Christmas Beyond the Bags

Aaaah.  I am having a nice quiet morning.  Well, I was having a nice quiet morning.  There is a lot of hollering going on upstairs.  Not the bad kind of hollering, just the LOUD kind.  The kind that starts with "MOM!" and usually ends with something like  "I CAN'T FIND ANY SOCKS!"   I'm ignoring it at the moment.  It doesn't really sound urgent.

I was up early today for some reason, even though I could have actually slept in a little.  Last night after Daphne went to bed, Kev and I exchanged our Christmas gifts.  We always do it a few days early so we have time to play with our new toys before Christmas, and it's one of my favorite holiday traditions.  We put on the "She and Him" Christmas CD, got some eggnog, and started unwrapping.  We both received a lot of nice things...I got a new zoom lens for my camera and a gift certificate for a digital photography class, an awesome giant slow-cooker, a book of my blog from 2007, and SHOES!  Kev got a punch tool that makes guitar picks, a mini-theramin kit, and a resonator ukulele.  We both got some cds and records and a few other things.  It was nice just to sit on the couch and hang out with Kev, who is now finally at the end of being sick and can actually breathe and taste food.  Thanks, Kev, for all the great gifts.  Yay!

Last weekend, Daphne spent the night in Manassas, and I went over the next morning for Christmas Cookie Baking Day with Grandma (and Grandpa).  Another one of my favorite traditions...I remember it from when I was a kid.  I hope Daphne will, too.

I didn't really get very crafty this year.  Sadly, there are no hand-knitted gifts.  But I did make Daphne some new Christmas PJs:

I was really happy that she likes them...kids can be kinda "meh" about getting clothes for Christmas.  But she put these dachshund ones on right away and started striking JC Penney catalog poses:

I gave them to her early, because the kids had a party at school on Tuesday and were supposed to wear pajamas.  She wore the ones above, with the "Christmas Dogs" fabric.

The party at school was a "snowman" party, and it sounded like it was really fun.  They put all the Kindergarteners in the cafeteria with wadded up balls of paper and they had a snowball fight.  Then, the teachers wrapped their feet in wax paper so they could "ice skate."  THEN, they gave the kids the following things, all at once:  a giant glazed doughnut with sprinkles, hot chocolate with marshmallows and a candy cane to stir it with, gummy bears, and M&Ms.  Then, they sent them HOME. All hopped up on sugar, like Buddy the Elf.

Here is who got off the bus:

You may notice the doughnut icing all over her face and the crazy look in her eye.  Signs of a good time, I reckon.  Needless to say, it was a challenging afternoon for me.  ( I seriously considered letting her go to town on the leftover Halloween candy yesterday right before I sent her to school to show the teachers what they missed).

But, I'm glad they do these things for the kids every once in a while, because they almost NEVER get any playtime at school.  Daphne had a blast.  I wish I could have been there to see all those kids ice skating around the cafeteria in their PJs.  So much fun. 

On Sunday, the Daisies got together for a Christmas craft-party, where they made up boxes of gifts for some local seniors.  They had a great time, and yesterday we delivered the boxes to the Senior Center where they were much appreciated.

School is out now for the holidays, and I am going to take a break from the computer and spend time with my family.  Have a great Christmas, and I'll catch up with you in the new year.