Apparently all you need to do is to tell a five year old that Santa won't come to her house unless everyone is asleep (and the sooner the better, because maybe he's not as tired earlier in the evening and he'll do a better job handing out gifts here), and that means she'll obediently jump into bed and go straight to sleep. Huh!
Christmas Eve brings to mind a million Norman Rockwell images, but our household had none of that. With a Christmas blizzard starting (not exactly a Norman Rockwell white Christmas - this is a massive storm system blowing hard outside), we had no family visitors. With three sick kids, we had crankiness, not giddiness. I was up all hours of the previous night with 103-degree temp Molly, so I was not in the best of moods today. I was impatient to get the kids in bed and the Christmas gifts set up rather than savoring the evening with them. It's just one of those years I guess. Maybe next year everyone will be healthy.
Claire and I did sneak out this afternoon to see The Princess and The Frog, the new Disney movie set in New Orleans. It's the first movie she made it through, but it required that I request the volume be turned down twice and she had to wear earplugs to handle it (her first movie attempt, only a few months ago with Kyle, had to be abandoned because it was too loud). I'm not sure what her overall reaction is yet because I'll wait another couple days to get her take on it. She generally gives a better answer once she's thought about it for a while.
Some photos of our Christmas Eve ... Kyle and Claire roasted marshmallows in the fireplace tonight (a new tradition brewing here?) ...
Christmas Eve brings to mind a million Norman Rockwell images, but our household had none of that. With a Christmas blizzard starting (not exactly a Norman Rockwell white Christmas - this is a massive storm system blowing hard outside), we had no family visitors. With three sick kids, we had crankiness, not giddiness. I was up all hours of the previous night with 103-degree temp Molly, so I was not in the best of moods today. I was impatient to get the kids in bed and the Christmas gifts set up rather than savoring the evening with them. It's just one of those years I guess. Maybe next year everyone will be healthy.
Claire and I did sneak out this afternoon to see The Princess and The Frog, the new Disney movie set in New Orleans. It's the first movie she made it through, but it required that I request the volume be turned down twice and she had to wear earplugs to handle it (her first movie attempt, only a few months ago with Kyle, had to be abandoned because it was too loud). I'm not sure what her overall reaction is yet because I'll wait another couple days to get her take on it. She generally gives a better answer once she's thought about it for a while.
Some photos of our Christmas Eve ... Kyle and Claire roasted marshmallows in the fireplace tonight (a new tradition brewing here?) ...
... Claire's snack for Santa (you do know Santa is a popcorn fan, right?) ...
... and here's a photo of our Christmas gift layout. It's decidedly modest this year, and I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I'm proud of myself for keeping our spending under control and not making any guilt purchases; but on the other hand, I'm greatly disappointed our finances didn't allow for a few significant splurges. Given the age groups of my children, I trust they will not notice the slim pickings this year ...
It's almost midnight here, so let me go ahead and say ... Merry Christmas to you! This Santa is tired and needs a good night of sleep!
No comments:
Post a Comment