Christmas is tops for my boy.....not only for the presents, but for the fanfare that goes on the whole month of December. He loves to see Santa, check out the Christmas lights, look at the yard art, dig out the decorations, talk about a big ol' tree just for his room, and he encourages me to make the next year even bigger and better than the last.
William's enthusiasm is infectious. His innocence is so fleeting. These are the moments and the years that I want to bottle up and hang on to. For years, I have always had to decorate for Christmas using a small amount of my holiday items. This was due mostly because we lived in a small townhouse. When we bought our Tulsa home, one of the first things I thought was how pretty our home would look during the holidays. I could taste the memories we'd make with our kids. And my heart ached for it.
I was eager to pull out all the stops for our first December in this house, but in reality, decking the halls would have to wait until next year. This year our house is under construction, I have workmen coming and going all day long, boxes waiting to be unpacked because I have nowhere to put the stuff that is inside, I have my precious tornado toddler running amok and my sweet 2 month old in my arms. It's all so wonderful, but it's also too much. The very thought of opening up a Christmas bin and pulling out breakable ornaments buried in mountains of tissue just overwhelms me when I have been packing and unpacking, boxing and reboxing constantly over the last 3 months.
So, even though I am a little disappointed, I did manage to wrap our lamp post with Christmas lights, hang up a wreath and set up our nativity. Even these simple touches bring the Christmas spirit alive in our home. It may be our first Christmas in our new house, but I also know that there will be many more.
It's just that William is growing up fast and his enthusiasm for the holidays will probably wain in the coming years. It kills me to think about it. So that is mostly why I want to make our home full of holiday magic while my littles are still....well, little. There is nothing more precious that seeing the wonder in their eyes, the awe in their voice and the thrill they get each time they see Christmas lights, Santa Claus, Easter eggs or Halloween candy.
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Needless to say, I was excited when William asked me if he could have a party at our house to celebrate Christmas. I thought it was so cute that he was SO serious about his party. He told me he wanted to invite 4 friends over to his house to decorate cookies because (William) "I've never had a party before at my house and I want to show my friends." I told William his idea sounded like a lot of fun and of course he could host his friends.
Oh the smile on his face! He was DELIGHTED! "Mom, I am going to have 4 friends. 2 boys and 2 girls. I want to invite Madison, Peyton Carter, Landon and Truett." - He rattled off his agenda as if he had the party planned months ago. "Can we decorate cookies and then play with my toys? I can show everyone around and we can have snacks and party favors." I thought it was so cute that he took the entire event SO seriously and man, he was SO SO SO excited.
Every night before he went to bed, William would tell me how many more days until his party. I always reminded him that his party was going to be small and we couldn't invite the entire class so he needed to be quiet about it at school. "Mom, don't worry. I don't want to hurt any feelings so I am not saying a word about my party at school. It's a big secret."
His party was on Sunday, December 2nd at 2pm. The night before, William helped me set up. I placed the wrapping paper on the table like a tablecloth and William said, "WOW! Mom this looks SO GOOD! Great idea!" and the he proceeded to decorate the water bottles with Christmas stickers. He also asked me if he could make placecards so everyone would know where to go. I thought the cards looked so sweet around the table. He did a great job spelling everyone's names.
I told William I was going to hang some ornaments from our chandelier and he specifically asked me to hang up his airplane ornament collection. Luckily, some of the airplane ornaments were in a box I had at the apartment and I knew exactly where to look. William helped me decide what order to hang the planes and he wanted them different heights like they would be if they were actually in the sky. Always thinking like a pilot!
His 4 little friends came over at 2 to decorate cookies and run around the house. The kids had a really fun time decorating cookies. It was so funny to watch them hard at work because you could see their personalities shining through. Landon loves to build with blocks and his cookies were symetrical and all the candies were specific patterns and stacked. Madison loves the color green and just about all of her cookies were COATED in green glittery sprinkles. Peyton is a true girly girl, very soft spoken and loves art. She took the longest to decorate each cookie and used all the pastel color candies she could find. William worked pretty haphazardly which was no shock to me considering that he's not a real pro with utensils. All of his cookies were decorated with M&Ms, his very favorite kind of cookie "flavor." And Truett had a great time using the Angry Bird gummies on all of his cookies.
I set the table up with candy and icing and gave each child a Christmas themed tray to use as their work station. Everyone got 12 cookies to decorate. The boys were finished decorating after 6 cookies and they all headed into the other room to play with toys. Even though William was really eager to play and not decorate more cookies, I did remind him that he was the host and that his job was to make sure that all of his guests had a good time. I told him he could play, but it was also very important that he stay at the table and keep his friends company as they finished decorating their cookies. Afterall, that was the reason they were invited over.
William knew that being the host was super special and he was VERY proud. I watched him as he went over to play with the boys and then after awhile, I heard him say, "hey guys, I will be right back. I need to check on my other guests." He came back to the table where Peyton was still hard at work. He gave her a pat on the back and said, "Oh Peyton, those cookies are beautiful. I hope you are having fun. I think I will watch you decorate for awhile."
Once everyone was done, the kids raced outside to play tag in the yard. The weather was PERFECT and William was beaming. He truely had a joyful day hosting his first offical party.
The way William worked the crowd that day made me proud. I know, the ol' sappy mom is proud of her kid. But seriously. Watching William with his friends and seeing how he treats people as well as the way his little friends treat him was incredible to me. All I have ever wanted to teach William came shining through that day. Every night for the last 4 years of his life, I have always ended the day with "William, what are your three best?" and he always tells me, "Willam Barron is responsible, respectful and a good person."
For all the times I never thought he was listening, I was wrong. William, you will never know the depth of my love for you. YOU are my very best boy and the delight of my heart. You are every wonderful dream of mine and I will always treasure my only little boy. Thanks for loving the holidays the same way I do!
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