Christmas 2008

This morning, I woke up before anyone else. I got dressed, said my prayers, and enjoyed a few minutes of peace and quiet. I got a glass of water, and checked the weather report. The clock struck 7AM, and still, nobody stirred. I waited...listening...

And then, I hear Joshua jump out of bed, and run to his sisters' room, crying,

"Wake up, wake, up, Santa's been here...hurry!"

Poor Christina must have been dead asleep...because she started to cry. I hurried upstairs, and she told me Joshua had scared her. I picked her up, and I said,

"It's okay, Joshua's just excited because it's Christmas. Don't you want go see what Santa brought you and open your presents?"

Boy...you never saw tears dry up so fast in your life.

The kids dug into their stockings, and they were thrilled with the candy, new tooth brushes, headbands and hair bows (for the girls), books, and gloves. Now...I can't really understand why David bought them gloves, they would hardly wear them. But at least they were only $2 a pair.

Joshua was thrilled with the Battleship game from Santa, Rebecca got a window decal painting kit, Christina squealed over her Polly Pocket set, and Gabriel was awestruck with a toy replica of a car dashboard, complete with a steering wheel, and all kinds of buttons to push. He must have played with it non-stop for over 1/2 an hour before we could even persuade him to try something else.

It only took about 20 minutes for the kids to open the rest of their presents. Gabriel briefly looked at a few new books, and went right back to his car toy. No amount of cajoling would pull him away from it...so I ended up opening his presents. Later on, he played a couple of wooden puzzles that had locks on them, as well as an animal hospital with multiple doors and keys (did I mention he LOVES doors and keys?). My goodness, he was one busy baby boy!

Here are a few pics from our crazy morning!

I was glad the kids liked all their presents. Joshua got an electrical snap kit...I don't think he stopped working with it all day except to go to the bathroom or to eat. Rebecca loved her weaving kit and origami set; we spent the day making a potholder and learning how to fold paper squares into animals. Christina set up her Polly Pocket dolls with their boat and pretended they were swimming. Gabriel played driver and veterinarian, and snuck candy out of his stocking until I realized he had chocolate all over his face :-).

David was happy with the shirts, tie, bar set, and Brad Pitre CD set I got him. He's easy...if he makes a list. Sometimes I have to pull teeth to get it...this year he relinquished his list just before Thanksgiving (and that's early for him).

I was excited to try out my new santoku knives, and velour warm up suit (Katie...are you reading this?). And I have a new coat...I hadn't gotten a new one in maybe 8 years. Awesome. Oh, and a tiny tabletop tripod for my camera...does this mean I'm getting serious about taking pictures, especially for my cooking blog? I think I'm going to ask for photography classes for Mother's Day next year.

David got around to making breakfast around 9AM. He manned the stove and waffle maker with ease while I had the kids tidy up a bit and change clothes.

We sat down to scrambled eggs, Belgian waffles, and sausage links. Gabriel was famished--he ate a whole waffle, 2 sausages, and some fruit. I guess Christmas morning made him hungry...even though he didn't open a thing!

I didn't make lunch, but I made some Jesus in a Blankies for the kids mid afternoon, shrimp cocktail and cold veggie pizza (for the grownups), and there was plenty of cookies, cake, and chocolate popcorn.

Man...I am beat...Every year, I try to keep it as simple as possible, and somehow, I'm still exhausted by the end of the day. I think I was happier to see the kids go to bed tonight than last night! Is that bad?

Still, it was a wonderful day...truly wonderful. I was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, and let out a long sigh. Joshua must have heard me, because he said,

"You know Mom, Christmas is a lot of work for you and Daddy, but it sure is fun for the kids."

I said, "Yes Joshua, it is, but I'm glad you all had fun today."

Josh said, "Yeah Mom, this is the best Christmas EVER!"

How did he know that's all I needed to hear?

Our Family Traditions

Family traditions, especially around the holidays, are very important to me. We didn't have consistent traditions when I was a child. The only one we had was the one I disliked the most. We would get up Christmas morning, get all dressed up, and go to Mass. Then we would come back home, have breakfast, wait an eternity for my dad to set the camera up, and finally open presents. It wasn't fun...it was torture...and I couldn't stand it.

So now that I have my own family, and 4 kids, I always vowed I would never do that. I wanted to get up at the crack of dawn (well...maybe not that early), and open presents in our pajamas. And every year, we have some things that don't change. Here's the Reisinger list of must-do's for Christmas:

1. The weekend before Christmas, we drive around to look at all the lights. Our neighbor Minnie brought over a big tin of gourmet popcorn for the kids today (yum!). So they all got a bag to munch on in the van while we drove around. We make sure to hit Prestonwood Forest, a local neighborhood famous for their holiday lights. I think some of these people are really nuts, because some of the streets have themes, there's a subdivision contest...you get the idea. Here's a pic of a house off the street that won "Best Block" this year; the theme was all patriotic and Texas decorations.

I didn't get a pic of the best house...sorry. But let me tell you, it was impressive. The next door neighbor had maybe 2 small decorations and one string of lights on his house. I know how you feel buddy...I wouldn't even try to compete either.

2. I always make cookies. This year, I'm making sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and one new recipe, called Chocolate Candy Canes. You'll have to check out my cooking blog for the recipes! Oh, and a "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake--which you can also find on my cooking blog. (I haven't posted any of these recipes yet; they'll be up in the next couple of days).

