Christmas 2008

Christmas in my house growing up always meant waking up Christmas morning, opening presents and then the treat of not having to eat breakfast...we ate cookies and drank eggnog. All except for one Christmas when my Pop was going to have to work...and my parents called the Santa hotline. That year "elves" delivered presents to our house while we waited upstairs. Now in my last post I talked about my birthday, which is also Christmas Eve. I left out an interesting part of the story though. See for the last four years we've gone up the hill to see Christmas lights and visit with Santa. Little Man was a month old the first time he went. So, the plan was to take the boys up like last year and the year before. Only, like I said previously, there was freezing rain and it just didn't seem like we should take the boys out in that kind of weather. Of course, they kept asking. My nephew was REALLY worried that Santa wouldn't know what he wanted. He seemed on the edge of being distraught. So, I, Aunt Craft Chick/Mommy proved just how cool I am when I called the North Pole (aka Aunt Doozer) and said that I was calling the Santa hotline so that my son and nephew could talk to Santa and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. The funny part? After giving us a long list over dinner of what he wanted for Christmas, my nephew got stage fright talking to Santa (who was played by my sister's boyfriend Rob) and I stood prompting him so he could get his list out. And Little Man, he out of the blue asked for a Batman toy, after he had told us for months that he wanted a caboose for his train table and car tracks (and obviously, we hadn't gotten a Batman toy). But, the crisis was averted, thanks to a quick pick-up by my sister and her boyfriend! Oh, and me having the Santa hotline on speed dial!

Christmas morning Little Man woke up, we all got up, and we went downstairs where we each opened one present. Little Man was finally able to give Hubby the present he had picked out for him. I had taken him to the Dollar Tree to pick something out for Hubby after his class had learned about money. I figured that would be safe since everything was a dollar I wouldn't have to worry about him picking something expensive. He chose a musical tie. And I told him what it was, but he was only really concerned with the fact that it played music. So, I gave him a dollar and a dime and he handed it to the cashier after she had rung it up, and then we went home and wrapped it right away so Hubby wouldn't see it. And Little Man runs up to him and says, "Daddy I got you a present, it's a surprise, it's a rope." Later he told Hubby it was a scarf. So, it kind of worked out that he didn't understand really what he had picked out! Anyway, afterwards we ate some cookies and drank eggnog before my brother and nephew came over. And then the present madness began. We all received great gifts, and the boys, I'm surprised their heads didn't start spinning. After opening presents we ate more cookies, cleaned up, got dressed, and my brother brought over his inflatable punching bag that he decided to give me since he's getting a different one. And after filling it up we went out into the backyard and EVERYONE (including my Mom) took a whack or two. It was good to get some air and exercise, and let the boys burn off some energy.

The rest of the day was spent looking at our gifts, playing with the boys, cooking, eating, going to the memorial garden to leave flowers for my Pop and my grandparents, and enjoying each other's company. And I realized after looking at the photos that I didn't make one present this year, I must really be slipping!