Christmas 2011

Gee...it's December 29th, and I haven't written a blog about Christmas yet.

Blame Jeff.  He got me a Kindle Fire for Christmas.  And it has internet capabilities, so I can read all of your blogs and my e-mails and facebook, but it is kind of a pain to type on since I've never texted so basically I'm never on the regular computer to blog anymore.

Got it?

For the record, I got Jeff pajama pants and a running hat...so I LOSE in the spouse present competition this year.  (Jeff would like to point out repeatedly that he had numerous gift cards to Amazon that he had received as bonuses through work...so he didn't actually have to spend money on my delightfully fancy gift.  Whatev's.  Still makes me look bad...)

Christmas morning was hilarious and adorable and fantastic...as we expected.  We had put Andrew on the floor in Michael's room so that our early riser wouldn't discover the presents and open them before waking us up.  Andrew was thrilled to have guard duty.  Never-the-less, they came into our room at 5:15am...chatty and excited, with Michael proclaiming, "Mommy!  We were good!".   But despite their eagerness to tear into their loot, we just couldn't do that to our parents, having promised them the ability to "sleep in" until 6am.  We stalled them for FORTY-FIVE minutes in our room...ugh. 

We also tried to enforce my family tradition of each person opening their gift individually while others watch.  Jeff's family all tears into their gifts at once, which causes you to miss out on who gave them that gift and watching their face while they open it, etc.  I personally like the giving of gifts just as much as receiving...I want to watch other open.  The kids did mostly okay with it.  Michael occasionally laid down on his next present in a pout...but he mostly was excited to hand out gifts and we, of course, let the kids help us unwrap our gifts, which made them happy.  Lily was so so so excited to give her gifts to everyone.  There were many exclamations of joy, fist pumping, and jumping around in glee.  I don't remember much after I opened my Kindle.  Luckily, Jeff had hidden it in the back of the tree so it was my last gift opened.

The rest of the day was the typical Christmas afternoon.  Lots of opening impossible to open plastic and assembling teeny tiny pieces.  We had almost no toys with batteries...so YAY! However, waking up at 5:15 (after going to bed at nearly 9:00 Christmas eve) and with candy as their only sustinance...they were a mass of  misery by 2pm.  Tantrums, meltdowns, fits of rage, fits of grief... drama. 

It was lovely.  And irritating.  But mostly wonderful. 

Oh!  My Kindle is done charging.  See ya laters-