- The boys and I put together a gingerbread house and I didn't make a single suggestion about which candy to use where (see proof in the pic, the gingerbread bears all had 3 eyes).
- Kyle made bracelets for me, his teacher, my mom and my sister. He did spend lots of time and really seemed to enjoy it. He also helped me with wrapping, picking out the paper, coloring the to/from tags, adding bows. This was a little hard, I love to wrap presents, I can get lost in the matching paper and bows and ribbons, I have been know to pick presents based on size so I have more wrapping options, but of course, having Kyle involved and so into the process is more important and I did save a couple to wrap all for myself. He was also very into the nativity set and moving Mary and Joseph close each day and into the stable last night, then finding Baby Jesus in the stable this morning. His other big holiday project was his new found passion, a magic show. He bought a book with his own money a few weeks ago. He gets frustrated with the fact that it's not as easy as it looks on tv and that you have to practice, but he has gotten a few tricks down and performed them for the family while Jason was finishing dinner. I think my sister was actually surprised on at least on instance.
- Ryan ate sweat potatoes with some degree of enthusiasm at dinner tonight. This was really the best present I could have hoped for, I have been so worried about his appetite and starting solids. Hopefully it will continue. We also took Ryan to church this morning for only the 2nd time (the first being his baptism). We have been taking turns to keep Ryan away from crowds, but Christmas morning is actually pretty sparse, so we decided it would be ok just this one time. We so seldom feel like a family of 5, I appreciate it when we get a chance. I am not overly religious, but I love going to church on Christmas morning, dressing the boys up, seeing the nativity, singing the songs and all 3 boys were so well behaved this year, Ryan actually fell asleep on Jason's shoulder.
- My sister and I went together and got mom Celine Dion tickets and she was so excited.
- Grant is so grumpy it is actually cute. The only thing he wanted was "Thomas going down the waterfall" which is basically a plastic train track with a motorized Thomas. Since we started the wooden set when Kyle was 2, it has grown quite large, so adding this plastic set made no sense from a practical standpoint, but he wanted it and it wasn't very expensive, so in it came from Santa's sleigh. He did love it, but refuses to let us put batteries in Thomas, so it is essentially the same as what we have. We ask to put in batteries, and he just says "No, Thomas is fine". His absolute favorite toy is the toy racetrack Santa brought for Ryan, he was so patient waiting for Ryan to wake up from his nap before opening.
- Jason gave me a new sewing machine to replace the one I have been borrowing from my Mom that is older then me. Now just to find the time for a new project.
- I had some time off. It seems December has been a busy month for me the last few years, and it was nice to be off this year. I took advantage and still used my daycare/Mom on Tuesday and was able to get the house clean (with Jason's help) and presents wrapped. This went a long way towards making things less stressful. I am still so tired though. I am hoping I read this someday when I am 60 and remember what is is like for my kids when their kids are small, not that my family doesn't help, they do and they are great, but I just want to make sure I remember why having help is so nice and offer it if I am able.
- I also used my time off last week to take the boys sledding while my mom was watching Ryan. It was the perfect day, snow, but no wind so it wasn't cold and we had fun, but their differences in personality were so apparent. Grant loved every second, sliding down the hill and saying "Can I do that again, mom?" and pulling his sled back up with no complaints. Kyle had fun to, but it was always like, maybe if we go down that hill or use this sled or stack the sleds on top of each other it will be even better. By the end I am yelling, "Just sled down the hill and have fun". Kind of defeats the purpose, but we did have fun.
As for the stress, I think it is just a feeling of guilt that the boys have so much. I think I just use the holidays as an excuse to buy things they semi-need (e.g character pjs, they may need pjs, but they don't need Thomas and Batman PJs) or things I want them to have like books and Leapster Games and stuff that is a "good deal" (e.g. half price moon sand). It all just adds up to too much, especially paired with the grandparent gifts and gifts we exchange with cousins. I know I need to cut back for their sake, but just can't seem to make myself. Maybe the rule next year will be shopping only with Jason.
Other then the overshopping on my part, we have so much to be thankful for this Christmas and we really did try to enjoy and make the most of it. Jason did cookes with the boys on Christmas Eve as always and we made our usual jokes about "this is not supposed to be fun, it is supposed to be efficient" when the boys just wanted to cut out cookies any which way. I can't believe Ryan will be walking and eating real food next year, he'll probably also refuse to sit in pictures or let me dress him up in a santa hat.
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