Antlers and Fruit Punch and Frosting

When they filed in to the church and took their places on the stands, all of the jabbering and chatting that had filled the church as parents caught up with each other and younger brothers and sisters ran up and down the aisles stopped, and the noise faded and all eyes turned to the kindergarteners dressed in festive holiday colors.  Miss Kay and Mrs. Chichosz read parts of their Christmas story and the antlers of the children's reindeer hats bounced as they sang brief snippets of various songs.  Sam smiled for photos briefly but then took the singing thing very seriously.  When I wasn't wrestling Eva to try to keep her from falling backwards over the pew or kick Seun's dad's head in front of us, I tried to snap a few photos.  But mostly I grinned and occasionally sang along to the songs Sam had been practicing in the car all week.  After the program we entered the chaos of the church basement for some Christmas cookies and red fruit punch and a little time with friends, and maybe nobody noticed that Eva still had on her jammies which were already smeared with frosting and sprinkles from cupcake baking earlier in the day.