Christmas

My mom and me

This is our second Christmas back in America and we have accepted that Christmas in the States is just mayhem.  We carve out Christmas Day as a day for us as a family to hang out and chill but otherwise it is a whirlwind.  The kids seem to love it and I think they have adjusted to the loudness that it includes.  Last year Ali had a headache when we went for Christmas at my parents because it was too loud.  This year she was part of the noise!  We spent a lot of time driving but it was all worth it.  We drove down to my brother's house on the 23rd for dinner which gave the girls more time to play with their cousins, Michael & Johnathon. Jason and I were happy to go down and visit with everyone but we were particularly looking forward to seeing Johnathon as we don't get to see him as often since he lives with his Mom in Ohio.  It was great to see him and he is definitely at the age where he is in the limbo of too old to play the kiddie games but not old enough for the adults.  Part of him wants to be in both worlds so when he became tired of the kiddie games with his cousins he would come and punch/wrestle with Jason.  I love that he feels comfortable with us and feels he can play around.  Of course the horsing around makes me nervous just as it did when Pat and Joe (my brothers) would do it as kids but for the most part I kept my mouth shut and let the boys play.


The day before Christmas I made my traditional holiday sweet bread and then also made a custard pie to bring to my parent's house.  Custard pie is my Dad's favorite so I try to make it for all holidays.  We arrived at my Parent's house around three o'clock and the kids were off and running to play with all their cousins.  As she was with us, my mom is very lenient and the kids have the run of the house so they LOVE it.  It is so nice to have reached the age when our kids are gone the moment we arrive leaving us to hang out with the adults and we don't have to worry.

Let the mayhem begin!

We opened gifts with the family and this is no one present opened at a time....no,no,no...this is passing gifts out and not waiting to see what it was but getting a gift to the next person.  It is how we did it growing up and the kids love it.  They don't want to have to wait patiently for adults to open gifts.  They knew they were getting McKenna (American Girl Doll) from Grandma and Grandpa but that didn't detract from the joy they had unwrapping her.  They were delighted.  They moved on to gifts from the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins...necklaces, crafts, card making supplies, American girl clothes and on and on it went.  I did have to laugh at my Sister-in-law as she was blockaded behind big diggers and tonka trucks!  Oh to be done with those big bulky toys!!!  I chose to be on the outside edge and organized the gifts as they got unwrapped.

Left to right: Laura, Me, Leah

The rest of the extended family arrived around six o'clock and dinner was served followed by the opening of yet MORE presents!  It is definitely a gluttonous amounts of gifts but it is so much fun.  Everyone had a good time and it is nice to see the extended family as well.  My cousins were both in town this year so I was able to catch up with them.  One is busy with her PhD and the other is living in Papua New Guinea so I rarely get to see them.

Back Row: Aiden, Johnathon
Middle Row: Michael, Sofia, Alessandra
Front Row: Nathan, Logan, Bella

 I like that we see my aunts and uncles enough now that the girls are comfortable around everyone and if I happen to not make it through everyone to have a conversation it isn't like I won't get another chance to talk with them soon.  They know their cousins very well now and play with them as easily as if they saw them every day.

Christmas Day the kids actually slept in a little bit since they were so tired from all the excitement at Grandma and Grandpa's.  Jason and I woke up and stayed in bed listening for the moment they awoke.  Sofia woke up first and we heard her climb down from her loft bed and wake Ali up.  We did not mind that she woke Ali up since it was a reasonable hour and it was Christmas!  We headed downstairs to see what Santa brought.  Ali looked first in the room with the Christmas tree and was instantly disappointed that she didn't see big bunny so we caved and told her to go look again before we opened up stockings.  She was SO EXCITED!!!  She carried big bunny everywhere.  We headed into the living room and opened stockings followed by coffee (for Jason and me), juice and sweet bread.
After a little sustenance it was time to open presents.  Both kids were very excited to see what Santa brought.  Sofia hit the jackpot with an i-touch and was very happy.  Ali was a little disappointed that she didn't get an i-touch so we have let her borrow my old i-pod and she walked around the house listening to music carrying big bunny all day!  There were a lot of presents to open but we got through them pretty quickly and then it was time to play.  We had a very low key day and we all stayed in our pjs the entire day.  Jason made dinner of salt encrusted beef tenderloin on a bed of spinach, gorgonzola, & potato salad.  It was delicious and we will be having that again next year although we will put the gorgonzola on the side since the girls did not love that part.  All in all a successful crazy Christmas!