{"id":1014,"date":"2013-01-01T08:51:43","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T13:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2013-01-01T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T14:35:14","slug":"christmas-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/?p=1014","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Better late than never, here is our Christmas post.<\/p>\n

First let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set up this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Christmas.\u00c2\u00a0 We returned from India on Sunday, December 9th<\/sup>.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone returned to school on the 10th<\/sup>, then on the 11th<\/sup> Chris went to North Carolina for work until Friday the 14th<\/sup>.\u00c2\u00a0 We were already behind with all the Christmas traditions, and I knew that we would be. If I learned anything in India it was to go with the flow, stop and take it all in and not worry about plans.\u00c2\u00a0 So that was my theme for this Christmas.\u00c2\u00a0 And it made it the best Christmas yet.<\/p>\n

The day Chris came home on the day of the Newtown tragedy.\u00c2\u00a0 To have children in school, to work in a school, to be mom- it was such a hard day.\u00c2\u00a0 We kept the news from the kids as best as we could and told them only as much as they needed to know before they went back to school on that Monday.\u00c2\u00a0 It made us hug our kids more tightly and slow down that much more.\u00c2\u00a0 They are only this little once.\u00c2\u00a0 It reinforced all I came from India feeling.<\/p>\n

So there were no Advent calendars this year, no trip to Ediville, no trip to the Enchanted Village.\u00c2\u00a0 We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any tree lightings, we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t attempt First Night (way too cold!).\u00c2\u00a0 But we had lots of family time, lots of time to enjoy the kids.\u00c2\u00a0 And no one complained or mentioned anything that was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153missing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Brendan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school concert, Song and Light, was great.\u00c2\u00a0 It was our last Walnut Park concert.\u00c2\u00a0 Brendan had a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153solo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d- he sang Light and Candle for Peace<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 In light of all that was going on- it was touching.\u00c2\u00a0 Aidan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s concert was great too. \u00c2\u00a0He loves his school and his friends so much.\u00c2\u00a0 It is so nice to see.\u00c2\u00a0 Just before the break I got to go to both kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 classrooms to see their India presentations.\u00c2\u00a0 It was another opportunity to sit back and marvel at my awesome kids and how much they enjoy their life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We made Christmas lists.\u00c2\u00a0 Brendan asked Santa for a doll with hair to style (Mei Mei), Cinderella and Fairy Books.\u00c2\u00a0 Aidan asked for a Harry Potter wand, broom and a box of gags.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course Santa brought more- Abe Lincoln Bobble head, moon shoes, Tiana and more.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure how long we will have Santa but I hope the magic never ends.\u00c2\u00a0 They looked so big sitting on Santa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lap.\u00c2\u00a0 They seemed so big making their wishes in the well all lit up that we visit each year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Both kids were in the Christmas Pageant.\u00c2\u00a0 It was Brendan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first year and he chose to be an angel.\u00c2\u00a0 He wanted his suit and angel wings.\u00c2\u00a0 But not a halo.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for girls.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (I will never understand this kid).\u00c2\u00a0 At the very last minute Aidan- the first innkeeper- got nervous and did not want to be in the Pageant.\u00c2\u00a0 Thankfully I have older helpers.\u00c2\u00a0 And no one knew the difference.\u00c2\u00a0 It happens.\u00c2\u00a0 There were 26 kids in this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Christmas Pageant.\u00c2\u00a0 The same number of families that lost loved ones in Newtown.\u00c2\u00a0 It was hard not to think of that as we sung Silent Night.<\/p>\n

This Christmas and vacation was all about family and friends.\u00c2\u00a0 There were whole days spent in pjs just playing.\u00c2\u00a0 There were play dates with friends for the kids.\u00c2\u00a0 There were dinners with grown up friends and concerts Chris enjoyed.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a fun day of snow boarding.\u00c2\u00a0 It was all about appreciating the kids and not stressing over the small stuff.<\/p>\n

My gift from my boys was perfect- peace dove earrings.<\/p>\n

I think this was the best Christmas ever.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Better late than never, here is our Christmas post. First let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s set up this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Christmas.\u00c2\u00a0 We returned from India on Sunday, December 9th.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone returned to school on the 10th, then on the 11th Chris went to North Carolina … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1027,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/1027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obriensr.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}