It's been awhile since I've been able to write anything down. The holidays descended upon us as did grief, stress, frustration, family, and some fun. Not in any particular order.
The wrapping was done, but the presents were spread out all over the dining room table because a certain 13 month old, Sawyer, would have ripped open everything had they been left under the tree. I was waiting on Andrew's last Christmas gift to arrive and was really worried it wouldn't get here on time. It was supposed to be delivered the 19th, but got delayed when the ice storm hit Dallas. I was one of the lucky ones whose package arrived on the 23rd. Go me for having the foresight to buy all my gifts early in December!
Our family decided to attend the 4pm Christmas Eve Mass. I am not the kind of person who gets to church an hour early to reserve a seat in the church. I just don't see the point. I arrive 15-20 minutes early and just go sit in the Parish Hall. Andrew, the kids, my brother, Matt, and I pick out premium back row seats in the Parish Hall where one of us can escape with a child if necessary. You can never be too cautious sometimes. As we are waiting for Mass to start, the kids are really good. Jackson and Cullen are sitting quietly looking at a few books or asking questions. About 10 minutes into Mass, all hell breaks loose. Sawyer is now a full time walker, doesn't want to be held anymore, and just wants to walk around. Cullen is playing musical chairs because he can't figure out who he wants to sit by while asking a zillion questions or stating obvious facts. Jackson meanwhile is making Sawyer laugh and has ants in his pants. Plus, Jackson feels the need to tell me about a dozen times that it's Jesus's birthday tomorrow. Normally, I have no problem with him telling me this but it gets really old after three days of the same thing. All three of us are juggling a kid. About half way through Mass, I lean over to Jackson and say, "I'm going to call Santa and he will give you nothing but rocks and coal if you aren't quiet and behave!" The look of absolute horror on his face was one not to forget, but he at least calmed down to a manageable level. I was desperate! After Mass, we headed home in completely silence since the kids knew they were in trouble for misbehaving at church.
Once home, I make our annual Christmas Eve dinner of Shrimp and Grits. It's not hard or time consuming, but I do have to pan fry the bacon in order to cook the shrimp in the bacon grease. Once dinner is on the table, Cullen refuses to eat it. Yes, he has had it before and likes it. He has some kind of monumental breakdown induced by the fact he had no nap. In the end (and it was a long way to the end), I ended up giving him the delightful dinner of chicken nuggets and corn. And he ate it all by himself in isolation.
Before bed time, Jackson and Cullen put out cookies and milk for Santa. Both boys helped me bake peanut butter cookies with Hershey Kisses on top that morning, so Santa enjoyed freshly baked cookies. The boys sprinkled reindeer food out in the lawn. I read them The Night Before Christmas book which I found out was my brother's and mine from when we were kids. It had 'Read along with the cassette tape' in the front; dead giveaway it was far from new. The boys crawled into bed, and the lights were out.
At long last, the house was quiet. We moved all the presents under the Christmas tree. Andrew popped in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Andrew and Matt drank homemade egg nog. I obviously couldn't have any, so I had a cup of hot chocolate.
It was an early night since Santa had to come, and the boys would get up early.
Christmas morning wasn't too bad. Jackson slept in 'til 7am, and Cullen woke up at 7:30. That's sleeping in in our family. I got up and started breakfast while Andrew entertained the boys with their presents Santa left. We eventually opened presents after coffee was poured. Don't ask us to function without coffee. It was so much easier and faster this year with Jackson and Cullen being able to open all the presents by themselves. Sawyer had a ball ripping wrapping paper and playing in boxes.
With all the unholiness our family amassed in church the night before, Christmas ended up pretty low key and nice.
I can say I am glad the holidays are over. I'm ready to get everyone back into our regular routine. And I'm ready for preschool to start again, so I can have a small break from the kiddos.
No comments:
Post a Comment