They started to arrive December 24th. Jake was supposed to arrive late December 23rd. But that wacky weather was predicted to have major thunderstorms with some possible tornadoes. Jake opted to wait till December 24th and leave early in the morning. We thought that was a good decision.
So, at 10am on December 24th, we met Jake at the Hardee's in our new Love's Travel Plaza for breakfast on his way to our home. It felt good to have him almost home. Love those Jake hugs. The Marx family arrived later that afternoon and the family fun began.
First, the set for Christmas. I'm trying every year to pare down the decorations. There are a few things I will not discontinue. One is the Nativity that is displayed in the front yard. It's not the world's biggest but it is something I feel strongly about and am so happy we have one in our yard. One neighbor in our development has one he puts over his garden spot every year that is life-size cut-outs. Very, very nice. The second item is our tree. It is an artificial tree and it is covered with ornaments from our family, places we have lived and trips we have taken. It is just chock full of memories and really adds to the holidays.
The Mini's come with their own bundles of energy. Think of it...Hayden has only had one Christmas that wasn't in this home and he was a month old then. Bailey has never had a Christmas that wasn't in our home. So Christmas for them is to naturally take over and fill the house with things that make Christmas for kids so much fun.
Hayden came with his new digital toy. It has some letters and numbers for the name but for the life of me I can't remember what they are. It plays in 3-D without having to wear 3-D glasses. He saved his money and added what he got from Michael's family for his birthday in November and finally had enough to get this treasure.
Bailey came in with a live greenery wreath. Andie signed her up for a few hours craft event at the Extension Office for Oldham County. One of the things she made was this wreath. I think she did an excellent job. This is her Vanna White pose. She also took the wreath down and put it on her head like a crown, then struck a posed with an attitude for our photo shoot. Her last picture was of her holding up the wreath and then grinning at me through the center. The child is definitely NOT inhibited.
While I put together some cookie dough to make cookies for Santa, Andie shuttled the Mini's downstairs to decorate their tree in the basement. I have it all set up with the lights on and the skirt underneath. The box of ornaments and bead garland it ready and they put on as they feel it needs to be decorated. Not sure how many years they will want to keep this tradition up but this year they were very excited to decorate their tree again.
Then it was time to make cookies for Santa and decorate them. I believe the heart of the home is in the kitchen. Family things just go great if there is a good kitchen filled with possibilities. This year I found a really good cookie recipe that Claude loves. He is not a sweet eater so that says a lot for the recipe. I mixed that recipe up as it can be rolled out. When the Mini's came back upstairs, there was a rolled out piece of dough on each side of the island with a small dish of icing and a plate to put sprinkles and sugars on to decorate them. Having them each have their own work area really helps in keeping the mood light and fun. After a bit, Uncle Jake even joined in and cut out some cookies too. That would be my youngest child and my youngest grandmonster together. Way cool! Hayden is enjoying the cooks share! And Bailey cut out a bell and put a big crack in it. Their family went to Philadelphia this year and she saw the Liberty Bell. This was her homage to a great family trip. Her parents were pleased she remembered.
While the cookie making was a big hit, I'm thinking we are slowing down on the concern for Santa. We had to remind the kids to be sure their treats for Santa and the reindeer were outside. They did cheerfully get it together and get them out. But Christmas day I never heard them say anything about checking to see what Santa and the reindeer ate. You can tell we had warm weather for Christmas by the bare feet and the shorts. Goodness.
Movies were watched in the evening and a time was set for opening presents Christmas morning. This is important because I have to get into Georgetown to pick up Papa for Christmas day before any of the kids come upstairs. When I asked about what time we should open presents, Hayden said, "9am!" I was not sure that would really work so I suggested 8am and we all agreed. This to me was another sign of their growing up. Used to want to get up a lot earlier than that.
Once everyone was ready, we did the traditional picture on the stairs of everyone present that Christmas. Top to bottom: Papa, Hayden, Claude, Bailey, Michael, Jacob and Andie. I'm present and behind the camera. Andie did get a selfie stick for Christmas and there was talk of retaking the picture so I was in it but we just let that one slip by. Maybe 2016.
Here are some opening the present pictures that I really liked. First, Andie and Michael have a tradition of giving stockings to each other. This picture is them opening and finding they got each other the same kind of chips.
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This is Jake holding up the instruction sheet. Poor Jake received no less that three gifts that he must assemble.
