Christmas

We got the boys bookcases put together on Christmas Eve.  The boys like how they turned out and it is nice to get their room put back together. Just in time for them to have a place to put their new Christmas gifts.

We made it to church Christmas Eve, but arrived right on time, which meant there wasn't a seat in the house.  They added some extra chairs which we were fortunate enough to get.  We always like to sing Christmas songs and the kids always like the candlelit Silent Night at the end of the service.  For whatever reason, this year, the songs were soooooo  slow.  They were slow-ish songs to begin with, but they were sung so slow it was almost comical.  Todd kept leaning over whispering things like, "They didn't prepare enough songs so they said, Just drag it out."

Our Christmas Day began at midnight.  Not because we went to a midnight service, but because that was when our first visitor came into our room.  Josiah came to tell us that he couldn't sleep.  He came back at 2:21 a.m. to tell us again that he couldn't sleep and he was quite irritated with me that I wouldn't allow him to go downstairs to open presents.  I was getting quite irritated with him that he wouldn't go back to sleep.  I don't care if you sleep, just go to your bed and lie down!  Caroline graced our presence at 3:30 a.m. to tell us she couldn't sleep.  Guess who could sleep?  Me. Henry and Josiah got up somewhere in the 5 o'clock hour.  Caroline actually slept til 6:40 which, at that point, felt late.

Apparently Josiah and I are on a first name basis now.

The kids joint gift was the movie, Home Alone.

We made them open their gifts from us one at a time (since they only got one).  They were each happy with their gifts.  Caroline got a Next Generation doll.  She played with it all day, and Grandma got her extra clothes, so her doll has traveled the world, gone to the beach, worn her pajamas, and made a second round of all three outfits.  The doll came with the name, Reece, but Caroline immediately said she thought the doll looked like a JaNeesa and so that's what she's been calling her.


Caroline also got a giant Rapunzel doll from Uncle Will & Aunt Meghan that she has held and loved on and brushed her hair the entire day.

Nana and Grandma both gave her dresses and Caroline said they were beautiful and asked to wear them immediately.  She made her Lego Princess carriage and overall had a great day.

We got Henry football gloves and Tom Brady socks.  He was ecstatic to get the football gloves.  He was wearing them off and on all day long, tossing his new football as he went.


Henry did his new Lego kit from Grandad & Nana right away, he put his license plates on his new bookshelves, and he even made time to play with all of Josiah & Caroline's new toys (whether he had permission to or not). 

We got Josiah the game of Clue, the silver line edition.  The new game comes with an extra weapon and extra cards that make the game more interesting.  We've played a few games already and they've been enjoying it, although they like to act out every scenario.  Also, if your person is in a room, they must be sitting in the chair, and the weapon must be in wielded in such a way that it appears the murder is currently taking place.  It is never boring to play games with them.   

Josiah, too, put together his Lego kit from Grandad & Nana right away.  He regaled us with his new magic kit from Uncle Will & Aunt Meghan.  And he pushed the button on his new Steamboat Willie at least 100x.  He loves Steamboat Willie and he sits proudly on his new bookshelf.  Grandma & Grandpa did well with that gift.  Todd, meanwhile, is researching loudest dog toys ever made as future birthday gifts for my parents.


Todd made his Christmas morning tradition of sausage balls (sausage, cheese, & Bisquick mixed together).  All but Caroline munched on them all morning long.  I did my Christmas tradition of not making lunch, which is why we were all hangry around 2pm.  Todd and I decided weeks ago that we were going to have tacos for Christmas dinner.  Todd thought a new tradition of trying a different ethnic food each Christmas would be neat.  I suggested we stick with the tacos because they're awesome.  We can try food around the world for New Year's.  (We actually tried to make Orange Chicken with Lo Mein noodles this week.  Didn't turn out so well.)

It was a good Christmas.  The kids said the best Christmas ever.

As part of our winter break, I've been trying to clean up some rooms.  For the dining room, that meant finishing up our month long Monopoly game.  As with all Monopoly games, it came with tears, frustration, anger, as well as joy at missing all of Josiah's hotels during one's turn.  Spent all his money, Josiah did, and then he became rich again with his hotels.  His risk paid off.  He was constantly trying to give me money when I was running low or mortgaging out my properties.  My oft-repeated response was, I don't need your charity, I can make my own money.  I lost the game, but still had my pride intact.

We also played quite a bit of Pictionary.  It was mostly a very fun time, except for one child who got incredibly frustrated with their teammates not being able to identify their pictures.  There was a lot of mad pointing to an already drawn picture and lots of frustratingly said, "Come on!" Caroline cracked me up one round because it was her turn to draw and the word was, CRAB.  She drew the beginnings of a crab - she had the body, the antennae, and two legs.  She drew the line for the water indicating it was under the water.  When I tried to show her my clawed hand to give her a clue as to what to draw next, she didn't get it.  I told her to keep drawing as the boys weren't figuring out her picture.  She added a sunshine.

We made it to the movies this week as well and saw Mary Poppins Returns.  We got the tickets the day before and from that point on Josiah told us nearly every five minutes, I can't wait to see Mary Poppins.  I'm so excited to see Mary Poppins.  He is the reason we usually tell our kids our plans five minutes before they occur.  The kids and I really liked the movie.  Todd couldn't help but compare it to the original.  I sat next to Henry and he literally didn't sit still for the entire two and a half hours we were in the theater.  We had the reclining seats and he was messing with the buttons for a full 2 hours 29 minutes.  He was sitting, he was standing, he was on the edge of his chair, he just didn't stop moving.  At home, he never sits on the couch for the whole movie.  He's got other things to do, footballs to toss, pictures to draw, games to play.  Since the movie, Josiah's been obsessed with Dick Van Dyke and has been speaking in a British accent as well.  He's got a pretty good accent, too.  In addition to adding, actor, to his list of possible careers (thanks to Dick Van Dyke), Josiah also said he may be president some day.  I told him if he became president, I'd like a tour of the White House.  Josiah's response?  You can if you're alive.  Thanks...

We're hoping for a quiet New Year's around here.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow, which may mean the fireworks will be suspended.  Since they usually go off nearly all night long, I'm eagerly hoping for rain.