Christmas is coming

Yesterday was our church Christmas party. The girls got to be angels for the nativity play. They chose their own costumes and looked smashing. E wore a gauzy lacy thing and fairy wings, and M wore a purple dress with ladybug wings. M was deeply offended that she had to stand with the "babies" and not with E on the main part of the stage. 

At the party they handed out nativity sets printed on cardstock that the kids could color and cut out and tape together to make stand up. The girls thought that was the greatest. M sat at the table for a good 30 minutes saying " 'I, said the donkey, shaggy and brown' . . . I'll make my donkey brown!" and " 'I, said the cow, all white and red' . . . I need to make my cow all white and red." E worked hard on hers all day and decided to set it up in the front window. She announced to me that she had had to climb up and stand on the table (grrrrr) but had gotten it just right. Her "nactivity" set faces the window so everyone can see it from outside, and she taped a star to the window for the finishing touch.

M is in high excitement mode and plans on being Santa. She's been practicing for days. She takes a pillowcase and fills it with stuff and delivers "presents" to everyone. She keeps telling me, earnestly and urgently, that I need to make her a Santa suit, and she's going to stay up all night on Christmas eve and deliver presents to the whole family. She tried to practice staying up all night last night, as did E, but fortunately, despite all the "hard things" they kept doing to keep themselves awake (reading stories, tying ribbons, playing with toys in bed) they finally fell asleep. 

They might just explode before Christmas comes.