So we started off our Christmas season with a Fake Tree. You might remember way back in May I had to order a fake tree before we moved here because real trees are hard to come by. And I'm glad I went through all the trouble. One day in early December I ran by the Exchange and saw a line of people at least a block long waiting in the parking lot behind the trailer of an 18 wheeler. Apparently, THE live tree shipment had arrived that morning and those poor souls were hoping their Perfect Christmas Tree was in that trailer. I was very glad to not have to wait in that line. And, to be honest, I really liked our Fake Tree. It was very unlike the fake trees of my early childhood where you could see the metal pole in between the 6 branches. This one actually looked life-like. And the best part....no needles to clean up! However, I did discover one important advantage of the real tree--it eventually starts to die, so at some point (shortly after Christmas) we are forced to take it down before it becomes a fire hazard. The Fake Tree had no such expiration date, so I'm embarrassed to say I just took it down the day before yesterday.
We had a relatively quiet Christmas and New Years. We went to the 4:00pm Children's Mass on Christmas Eve, which made the kids very happy because that meant they didn't have to waste any of their Christmas Day playing-new-toys-time going to Church. ("Jesus is the Reason for the Season" doesn't seem to carry much weight when there are new Nerf guns to shoot at your sister.) Our family likes to celebrate with a big Christmas Eve dinner, and the timing of Mass made it very difficult for dinner to occur at a timely manner. So as soon as Mass ended, we raced home and I threw the turkey breast into the oven. (I've learned from my in-laws that turkey breasts are the way to go when it comes to holiday dinners.) I've also learned from them that you can't rush a Holiday Feast, so we finally sat down to dinner around 8:30pm. Other than Mary not eating her dinner (which is the norm) there were no big moments of drama. After dinner, it was time to do the annual drive around the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights. We began this tradition several years ago when the kids were little. Back then we'd start our drive around 8pm, and by 8:30 the kids were lulled to sleep by the mysterious force that causes children to fall asleep in moving vehicles. When we'd get back home Bill and I would carefully and gently take the sleeping children to their beds and then "Santa" would have the rest of the evening to do his job. Ahhh, the good old days. This year, we didn't even begin our yearly drive until 10:00 (already way past
Unfortunately the kids had very high hopes for Christmas morning and they could not stay asleep, so at 5:52AM we were not-so-pleasantly awoken by four very impatient children. Our rule is that we all go discover Santa's presents together, so despite our protests we found ourselves stumbling to the living room to see what had been left for them. There they discovered the Legos, clothes, games, Nerf guns, nail polish, and playsets that Santa had delivered.
The rest of our Christmas Day was relatively calm. Mary spent the morning painting her fingernails with new nail polish.....
And Michael used the wirecutter to remove the Nerf Guns from their boxes. (When did wire cutters become a Christmas Morning necessity?)
As the day went on, the kids continued playing with their new toys, and I prepared for Christmas Dinner. Normally we would just have leftovers from the night before, but this year one of Bill's fellow Marines was joining us for dinner, and I didn't think it's be very good manners to serve the guy (obvious) leftovers. So, I had to work a little harder than usual to make it look like the green beans, sweet potatoes, and turkey were making their first appearance. We all had a very pleasant meal, and as things started to wind down our guest excused himself to use the restroom. (At this point in the story, it's important to remember that the kids had received an arsenal of nerf guns for Christmas.) A few minutes later as the bathroom door opened, we heard the kids yell, "Reach for the Sky!" Then we heard the Major yell, "I surrender!" That, however, was a diversion, and the Marine was not going to go down without a fight. For the next few minutes we heard giggles and nerf darts hitting walls and children in what has famously been called "The Battle of the Hallway" I think all the kids (& Marines) had a fun time. (Note to future guests: you may want to arm yourself before using the facilities.)
The following week was pretty quiet. The kids spent their vacation playing with the neighborhood kids and couldn't wait until New Year's Eve when they could stay up until Midnight. Finally, the big day arrived and we decided to spent our night watching movies and playing games. We watched the movies early in the evening because we were afraid
If you've never played this game, each player moves around the gameboard and "experiences" the trials and tribulations of Life (such as graduating from college, having kids, losing a job, etc...) When you reach the end of the game, each player "retires" and whoever has the most money wins. For those of you wishing you had a sweet, close-knit family like ours who liked to play games and watch movies on New Years Eve, I'm about to burst your bubble. The Game of Life is not a good game to play with three children who were very tired and obviously grumpy and unwilling to accept the unfair challenges that Life has to offer. (Mary had crashed on the couch by 9:15.) If you were a fly on the wall, you would have heard this loving exchange that evening:
Michael: "Emma, hurry up! It's your turn!"
Emma: "No it's not, it's Andrew's turn!"
Michael: "No it's no-ot! Andrew went while you were in the bathroom."
Emma: Fine! I'll go! You're so impatient!
Emma finally spins the wheel. She lands on 6.
Emma: "Inheritance! Receive $100,000 Woohoo!
Michael: "Emma, you're such a cheater! You skipped a space!"
Emma: "I DID NOT! You're just jealous because I'm winning."
Mom (who isn't too happy with this game either because I'd just put the 5th kid in my little car, and there are only 4 seats!) "Michael, no one cheated. Be a good sport. It's your turn."
Michael spins the wheel. He lands on 2.
Michael: "Lose your job! This game is so unfair! I hate this game! I told you I didn't want to play!"
It's a good thing there isn't a jail in this game because I'm sure one of our players would have ended up there (whether or not the little space said he was supposed to.) Finally, at around 11:40, we started getting ready for midnight. They don't have a big ball drop or anything too exciting around here, and the AFN channels were just running their usual shows (which included a Justine Bieber special that the boys refused to watch), so we turned on the radio and rung in the new year with the one AFN station that we get. By 12:15, the kids were in bed and Bill and I were putting away the champagne glasses.
For our last Holiday event, we decided to have some friends (and their families) from Bill's work come over for dinner on New Year's Day. I made Cuban pork and black beans and rice. Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner although (again) Mary didn't eat much. After dinner the kids watched movies while the adults decided to play Bananagrams. (I know the in-laws are thinking this was my idea, but actually, one of the guests brought the game!) Anyway, in our second or third round of Bananagrams, we heard Mary make an eerie, ominous cough and she started heading over to the kitchen trash can. Next thing you know, she's barfing up the the little she ate for dinner, and whatever else she had consumed that day. Shortly after that the same guy who took part in "The Battle of the Hallway" grabbed his dish of lentil soup that he brought with him and abruptly took off. Apparently he can handle being ambushed in the bathroom, but vomit was too much for him. In his defense, he was a single Marine and has probably never seen the stomach contents of a five-year-old. The other guests (who were mostly parents) calmly finished the round of Bananagrams, and politely said it was time for them to go on home. I wouldn't be surprised if they were slathering their kids with Purell before they got in the car. I'm sure this was a New Years Day they won't soon forget!
Since then the kids have gone back to school and we've settled into the routine of regular life. January-April marks "birthday season" around here, so I'm sure I'll have lots of exciting events to share in the next few months. I hope you all had a great holiday! We miss you!
awww, sounds like ya'll are making some great memories there!! Ansley and Emma would get along so great...they think so much alike!
ReplyDeleteChris