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| Only the gifts on the far left are for the kids. Most were for the rest of the family! |
I had to get tree #2 in on the fun. I've really enjoyed my angel tree and its multicolored lights. It looks so pretty in the dark dining room as I sit in the living room at night.
It was hard to believe all of the prep was finally done (short of one jello fruit salad and some packing). Every year when we bring out the Advent calendars, they seem like an insurmountable climb. But every year, the little tree one goes from sparse to filled, and the doors on the rest are opened one by one, and before we know it, we're there. It ended up being a weird year for me, as even when I got to the end point, I was sort of in disbelief that it was over. I barely felt ready for it all. Even in the middle of our celebrations, it didn't seem like it was the real thing. Not sure why. Too much busyness and not enough emotional preparation? Not enough seasonal events prior? Bigger kids? Subconscious emotional detachment since I know that these happy Christmases won't last forever? Something just felt different.
Anyway, after a shorter-than-ideal but reasonable night's sleep, Jacob tried to convince us to get up around 7:30, but we held out until after 8 because Carter was still sleeping! Jacob was all too happy to wake him up, and he perked up pretty quickly. I made them wait a few minutes until I got our cinnamon rolls in the oven, just because it makes things flow better if they cook while we open gifts. And, of course, the traditional picture...
They got right into opening their stockings, which as usual were filled with mostly candy. Carter had the bonus of a small pack of Legos--a popcorn cart vendor that I couldn't resist.
It was sort of a weird gift year, too. In addition to the shipping debacle, things were pretty minimalist. Jacob had one big gift, and in the end, Carter did, too. Jacob loved his special pair of sneakers--his next basketball shoes!
He also got a basketball ornament (a shiny, orange, glass basketball), some Nike gear to wear under his basketball uniform, and a basketball nutcracker from Carter. I'll admit that I panicked a little bit once I had wrapped all of the gifts that there just wasn't much. Honestly, it's not about the stuff...it's really just that we get to do this once per year, and if it only lasts five minutes, that's sort of sad. I cherished those moments as a kid and I wanted to stretch it out as much as I could. So Craig got the Nike stuff at the last minute, and I tracked down a reasonably priced lucite basketball display box for Jacob's special basketball that he got signed by a Raptor last year when he went to a preseason game. He was pretty surprised to see it!
Carter was very excited to get his big gift, the Treasure X King's Gold Tomb. It's basically a playset that starts out with a bunch of puzzles to solve to find the treasure hidden in the set. Jacob gave him a little add-on to go with it--basically a little coffin to dig through and find treasure and a figure.
He also got an ornament--a Grinch one since he watched the newest movie a ton this season--along with some Call of Duty-themed army guys and a rock tumbler. However, upon further investigation, I think the tumbler is going back. I went the cheap route (just in case it didn't go well) but I didn't realize that once you start them you have to leave them running lest they turn to cement, and they have to run for days. I'm not comfortable leaving it running all day and night unattended, so I think it's going back. I'll get him a rock dig thing instead where he can dig out nicely polished rocks instead. Oh, well. He also got a last minute panic gift--a snow block mold. In the end it was sort of strange only having one thing with lots of little pieces needing assembly, but Carter and Craig had fun figuring it out.
We had our traditional cinnamon rolls, I made some fruited layered jello, we and started to ready ourselves to leave for Buffalo. We got on the road just after lunch. Our first stop was Craig's Aunt Marie's, and we had a very fun time there with his aunts, uncles, and cousins. The boys got pool floats, this crazy inflatable "pouch couch", and a small "Guess Who?" type game. I got a couple nice little things, as well.
Then it was on to do gifts at Craig's parents' house. Unfortunately, Jacob's biggest gift (another pair of sneakers) didn't arrive in time, but he got some clothes he was pretty happy with. Carter got a ton of snow toys, some clothes and pajamas, and this crazy anti-gravity car that can drive up walls! Craig got some clothes and socks, and I got a cozy Sherpa throw, among other things.
