry christmas!

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