"Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!" (Stave 5)

 The quotation above, of course, is from the last "stave" of A Christmas Carol. The words of those opening paragraphs are with me every year on Christmas morning, in a kind of literary soundtrack. Something of their spirit woke me at 7 sharp, before the kids, before Jon, before Dad. Most days of the year, if this happens I say to myself, Sleep, fool! But this morning I did not say it or I did not hear it, I do not know, I bounded out of bed. It was Christmas morning, the room was full of presents I could not wait for my kids to open, and there was SNOW!

God added yet more snow to my Christmas gift overnight. No one but God could have given it, after all.

The the muted power of a winter morning... it is mysterious and thrilling and serene at the same time and it does so much for me to look at it and listen to the nothing and the everything. I love the pre-dawn snow, the Christmas lights and the listening trees.
 
Silent, waiting Christmas trees are *almost* as lovely.


The quiet alone time lasted just long enough, and then first Adele, and then Jon, then Dad woke up. We had some fun watching Adele's happy face as she signed "tree!" and made some strong coffee. And suddenly, Miles came stumbling in, in his new jammies.

Opening his stocking... it's a Charlie Brown coloring book!

He can't believe the pile of presents! 

Adele figured out unwrapping very quickly.

           

It was a new set of stacking rings, by the way.

Making sense of her new wood blocks.

Do you love the squat?  

     Miles adores his new Hess helicopter

I got some of the books I've been wanting. Revelations of Divine Love, A Year of Biblical Womanhood and a book of prayers by Henri Nouwen are among my haul this year.

                        

I asked for necklaces and got FOUR. So gorgeous! This one's got an elephant charm and Miles picked it out.

The kids gave Jon new slippers

Dad gave him this all-purpose tool; I gave him the sharp new backpack.

We spent a joyful morning playing with all our new toys. Particularly fun was unwrapping Adele's new musical instruments and beginning an enthusiastic and loud marching band performance around the house. When things quieted during Adele's nap and after, Jon and I and Dad (and sometimes Miles) enjoyed the Dr. Who Christmas special marathon that was airing on BBC America (gotta hand it to real cable, it does have its uses). We even got to catch the new episode when it aired. For the first time. 

Later that day, the time was fully ripe for a second trip into the snow. Adele was napping, so Miles and I went as a team. I was the contracted labor, and he was the creative director for this snowman, which he's named Frosty. Well, it's not cliche if you just learned that song for the first time.

 

Grandpa Jim loaned a hat, Jon cut some felt eyes and Miles loaned his spare gloves. Art, I tell you.

Dad made us a simple meal that we all enjoyed and for dessert, there was Wegman's pie. That's right, I didn't bake or cook. And I have no regrets about it.  All in all, this day was peaceful and joyful and stress was utterly absent. It was a day that was both an offering-- and a gift.

 

Keep an eye on this guy. We are going to use him as a snow gauge later on.