Christmas 2014

We had a great Christmas day.  It did start WAY too early again (remember this one?). I heard excitement bubbling up from Em and Peter’s room around 3am.  But I didn’t loose it, just calmly told them they had to go back to sleep or their stuff might disappear.  It worked….until 5am.   They played and ate stocking candy until 7 when they came barging into our room ready to wake us up with their carol singing.  I had been up listening to them for a few hours, so was in that sleepy excited state.  I think we all were.  And even though you’re tired, your pumped up with adrenalin.  It’s kind of a cool feeling, but one I don’t know if I could sustain more than once or twice a year.    Sorry for the blurry picture (I was trying to simultaneously video).  I love these excited faces. 

Here’s about three minutes of our Christmas morning condensed down to 15 seconds.  Wow, that’s a lot of happiness jammed in there. 

Santa brings the kids one gift that they’ve asked for, something to wear, something to read and some sugar cereal.  Sometimes they get a few extra little surprises thrown in there. This year Santa brought them all underwear too….not sure how he knew they were desperate for some fresh pairs.  Hazel’s loot: art stuff (canvases and an easel), the new Wendy Mass book, a coat and some whiffle (on her request, can you see her chugging it during that video?) Charlie got The Frog.  He’s been wanting this ever since Uncle Tal brought one to the lake last summer.  Jeff of course was very happy with this gift, he got his old car out from when he was a kid and now their racing.  It makes him feel 12 again.  The battery and remote were too far out of Santa’s price range so Charlie spent his holiday building his car and doing money jobs like crazy to buy what he needed to get this car racing before he went back to school.  There was a lot of working and building which of course made us happy, but also a lot of complaining and worrying. And a whole heck of a lot of finagling to try to figure out how to get money faster.  He was trying to sell things off, cash in gift cards, return gifts, you name it.  I mostly made him work for the money. I think he’s got my compulsive gene….he just wanted to skip all the hard stuff and have that car out there racing.  We held firm, fielded a lot of complaints, hired him and fired him and finally he had the money to get that car going.  He was so proud of himself.  I think, even with all the angst it brought, it was a net gain for Charlie.  It feels so good to work hard for something.  Emmeline asked for a suitcase and an umbrella.  She got an umbrella from my mom so Santa just gave her this cute little suitcase.  I was a little worried on Christmas Eve that she was going to be sad about her request when she realized she didn’t have a toy like everyone else, but she was pleased as punch with that suitcase.  She played with it all day.  Packed stuff up, walked around the back yard, took it on our walk, unpacked stuff. I think she now feels like a real grown up.  She also got some little critters (love those toys) and some uniform long sleeved shirts (also something she’s been pining for).  I love my practical little Emmeline.  And peter got his beloved “RC truck that will drive over Toys.”  He was delighted.  That boy is always delighted.         We spent all morning opening gifts.  Actually, pretty much all day.  I always wish I had a picture of the whole room, all the mess and chaos.  I kind of love it.  It’s one of the only days all year where I don’t really have an agenda, which feels especially nice after having such a jam packed schedule for the whole season.  I feel like all I have to do is enjoy, to be in the present.  And maybe snap a few pictures (though I don’t even do that very well). It was so fun to have little baby Zara with us.  She is a delight, and my kids all adored her. My mom and dad sent Jeff and I tennis racquets for Christmas.  Like, really nice ones.  Can’t wait to go and use them.  (happy that picture is a little dark, we are dorks).  Julie’s Brother and his wife came over for brunch and hung around our messy house with us.  We ate Christmas Strata and sat around by the fire.  It was a crazy warm day so we went out for a walk around the neighborhood.  The kids each brought one of their toys to try them out in a space where there wasn’t wrapping paper covering the ground.  Em of course brought her rolley bag….she loved racing peter’s RC truck with it.  And Hazel started to get the hang of her Pogo stick from Grammie and Grandfather.  She was worried she’d never get the hang of it, but by the next day she could jump for miles on it.     

All in all, it was a great Christmas.