Can't Top The Konotopskys: Another Christmas Passed

The picture was made for Santa by Zed, and the note written by Alex.

It is funny how much time is spent preparing for a single day... time spent in thought, time spent decorating, time spent deciding then finding then purchasing items.... then there is the time spent wrapping at those items. Then of course there is the time spent talking about it; doing baking and decorating of the baking. Time spent writing christmas stories, poems and coloring pictures and decorations. There is the time spent on the tree and then time spent anticipating the time passing by. So much time for one day... that comes and goes just like any other day... except with the added in time spent preparing an exquisite meal and desserts to accompany that meal. Oh, and don't forget the presents! I don't know about you but we don't usually open presents every morning.
I want to be clear that I am NOT complaining at all; simply commenting on the time aspect, as I really hadn't thought a whole lot about it. Not really. This Christmas however, I felt I had too much time. We had no friends to visit with. No snow to go sledding in, or build into a snowman. No place to go ice skating. And worst of all, no family to look forward to seeing. This Christmas we truly understood how important that aspect of Christmas really is.
Yes, it was defiantly strange to be shopping wearing shorts, t-shirts and sandles. And the thought of Christmas being 'just around the corner' and the only thing falling was the beads of sweat down your face just from standing outside seemed just wrong. (Snow and Christmas was intended to be a cohesive unit!) Neither Wade nor myself seemed to have that real enthusiasm for the coming holidays as we usually do. It was just hard to find... we tried! We were one of the first houses to be out with our ladders, decorating the outside of our home with Christmas trimmings, and the inside too! We put up our tree, made heaps of decorations to accessorize with and wrote Christmas stories (complete with pictures!). We wrote poems, learned how to sign "We wish you a merry Christmas" whilst singing it... read christmas stories for weeks. We went over the true meaning of Christmas (daily) and even found an organization the builds orphanages/foster homes to make regular contributions to. And believe it or not I MADE A PIE!!! For those who know me and the grief I've had with trying to make a pie (from scratch) you know what an accomplishment this was/is. And it even tasted good. Bonus! Nothing seemed to really work (for me at least).

As the days crept by, my sadness crept in. For the first time since moving here I felt very far from home. I missed my sister and mom in a way I couldn't have imagined. I missed going to the farm and eating Carrie's beautiful pies and other yummy desserts. I truly missed the chaos (that I swore I despised) of driving to so many different houses in a short amount of time, to make the visits with various family members around the provinces. I felt the deep sadness of knowing I was missing my little nephews first christmas. I felt pangs of regret that I wouldn't be able to hug Carrie and Jay, and share in the truly exciting and marvellous news of their first Christmas as first time expectant parents. I know this all sounds so selfish, but this Christmas my heart broke as the day passed on, and I was all too aware of everything I was missing back home, and everything home was missing of us.

I don't think the kids were missing as much as I was though; they bounded into the playroom (where the tree was set up) and Wade had a hard time keeping them at bay while they waited for me to finish getting Maileigh out of bed.

With great enthusiasm they worked their way through the wrapped bundles that lay under the Christmas tree.... all except Maileigh. She was the only one who noticed all the little candy canes that had not been there before. She was quite content with working her way through those rather than the presents that had been piled up in front of her. She would help here and there, but more or less she kept herself well stocked with those little candy canes she was hoarding from off the tree.

After presents it was crepes, eggs and bacon for breakfast. Then we just hung out for a bit while the kids explored their new toys. After a Skype session with my sister and mom, we had a quick lunch and headed out to the dam. The kids had received nets, snorkelling sets (I too, was surprised by a pick set laid beside the boys' inside the blow-up boat the kids had received - Wade broke our promise of not gifting each other; but I of course accepted the (much desired) gift begrudgingly).

The kids put on their new sun shirts, packed up their flippers and masks, put themselves and the dog in the van and we were off. We stayed at the dam for a few hours, then returned home too late to put on the Christmas ham. We had pork chops and veggies instead - cooked to perfection by Wade of course. Then it was off to bed. The day so eagerly awaited ended just as quickly as it had begun.
The next few days were a bit of a blur as well. The town in which we live is basically closed down for a few days, so there isn't really anything to do here at all. That was fine with us because we just headed to Capella anyway. We spent just about the whole next day at Capella pool, as a family. And we returned again the day following that.
Today we are resting - expect Wade; who has been bound and determined to fit the screening around our back patio. He has done a superb job. Maybe now we can cook without it sounding as though the flies are going to break the door down! Tonight we finally cooked our Christmas dinner and it was fabulous. It was everything a Christmas dinner should be; delicious in sight, smell and taste. We were happy, talking, laughing and afterwards, very full! It was worth the wait!!
I have to admit that it has been enjoyable to listen to Maileigh work on her vocabulary this past week. She now says (with words, not signing with her hands), very well, "Jesus" "Santa" "I want that" "I did it!" "Thank-you".
For those of you who read this... Merry Christmas. I am glad Christmas is over, and even more glad we are going to be resuming school next week. Full days mean busy days, which to me, mean happy days. It is hard to miss so much, when you are so busy teaching and learning with your kids.

Happy Birthday Jesus.