They must just smell me booting up the computer. It’s a typical “nap” time at the Burk Motel: Nice lunch… a few stories… trips to the potty… then tucking them into their brain- enhancing, educational, toy-stocked quiet time, closing the doors and slipping away to a two and a half hour of uninterrupted work time… RIGHT! That’s six and a half minutes, once you distill out the trips back upstairs to scold and re-close the doors, and the trips halfway up the stairs to scream “Back to your ROOM!” (in a loving, festive manner, of course). Who would think quiet time could sound like a couple of 250-lb guys rearranging the furniture up there?

So there are more than mice stirring at our house this year. After having to WAKE UP the four children sleeping in our home on Christmas morning for the past two years (two teenagers and two babies–not exactly the the target audience for the fat man in the red suit), I do believe the raw frenzy and excitement is upon us. Our four-year-old (and in close cahoots, her almost three-year-old sister) have bought it. The Christmas torch has been passed to the rightful heirs and we shall have a Merry Christmas, after all. We can even evoke a smirk from senior-year Paul, who though clearly TOO OLD for paste and glitter looks tickled to be “made” to stay home to decorate the tree. You should have seen his face the morning of our “first snow” (Virginia’s half inch of white stuff)–mostly ice which, though not enough for sledding, ties up commuter traffic for an entire day.

Paul’s highlights this year include a first car, a first job, and a first heartbreak. The day of the car was a magical one–he came through the door after school to the backyard, where Bill had parked the 1986 Grand Cherokee and washed AND waxed it (hasn’t waxed any of our vehicles for, oh…say, SIX years!)…Well, the poor boy just about fainted. It was the same “joy overload” I remember seeing on his tenth birthday when Bill wrapped all his gifts in trash. It is some kind of comfort, to us weary parents, still to be able to delight the young people in our house who are beyond a few trinkets from the Dollar Store or a Happy Meal. He tools off in his much-beloved vehicle four days a week for a job at Shoney’s and is a very responsible, likeable fellow at the ripe old age of almost-eighteen.

Lacie, now a sophomore, is living with her mother in Northern Virginia and very involved in her high school drama (of the official variety, as in “drama class” and “drama club”). We went up to see her as “Puck” in a Midsummer Night’s Dream earlier this fall and have been hearing about next year’s performance. She came down electrified by her dramatic pursuits and her resume. She seems to enjoy coming here to catch up on sleep, get her braces tightened, give the little girls a squeeze, and go with her friends to the mall or the movies. It’s been such a positive transition for all of us and she is doing well.

Ellie and Sophie, both in preschool, continue to love their dress ups, puzzles, puppets, and playing outside on a large, banged-up Power Wheels Jeep which we got at the dump. Even Sophie can maneuver it out of the shed, down the ramp and onto the grass. I almost fell on the floor the day I watched from the kitchen window. My little 2 and 1/2 year old, hauling open the two heavy shed doors, yanking and yanking on the roll-bars of the “jeep car” as they call it, rolling it backward down the ramp, then climbing in, throwing it into gear and setting off across the lawn. She, like the other children in our home, is incredibly independent and MOBILE. I always swore I didn’t want to raise children from the back of a minivan, and in truth I don’t have to: They all have their own vehicles!!

As for Bill, he is, as always, busy at church. It’s been a long year of cleaning out his mother’s house and getting it on the market, along with settling her estate. This fall, he has been able to be close to home, going to Washington only to serve at the National Cathedral once a month and look in on the house. So he has spent Saturdays in our garage rather than on Route I-95. He has also spent more time jump-starting some of the ministries at church. At the moment, I believe, he is busy trying to sell a donated Volvo so he can raise enough money to pay the parking lot, which was made like the desert after one of the many storms to hit this fall. Ahhhh…. the life of the small-church clergy person. There were huge renovations to the Parish Hall this past year–and there was our lovable Rector, laying carpet, installing insulation, rewiring ceiling fixtures and overseeing the painting of every wood surface on the property. There were a couple of nights, or shall I say mornings, when he didn’t come home till 4 a.m.

Now, by necessity, his energies are focused more on the liturgical life of the parish. And it’s that week before Christmas when he eats standing up, at weird hours, runs a lot of last-minute errands, and doesn’t sleep well. Tonight we will “green” the church, which includes swags, garlands, candles and a huge Christmas tree (Will it be live or artificial this year…? is a regular Church dilemma/crisis) and then, on Epiphany host a large bonfire for the burning of these greens. I’ve always liked this tradition at Creator. The first year we were here Christmas included an ice storm, and Bill threw his back out trying to lift the tree onto the pile that was frozen solid to the ground! Oooops! We are counting on an accident-free, healthy Christmas this year, and we certainly have all the ingredients: warm home, time off, loving family, wonderful friends, small children, large children, good health, food to eat, birth of Christ. What else does a person need? Okay, okay, A little hassle free computer time, maybe.

We wish you a happy, healthy Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Love and best wishes from Jenny and Bill