Christmas Day

'Twas the morning of Christmas, and all through the house

The creatures were stirring, even my spouse.
It was 6:55, the hour was here,
Santa had come, and there was wrapping to tear. 

The stockings were emptied, kids inspected their "loot",
Then onward, more presents, was the pursuit.
There were books, a toy snake, clothes, and more books,
Soon the wrapping was gone, and we all exchanged looks.



Christmas wasn't over, it barely had started,
No lazy day, there was a different course charted.
We packed a few gifts, and an offer of food
And journeyed to visit the Hobson brood.

The food was amazing, Con cooked up a storm.
We ate until our stomachs were in fine form.
Then the presents, they crested as a wave.
Leaving my children with nothing to crave.

Several hours later, we traveled on home.
We took a quick nap, no desire to roam.
Roam on though, we must, so we girded our loins,
Grabbed more food, and more gifts, my family to join.

We opened the church, wheeled my dad from Hillcrest,
Met with my family, remembered we're blessed.
Passed around the sweet babies; could hold them all day!
And watched as the grandchildren presented a play.





Ate lots more food, my stomach was done.
Empty calories had lost most of their fun.
More presents, more family, more joy and more glee,
Also "Can we go home now?" was the exhausted plea.

We wheeled my dad home, and tidied the church,
As we headed for home, our souls we did search.
It had been a grand Christmas, a glorious day,
What we wanted now was a bed upon which to lay.

We all brushed our teeth, our pajamas we donned,
We watched a short movie and openly yawned.
We crawled into bed, knowing Christmas was spent.
Sleep was the craving, of which we didn't repent.

Snoring quietly ensued from five of our clan,
Sleep did elude me, as my brain made some plans.
So I write crummy poetry before I turn off the light,
And I say with true heart, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Quinceañero

Just over six feet tall, one year away from being allowed to date, eight months away from high school (it starts in 10th grade here), Ethan loved his fifteenth birthday. I am a gobsmacked at how much he has grown, this little boy who used to curl around my pregnant stomach while I read "Where the Wild Things Are" on repeat, now towers over me and carries me away from conversations he deems are taking too long.

He's definitely not a baby anymore: Now he gets excited to receive clothes for his birthday!

He was even truly excited about socks.

We also gave him a book and a fancy schmancy wallet. He was well-pleased with his old man gifts.

His greatest gift, though, came from Michael's family. They all pitched in money and I picked up Ethan's new greatest love...

He has been taking lessons for a few months, but has had to play on my classical style guitar. He's excited to let his steel strings sing.

Happy birthday, my boy! I hope the next year is great. You still aren't allowed to date.

Not Christmas Stuff

Random pictures from random December days. There is no theme to this post, but there are interesting pictures, so there's that.

This is Ethan's science project. He created a slime mold cell out of his dad's random hardware bits.

Grace made a spinal column out of hard and gummy life savers. Then she ate it.

I put both girls' hair in French braids. Ethan wanted French braids as well. His hair was not long enough. We compromised.

Libby really likes shoes. I'm not sure where this child came from.

I just happened to find this picture.

and this picture on my phone. I really don't know what happened.

And one last picture of a beautiful baby. This is my new niece who was adopted just a couple months ago. She is perfect and beautiful and makes me all gushy inside. I love her so much, it is really disgusting. Thankfully her parents don't seem to mind and will even send me pictures on a random Tuesday when I need a pick me up.

Christmas Traditions Part II

Another yearly tradition is the making of gingerbread houses. This year we were invited to a gingerbread making house party hosted by Michael's friend and co-worker.  It was fun to decorate houses with a large group of people. There was a huge variety of candies, someone else made the houses and frosting, and we all enjoyed some delicious snacks. It was also crowded. I'm not sure if it was more or less crazy than making them at home.

The houses in their completed glory. This is before they ate most the candy off them.

One thing that remained the same was the fact the kids ate all the candy off their house within a day, and Sam destroyed his house within 24 hours.

His first hit only damaged his hand, and not the house. He persevered, though, and eventually wrought destruction.

**Sidenote: I need to mention that Ethan is red-green colorblind.  He sees most colors accurately, but does get confused when brown is mixed into red and green colors. I made a comment about the gingerbread houses being brown (I don't know why) and Ethan stopped in his tracks. "Wait! Gingerbread houses are brown?"

"Yes, son, we have made brown gingerbread houses for ten years now. What color did you think they were?"

"They're green."

"You thought we were making green houses every year? Why would we make green houses?"

"I figured it was to make them Christmas-y!"

Everyone was giggling at this point.

I continued with my questions, "How did you think they became green? All the ingredients are white and brown."

He shrugged, "I assumed it was some chemical reaction with the baking soda."

I am highly amused he thought we have been making green houses for years. Now I keep looking at the houses and imaging them green and it seems horribly ugly and creepy. I'm surprised he kept willingly making them.

He now understands the houses are brown, but they, of course, still look green.  Maybe we should be making them for Halloween.

Christmas Tradition

The Monday after Thanksgiving is the Idaho Capitol tree lighting. There is free hot cocoa, cider, and cookies. Choirs sing, the First Lady and Governor drone on for a long time, and then the tree is lit! It's pretty magical.

This year the speeches became a little much, so we stepped into the Capitol building and watched the tree lighting from above. We could still hear the music, but at a much lower volume. After the tree was lit, the kids were able to each select a free book! After receiving the free book, we vamoosed out of that place. I don't know if it was us, or if it was the event, but the whole thing seemed a little too loud and crowded this year. We were glad to attend, but also glad to leave.

                                     

We even managed to grab a couple photos in front of the poinsettia display. We still cannot manage to all look at the camera and smile, though. Maybe one day.