On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at my parent’s house and the kids acted out the nativity. Malia really, really, really wanted to be Mary this year. She even took Baby (whom she has recently rechristened Washcloth-I have absolutely no idea why) to be the baby Jesus so we wouldn’t have to use a monkey like we have had to do in years past. It’s actually good that she took Baby since my Mom told she had called our house to have us bring a baby doll and we were already gone.
One of the crafts I did with Matthew and Malia this year was making an ornament with a thumbprint reindeer on it. For some reason, Matthew decided he wanted to leave one for Donner and Malia jumped on the band wagon and made one for Rudolph. So there were ornaments left alongside the cookies and carrots we usually leave for Santa and the reindeer. There was some tracking Santa via the NORAD Santa tracker and then everyone was off to bed.
At around 4:30 a.m. on Christmas morning, a roasting pan fell out of the dish drainer and clattered into the sink. Apparently it woke up both Nathan and Matthew and they were so excited that neither one went back to sleep. When I woke up at 6 a.m., everyone else was already up and waiting for me. I was a bit slow getting started because I had woken up with a migraine. It made for a less than ideal morning. Nevertheless, the show must go on.
Malia got a new Hello Kitty 2 wheel bicycle from Santa. She was totally excited and rode that thing back and forth across the living room all day. It was only a couple of pedals to get from one end of the room to the other, but she was not to be deterred. She also got a pretend mixer for her kitchen, Anna and Elsa dolls, a stuffed Hello Kitty (dressed in BYU garb, of course) from Matthew, a super soft Hello Kitty blanket from Daniel and a play shopping cart full of pretend groceries from Nathan. Her experience gift this year will be seeing “Beauty and the Beast” at Hale Center Theater.
Matthew, who has gotten in trouble about sixteen million times for throwing balls in the house, got a sturdy indoor basketball hoop and an arcade style basketball/football game from Santa, an assortment of books on his reading level, a BYU umbrella from Daniel, a football playbook from Nathan, and the Hulkbuster Lego set from Malia. His experience gifts this year are the Monster Truck Jam, a King Singers concert and another year of the Cosmo Club (a kids’ club that gives us four football tickets, four basketball tickets, and free entrance for the child into any other sport for a grand total of $50).
Nathan got Scooby Doo Lego, a Scooby Doo DVD and Spiderman bed sheets from Santa. He also got the sheet music for Peanuts from Daniel, the sheet music for Muppets Most Wanted and a book of hymn arrangements for piano from Matthew and Malia, and some books. His experience gifts this year are another trip to the Desert Star Theater, a King Singers concert, one day at Fan-X (his pass came free when we purchased Daniel’s multi-day pass) and tickets to Newsies! He is super-duper excited. (So am I :-))
Santa gave Daniel Doctor Who Lego, Doctor Who season 9 blu-rays, a new neck strap for his sax and a very serious origami book he has been wanting. Daniel also received a metronome/tuner from Nathan, a CD of five Doctor Who video games from Matthew, some Star Wars mini models from Malia, and a couple more books. His experiences this year will be three days at Fan-X, a King Singers concert and a trip to the Desert Star Theater.
The boys and I all pooled our funds and got a hobby size air compressor and airbrush for Kevin. He also got the Complete Far Side books and an assortment of movies he has been wanting.
I received a few kitchen utensils to replace worn or broken ones as well as a new temple dress. Malia got me a bobbin winder (I actually picked it but she chose the color and wrapped it up.), Matthew got me a Microplane Zester that I’ve had my eye on for years, Nathan got me a dough hook attachment for my bosch and Daniel gave me…a giant eyeball.
Let me give you some context. Years ago when Nathan was three or four, we were trying to teach him the concept of keeping a gift a secret. I told him that if anyone asked him what he got for them, he should say he got them something completely different like a giant eyeball. Yes, I know my brain works in random and mysterious ways. But that is what came to mind. Anyway, he completely grasped the concept and for years when anyone asked him what a gift was, he always said, “A giant eyeball!” After a while, it just became one of those family jokes. We all use it now. And when Daniel made me a Christmas card offering to do three random chores just for me, he drew a giant eyeball on the front.
After we had breakfast, opened our presents and I had some migraine meds and my first nap, we headed over to my parents’ house to give Esther her Christmas present. Her gift was my big project this year. I was totally proud of myself because I did a lot of the quilting freehand and it actually turned out pretty well. She likes monkeys. Can you tell?
After our jaunt to see the fam, we had lunch and I had my second nap. The migraine was mostly gone by then but I had a wicked hangover for the rest of the day. Kevin’s parents joined us for the afternoon and dinner. They brought another faux Lego temple, a few shirts and books for the boys, a super soft stuffed puppy for Malia and a new set of mixing bowls for me.
Overall, it was a nice day except for the migraine (and that definitely could have been a whole lot worse).
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