The Many Joys of Christmas

For unto us was born... a SAVIOR.

Christmas is the day we can celebrate the birth of Christ - God's miracle of redemption and love for us, sending His son to be born in a manger.

When I think of Christmas, it brings back 34 years of memories... The excitement of a 6 year old, in a screaming frenzy over a Barbie dream house. The happiness of a 7 year old, getting to drive over the hills and through the woods to Grandma's house! The anxiousness of a 10 year old, just laying awake at 4am and counting down the minutes until Christmas morning would come. The hopefulness of a 14 year old, just hoping that I would get everything on my Christmas list. The joy of a newlywed, getting showered with love and gifts by her husband. And the radiance of a mother, getting to see the magic of Christmas through the eyes of her boys. It's all wonderful - every year of amazing, magical, nostalgic Christmas memories.

This year was no different, although I felt like I really did have to pay the piper for those precious moments of Christmas joy. And by pay, I mean, I had to endure endless hours of streams of customers for the past month. Then, after both Firoze and I worked a full day on Christmas Eve, we had to get in the car and make the 5 hour drive to Charleston with the boys. Then, Dean decided he would go from being our angel sleeper, who never misses a great nights sleep, to being the "Grinch that Stole Christmas." He absolutely refused to sleep for our entire Christmas vacation and instead, decided to "party" like a rock star until 4am.

But, this is what made it all worth it...


Nothing compares to waking up Christmas morning and seeing an entire house filled with presents, then getting to open them for at least 3 straight hours! This picture shows the aftermath. :)

"The stockings were all hung by the chimney with care... in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there..."


Nothing gives me that warm, nostalgic feeling more than seeing my Mom's handmade Christmas stockings that she made out of felt for each of us around the time we were each born. This "Mom & Dad" stocking is my attempt to copy her beautiful creations! I love seeing them all hung on the mantle each year.

And St. Nicholas did make an appearance! My Dad got a full Santa suit and dressed up and hand delivered his presents to all the boys. I got it all on video, so unfortunately I don't have a single picture to post. Let me just say... SHOCK and AWE from a 4 year old, a 3 year old and a 2 year old! What an awesome memory for our boys! Next year, I wouldn't be at all surprised if my Dad pulled up in a sleigh with 8 live reindeer! He is the Grandpa/Papa that would do ANYTHING to bring joy to his grandsons.

Yes, there was food. The Sherman house is never lacking for food. Say, you want homemade chex mix at 2am??? We got it. You got a craving for a banana split with 5 different flavors of ice cream and all the toppings? No problem. You just HAVE to have a candied pecan, or 100 candy bars - yeah, check the snack cupboard! And then there was the Christmas meal... Doesn't this look like any good Junior League housewife's fantasy buffet? After all, there is crockpot mac n' cheese for goodness sake!



And there were presents... My love gave me too many good gifts - way TOO much. But, my favorite gift of all was my awesome new Canon lens. This lens will take the beautiful pictures of our boys through the years. Here's a pic to show off my awesome bokeh (that's photographer speak for pretty blur!)


(And yes, this is one of the things I look forward to every year at Christmas - the sparkly, sprinkle-covered, Voortman Christmas cookie - it's quite bright and shiny, isn't it?)

And my parents gave me a gift that brought tears to my eyes, one of the bracelets that belonged to my Grandma Vivian. She was an estate jeweler and had the love and passion for jewelry that we have all inherited. This was one of her favorite vintage pieces, a chunky gold woven bracelet with a very girly diamond bow with tassels. I LOVE it! Thank you Mom and Dad - that was the sweetest gift of all!



And then were the TOYS... an entire living room covered from top to bottom in Toy Story toys, dinosaurs, race cars, remote control cars, books, musical baby toys, and everything else from Toys R' Us!


Devon got all things dinosaur, of course!


Dean enjoyed chewing on all the toys that didn't belong to him and any small scrap of wrapping paper that didn't make it into the trash bag. Also, take notice how my BABY is now standing up and only holding on with ONE hand! Boo - my little baby is almost ready to take his first steps, any day now...


Quinn, what could be better than Woody, riding on Woody, riding on Bullseye??? NOTHING!


Judah got lots of toys, but the happiest I saw him all day was when he saw the strawberry jello salad on the table topped with whipped cream and he just dug his entire finger into it and licked it off!

The best Christmas gift of all was being together. Enjoying staying up late and talking, hanging out drinking coffee, seeing all the commotion of 5 people cooking in the kitchen, watching Devon, Dean, Judah and Quinn all play together (and truly enjoy playing with each other for the first time)!!


I can't believe we have a house full of 4 baby boys, born in 4 years!!!???

Judah and Quinn could not have been sweeter to Dean. Everytime they got a chance, they were hugging him or kissing his face.




And Dean was all for kissing cousins! :)


Devon and Judah actually played together! This brought me back to my childhood when I couldn't wait to see all my cousins at family holidays. I am SO happy to see Devon, Judah and Quinn having fun together.


Uncle Fi gave horsey rides!


Aunt Coco snuggled, and bundled, and smooched, and rocked Dean like the best Aunt in the whole wide world!


And not to be outdone, Uncle G showed us all up and got Dean to laugh non-stop... big, huge, baby chuckles... baby giggles... baby belly laughs!


Best Dean picture and best Dean smile award goes to Uncle G!

We even had a Charleston "White Christmas!" We saw snow flurries flutter down all day on December 26th. Just in time for Grandpa and Devon to catch a snowflake on their toungue. Then it was time to pack all those presents in the car and make the drive back to Atlanta. It went by way too fast!


We hope your Christmas was full of peace, love and joy this year... and an extra bit of that glittery, childlike, Christmas "magic!"