Christmas Joy

Damn Angel on the top
won't stay straight.

 Since I posted this picture of my Christmas tree that I got from my cousin's back yard, I felt it was only appropriate to show the real tree we were given. It's not the best picture 'cause dang, it's not easy to get a picture of a Christmas tree. The lights don't look right, the ornaments aren't as sparkly, it's just not as pretty as it is in person. But at least you can see that my cousin was a generous man after all.

I am so proud of this tree. Blondie, Ginger Girl, & I took 3 hours to put just the right amount of lights ("Not enough lights, Mom," Amazing Grace said when she saw it), only matching balls (color theme!), tied on purple & gold bows, hung purple garland (it's only the best color in the entire world)...I wanted an old-fashioned Christmas tree & I put a lot of work into sorting ornaments to make it perfect.

It's gorgeous!

Or it was until Ethel came over & hung a Rudolph on the side of my gorgeous all-matching tree. The tree that I told her how happy I was with & how much time I'd spent on it. She snuck it on there & waited hours until it was found.

Wait till next year, Ethel,
just you wait...

It's not even just a Rudolph. It's a Rudolph air freshener! An ugly Rudolph air freshener.

Christmas Eve Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. When my kids were little I designated Christmas Eve Eve as a family day for chilling with snacks, movies, & games. I did this more out of necessity for my sanity, to be completely honest. When I had babies, Christmas meant running between a lot of houses, making sure I had everything I had to take to each house, gifts wrapped, clothes laid out, dealing with babies who missed their nap times & were overwhelmed. I declared that the day before Christmas Eve, when the rushing would begin, I was not cooking or planning anything or going anywhere. I laid out snack food & we snuggled on the couch with movies & games.

The tradition has carried on each year with Christmas Eve Eve being all about my little family & just being together. This year we played one of my family's favorite games, Twenty Questions. Someone reads the hints on a card & the opposing team has to guess what that item is before you run out of the 20 hints.

This was a card that Boy Teenager had to read to me:

Ya think he had a wee bit of trouble saying most of those clues without giggling? Most of the clues had him doubled over & on the floor with tears in his eyes. I am not ashamed to say that I was doing the same thing. I do have a 13 year old boy living inside of me.

We have our Christmas with our children on Christmas Eve morning. Here's a before & after of the gift opening...

Waiting...

...playing.

They each got some XBox games that they've been dying for. Waiting for the rest of the gift opening to finish  after opening their games was torture for both of them. As soon as everyone was done, they were off to play their new games. Big D didn't even bother putting the recliner down before disappearing.

He done good.

I was spoiled & in addition to my other gifts that I absolutely loved, I got a purse that I've been drooling over. Hubby knew I would never spend that much money on myself & I was shocked to open my gift from "the kids".

After Christmas Amazing Grace got together with her bff to exchange gifts. One of the gifts was a fork that is half as tall as she is. I've never seen a fork this big!

Believe it or not, she
can actually fit that
fork in her mouth. 

Lucy & Ethel

Ethel gave me a collection of I Love Lucy dvd's & an elf crown.

Elf Lucy & Ricky

Future Queens... 

Blondie

Ginger Girl

Amazing Grace conveniently left up a pair of boots on my laptop while she was Online Window Shopping. She's great at the subtle hints.

Amazing Grace petting her new boots.

Watson fell asleep while
opening his gift.

I told the kids, "Now that you've opened everything, we have to tell you something. These are the gifts you would have gotten but I need them back now so I can return them."

Boy Teenager is ready to strangle someone. Big D is laughing in hopes it's a joke. Amazing Grace is brought to tears. Ginger Girl is seriously bummed. 

Dad 2 (my Father in-law) had to get very creative while wrapping Mom 2's gift. Mom 2 used this as an example of why it's a good thing to save every itty bitty last piece of wrapping paper. I was just amused by the use of 4 different papers (you can see 3 in the pic)...

Winner of the Most Uniquely
Wrapped Gift 2012 award.

And last but not least, I will share what the wonderful Ethel gave each of my 6 kids with their gifts...

Their own bottles to ring in the new year!

...don't call CPS, it's only sparkling cider.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!