It's not over until...

Do you hate that expression? "It's not over 'til the fat lady sings." But when it comes to Christmas this year -- I'm singing! It's O-V-A-H! We had a great Christmas -- despite the fact my daughter for four days had the worst case of stomach flu I have ever witnessed, my grandson had an asthma attack at 11pm on Christmas Eve and my daughter (who was really sick, so has an excuse) forgot to bring his nebulizer so had to drive him back to her house (with her head pounding and a 102 temperature) to treat him. All's well that ends well. It ended well. We had a terrific Christmas. My husband went over our agreed upon budget by so much that I'm wondering if he needs to go get a second job to pay for it all. (Don't even ask if I need to go get a FIRST job to pay for it all -- he's the one who went over budget, not me! Consequences of your actions, my dear.) My grandson never quite got with the whole "yippy, Santa brought me presents" program. If he gets any more unique, I may have to rent him out to families with obnoxious children, or put him on the David Letterman Show. Three years old, off-the-wall hyper, Santa, presents, stockings, gift wrapping everywhere -- that's how it's supposed to be, right? He opened maybe three presents. He loved them. He stacked them up in a pile and sat watching what we opened. I handed him another present. "Here, Brayden, this is for you from Santa." No reaction. "Brayden? Do you want to open this present now?" His response. "Noooooo, maybe in a little while." OK. I left him alone. Came back later and repeated my question and got "Nooooo... I think maybe in a few minutes." There are still six or seven unwrapped presents under my tree, and as far as I know, he never did open his stocking. From an early age, my kids practically had to be tranquilized on Christmas Eve. My husband and I normally had to stay up until 2 or 3am to wait for the kids to go to sleep so we could bring in Santa's goodies. We had to set a rule -- no getting up before 5am. OK, I had to set that rule because my husband wanted to get the kids up, but still... The good news? I apparently have my shopping done for Brayden's third birthday in March. The bad news? Apparently my daughter is a better mother than I was. No wait, that's good news, too. She's instilling something in this little guy that I totally missed with mine -- patience? lack of greed? the ability to want things to remain on an even keel even on Christmas morning? Watching others open gifts is as much fun as opening your own? See? I can't define it because I must have been playing hooky that day of Mothering School. Whatever it is, she gets an A+ for it! And now it's over. Presents, both wrapped and unwrapped, have been played with, admired, and put away. Cookies have been eaten or left out unwrapped to go stale and thrown away. Leftover foods are boxed up, shared, or frozen. All the trash was taken to the garage, then taken to the curb, then whisked away first thing this morning. Non-stop "A Christmas Story" on the television has been replaced with.. well, silence for now. (Ahhhhhhhhh....) Joey the Killer Cat is happiest of all because he got a new rubber alligator for Christmas and it's his new best friend. They are inseparable. Joey carries the alligator around in his mouth and has it within six inches of him at all times. Unfortunate for the cat's sanity, my husband received a mini-remote control car for Christmas, and he is this very second upstairs taping the alligator to the top of the car...

Merry Christmas, my dear blog friends.

