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We enter our house a little while later both laden with bags.  I head to my bedroom to wrap five gifts immediately.  I lock my door to ensure that I complete this task undisturbed.  Each gift undetected.  Thankfully, Kookie was so distracted by his gifts for Emmie that he paid no attention to what I had packed into my shopping cart as we stood in line together. 

Once I finish wrapping the presents, I call all my children into the living room to open their first gift.  

On November twenty-ninth, you ask?  

Absolutely!  This is a very special Christmas gift.

My two youngest are the first to arrive.

“What is it, Mommy?”

“What, Mommy?”

A chorus of two beloved voices greets my ears.  I smile down at them as Janna enters the room.

“What is it?  I’m in the middle of wrapping presents.”

“Still?” I ask, astounded that she’s still wrapping presents nearly an hour and a half after I dropped her at home.

“I had forty-two bags of them, remember?” she teases me with a twinkle in her jade green eyes.

I chuckle.  “How could I possibly forget?  They took up the entire back seat of the van!”  I glance around.  “Where are Kookie and Everett?”

“Right here,” responds my eldest son.

But my second son is nowhere to be seen.  “I guess Everett doesn’t want his first Christmas present!” I holler so that the entire house can hear.

A moment later, after taking the stairs two at a time, Everett suddenly appears at the top of our basement staircase, his blond head popping up over the banister.  “We get to open a Christmas present today?” he asks eagerly.

“Yep.”  I begin to hand them out to my children.  “Wait until everybody has one.”  

Once the gifts are all distributed, I urge them all, “Open them!”

A frenzy of wrapping paper ripping is suddenly happening.  I can see several disappointed faces.

“A book?” Abner asks, disenchantment clearly lacing his voice.

Alastair stares at his as though trying to find something positive to say about this boring present.

Kookie stares at his in consternation.  “Is this a journal?  Mahhhm, guys don’t keep diaries.”

Everett just blinks at his.

Only Janna is smiling.  “Thanks, Mom.  I can always use another notebook.”  

I smile at my little author.  

“No, no.  It’s not a diary.  Or a journal.  Or a notebook.  But it is going to be a book, Abs.  You were right.  But it’s not really one yet.  Right now, it’s blank.”

“What do you mean?” Alastair asks me.

“This is a very special year.  I have waited years for this Christmas.  Do you know why?”

They all shake their heads.

“Because you are all finally old enough to learn and record our family Christmas traditions.”

I hear several groans.  I laugh breathlessly.  “Guys.  Bear with me.  Abs, do you like the fudge I make?”

He nods his head vigorously while licking his lips.

“Alastair, do you like the Christmas cookies I bake every year?”

He bobs his head, his long, dark fringe falling into his eyes.  Mimicking his eldest brother.  “Yes!”  

“Everett, do you like the Swedish meatballs that we always eat on Christmas Eve?”

His eyes light up as he nods his head.

“Kookie, do you like—”

“Everything we eat on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the weeks leading up to Christmas?” he finishes.  “Yes, yes, and yes!”

I laugh.  There isn’t anything he doesn’t enjoy eating.  Clearly, this one got my genes.

“Nana, do you like the pecan balls your Grammy always used to make?”

“You know I do, Mom,” she responds sardonically.

I look around the room at my five kids.  “All of these things are traditions that have been passed down from your grandmothers.  And I don’t want any of you to lose them.  So this year, you are each going to work on creating a book full of our family traditions and our family recipes so that you can keep them close to your heart for the rest of your lives.  You will each be able to carry our traditions into the new families you create with your spouses.  And you won’t lose our delicious family recipes!”

They’re looking slightly more enthused now.

“So, I get to write down the recipe for your Christmas cookies?” Alastair asks with excitement dancing in his eyes.

“Better than that.  Since you’ve all been taking typing classes, I’m going to have each of you type out five recipe cards.  I’ll proofread them all to make sure there are no mistakes.  Then I’ll print a copy of each recipe off for each of you.  And you can glue them into your notebooks.  You will include twenty-five recipes in your Christmas book, one for every day in December leading up to Christmas Day.”

“So we’re making a cookbook,” Everett asserts.

“Yes,” I respond haltingly, “but I’m also going to have each of you write down twelve Christmas traditions we partake in every year.  This afternoon, we’re going to do the first one.”

Abner’s eyes light up.  “Are we going to cut down our Christmas tree?”

“Yes, we are!” I reply with joy.

“Yay!” Abs and Alastair are now dancing around the living room.

“Are we done?” Janna asks.  “I need to finish wrapping my presents before we leave for the tree farm.”

“Go, go!” I shoo her away.  “Just don’t misplace your books!  We’re going to start filling them in tomorrow.”

“Mom?” Kookie asks.

“Hmm?”

“Is it time for lunch?”

I grin.  This one!  Always thinking about food!

“It’s not even ten-thirty yet,” I respond.

“Ugh,” he groans.  “I forgot I got up at the stroke of dawn.  I’m going back to bed for a while.”  He disappears down the hallway a moment later.

Abs is now frowning at me.  “Aren’t we going to cut down our tree?” he pouts.

“Yes.  But not yet.  Kookie needs a nap and some food.  And Nana has presents to wrap.  Then we all need to eat lunch first.  Do you want to help me make it?”

“Nah.  I’m going back downstairs.  I’m building a Lego house.”

“Me too!” Alastair throws in his two cents.  

They both race downstairs, Everett fast on their heels.  I glance down.  Three of the five books have been tossed onto the coffee table.  Only Kookie and Janna carried theirs off to their rooms.  I shrug my shoulders.  Just as well.  No opportunity for these three to get lost before tomorrow.  I scoop them up and stow them in the bookcase in our dining room.  Tomorrow we will begin our great Christmas project.  I’m looking forward to it.  But, technically, we begin today with our trip to harvest our Christmas tree.  Always a favorite moment for me and the kids.