Christmas Joys

 We were awoken this morning by a very happy little girl jumping up and down telling us that Santa had come and there were presents downstairs…joy #1. 

 The boy still hadn’t woke, so we sent her downstairs to get Grandpa moving…that didn’t even last 15 min when Little Ryan made it known that he was awake and had heard his very excited sister.  Up we got and headed downstairs to gather the old folks before Casey spontaneously combusted.

 As soon as we were all gathered we knelt to pray before we opened the gifts.  During the prayer we hear several single rippings of wrapping paper, Little Ryan couldn’t wait and was trying in his own way to be discreet…joy #2. 

 But, who could really blame him, Santa had brought him a gift that was almost as tall as he is!  As soon as the gifts were unwrapped, we went onto the job of getting the toys out of the packaging, which in reality takes a knife, scissors, and cursing.  Santa brought Casey the doodle bear she asked for, which is damn near glued in the box.  Ryan got this HUGE wheelies track thing, which requires an educated adult to assemble with a screwdriver and a whole lot of listening for snapping.  Next came the battery installation…apparently the elephant ball popper doesn’t work at all unless the batteries are brand new…insert my husband’s cursing. 

 Then came our turn to open our gifts…I was given a Nintendo 3DS, and my husband got the Kinect for his 360…joy #3.

 We had ham with mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch while sitting at a table with a tablecloth on it…shocking I know.  The ham was fantastic, which made even better gravy for the massive quantity of mashed potatoes that we made.  All of this was made even nicer by the fact that all the silverware and dishes matched and we had a centerpiece…joy #4.

 My mother-in-law arrived with massive quantities of clothes for the kids, as it is her opinion that they have more than enough toys, and not enough clothes.  After piling everything up and hauling it upstairs I determined that there had to be close to $600 in clothing that I was hanging in the closets.  My children have always been the best dressed kids around…especially with Gammi shopping for them!  She also bought them each an animal hood, like a Spirithood only not as expensive, and they are freakin’ adorable!  Casey got the Panda and Ryan got the Leopard, which he will not wear for anything at all!  Everyone in the house tried them on…joy #5.

 Later in the evening our good friend Matt arrived to get his Christmas present…we gave him a new PSP as his sprouted legs and walked away when someone else did.  He was a very happy boy, and swore that he was not allowing anyone to play with his toys again.  He brought me my Squinkie shelf that I had asked him to make…joy #6.

 My husband and I went to bed early and slept like babies…joy #7.

 Now the exhaustion sets in as the Christmas stress is over and done with…here’s to another successful holiday season, and onto “where are we gonna put this crap?”