Last minute crazies

I go through this every year... in the last few days, especially the last few hours, before Christmas, I start to panic. It never fails. Yesterday I was feeling so smug -- got my presents wrapped, got some cookies baked, got the meals planned and the food purchased.... and today, my head is spinning. Last night I remembered I'd bought a Curious George stuffed monkey and book for Brayden, and I don't remember wrapping it. That means I've hidden gifts in the house and have no idea where they are now. And THAT means I'm also missing two gifts for my daughter that I bought at the same time! So today, the search is on... Then I realize I haven't really planned a dessert for Christmas dinner. Hmmm... do without or slug my way back to the grocery store this afternoon? Wait - we do have the cookies that Brayden and I made.... good enough for Christmas dinner dessert? YES! GOOD ENOUGH! OK, last panic - did I buy enough presents for Jeff? We always set a spending limit with each other and I stuck to the limit. The problem - he never does! That man is a long-lost relative of the real Santa Claus, I swear. He hates shopping, but he loves giving nice presents! So, will my presents compare to what he gives me? Panic.... OK, deep breath. Reality check -- no, they probably won't. LOL But it's his choice to go over the budget, right? It is what it is... Today I'll be spending most of the day cleaning the house -- just vac'ing downstairs, dusting here and there, washing the kitchen floor (you should see all the flour on the floor from baking cookies with Brayden yesterday), giving the downstairs a good picking-up. My daughter is home sick so I have no idea if I have Brayden today as planned. Guess I'll take advantage and get everything spruced up and ready... Plan out my cooking strategy for Christmas Eve dinner... The menu is baked ham, homemade macaroni and cheese, three bean salad, baked beans, rolls and salad. We've always had either turkey or roast beef, so this year we're doing something different -- and I'm hoping that Mr. Fussy Eater Brayden might actually eat the macaroni and cheese, unlike the Spaghettio's he had for Thanksgiving... Ever onward. It is what it is... Now where ARE those presents???

Christmas around my house

Joey, the Killer Cat, taking a snooze under the tree.

From my heart to yours

Christmas always seems a time to be thankful...even more so than Thanksgiving. Aren't we lucky that we can afford to buy or make gifts for the people we love, that we are about to enjoy a bountiful Christmas Eve dinner, and that Santa will soon make his appearance to light up my grandson's face. We're fortunate to have a fireplace to warm us, a car to drive for last minute shopping, warm coats and hats and mittens to wear during this cold weather. We should be thankful for the blankets or quilts that cover us at night, the furnace that runs non-stop during this cold weather, and for a stove that is instrumental in creating soups and stews to nourish us. Though my electric bill is climbing every month, I'm thankful that we even have electricity when my friend and family in parts of the country don't due to ice and snow storms. I'm also thankful that my grandson lives so close by and loves to spend the day with me. I know so many grandparents who have family living across the country and aren't able to enjoy the day to day activities of their grandchild. I am truly thankful, even on the days I don't want to get up at 6am to get ready for his arrival. And though it may sound silly, I'm thankful for every blogger friend who takes minutes or even just seconds out of their day to read what I have written, or to share their thoughts, ideas, and daily life with me by writing their own blog. Christmas scenes from around my house today: This balancing act may not be so Christmas-y -- but it's funny! Look what I found when I walked around the corner from the kitchen to the family room! From my house to yours -- from my heart to yours -- Merry, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to each and every one of you. Thank you for sharing this little corner of blog land with me. You touch my heart.

Conversations with a 3 year old

Brayden's almost 3 years old (March 1st) and conversations with him just amaze me. Here are a few examples of what's been going on around here: Brayden: Where's Umpa? Me: He's still in bed. I think he's being a lazy boy. B: You're probably right. (I swear he said that! LOL) B: I was lazy too. Me: Oh, when were you lazy? B: Last night. Last night I was very lazy. Me: What did you do? B: Nothing (pronounced Nuzzing). That's because I was lazy. LOL Brayden loves my husband's NASCAR video game. He sits in his Umpa's lap and they play together. He doesn't really know what all the buttons on the controller do, but he likes to watch what happens on the screen when he's pushing buttons. Jeff had a hole in the knee of his jeans yesterday. Brayden kept sliding his hand into that hole, and Jeff would laugh and tell him to stop. (No 3 yr old is going to stop if he can get you to laugh!) Then Brayden discovered he could reach over while Umpa played the NASCAR game and push a certain button to make the game rewind, which of course, made Jeff laugh and tell Brayden to stop. You could see this little mind put two and two together. So he would put his hand in the knee-hole, make Umpa laugh, and before the laughter had died down, reach over and push the rewind button. Knee, rewind, knee, rewind - over and over again. Jeff started seriously telling him to stop and he kept it up - knee, rewind, knee, rewind... I came into the room and said, "Brayden, what are you doing?" B: I'm aggravating Umpa. LOL! At least he's honest :)