Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Saturday, December 27, 2008

And the Winners Are.....

Well, despite all of my efforts, not every gift is always a home run. Some early favorites have emerged, however:

Toad seems to like both of his - the cool Sony iPod deck with the sub woofer. I knew he would like this because I already have one at home, and he picked it out himself. He also liked his Magic Bullet, and I look forward to "drinking his milkshake" soon.

Big D must be the only kid I know who gets books on Christmas and stops opening presents so he can sit down in the middle of the floor and start reading. He got the first 3 books in the Redwall series. He also loves all of his Playmobil Romans.



Dubya is super easy to please. He loves everything, but especially his Bendaroos. Since he had a "Very Lego Christmas," he's spent a lot of time building. He does a damn good job at this, considering he's only 5. He built the whole Lego Service Station basically on his own.

And, P3 loves everything. Right now she's cracking up at her Little People Theme Park. But she's also spent a lot of time pushing a dolly in a stroller and trying to ride her new trike. The My First Dollhouse has also been a big hit. The boys play with it, too, but don't tell anybody....

My sister in law called me yesterday to tell me that she was cleaning her wedding ring in the cleaner I gave her. She was a little dismayed at the color of the water, though, and decided that her ring was a lot dirtier than she thought. I may pick up one of these for myself - or maybe my sister can give hers back to me, since she already had one!
And, as for me, so far I've only tried out my new perfume, Ralph Lauren Notorious, which smells lovely - and Toad picked it out all by himself, which makes it so much better. He also got me my big huge Kitchen Aid mixer, which I haven't opened yet because I need to find the counter space. We have now almost replaced all of our kitchen appliances lost in Katrina - except for the electric carving knife we never used much anyway.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Well, I Survived....

But I'm not really sure how. It must be another Christmas miracle. I am so tired I can hardly see straight. Princess Poopie Pants is playing with a new doll house. Big D is playing Boom Blox on the Wii. And Dubya is busy building a Lego Service Station and raiding the kitchen for leftover cake.

Toad is at work listening to his new iPod speakers.

Must have been fun.

And, I am SO glad it's over. Now we can move on to prepping for my real favorite time of year, Mardi Gras and SPRING!

Is it too early to take down the tree? .....Just asking.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

P3 Meets the Big Guy......


She's met him once before as a baby. But here she was at my sister's Christmas party. She was surprisingly unafraid this time and kept crawling back in his lap and asking for hugs. This, of course, makes me think she will go off with any creep in a red suit at any old time. The look on her face has more to do with all of the other people than Santa. There were a lot of ooohhhhs and aaaawwwws when she was there. This is because I am the only person in my family crazy enough to have such young children, so they dote on them. Theirs are all way too cool for Santa.
Dubya joined in, too. But Big D was busy playing football in the backyard, and I think he missed him altogether.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Christmas Tag.....

Jennifer at Another Online Mom asked all her friends to play along with this tag. I'm up early, so I'll give it a shot.... I'm not really that much of a Christmas person, so this should be a challenge!

1. What is/are your favorite Christmas Movie(s)? I love "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

2. Favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night - sung as soulfully as possible

3. Favorite Holiday Memory? Christmas at Mom and Dad's

4. What is your favorite cookie/treat to make? um, I don't make cookies, but I do make our family's artichoke dressing every year now.

5. Have you ever made an igloo? no

6. Do you love Starbucks? Like, not love

7. What makes the perfect Snowman? Mardi Gras beads for the mouth

8. Not sure what happened to #8 so we'll move on..

9. Best gift you have ever received? My iPod Touch from my husband

10. What is the snowman's name on Rudolph? Um, Is it Bumble?

11. Silver or Gold? I'll take either one. Preferably with diamonds.

12. What is your favorite Christmas decoration? I think it's my new Jim Shore nativity

13. What's your Christmas decorating style? late and disorganized.

14. Do you hang stockings? One for each little person

15. How many days do you celebrate Christmas? Hopefully only one.

16. What was your favorite ornament on the tree as a child? plastic ornaments from the Depression - they were my grandfather's

17. Where will you be spending this Christmas? Presents at home, then at my sister's

18. When do you open presents? First thing Christmas morning, but I let the kids open one on Christmas Eve just like my mom used to.

19. Real tree or artificial? Real - always. Love the smell. Hate the mess. I take the good with the bad!

So, tag you are ALL "it!" Please play along and let me know when you post your answers!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Princess Has a New Set of Wheels....


Santa found this hot little ride at Wally World just moments ago. SA-WEET!

I hope her fat little feet reach the pedals!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

If It's Tuesday, I Used to Be.....

a recipient.

"A what?" you say.

A recipient. A person who, on Christmas morning, woke to find disgusting displays of lavish consumerism awaiting her under the tree. I used to have to sort through a sea of gifts to determine what belonged to me and toss all else to my siblings. There were always some fabulous surprises in store - well into adulthood. My mother was a great gift-giver, with a knack for remembering some odd thing you'd mentioned 6 months prior and having it appear on Christmas as though you had placed the order yourself. For example, I once mentioned to her casually that I should have bought white dinnerware because the stuff I had seemed outdated already. I totally forgot about it. To this day, some 10 years later, I eat off of a really nice set of white dishes - 2 full sets for my then family of 2.

Sadly, they were usually repaid with just a token - a sweater set, some perfume, shirts for dad, a gadget of some sort. We tried, we really did. The best gift I ever gave my mom was a German class at UNO. I even gave her a backpack and took her to registration with me. We were like college buddies, and she loved it. That was a good year.

I'd like to think I was always grateful for the amazing Christmas gifts, although I do remember crying about my next door neighbor's awesome doll collection one year. I must have been about 7 or so. I went over to play after the big day and was consumed with envy. I still feel like crap about that, so I'm guessing I'm not a total heel. It's just, now I have 3 kids, and the sheer magnitude of what my parents did every year amazes me. And, now I know, they REALLY wanted us to love every single thing - because that's how I feel. I went shopping today, and I must have looked skyward in silent thanks at least 5 times. My sweet mom - how she loved her kids!

And, so now - I am the giver. I love to find just the right thing for the kids. It's not always easy - for them or for my husband. And, while T tries really hard, it is not in his nature to find "the thing." He got lots of points for the XM radio when it was still really new about 6 years ago. And he's still riding high on last year's iPod Touch, which ranks right up there with my all time favorites. But, one of the things I miss the most about Mom is that there is really no one in the world who knows me like she did. My likes, my dislikes, my hopes and dreams. And maybe that's the key to finding the perfect gift after all.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Let Me Make Something PERFECTLY Clear....

There is absolutely no good reason on God's green earth to put up Christmas lights during the first week of November. This is especially important if your house is located within view of my back yard and you plan on keeping them on for 2 months straight, including at night. And, let's add to that the fact that they CHANGE COLORS from red to green to BLUE and then start FLASHING! I mean, c'mon people! It's bad enough I heard annoying Christmas music at Wal-Mart the other day. I mean, isn't Wal-Mart enough of a penance without the freaking Christmas carols on the first day of November?!?!

As I tell my boys, Christmas never starts at our house until December 1st. Don't ask for decorations or a tree before then. It ain't happening. AND, on December 26th, the tree is just trash and the rest clutter. I can never get it out fast enough!

It's going to be a long season, isn't it?