Happy Shiny Christmas Post

So here's my long overdue post about our holiday. It was crazy and busy and fun! And also stressful at points. That's when I engaged in margarito or wine therapy if possible! I found another fun cocktail in Southern Living called Jingle Juice that helped also... the non-alcoholic version for Rainbow, Taz, and my mother; the alcoholic version for Dad, Scouter and me. Beautiful!

Ah, yes, it was a very merry Christmas indeed...

The parts that I remember include a frenzy of shopping and wrapping prior to the big day. We went to Christmas Eve mass which is one of my favorites with the birth story and lots of great Christmas songs, then my Mom and Dad came over for dinner. Rainbow and Taz have a tradition of exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve. She gave him a Nerf blaster of some sort (just what he needed) and he gave her tickets to see the Hannah Montana concert movie. (Have you heard about this marketing genius? Her concert is such a big draw that getting tickets is impossible, so someone at Disney came up with the smart idea of filming it and showing it at movie theaters around the country.) Rainbow was so excited that she pretend-fainted then jumped around with a huge smile for the rest of the night. We tracked Santa via the Internet, leaving cookies for him and carrots for the reindeer. They were excited but exhausted and actually fell asleep pretty quickly, much to my surprise and delight. I had some more jingle juice and finished wrapping presents and actually made it to bed before midnight.

Taz awoke at 6:44 a.m. on Christmas morning, which sadly is pretty typical for him. Well, unless it is a school day anyway. Somehow I managed to restrain him until almost 7:30 when we finally woke Rainbow. She popped right up once Taz mentioned Santa, and they flew down the stairs with screams of delight. Taz ripped through all his presents like the wild man he is, while Rainbow took a little time with each gift. She is just like I was at that age and has to model each new outfit as she opens it. This year, Santa brought an American girl doll with matching purple silk pajamas for the two of them, so she had to change the doll's clothes in addition to her own.

We've gotten some questions about Santa for the first time this year and our response was that we felt sorry for the kids who don't believe. I asked the kids on Christmas morning if they heard Duchess barking during the night (which pain in the ass that she is, she does every night at some point for any arbitrary or imagined reason). On Christmas Eve, she must have heard Santa! And look! The reindeer food in the front yard is gone! So are the cookies, and you can see reindeer teeth marks on the carrots! And look!!!! Mommy and Daddy would have never bought me this gift!!!

I think the magic remains for another year.

My parents came back over for our gift exchange and breakfast, which was a delicious make-ahead cinnamon apple french toast casserole. We had a lovely leisurely morning among all the flying wrapping paper and ribbons.

Oh and cool stuff - Scouter surprised me with an iPhone!!!! It is the absolute most amazing thing. We were not supposed to get each other big gifts this year and I actually complied (for once) so the poor guy got very little in return. I joked that the Playstation 3 he purchased for himself recently was his big gift. God I'm lame.

Our holiday tradition is to head up to Scouter's parent's house on Christmas Day to celebrate with his four siblings, their significant others and children. This year, we had two new babies to add to the festivities, one seven months and one two months. Add a 2 1/2 year old to the mix and it was more chaotic than ever! And so much more fun now that my kids aren't the ones knocking over all the knick knacks and dirtying diapers. Hee hee.

The day after Christmas, our tradition is to go into DC with Scouter's Dad. This year, we went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum which is one of my favorites. We'd been two years ago but the kids didn't really remember. Their favorite part was the mammals while our favorite part was the nature photographs. I think Scouter's Dad enjoys it as much as we do.

After a three and a half hour drive (normally less than two hours), we finally returned home happy and exhausted.