Finding my Christmas Spirit

Yesterday we were scheduled to have 3 families come over for Family Home Evening at 6 pm. Dustin was up in Scottsdale and Ellie had been at choir rehearsal for the last 3 hours. Around 5:50 everything started converging. Daddy was home! Hooray! Ellie was home! Double HOORAY!
Only she had a boatload of homework. 60 math problems (long division and three digit x three digit multiplication), reading comprehension, 2 math fact drill sheets, a vocab sheet and spelling senetences (complex and compound, please, no ordinary sentences). My eyes started crossing and then maybe some fire shot out of them.

I hurried her into our bedroom to get as much done as she could before everyone got here. About 5 problems in we hear loud crashing noises as every toy in my house was dumped out simultaneously. A few minutes later there was much wailing as Luke had hit Ryder in the head with a light saber. A lot more crashes and crying. Children bouncing off the walls. FHE was off to a rocky start. I could feel my brain freaking out. I finally started the lesson while uttering, "Dustin, I'm having a mental break down." I talked to the kids about Elder Uchtdorf's talk, "You are My Hands." Slowly half the kids settled down. Then we watched this clip:
and all the kids settled down. I could feel the Christmas Spirit reentering my soul.

After it was over we divided up into our usual groups and took off for our super secret service project. We ended up with the big girls (Ellie, Chloe and Kyla) this year. They were very fun, but *very* opinionated. Last year I remember being a little sad because the big boys just agreed to anything I said, so I guess I got my wish??

Everyone met back at the house and all of the kids shared what their group had done. It was so neat to see their excitement as they shared what they had decided on for other people. As we worked on some projects, there was still crashing and maybe some doors being locked. There were crumbs and sugar everywhere, but suddenly none of it mattered. Amidst all the chaos there was such a feeling of peace and happiness.

In fact we were all so caught up in the Christmas Spirit, we bundled up our kids at 9 pm on a school night and took them Christmas Caroling. Every year my girlfriend's parents hook a trailer up to their horses and take the kids Christmas Caroling through the streets. This year due to some surgeries, they weren't able to do it. I think everyone was a little sad about it, but Mike suggested that maybe it was *our* turn to do something nice for them. We piled some plates full of cookies, hoped that our children were in someone's car since our car was full of theirs and took off.

Somehow that turned into a giant leaf fight and I thought of how lucky I am that my kids have "family" to celebrate the little and big things with even when our families are far away. Merry Christmas!!