This year, as you may have already guessed from my last post, was rather quiet. I wasn't up for nearly as much energetic running around as my heart wanted me to be...and I turned most of the preparations over to the overly-excited Penguin and Bumblebee.
They did an amazing job. They planned and picked out the perfect gift for everyone (or so we hope...everyone seemed happy enough with their choices); they raided the wrapping stash and decorated each present with bows, ribbons and carefully chosen tags. They created crafts to round things out, and give themselves the opportunity to give something "JUST" from them.
We managed our annual gluten free baking experiment...a pastry crust, requested by Bumblebee, and although it wasn't what dh and I look for in a pastry crust, the kids were very happy with the resultant apple pie. With french/dutch topping (brown sugar and cinnamon!) We served Santa applesauce fritters (which dh was kind enough to fry up) and chocolate chip cookies.
We skimped on the fun healthy foods, I'm afraid.
Christmas Eve, we spent mostly at home. My parents dropped by to drop off gifts; but we agreed to wait on opening most gifts until Christmas morning. I just felt totally wiped out, it's hard to be social and nauseous at the same time.
My kids were wonderful hosts, and eagerly stacked up the gifts to go; politely requesting that the "really important" ones get opened in front of them...and received the 'ooohs' and 'ahhs' that were due.
After dark, we all bundled up and tumbled into the car to tour the highlighted Christmas light displays in our local vicinity. We only went out for about 20 minutes, and only got out of the car once, but it was a nice way to settle in for the evening.
The kids did stay up WAY too late. I'm surprised Santa managed to come at all. When I got up for a drink of water at midnight, Bumblebee startled me in the kitchen...convinced she was about to face the big guy himself!
Somehow, though, he managed...because early Christmas morning, Penguin gently shook me awake and asked if it was time...and once she'd convinced Bumblebee and Mr. Violets to awaken as well, we slipped out to the living room to find our stockings filled with goodies, the cookies half eaten, and two brand new scooters. Bumblebee examined hers to find it decorated with a fairy and a reference to her beloved WF. (WF stands for Weird Fairies. A comic strip she has created specifically to help counter the uber-popular Disney fairies. She loves Tinkerbell...and hates that everyone else likes her to. Bumblebee and her friends do NOT want to get lost in the crowd.) "Santa is Awesome!" she declared.
Of course, there followed the requisite first ride...still in pajamas! :-) And a few pictures for the scrapbook...although I'm not posting pj pics of my kids online. Sorry.
We had a very nice, laid back morning...although I did follow it with a nap...and managed to get to my in laws for a small gift exchange in the early afternoon. Again, the kids were proud to distribute their chosen presents...and excited to hear that they'd made great choices.
I slipped out and went back home for another nap soon after the last of the wrapping paper was stuffed into the recycle bin. I'm not sure why I want to nap so much, but I sleep like the dead so I must be needing it.
As I tucked the kids into bed that night, they were happy and smiley. Although they did have one regret...Thank you notes might be a little more difficult this year, because instead of being focused on what they got from who, they were so excited about giving and worried about what their recipients thought of the wrapping and the present inside that they completely forgot to get wrapped up in the 'getting' part.
Penguin felt that she was gifted some of the best toys EVER. (And the amount of time she's spent actually playing with toys the past 2 days seems to support that theory) But, she also confessed that she forgot to pay as much attention to who they were from.
"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" she asked with a worried frown, "It's like I was more interested in giving than in what I was in getting."
I told her that meant there was something very right.
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