Happy Holidays!

We had a really nice Christmas this year. In spite of the family party I missed due to Migraine (and yes, it deserves to be capitalized) which the boys were still able to attend (thanks to Uncle Cory for coming to pick them up) we had time with all of our family. On Christmas Eve we ate dinner with all my sibs and their families at my parents’ house. We also had our annual reading of the Christmas story from the bible. Once we got home, the boys watched Santa’s progress on NORAD’s Santa Tracker as they got ready for bed. Each year we give the kids one spiritual gift-something we hope will help them in their spiritual development in the following year-and we open those on Christmas Eve so they won’t get overlooked and lost in the hubbub of Christmas morning. This year Matthew got some scripture stickers and I made Daniel and Nathan some study aids that they could slip into their scriptures. After that we left out cookies for Santa, carrots for the reindeer, and doughnuts for the elves. Nathan and Matthew made the doughnuts earlier in the day. Nathan made two or three and then he was done but Matthew really loved it and made tons. Jingle Jangle (our elf) is probably going to need to go to the gym a couple of times to work off all those doughnuts!

Christmas morning was actually pretty relaxing. When Kev and I got up at about 7 a.m., all the boys were still sleeping. I actually contemplated leaving them and going back to bed, but we decided they would probably be grumpy if we didn’t wake them up. Daniel got a Lego set (no surprise there), a glow in the dark Star Trek model, a Protector model (think “Galaxy Quest”) that Kev is going to help him light, a couple of origami books (Star Trek and Star Wars-there was fist pumping and a great big “Yes!” for those. I love when I can get that reaction!) and some other small sundries in his stocking. Nathan and Matthew gave him an Optimus Prime Transformer.

Nathan was just about the happiest kid ever because Santa brought him an electric keyboard. He has been learning to play the piano and has discovered that it helps him to feel happy when he is grumpy (which I love J) but due to all my stupid headaches there are days when the piano is too much noise in the house. So having an electric keyboard that he can play in another room (and even with headphones if we can find some that work well with it) is just about as perfect a gift as he could get. In fact, it has been at the top of his wish list for months. He was so excited when he unwrapped it that I actually got a little teary-eyed. . I don’t have as many pictures of Nathan as I do of the other kids, but that is because he spent almost the entire day playing his keyboard. Nathan also got a book about how to draw and a nice sketch pad. Daniel and Matthew gave him a Transformer.

Matthew got some pretty cool Avengers masks, an Avengers Lego set that included the Ironman mini-figure and a couple of small Transformers…the exact ones that he had asked Santa for in his note. He was pretty excited about that! He also got a set of Avengers sheets (yes, they were on his bed by the end of Christmas day), some Avengers books and an assortment of small stuff in his stocking…much of it was Avengers themed. Santa must know that he has spent the past four months in his Ironman costume.

Malia wasn’t sure about the whole unwrapping presents thing at first (we’ve been telling her all month not to play with the presents under the tree) but by the end of the day she had it all figured out. She got a Little People House, a baby doll (I found one that can suck her thumb, just like Malia), her very own play phone and a couple of books. Santa stuck a pair of sunglasses in Malia’s stocking and it was so funny to see how much she liked them. She also got a quilt. It was such fun making a totally girly quilt! I’ve made lots of cool boy quilts, but they aren’t really fond of flowers so it was great to be able to branch out. She doesn’t like to be under the quilt, but if I lay it on the floor she will toddle right over and sit on it.

Nathan and Matthew have actually played with the Little People and the baby doll nearly as much as Malia has. It kind of makes me laugh, but with three boys in the house how was I to know that they had an innate need to play the nurturer that I was not meeting? Anyway, I love it. I love that they are men enough to play with dolls and that Malia is a tough enough chick to make awesome car noises.

I gave Kev a wireless keyboard to go with the poorman’s Tivo that he has built for us. He gave me the food processing attachment that goes with my Bosch as well as the cookie paddles and the bowl scraper. He spoils me. J In the afternoon Kev’s parents joined up for some quality hanging out time and dinner.

Yesterday we got to drive down to Cory’s house (Kev’s brother) and spend time with all his sibs there. They have a couple of acres in Mapleton and the boys loved sledding, tromping through the snow, and visiting the horses and chickens in the barn. This morning I walked into the laundry room where Matthew left his soaking wet pants (he took his snow pants but was too darn lazy to get them on) and it took me a couple of hours to figure out why the entire room was stinkeriffic…obviously rolling around in the less than pristine hay in the barn will do that. If I had realized that was what he was doing, I would have washed the pants when we got home last night. As it was, it took two washes in hot water and Oxyclean to kill the aroma. But he had fun so I really think that is what matters. And Malia was thrilled with the huge number of baby dolls, stuffed animals, and tiny kitchen toys she found there. (Cory has three daughters.) She was especially entranced with the toy food. The plastic Oreo looked real enough that she tried to twist it open (she’s one of those people that eats the filling first) and when she couldn’t she tried to bite it.

So good holiday. Lots of time with family. I couldn’t ask for anything more.