Perfectly Imperfect Christmas

We all normally share all of those cozy picture perfect moments of Christmas on FB and blogs and such.  I thought I would be a bit different this year and remember all the "normal" that happens at my "perfect" house on Christmas Eve this year.  I decided to simply embrace all of the so called imperfections that make my family who we are…perfectly imperfect.  Jesus made us that way, so why not welcome all those real life moments that make us truly "normal".  Here are just a few from our family to yours…

Here we are at Christmas Eve services, minus one child.  C had to work.  No photoshop here, just real life ;)



Not to worry, C made it home in time for a completed kid photo pic.  Yes, that is him dressed up in his fancy pizza stained t-shirt he had on under his Domino's uniform ;)

Awwww...look at that beautiful new kitchen towel from the next door neighbors.  Oh wait, I don't think Frosty was meant to be stained pink on the first day out.  Five minutes prior you would have seen an entire cup of purple koolaid spread from one end of the kitchen table to the other.  Not to mention the squalling little who thought the world was over since it soaked her coloring book :(

This was about the time I started to really focus on all our little imperfections of the day.  So I started to capture them as they occurred.  What's that water running I hear? Oh yes, I found myself wiggling that stupid little handle for the 10th time today...sigh.  Why can't they just push the handle completely down?!?

Is that lasagna I smell?!  Oh no, not really our traditional Christmas Eve lasagna.  What's that, just a modified quick thrown together version of lasagna for us this Christmas Eve.  I failed to mention that the morning started off with us at the doc in the box for C.  No morning appointments available (of course!), which meant the only time he could be seen was at 3:30pm.  Yes, that meant missing our planned 3pm Christmas Eve service at our church. SO we opted for the positive strep test at 3:30pm, then off to our old church for their 5pm service...whew.  

Oh back to the modified lasagna.  Now no time to make real lasagna as we won't be back from church now until 6:30pm.  So I just threw together dinner BEFORE we made it to the doc in the box at 3:30pm.  Real...life...people.

Let's not forget the plain spaghetti that must be made in order to accommodate those picky individuals who won't eat lasagna.  And of course the big spoon flying threw the air when the first scoop was scooped out of the pan.  Nothing like decorating the cabinets with meat and cheese...ooiya.

Time to get ready for Santa!  Wait...where's the cookies for Santa?!?  "Mom, no cookies in the whole house for Santa?"
Nope, not a one.  Let's just use the cracker toffee and throw in a candy cane for good measure ;)

Who pushed on the dishwasher getting down the plate for Santa?  Don't forget to slam it shut and put the stool back in front of it to keep it from flying open and killing someone would ya ;)

Time to settle down for bedtime routines and snuggles.  Bug don't worry, mom will cut out that pesky hairband that is tangled and tied up tight in your hair.  Let's not have a tear-free bedtime...nope not us!

Once the melatonin induced sleep took hold of all my crew, I carried them all to bed one by one.  I returned to the living room, sat down on my broken recliner sofa, and simply reflected on my perfectly imperfect day spent with the one's I love dearly.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

So from my "normal" house to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.  And I hope, that you too, would embrace the perfect imperfections we find in our lives every single day.  May God bless you and yours this special Christmas.