Merry Be the Sixth Day of Christmas!

I think most of us have heard the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas.'  More than just a song, there are in fact twelve days of the liturgical Christmas season, starting on Christmas Day.  I have a friend who makes a point of celebrating Christmas for all twelve days.  She often greets people  with 'Merry be the (insert day) of Christmas!'  A lovely idea, I think.  So, here we are on the sixth day of Christmas, smack in the middle--a good time for a blog post, perhaps.  While I do not have pictures from all our merry making, we have been enjoying the Christmas season.

Charles new colleagues were in a playful spirit after the company Christmas party.  While we did not go to the after party, we saw the snow sculptures when picking up a few things from the office the next morning.

The 21st started off with a little Christmas Pageant rehearsal for Nova, who was an angel on wheels this year.  The rest of the family had a quiet morning at a Cafe around the corner (keeping a 20 month old at a two hour rehearsal would have been kind to no one).  From there we went directly my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family.  On both my mom's and my dad's side of the family it is getting hard to even say hello to everyone--30+ people will do that I suppose.  We did enjoy visiting  as much as we could.  The kids enjoyed running around with their second cousins and exchanging ornaments with them.  That night was the solstice, and we had intended to go to the solstice service/dance back at church but we were all ready for bed early that longest night of the year.

The Christmas Pageant went off without a hitch the next morning--with a real baby no less.  Nova zoomed around the sanctuary with delight.  The congregation got to call out Christmas Carols to sing and we all enjoyed the candle lighting that spread throughout the pews.  Sunday was also the day of the annual Candy Party, a holiday party of many college friends.  Below, Charlotte and Ariadne check our the pipe organ.  In the balcony above our friend matt was showing Nova and Solomon how to play the ocarina.

Christmas Eve we met my sister's new boyfriend.  We spent the day at my parents' house, all ten of us (or only ten of us, depending on how you think about it).  Brynn was in charge of stockings, her favorite part.  In the afternoon we played board games and watched movies.

Fire from the color pine cone fire starters

Brynn won, as usual

Christmas night we were a couple of tired parents not quite ready to play Santa Claus.  It reminded me in some ways of the first night the kids spent in our house, Christmas eve back in 2008.  We persevered, and before long is was actually fun.  Charles wrapped and I put together stockings and finished decorating the Christmas tree.  The ornaments from the family ornament exchange we much appreciated, since we couldn't find our main ornament box this year.  

After a relaxing morning we were off to my mom's family Christmas celebration.  Again, with the 30+ people, it was impossible to really talk with everyone, but we did catch up with several cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course, my grandparents.  It was a perfect sledding year.  My aunt and uncle have one of the best sledding hills around right out their back door.  This year nearly all the cousins under 25 went.  Brynn and Vadim went sledding, and Aria and I did too (not to mention all the other kids).  My uncle Joe was out photographing.  I'll have to see if I can get any photos from him.  The kids exchanged gifts and the adults played the annual Christmas gift game (sort of like White Elephant, but with better gifts).  Nova, Charlotte and Solomon brought out their instruments and played a little bit.  Afterward my Grandpa told me he recognized the Gavotte Solomon played right away, and that he had played it on piano as a child, and hummed a few bars of the Gossec Gavotte.

Over the holiday we have also watched my favorite Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, made a trip to the emergency room (don't worry, nothing serious it turns out), enjoyed one on one outings, sledding with friends, and hanging out and doing nothing at all.  Merry be the sixth day of Christmas!