Christmas

Can't sleep, so I'm blogging. I'll pay for this tomorrow.

But I must write about Christmas. It's now Jan 6th, and I haven't taken ANY of my Christmas stuff down. I guess I'm kinda sad it's over and don't want to go back to the real world. I might dare say, this is the best Christmas we've ever had. And not because we did anything spectacular, or because anyone got the perfect gift. In fact, because of our fears of the economy right now, we scaled waaaay back this year and only spent a fraction of what we usually spend on our kids. This year their lists only had a couple of things on them, largely due to the fact that we cut out the cable back in October, so they haven't seen all those major marketing techniques on TV the last couple of months. The only thing Cade had on his list was something for our horse, and some Webkins. This made me so happy, since last year his list was two pieces of college ruled paper taped together, and he was still adding on Christmas Eve!

And although I admit, I was looking at their meager piles and wondering (Is it enough?) when Christmas Day came, my heart was so full because they were so happy and appreciative of the couple of things they received, and they didn't even know the difference. It just confirmed to me that if you have everything, you value nothing. For the first time in a long time, I didn't have that let-down feeling that I usually get on Christmas night, resulting from the kids getting too much and not playing with most of it. It was just right, and I'm happy that the bar has been lowered, because I've felt like the amount of gifts we have loaded them up with has been getting out of hand, and pulling us further and further away from what it should be about.


Bailey said at least once a day during December "I LOVE Christmas!" And I said what do you love about it, the presents or all the fun things we do together? and she said "Both." But I know it's the traditions. And the funny things that will forever stand out in your minds.


This Christmas was the best, but it wasn't without some hiccups. On Christmas Eve, Dave and I have always taken the kids on a sleigh ride at Hardware Ranch, and we were especially excited for Avery to experience the Clydsedale horses pulling the sleigh this year. We have done this for about the last nine years, but for some reason, this year we got up there and they were CLOSED.

Yup.

No sign, no explanation, just a whole lot of other disappointed families like ours, standing around, wondering "Now what do we do?!?!?" Well we were all bundled up and no place to go, so we went home, grabbed some sleds, and went sledding on the Golf Course with a bunch of deer as our audience. This was a first for Avery, and she squealed with fear and adrenaline. Now it was getting dark, so we sat on the hill and looked for signs of Santa.

Then we headed home to get ready for him. First we read and acted out the Nativity with our figurines. (Of course, Avery had to add a horse to the mix, so Mary rode a horse.) This was followed by an impromtu talent show on the piano and guitar. Then we had to open just ONE present.

OK, maybe two.

Pajama bottoms from me- Yes, I MADE them with my sewing machine! A round of applause, please!

Then they were dying to open their siblings' gift, because they knew it would be good.
Bailey got a CRITTER CRUISER car for her gerbil!

I don't care who you are, that's funny stuff to see a car being powered by a gerbil! Unfortunately, Oreo only got to joy ride for one day, because she escaped her cage on Christmas Day and hasn't been seen since then. Still no sign of her. (Or smell . . . . . . .ugh!) So now we have this hot rod cruiser and no gerbil.


One of my favorite things about Christmas morning is the looks of my confused /bewildered /excited /not quite awake yet/kids with serious bedhead. Like this one:

And once Avery really woke up, she kept saying "Santa came! Santa came!"

Cade said the teepee wasn't even on his list, but it was his favorite thing! How did Santa know?!

And sweet Bailey, just wanted a hedgehog Webkin (I know, a hedgehog?!) and some Breyer horses.

And WE got a nice little Christmas surprise: Dave chipped his front tooth off! Merry Christmas to us, that will be $2000.00 to fix! Just try and find a dentist working between Christmas and New Years . . . .

So Dave spent the entire break carrying a tube of superglue in his pocket and continually glueing his tooth back on like a redneck hillbilly. I did take a picture of it, but he said "You are NOT putting this on the blog!" So just use your imagination.

(All he wants for Christmas is his front tooth fixed. . . .)

Then it was over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go! We had a wonderful ham dinner, then had fun playing with Bailey's gift from G&G Lund: Twister Dance DVD. Oh, this was funny. Not one of us has a rythmic bone in our bodies!

After the fun, we had to drive home in the blizzard, and I mean BLIZZARD! Our windshield wipers kept getting ice chunks on them so we had to reach out and flick them to get the ice off so we could see. We could only see about a foot in front of us, so Dave had to "use the force" as he likes to say. It was a white-knuckle drive all the way home, and Dave and I were getting increasingly irritated with our hyped up, wild, downright annoying kids who were laughing and screaming and totally oblivious to the fearful situation we were in. (Hayley can attest to the danger of this drive!) When we FINALLY made it to our neighborhood, Dave and I were a ball of nerves, and after asking our kids repeatedly to SETTLE DOWN and BE QUIET SO DAD CAN CONCENTRATE SO WE DON'T DIE for Pete's sake, we told them they had each lost a toy from Santa for their behavior. (Yes, we are the big fat mean parents who take their kids toys away from them on Christmas Day!) Hopefully they don't remember that part of the day.

But just before we get home, we notice our neighbor is stuck in their van, spinning their bald tires and can't make it up the street to their house. She is behind the van pushing, wearing nylons and church shoes, with snow up to her knees! Long story short, we drop our (crying) kids off at home and tell them to get their teeth brushed and PJ's on while we help our neighbor. Dave and I spent the next hour and 15 min. getting our neighbors up the street and into their driveway. It took four guys pushing and me driving, and a whole lot of shoveling to get them unstuck. We looked like eskimos by the time we were done, and by this time, I just had the giggles about this whole "Perfect Christmas Evening" It really was funny. (Notice Dave is trying not to show his tooth when he smiles)

We shoveled off our deck so we could soak in the hot tub and calm our nerves -We needed it!

And what to our wondering eyes should appear when we came home? Three innocent looking children all snug in their bed, just reading Avery a bedtime story after getting PJ's on and their teeth brushed, just like we asked.

Now before you say Awwwww, look how sweet, let's not forget their devilish behavior on the ride home, that caused them to have a toy taken away. Now they are nothing but angels who did everything we asked the first time!

But really, how can you stay mad at this?

The week following Christmas is nothing but a fun blur. The kids had 16 days off from school, and I was fortunate enough to have Dave home for 13 of those days. We just enjoyed hanging out as a family. We had a great time with no schedule, no cell phones, no to-do lists. I think December 26th is the best day of the year. Not a thing to do!!!!

We played with our new toys, went to see "Bedtime Stories", went to the condo in Bear Lake and went swimming, went sledding, played games, and visited friends. We spent New Years with our good friends Kami, Bryon, Dan, and Janette, and had a big sleepover in Kami's brand new giant house. It was just like the good old college days of hanging out, except a little louder now, since we've added 9 kids (holy cow!) to the mix. We are so grateful for such fun friends.

That's all. I'm going to bed.