"God sent me snow on Christmas," I whispered!

Snow came for Christmas.

Rain came for New Year's.

Tender mercies, both.

It's been a busy holiday season, so busy that this story should have been written and posted yesterday, so it would appear in my 2025 blog book when I publish it. It will be my 17th book, but the official 2025 Christmas post with all the pictures won't be included. Instead, this will be the first post of 2026. Does this bother me? Yes. Does it challenge my OCD on every possible level? Yes. Can I do anything about it? Nope. So here goes!

This year, our family Christmas celebration would take place on Dec. 27th, but a few of us gathered for a mini celebration on the 25th at Eli and Amanda's house. It was quiet and delightful. Well, okay, not totally quiet. When Amanda and Eli and Seth and Kylee played this video game called "Overcooked," the screaming was palpable. I don't understand video games at all, but shouts of "PASTA! PASTA" and "I'M CLEANING PLATES!" and "GO, GO, MOVE!" and "THIS PLATE NEEDS FRIES!" could be heard down the block, I'm pretty sure. Just ask Jane. She was not a fan. But the rest of the day was calm. Amanda made fresh biscuits and I made sausage gravy. For dinner we ate cream cheese chicken and pasta, and it was lovely to be together. 

Snow arrived the morning of December 27th, the first real snow of the season on the very day our family celebrated Christmas. When I woke up with four of my five children, along with many of their significant others, sleeping under my roof, I was filled with gratitude. When I looked out the window and saw beautiful snowflakes falling from the sky, I was overjoyed! "God sent me snow on Christmas!" I whispered (as most everyone else was still asleep). It was a moment of quiet before the beautiful chaos of 13 people on Christmas morning. Here are Shulamith and her kids trying to fall asleep the night before:

We had opened our traditional Christmas Eve gifts, new pajamas, and played "Left, Center, Right," a new tradition in its second year. Eli won all the cash!

We decided that we would begin opening gifts at 10:00 a.m. This gave me about an hour when I woke up to help Santa with final preparations. By 10:00, everyone was awake, wearing their new Christmas jammies and heading downstairs, but not before a quick picture:

Front: Kennedy, Theodore, and Jane
Middle: Mathew, Swen, me

Back: Isaiah, Shulamith, Gerald, Seth, Amanda, Eli

The day was filled of presents, laughter, and plenty of surprises! My favorite gift was a grande-sized yoga mat, which will make it so much easier to do my workouts on my basement floor. My second favorite was ironically predictable, as Shulamith and I gave each other the same exact thing: an electric towel warmer. After a few days, let me just say that this is a luxury everyone needs!

Pretty sure Seth's favorite gift was a VR headset, so he can play, among other things, something called "Beat Saber." He was so happy! (I actually tried this out and definitely failed at every level, but it was....uh....an......"experience.")

Here are a few more random pics of Christmas, 2025:

Theodore, Swen, Mathew, with Eli in the background

Jane and Kennedy

Amanda, with her new acrylic calendar

Eli, the best Elf ever, keeping me on track with gift distribution

Left to right: Kylee, Seth, Gerald, Isaiah, Jane, Kennedy, Swen, and (in front) Theodore

And today is the first day of 2026. I awoke to beautiful rain, my favorite weather. Shulamith and I donned our best rain gear and headed out for a two-mile walk before she left town for the weekend. In the year to come, I look forward to lots of traveling, reading, writing, and exercising, all my best hobbies! But for the first couple days of the year, I predict more sleeping, lounging, and hurkle-durkling. Christmas, for moms, is joyous, but it's also no-joke exhausting. I'm wiped.

Oh and also lots of TV binging! Have you guys seen "Pluribus" or "The Beast in Me"? You should definitely watch both, though the latter is super crazy scary, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Happy New Year, everyone. May 2026 bring you so much love!