I went down first and plugged in the tree. The kids came down excitedly behind me. Thomas tried to capture it on video, but for the second year in a row, the video did not come out. So, just picture what you think of when you hear the expression, "like a kid on Christmas morning" and that is what our kids looked like on Christmas morning. We opened up our stockings and then I went to make breakfast. The kids had decided they wanted breakfast casserole. We had already told them we were going to do a prolonged Christmas morning. Instead of opening our gifts all at once, we were going to open a present every 30 minutes. We told the kids this would give them an opportunity to enjoy each gift they opened and they were (surprisingly) on board. We were going to cut back this year, and I guess we sort of did, but the kids still had about 17 presents each. Many of those were small and that includes the gifts from relatives, but it was still a bigger number than we really wanted for them.
Anna's first gift was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle blanket. Jack opened some Minecraft figures and Kara opened a Littlest Pet Shop toy (don't worry, I'm building to a point here and don't plan on writing about all 70ish presents). Anna spread her blanket on the floor and sat on it and Jack and Kara immediately began playing. We picked our second gifts and Anna opened a largish lego set, Kara got an Elsa costume, and Jack also got legos. Anna wanted to open her legos and play on the family room floor. We told her that she would need to go into another room because there just wasn't enough space to play where we were opening gifts. With nothing to play with, she then muttered the best line of the day, "well, I guess I will just go sit on my blanket then." She stated this in a very droll voice and with a perfect sarcastic lift, knowing it was going to be another 30 minutes until the next unwrapping. I am not sure it translates, but Thomas and I found it absolutely hilarious! That will be the new line we say to each other whenever we are not pleased with how something is unfolding.
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| Anna asked Thomas to swaddle her in the new blanket |
Thomas set the timer on his watch and we continued unwrapping every 30 minutes. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, Skyped with my sister and her family, ate way too many cookies, and just generally enjoyed the relaxed pace. Around 3, we sped it up to every 15 minutes and then at 4 we were ready to see what Santa brought. Each child had two gifts from the Big Guy.
Jack opened his first Santa gift to find a Lego Castle set. He took it and literally ran into the basement. We didn't see him for another 2 hours and that was only because we made him come up for dinner. He had no interest in his Kindle, the "big" gift from Mom and Dad, or his new Wii game, which surprised us. Anna got her requested game of Operation and some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle dolls and Kara got the Doc Mobile and a Leap Pen. Everyone was very pleased.
Of course, Thomas and I also got some great gifts. Thomas is a fantastic gift-giver, it is one of his many talents. He always manages to get me something very special. This year it was a book called, "What I Love About You," filled with many happy memories, some funny and some sappy. As an example, I just turned to a random page, which says: Kori is sweet as Caroline Ingalls, strong like bull, smart as anyone, and brave as Mel Gibson in "Maverick" (he who runs away, lives to fight another day). What an awesome gift! He also gave me a beautiful ring, earrings, the fitness watch I wanted (see, New Years Resolutions Blog--coming soon), and lots of other awesome stuff.
I gave him an old US Map (from 1793), a pen carved from a tree planted in 1770 at Mount Vernon, an old comic book and some smaller stuff. We joke that Thomas' Christmas list is that of a ten-year old boy: comic books, baseball cards and legos. Fortunately, his mom sent him baseball cards and he got some legos from both the kids and me, so he was happy. Whoever says Christmas is for the kids does NOT live in our house.
That brings us to the youngest member of the family. Luke was not too impressed with Christmas. He managed to rip some of the paper, but not when it was the paper you were asking him to rip. He was not very interested in his presents, although he seems to like them now. Overall, I would say he was mostly upset about all the changes in his routine. He was up a bit earlier than normal, missed his morning nap and had his play area overtaken by the rest of us. Fortunately, he is a good-natured little fellow, so he has bounced back. And, since it was his first Christmas, a few bonus pictures of the little Elf.
The last two presents were addressed to the whole family. One was from Twinkles and was the game Parents Versus Kids, Disney Edition. There was also a present from Santa, but no one was very interested, at least not at the same time. Jack was busy with his legos and the girls were playing their Kindles. It did not get opened on Christmas day. On the 26th, the girls woke up and immediately wanted to play the Kindles. We told them they had a few days of unrestricted use before the limitations began and they are taking full advantage. Jack woke up and ran to the basement, shouting that he was "heading down to build." It was 10 before anyone mustered any interest in breakfast.
On the 27th, we made them go outside and play for a while and then we finally opened the last gift. It was a karaoke machine with a microphone! We immediately put it to use with an awesome impromptu concert. Seriously, it is so much fun! Jack is the least interested, but Thomas got him to sing along to a Weird Al song, The Saga Begins. Anna and Kara and I have all had a "rehearsal" in preparation for tonight's show. It is so much fun (so true, I had to repeat)! Also, Luke clapped last night for the first time during the karaoke show. I guess he was waiting for something profound to display this skill. I guess Thomas rendition of "Achy Breaky Heart" was the push he needed!
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| Singing some Weird Al |
Favorite gifts:
Anna: Operation and the Karaoke machine
Jack: Legos and Kindle
Kara: Doc Mobile & everything
Kori: the aforementioned book
Thomas: the map & pen
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