The tape on this particular box just wouldn't let go of the box. Jake is a big, strong guy and he was struggling to try and get it open. I got scissors for him to open it and that became a running joke for the rest of opening the presents. Someone would say they needed the scissors and we all laughed. Then Jake had a gift in an envelope. This was a truly hilarious picture to take. Maybe not in the telling, but in the being there it was side-splittingly funny.
The Marx family had their bi-annual Disney cruise with Michael's family over Thanksgiving. They stayed in a Hyatt Hotel in Atlanta on the way to Florida for the cruise. Everyone but Michael left their book in the hotel room. Michael got their books back from the Hyatt and saved them for Christmas. He wrapped each book with a card inside with a note about returning the book to them. This is Bailey, Andie and Hayden opening their gifts with their returned books. Cute moment for their family.
I had a 'flash of intellect' when it came to getting a gift for Papa this year. I had a strong impression to make him a photo album with his family in it. He really struggles with memory and gets family confused. He has great grandchildren he has never met and can't keep them straight as to who their parents are and which set of parents is a child of me or my sisters. Names elude him and he just gets frustrated with it. So, I made him a binder. The first picture in it was the one he loves of he and Mimi when they were first married. Behind that were a few pictures of them with us girls through the years. Then I included the Blog information of where we lived in DeRidder and where he lived in Winnfield with a few pictures and the maps marking the locations of the homes. I had three tabs, one for each of us girls. They were in birth order and the tabs were in favorite colors of each of us girls. There was a nice picture of each of us with a map of where we lived and our wedding date on it. Behind that picture was a picture of our children with their names clearly labeled. Then there was an individual page for each of his grand children behind their appropriate mother's tab in their birth order. These pictures were with their spouse or significant other and had their wedding date and map of where they live now. Behind their pictures were pictures of their children with names clearly labeled. I included plastic sleeves to add pictures that kids may send him and put it all in a pink binder. Pink is Papa's favorite color. He was so happy to get this gift. He carefully read every page and made sure the rest of the family had a chance to look through the book as well. So happy I followed up on that prompting.
Little Bailey had a crafting Christmas. She made a gift for me that was a snow man made of three baby food jars. The top one had marshmallows and the bottom two had instant cocoa mix in them. She even colored the paper for one present.
Bailey also made something for her dad. I don't remember what it was. What was important to me was that special father/daughter moment when he opened and she explained all about it.
Claude was just Claude. His Christmas attire says what an interesting character my hubby is.
Papa always worries and feels bad that he doesn't bring gifts. This year while purchasing his groceries before Christmas, I found Star Wars light saber toothbrushes in Kroger. They have a button you press and it makes Star Wars sounds for 1 minute while you brush your teeth. I got a Darth Vader one for Hayden (he was Darth Vader for Halloween) and a Obi-wan Kenobi one for Bailey. They were very happy with them and showed Papa how they worked. Papa felt good about his gift to them.
Claude's gift to me was in three parts. Each part has a line from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. These were clues to find that part of the gift. Each was hanging in Christmas tree. All were things I wanted. A gold chain, a silver chain and a ticket to Time Our for Women this year. The Big Guy did good!!
We had a smoked brisket and a spiral ham for dinner. That meat kept us fed through the weekend. The Mini's made their Lego kits. Christmas afternoon the boys went to the basement to watch some movies. Hayden had not seen the Indiana Jones movies and I believe they watched three of them. He totally enjoyed them. I started the puzzle. It is still on my table and will be for several months. Naps were taken and we just had a very mellow Christmas day.
The 26th Claude and I watched Bailey while everyone else went to Georgetown to see the newest Star Wars movie. For dinner Michael made sandwiches to order for everyone, I made a veggie tray that looked like Santa and Claude made a wreath out of crescent rolls filled with yummy things. I played the piano and the Mini's sang some Christmas songs. Then Bailey wanted to learn how to play Jingle Bells on the piano. How do you do that with a very active child? I showed her where to put her fingers and the pattern for playing 'Dashing through the snow'. I tried to intersperse that with the names of notes and that they match lines and spaces on the page and black and white keys on the piano. She picked up on that line fairly quickly. Then we added moving the hands up the keyboard a step and playing 'In a one horse open sleigh'. She was very happy getting that down and playing it over and over. Before the session was done she had touched on the 'O'er the fields we go' line. As we headed upstairs she said, "How about we have a 'free' piano lesson every time I come to visit? I assured her we would do that.
Sunday morning we had biscuits and gravy and started gathering for everyone to leave. I gave Andie and Bailey hair cuts. We watched for a break in the rain to load cars. What we were really doing was eeking out as many more family moments as we could before going our separate ways.
It was a great Christmas. So happy the kids come and want to come.
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