Christmas at Home

The boys had a real home Christmas this year. We traipsed out to a tree farm to cut a fine tree, and everyone helped in putting on the ornaments. We've heard non-stop renditions of Jingle Bells and Rudolph (I guess they no longer teach the fine old religious carols in the schools). One day about a week ago, Sergey was in the car and he announced, "Santa Claus is coming to town, you know. There's even a song about it."

Lonya kept reminding us all that Christmas is not about presents. It is about Jesus. We encouraged him in this. Even so, however, on Christmas Eve the boys were so revved up that I thought they'd never get to sleep. Sergey, the three year old was the worse offender. He just would not stay in bed. He kept bouncing out and coming out to say things like, "I don't hear the reindeer. Do you hear reindeer?"

Lonya, unfortunately, picked up croupe somewhere, and from Friday night to Monday morning (Christmas Eve day) he suffered terrible fevers and awful coughing. By Christmas the fevers were gone and the cough was somewhat better. But he was still a little tired and sick the whole time. The boys were very excited to see that Santa had in fact come in the morning. I'll post some pictures in a little while.

Holidays Ahead

This will be the first Christmas we've had at home, so it is a chance to begin new family traditions. And even though we will miss Chicago and the beautiful Christmases we have had at Grandma's, we are excited to plan and execute the holiday for the first time on our own. So far, the boys have seen Santa twice and we have decorated the mantel in anticipation of his visit. The garlands and nativity scene are up, and Saturday we will pick out a Christmas tree. Last night we had our first Christmas pageant, with Sergey in reindeer antlers and Lonya in an elf hat singing songs and reciting poems.