15 posts tagged “christmas”

Everything is unwrapped, and the pain -- I mean joy -- is just beginning...  I think Boogie and Clark are very pleased with the gifts I got them, and I am more than happy with the gifts I received...  Right now, though, we are going through the obligatory How many batteries do we need and how the eff do we put together all these damn toys? phase...  Once Unka and Clark finish putting together the track for the race cars, I think Boogie will be a little less annoying...  He is chomping at the bit since we won't let him just have at it, but we aren't exactly keen on having these cars flying all over the house instead of running on the track for which they were intended...  Yeah...  I definitely know that I need a nap, but, other than that, my Christmas is going swimmingly...  Hope y'all are enjoying your day too...  Later days...

I definitely believe that spending time with family is the most important part of any holiday (no matter how dysfunctional mine may be)...  Today, Boogie and I went to my mom's house and picked up Princess so she and Boogie could spend the day together playing and such instead of only seeing each other for dinner and presents tonight...  When I cleared the driveway and the walks, the two of them were wicked cute and played in the snow together...  We even built a non-gender-specific "snowperson" together when I was done...  Apparently, the hot cocoa did not meet their satisfaction, but at least the hot dogs and mac 'n' cheese were a big hit...  Right now, I am catching up on my internetting while we all watch Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas...  Man, have I watched this movie too many times!  Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, since I still love to watch it, but it's a good thing Clark isn't here...  I keep finding myself not only singing along but also speaking right along with all of the characters!  Teeheehee...  The movie is almost over, so I better get going...  I need to dry my hair before the kids and I get started on making the brownies we'll all be having for dessert tonight!  Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!! Later days...

So, apparently, Clark and I have done a pretty good job focusing on the aspects of Christmas other than just asking for and getting presents... This morning, Boogie told us that he doesn't want Santa to come to our house because "I don't like Santa's toys and I already have enough toys from Mommy and Daddy."  We asked, "Really?!?  Why?"  Then he said, "Oh wait!  I do want Santa to come."  I started thinking, "Ok...  Here we go with the normal kid stuff again!"  But then he surprised me again...  He said, "I want Santa to come because I have lots of baby toys I don't need and Santa can pick them up to bring them to the babies who need them."  ::melty heart::  Yeah...  My kid is totally awesome and I heart him more and more every day (even when he is being crazy instead of crazy charitable)...  Later days...

I cannot believe how many pictures I have taken in the last week...  There are tons of new pictures on my Flickr if you want to see what we did for Christmas and Christmas Eve, how Boogie was in the church nativity pageant on Sunday, or what we did at my SIL's birthday party/our Christmas with Papa...  Later days...

I am still a little bit taken aback by how differently my sister and I treat holidays...  I am struggling with my faith, yet I feel the need to attend church services for holidays like Christmas and Easter...  My sister doesn't really talk about religion a lot, so I am not sure how strong her faith is...  I do know, however, that she thought it was more important to put together Princess' Christmas gifts than to attend Christmas Eve service...  Riiiiight...  The same type of thing happened several years in a row on Easter -- where Princess' hair wasn't quite done yet and/or she needed to get ready for pictures with her cousins (on the other side of the family) so she couldn't make it to church...  WTF?!?  If that is the reason you celebrate a holiday, don't you think it makes sense to teach your child about the religious significance of the holiday?  So...  Apparently, Christmas is all about the presents...  Which means that, of course, my sister has to prove her love with gifts...  So, we spent less than $100 on Boogie, for which we got him a reasonable number and variety of gifts...  My sister spent not much less (if she spent less) and got him more than we did...  Maybe not more...  But more "big" stuff, for sure...  I doubt she tried to overshadow us, but it really sucks...  My MIL, BIL, and SIL did better at not going nuts this year, so I really appreciated that...  But, man...  How can we teach our kid the true meaning of the holiday when strangers constantly push the Santa card and other family members reinforce the greed and gluttony of the holiday?!?  Grrr...  So, yeah...  That's me being "ungrateful" for my sister's generosity...  In nice contrast, nevertheless, Boogie was selfless enough to agree to give away some of his older toys to make room for his newer toys!  We brought a bag of toys to his daycare today, and I was really proud of him for helping me pick out the toys we donated and then not even changing his mind when we got there...  I think we may do right by him yet!  Later days...

So, Clark and I got each other pretty good...  He actually didn't think I got him Super Mario Galaxy, so he was thrilled when he opened that...  And I was completely taken aback when I opened a red corduroy blazer...  I mean, I guess he was there when I said (like once) that I wanted one, but I really didn't think it even registered...  Awesome!  Boogie was so happy to get a train set that I thought we might never tear him away from it, but I am happy to report that he played with other things and even left the house...  Teeheehee...  My MIL didn't go so crazy this year, so that was appreciated!  ::wink wink::  But, yeah...  Hope you all had as Merry a Christmas as me...  Later days...

So, since we are doing Christmas Eve stuff at our house, I thought it might be a good idea to tidy up a bit...  I don't feel like I need to scrub and polish everything in my house, but it would be nice if the toys weren't scattered across the entire first floor, you know?!?  Boogie has been pretty detrimental to my progress, so I think I am just going to wait for his nap...  And since I don't have any other spare time coming up anytime soon, I have at least gotten the dishwasher loaded/started and put away a little laundry...  Sure, the Prozac helps to keep me from feeling like I am going to flip out if the house is messy, but it certainly doesn't "cure" my desire for an orderly house...  Teeheehee...  Later days...

I am officially done shopping and wrapping presents...  And way later than normal, too...  Oh well...  Could have still been worse...  Bah!  There's always next year, right?!?  Later days...

There is a new documentary that I just have to see -- What Would Jesus Buy? ...  Clark and I are always talking about how we cannot believe the amount of money some people spend (and/or go into debt) in the name of Christmas, and this movie looks like it would probably cause our jaws to drop even further...  Why is it that people like my sister think they need to buy their children hundreds of dollars worth of toys, games, clothes, etc. to prove their love every Christmas?!?  I don't get it...  Later days...

I didn't really know it was possible for things to get worse in the situation with my mom, but I think that happened last night...  I came home to a message on the answering machine about how she never knows my schedule and wants to talk...  She sounded upset, so I figured it was about the e-mail...  Wrong!  She never got the e-mail...  Sure, my dad saw it -- and even told my sister about it -- but, he never told my mom...  What caused her to call, then?  Well...  Since my sister knew my feelings, she took a trip over to my mom's house to talk to her about Christmas and how she wanted her whole family together for Christmas this year...  She suggested that Christmas Eve be at my house, and my mom actually wanted to work that out...  I was all confused and asked if she had gotten the e-mail...  She said no, so I explained a little bit about what it said...  Everything in that letter was the truth, but I was definitely pretty mean in the way I worded some things...  So, now she knows about the e-mail and will probably want to see it...  Does that mean that our progress will now be negated?  Or will she just see how hurt I am and want to make things right?!?  I don't know...  All I know is that I am at work and cannot really call her to see what's up -- because I am the only one in the Children's Room right now...  Maybe I will call during my lunch break...  Bah...  Later days...