We had a lovely Christmas... a few things went wrong, but it wouldn't be real life if the baby slept peacefully through the night or the septic tank didn't back up or the dog ate politely and kept all his food in his tummy...
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| Double Piggy Back |
Christmas Eve found the kids excited...except Daniel. He was just tired. So tired, in fact, that he said that he would throw a rock at Santa and throw all his toys in the garbage because he just wanted a lump of coal. Within ten minutes, he was found like this:
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| No visions of Sugar Plums for this kid! |
Every year on Christmas Eve, we watch The Polar Express. However, this year, we've moved our DVDs to a hard drive...and The Polar Express had copied in French instead of English. We had to watch a 1977 version of The Christmas Carol instead.
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| Lula, after eating Santa's cookies! |
Fiona was worried about falling asleep, so Mark told her all about Santa's magic dust. He sprinkles it over the children who are still awake and they immediately fall asleep. She was out in five minutes!
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| Ninja Penguin (and his sidekick/little brother)! |
Ian was the first up. This always surprises me because on most mornings, we have to threaten him with the loss of computer privileges to get him out of bed. The three boys nicely played with Ninja Penguin until the girls finally got out of bed around 8:00 AM.
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| Morning Snuggles |
I was sure that Daniel wouldn't be able to handle this major disruption to his normal routine. But he took the massive load of presents in stride and didn't melt down until the next day...
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| Tools: The best gift for a Working Man |
Our favorite terrible toddler-zilla enjoyed...the candy. What else? That's my favorite part too!
Before chaos:
This is my favorite picture of present opening:
Fiona got a BARBIE! I don't have a favorable opinion of Barbie and I'm never too sad when Jack chews them up and we have to throw them away. Fiona, my fancy girl, loves Barbie and was SUPER surprised to receive one for Christmas. This Barbie is more health-oriented with her bike and puppies than fashion-oriented, so she can stay. For now.
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| "A Wii U controller? We don't even have a Wii U! What a waste!" |
The other BIG DEAL was the new video game system. I don't have a favorable opinion of video games either, so upgrading our 15 year old system for the latest system was not my idea. One of the kids asked for a new controller for our old system, so when Shane opened a controller for a the new system, he was understandably confused. I said, "Oh, well. Might as well put that away with our other controllers," knowing that he would have to see the big shiny box that held the new Wii U system.
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| He walked right by it |
Shane missed the box completely. But Ian saw it and it didn't take him long to put two and two together...
...and now the kids have completely forgot about every present they have except for the Wii U (and the Leap Frog Leapster-a hand held "educational" gaming device for the little kids). The boys spent the entire day playing Mario yesterday. And they were so grumpy that I banned them from the Wii for 24 hours. Tonight we are going "Sabbath" on them and pulling the plug on screens. Family Board Game Night will commence, complete with Doritos, as soon as someone asks to watch a movie or play a video game.
My two favorite moments this Christmas were Heidi turning one month old and starting to smile...
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| Mark with eight of his nine children. |
...and Laura coming to visit. We wish Ami could have come too, but Charlie has the chicken pox. Poor little guy. Maybe next year we will be together... I'll ask Santa!