Since there's no longer space for us to sleep there, it was off to my parents' house for the night. It was a rather late arrival, but luckily Carter already had his pajamas on and stayed asleep. I slept on the air mattress in the office and didn't sleep awesomely well, but I guess it was good enough! As we did last year, I had the boys sit at the top of the steps like my brother and I did, before coming downstairs to open one gift from Santa left at Grandma and Grandpa's. Jacob got a shirt (he's excited about clothes now--yay!) and Carter got one of those pin art things that you can mold your face or hand in momentarily. He was eyeing one of those up a couple weeks ago, and it was also a last minute add!
After church and a delicious ham lunch, it was time to open presents!
Carter got some clothes and a cool game called Invasion of the Cow Snatchers, and Jacob got yet another pair of sneakers (don't ask--at least these were really cheap) and more clothes.
Craig got a new Braves shirt (since his others are too big now), and I got a very cool new angel ornament, a Christmas decoration that's almost exactly what I'd been looking for this year, and a meat thermometer, along with some other small things.
After some down time to figure out Carter's game (and then a panicked cooking of my dish to pass after the playing went a bit too long), it was off to the "family homestead", a.k.a., my uncle and aunt's house that used to be my grandparents', where we've spent every Christmas evening ever. After another fabulous spread of food, it was on to gifts there! Craig got a gift card, Jacob got a shirt (but also delayed shipping!) and a beautiful handmade yo-yo from my masterful woodworker uncle. Someday maybe he'll appreciate it! Carter got a cool addition for his Hot Wheels collection--a little bank valut playset--along with a few cars. He happily played with it while everyone else opened. I got a bottle of wine, my yearly Chihuly wall calendar, and a rather large blanket scarf that's so soft and pretty but I haven't figured out how to wear it yet!
While everyone was opening gifts, I had the pleasure of being on the floor with my cousin and her 20-month-old daughter. She's always been really wary of other people, shaking her head at them or even growling. It also took her a little extra long to talk, but she's finally pumping out a couple words, which is fun to see. She also is into giving high fives to everyone and hamming it up with silly faces. It was fun to have a front-row seat to her now very animated antics! After presents, I found myself on the floor with her little cousin, Lucy, who you may remember me hanging out with a little over the summer when she was a newborn. Lucy is now six months old, and she was such a cutie to play with! She really wanted to grab my phone, so we opted for some pictures instead. Alas, she moved a lot so most of the good smiles were blurry, but seriously...she is so sweet!
Such a doll baby! Part of me misses those days, and part of me doesn't...but it was fun to pretend for a bit!
We had originally planned on sticking around until the morning of the 26th to welcome my brother and his kids in from their redeye flight, but by the time they'd get in, we'd have to be on the road so Craig could get to work, so we opted to just come home Christmas night and start the day fresh. But before we took off, I made Craig drive by a house a couple neighborhoods over. You may remember this house from its Halloween light show a couple years ago. I didn't take video, but between these two shots you can get an idea of how elaborate it was. The blocked out area on the right is a tree. Sorry about that. The show was really impressive, though!
All in all, it was a good Christmas. Not particularly notable on the gift front (well, aside from Jacob and his sneakers), but I think it went pretty well. I mean, Carter probably spent too much time on electronics at most family functions, and there were a few oddball gifts I haven't yet figured out what to do with, and the kids still fought more than we would have liked, but I really can't complain. And it's still not quite over yet. The kids and I will be going back to my parents' house tomorrow to visit with my brother and the kids at a little family get-together (with kid presents before!), before all four of us go back early next week for a little more time. It's amazing how much the kids' break is filling up. I just have one half day of work left, but with the new year's holiday, I know everything is going to go so fast! It's been a couple lazy afternoons since--busy mornings with basketball yesterday and work today, but equal amounts of rest and attempted productivity in the afternoons. Not such a bad thing once in a while! Onward to the rest of break...and coming soon, a new decade!
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