Shortly after Thanksgiving, comes Christmas. It really feels
like it gets shorter every single year. This year we got a late start on the
holiday season, due to the crazy nonsense that is life. Of course every year
has to start with the tree (and the obligatory pictures of the kids in front of
said tree). For me, decorating the Christmas tree is more chore than cheer, but
it gets better every year with my big helpers. Olivia of course was overjoyed
at the prospect of a barrel full of round shiny objects she could hoard
hand out sparingly. Unfortunately for her the container was almost as tall as
she was, and reaching to the bottom proved troublesome at the end of the
process. She proved to be more interested in digging out the ornaments than
putting them on the tree, but she did participate in decorating part of the
tree (nevermind that the part she decorated was about 6 inches square). The
finished product was perfect and both kids got to put the star up on the top.
I’m not sure how much longer Daddy is going to be able to lift them up to the
top!
So, having decorated the tree, the next order of business
was taking pictures. I wanted to get some pictures with Nathan’s arms lovingly
wrapped around his sister, but those really just ended up looking like he was trying
to put her in a choke hold. Their enthusiasm for the process lasted about 28
seconds. Maybe next year.
Somewhere in the month of December I turned the corner on
another year of experience. The kids and I made my favorite, angel food (cup)
cake, and I got to blow out the candle with my sweet angels around me.
Toward the middle of the month we heard that Santa was
making a stop at the kid’s school, and we got them dressed up to go meet him.
Nathan was super excited of course, and so was Olivia…until it was her turn to
sit on his lap. Then she was stuck to her daddy like Velcro. Just pretend Daddy
is professionally cropped out of the picture. After pictures, they got to
decorate cookies with icing and various toppings. Nathan made liberal use of
the icing and toppings, while Olivia skipped straight to eating the cookie.
A week or so later it was time to go down and spend some
time with family. A lot of time. Eight days to be exact. We typically will head
down to South Texas the weekend before Christmas to spend time with my dad’s
side of the family at my Grandma Bryan’s house then head back up to Houston a
day or so later to spend the rest of the holiday at home. This year, because of
Momo’s declining health, we made the decision to stay in South Texas through the
end of the week so Lolo, Popo and Momo could all see the kids on Christmas day.
That created some logistical challenges, because we had to take EVERYTHING
(except the Christmas tree) with us. Jimmy didn’t think we could do it. Pshaw.
Little faith in my superior packing skills. I don’t think we took a picture of
the fully packed Highlander, but it was a thing of organizational beauty. My
excessively type-A heart warms at the memory. Well, we eventually made it down
to Mathis and spent several nice days in the company of my family. The kids all
opened presents and Nathan’s big (literally) gift came from Uncle Chris in the
form of a giant storm trooper. I won’t even pretend Aunt Kelley had a hand in
this decision, although over the years 60% of the kids’ most annoying presents
have come from her (the other 40% of course coming from Lolo). All I’ll say is
it’s a good thing I love my sister and don’t want to see her widowed. Olivia
was a big fan of the trooper and enjoyed giving him hugs and hauling him around
by the head. I don’t think he cared. As usual, when I’m with my family I don’t
end up taking too many pictures because I’m too busy catching up with my
sisters and cousins and hoping someone else is keeping my kids out of trouble
(thanks, Honey).
Our next stop on the tour of South Texas was Sinton (Day 3
of the adventure). This day included making cookies with Lolo and of course
ensuring we still fit in the dog’s bed (poor Lucky). A spirited game of Go
Fishing was also played under the close supervision of Popo. A good time was
had by all.
Day 4 featured a trip into Corpus Christi to visit the Texas
State Aquarium and see the dolphin show. Nathan was literally jumping up and
down with excitement and enjoyed getting to feed the ray and look at all the
other critters. He also really liked the “treasure map” and carried it around
the better part of the visit. I’m pretty sure Olivia enjoyed the dolphin show
and laughed out loud a few times (“Dey jumpin!”), even though she covered her
ears during applause. Prior to the show, we made the strategic error of letting
Lolo go unsupervised into the gift shop with the kids. She may or may not have
bought them everything in sight. I’ll never tell… The kids were exhausted
afterward and lasted approximately 3 minutes in the car before falling asleep.
Days 5 and 6 (Christmas Eve) were very relaxed and Jimmy and
I took the opportunity to go to Corpus again to see my dad. It had been several
years since I made it to the cemetery because we never stay very long when we
make the trip down. I’m glad we went, but it was hard. I miss him so much and
still feel a lot of sorrow over the things he isn’t here for.
Christmas day started bright and early. The kids woke up at
the crack of dawn and then we made them
wait to leave the room (meanest
parents ever) until Lolo could get Popo and Momo out of bed and into the living
room. I think this is my favorite picture of the entire trip:
As per usual opening presents was a flurry of wrapping paper
and playing with each new thing immediately before moving on to the next
package. Nathan was very excited to get the new Rescue Bots (Transformers) from
Santa, and that excitement was matched when he opened Lolo’s present and got
all of the Black Lagoon books he wanted. I had to persuade him it would be okay
if we did not read all six immediately so he could finish opening his presents.
My sweet boy loves books and I hope his love for reading continues his whole
life. Olivia was interested in Bubba’s stuff at first (of course), until she
opened up her baby dolls and figured out the cradle was to put them
night-night. I think that girl came away from Christmas with four new dolls and
two new stuffed animals to add to her hoard. However, that didn’t limit her
scope of items to put “night-night.” After a brief spell of silence where
someone all of a sudden said, “Where’s Olivia?!” we found her in the living
room making sure the wise men, angels, shepherds, animals and baby Jesus’
family were all getting some quality shut-eye. “I put Jesus nite-nite!” The
rest of the day was spent reading books (over and over and over again) and
having adventures with Rescue Bots and baby dolls. And of course making sure
Lucky’s bed was still comfortable.
But of course our time with family was the best present of
all.
