Christmas 2008

Seems like Christmas kind of snuck up on us this year (like that hasn't happened before.....). I had all my shopping finished early but we didn't help Santa assemble the gifts until the 23rd. Santa's workshop was not going to happen in an unheated basement (or an unheated and unlit garage!!!), so Brian and I dropped the kids off at his parents' house so I could wrap and Brian could assemble a train table and a craft center. The train table took him roughly 3+ hours to put together and the craft center was about 45 minutes, but both were totally worth the time because the kids were thrilled with their Santa gifts and have been playing with them constantly.


Christmas Eve was spent at my mom's house. We arrived with Claudia crying hysterically because she didn't want to wear white tights and she had not been able to give Mimi a hug and kiss before she left Mimi and Papa's house, where she had spent the night. She hadn't given Mimi a proper hug and kiss before leaving because she had been crying hysterically then too.......she was basically overtired and a complete mess. She eventually calmed down, though, and the kids opened their gifts from Grandma and cousins. Grandma gave William and Claudia fishing poles and digital cameras, both of which will get a lot of use! She also threw in a few extra gifts such as a remote control car and clothes for Claudia. The kids were also showered with gifts from their cousins. They all had a great time playing with their new toys. The Bentons gave us an annual pass to the Indiana State parks. What a cool gift! We are determined to hit every state park this year and visit the Dunes daily!

That evening, after we got home, the kids and I fixed a plate of cookies for Santa along with a glass of milk. We also leave Santa a beer because, you know, Santa loves a cold beer after all his hard work! As we were doing this, William started with all his questions... "how is Santa going to get into the house?"... "where will he put the gifts?"... "Santa told us to leave him a brat with the beer and we don't have a brat" (thank you to the Bass Pro Shop Santa for that suggestion!)... "how are the reindeer going to see the food I left in the backyard when they land on the ROOF not the yard?" Too many questions for a tired Mommy to answer! I did my best to creatively answer the questions as Brian was unloading the car. After what seemed an eternity the kids finally fell asleep and Santa began his work of carrying the goods from the basement into the living room. Santa also had to assemble the train layout which took a bit of time!

By the way, Santa noticed that the cookies that had been left for him were gone.....he assumed I had eaten them (I would've saved him at least one!), but I told him that it wasn't me. Upon closer inspection, the dog prints on the glasstop coffee table gave away the real culprit! That sneaky Sophie!!!! We don't know exactly when she pulled off the heist, since none of us saw her.....interestingly enough, the next morning William made a statement about Sophie eating the cookies, but we weren't sure if he actually saw the gobbling, or was just being funny!

William was the first to awaken on Christmas morning. He crawled into our bed as he does every morning but didn't say anything about going downstairs to see what Santa left. Eventually he degrogged and asked if we could go downstairs for a drink. He was smiling as he said this and I knew he wouldn't last long before he bolted out of bed. We asked him to go wake up Claudia, who was sleeping soundly and was not very happy about being disturbed. Claudia slid out of bed, hair sticking in all directions (!!!).....Brian asked her if she slept well and she said, "Yes, I was sleeping fine until I was woken up!" (as in, "What's up with that?!?").

We all went downstairs and the kids were very excited to see their Christmas gifts. William immediately went to his train table and began to play. Claudia made a beeline for her craft table and smiled. They played and "checked out" their stockings.... actually William dumped his stocking out onto the floor, looked at his stuff for about 0.3 seconds and went back to playing trains.....while Claudia removed each item one at a time commenting on each one, "markers, my favorite... a toothbrush, my favorite... underwear, my favorite.... candy, my favorite"!!! They both played all morning, sharing toys and eating treats along with a late breakfast.

Later in the day, we went to Mimi and Papa's house for another round of "Christmas". William said we had 3 Christmases. One at Grandma's, one at home and one at Mimi and Papa's house. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and opening all their gifts. William received new toys and clothes, including a Chicago Bears sweatshirt that was a BIG hit!!! Claudia received craft items and clothes. We had the opportunity to have a webcam call with Grandma Betty and family out in Arizona, as well as a phone call with Aunt Christie and Uncle Eric in Florida........they all had a nice Christmas too and it was nice to talk to everyone. By the end of the evening everyone was tired but everybody had a great time!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and is recovering from the festivites!