Christmas 2008

Our Christmas day was really a strange one, but very fun all the same. I was awakened by my dad thinking it was the day he was “supposed” to wake me up. NOT, so I started out the day a bit cranky. I told him I would get him up when I was warm, awake, and the coffee was made so I had something to look forward to. I had been expecting Tess to be the one who would be waking me up. We still had to get the tree set up, the presents moved into the kitchen (tiny overcrowded living room), and make room for a giant toybox and bicycle somewhere. Instead of making room for the toybox, we decided we would let it continue to live in my bedroom for another few days so the girls could spread their new toys all over Cassie’s bedroom (the playroom) and have a ball with them before they had to think about putting them away. My cousin Nick decended around 11:30 am, and we then had to work around him, too. Tess had decided on cold-cuts and cheese with a few little tidbits to go along and we started getting all that ready after she had brought over the first car full of toys. She and Eric brought over the rest of the presents (she is the designated wrapper). She couldn’t find the roast beef and sliced cheddar she swears we bought a few days before Christmas anywhere at either house. I know it never came to my house and she claimed it didn’t go to hers either. Eric, the incredible eating machine, went back home and scavenged a variety of meat and cheese from their fridge. Funny thing is, no one missed the danged roast beef anyway, even though Tess had a big melt-down over not being able to find it. Then at around 1:45 pm Brian, the girls’ dad, called to find out when to bring them. I told him 10 minutes and we would be ready. We had to get the bicycle in front of the presents and prepare for them trying to get into things ahead of time. From the moment they came through the door, Athena kept saying can we open our stockings? Cassie kept asking Tess if she had made the bike (Athena didn’t even know there was a bike). We kept Athena out of the kitchen so she wouldn’t see the bike, until about 10 minutes later she suddenly turned around and spotted it. It then went to live in my dad’s room for the rest of the afternoon. Yea!!! We could sort of move around again. Cassie was as much fascinated by the act of opening things as she was by what was in them. She didn’t really play with much of anything until she got them home, then she couldn’t leave any of them alone for long. I think the hit for her was a school bus that had tons of buttons and shapes and colors and letters and numbers on it. It made lots of sounds and was very interactive. She also loved her dog that howled as he sang Christmas carols. My dad got a dog that played jingle bells and rolled over on the floor, and more candy than anyone except a child or an 89 year old should have. We were all so exhausted after it all that Tess went to bed by 8 pm and I was asleep in the living room by 10 pm. I woke up in time for dad to ask if he had to get me up in the morning. I told him he never had to get me up again. Ever.