Christmas

The last five years Christmas has been very low key and laid back for our family.  We were living abroad with no family.  The kids had three weeks off from school so there was plenty of time before Christmas to bake cookies and play together as a family.  For some of the Christmas Eves we did nothing and just hung out as a family and for some of them we went to a friends house for drinks and hor d'oeuvers.  It was a nice evening of relaxing and chatting with friends while the kids played with their friends.  On Christmas day we woke up and had a leisurely morning with no where to go for the day.  On our last year we did go to a friends house for brunch on Christmas morning but there was no rush to get there and if we decided to not go it was not a problem.  It was so nice to be able to have time to relax together as a family with no pressure to go anywhere or do anything. 

This year we are back in America and such is not the way of the American Christmas.  We do Christmas here as Americans go through life...rush, rush, rush.  I forgot how crazy Christmas can be when you have to rush around to see everybody.  The kids did not get out of school until the 23rd of December so there was no time to make cookies as a family so I made them myself.  The kids don't have much free time during the week between homework, swimming and gymnastics so the week before Christmas passed as every other week passes.  On the 23rd Jason stayed home from work but the kids had school and I went down to my parents to help my mother prepare for the Christmas Eve meal she was hosting on Saturday.  Since I'm home I will of course help my mother but this year in particular she needed the help since she wasn't feeling well.  So the kids in school, me in RI and Jason home to do a few errands and fortunately had lunch with a friend.  I drove back home at the end of the day and started to think about how different life was now that we are back in a America.  As I started to feel a bit down I was reminded that things are also good in America when a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky.  It wasn't a part of a rainbow but a full on complete rainbow and it wasn't even raining where I was driving.

On Saturday we drove down to RI for lunch so that we could spend time with my siblings and the kids could play with their cousins and we could open gifts from each other before the rest of the family arrived for dinner.  The girls were very excited to get to RI to see their cousins, especially their cousin Johnathon since they do not get to see him that often.  He is the oldest of the cousins on my side of the family and Sofia adores him.  They were climbing all over him which may have been a bit overwhelming for Johnathon but he was a good sport about it.  After the kids played and we had lunch we decided it was time to open the presents.  This proceeded in the fashion that it has since I was a little girl...presents flying everywhere, ripping open packages and moving on to the next one all while having no idea of who else got what or really even taking the time to look at what you just opened.  While I have realized I do not like this method as an adult I remembered loving it as a child.  The kids had a blast and there were a LOT of presents to open. 

After opening the gifts and cleaning up all the wrapping paper the kids played while the adults prepared the spread for dinner.  The rest of the family (about 30 people in total) arrived and we ate dinner and proceeded to round two of present opening.  As is customary in my family once the eating is done and presents are opened it is time to go home so most of the family left.  I helped clean up as best I could but we needed to leave by 8:30pm because I had to pick up our beef tenderloin from my friends house.  Fortunately I had it delivered to her house earlier that day since I forgot to pick it up from Roche Bros. grocery store.  Roche Bros. earned their slightly pricier products in my eyes since they went out of their way to deliver my Christmas beef for me without a delivery charge on the day before Christmas.  I can't imagine a big supermarket chain providing that kind of service.

We arrived back home about 10:15pm and said good-bye to Christopher Pop-In-Kins for another year and put the kids to bed and prepared everything for the following day.  

Christmas morning came and it was nice.  We maintained our Christmas morning routine...stockings, coffee and holiday sweet bread, open presents and then a big breakfast of eggs, bacon and home fries.  We were so relaxed we didn't even have breakfast until noon! 

I gave Jason an X-box Kinect for Christmas so we played that and the kids had a blast with it.  Ali was a little hesitant at first but once Jason and I left the room she and Sofia played together and had a great time.



On Monday we drove up to Maine and got there just about 5pm.  We decided that our dinner would be much more relaxed and unrushed if we opened up gifts first.  The girls were very excited and I was excited for them to open gifts as well since I knew the gift Sofia had been waiting for was there to be opened...her American Girl doll.  Basically Christmas would be made perfect once she opened that present.  We had also brought Ali's American girl doll up to Maine to be unwrapped as well so they both got their dolls and Grammie had also given them doll clothing, accessories and a trundle bed.  They were thrilled!  It was quite a Christmas and a very different experience for the kids but I think they enjoyed every moment.