3. Santa comes to visit the Bank of American tower downtown every year. We always go (unless the kids have school), and we get a picture of the kids on Santa's lap. It's great...no lines, free picture, a candy cane, and lunch with Daddy afterwards. The kids love it :-). Gabriel wasn't so sure about sitting with Santa at first, but we bribed him with a candy cane, and he was good to go.

4. We always go to Mass at 4PM, and this year, both the girls will be singing in the Children's Choir. I can't wait...they love to sing, and have been practicing every time we're in the van. Need I say more?

5. After Mass, the plan is to come home, have homemade pizza for dinner (yes, the kids requested it, and yes, I caved and said, "Sure, why not?"). The kids are allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve, and they've already decided which one they're going to tear into. I'm also hoping to do the Christmas Scavenger Hunt that night (see previous post).

6. Last year, the kid watched, "The Polar Express" on Christmas Eve, and I served hot chocolate (only Rebecca drank hers) and cookies. They want to do it again this year, so now it's officially a tradition.

7. Christmas morning. The kids are always up before we're ready...which means "early," as in before 7AM. They go right for their stockings, and empty those out first. Before we can even catch our breath, they grab all their presents, stake out a spot in the living room, and then the fun starts. We all take turns, and it just gets louder and louder, while the pile of wrapping paper gets bigger and bigger. We stay in our jammies until 12 or 1PM in the afternoon. I love it...it's exactly what I want Christmas morning to be like.

This year, I finally got smart (imagine that!). I typed out an extensive list on the computer of what all the kids were getting and who gave what to them. (David's family is really nice about letting me know in advance so we don't buy duplicate gifts). So this year...I get to sit back, and watch. No more writing everything down frantically so we can write the thank you cards properly later on. Yeah!!! (Why in heaven's name didn't I think of this before?)

8. We usually have some type of breakfast after all the presents are opened, and David takes charge of the kitchen (about the only day I will let him!). My guess is this year it will be waffles and sausage. And cookies...and chocolate popcorn...

9. I don't make lunch on Christmas Day because we have breakfast late, and the kids are so busy with all their new toys, they're not interested in eating anyway. So I make things to graze on over the course of the afternoon; this year's menu will include pigs in a blanket (Joshua's favorite), veggie pizza, shrimp cocktail (David's favorite), and fried cheese sticks (Rebecca's favorite, and Mommy's too!). A few more cookies and chocolate popcorn makes a well-rounded meal, right?

I think that's it...I will have to write a post on Christmas Day just so I can see how we fared!

Gem of the Week

"Change is a sign of strength, not changing is a sign of weakness."

From Fr. Dominic, a Vietnamese priest who lived in poverty in a refuge camp as a child.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

Christina's preschool class did this at their party...it was so wonderful...I ran home and found it on the internet. This would be great for formation class too. I am going to do this with my kids sometime next week; maybe on Christmas Eve if everyone isn't too cranky after Mass. Otherwise, we'll do it sometime on the 24th.

Here's the link, some of the words were changed around to make it easier for Christina's class (since they are 4 year olds), but because Joshua and Rebecca are old enough to figure out the clues, I'm not going to change any of the words for them.

http://www2.familylife.com/wgwfc/what/hunt.asp

There is a page of the clue cards, and one page to keep track of where the clues are hidden (plus extra spaces so you can do this for a few more years, and not hide a clue in the same place as the previous year...isn't that great?)

Have fun!

Gem of the Week

David found this group, Straight No Chaser on the itunes store, and downloaded their album. He showed me this clip one night, and I could NOT stop laughing.

They have a Christmas album that just came out in October, and it is a RIOT. I sang a little accapella in college, and I have a real appreciation for these guys, because it's really hard to sing with just your voice--no music, no instruments backing you up...nothing!

Anyway, just watch, it'll have you in stitches!

Pushmobile!

When I say, "pushmobile," that is exactly what it means, lots of pushing, and lots of running. Joshua's Cub Scout Pack participated in their first Pushmobile race today. This involves all the scout packs in the Polaris District, which is about 1,000 boys. Man...that's a lot of boys running around!

David being the ultimate handyman that he is, built the official pushmobile. The other den leader Mike painted it. Joshua was thrilled that it had a Batman motif on it. Here he is ready to go at the starting line.

Each race consists of a team of 8 boys, and they actually run a relay, stopping 4 times to change riders and pushers. The heats are according to rank, so it started out with the youngest scouts, the Tigers, and then the rest...Wolves, Bears, Webelos I, and Webelos II. I took a picture of us while we waited for Joshua's race to start.

And here's a shot of the rookies.

Here are some more pics of all the pushmobile action.

Next year...we'll try for a trophy! We didn't place this year, but our team did really well considering this was the first year they'd ever done this. We sure did cheer them on!

Packing Party for the Troops

Every year, Joshua's Cub Scout troop has a "packing party" for military personnel stationed overseas. Whenever I hear about our American soldiers on the news, I get tears in my eyes. This comes from having 3 generations of my family in the Army. I had friends in high school whose parents, older siblings, etc. went off to war, and some didn't come back home. So anything for the troops... I'm there.

Joshua and I went out last Saturday to get donations of travel sized toiletries and condiments from local businesses. The Cub Scouts pack these up in quart sized zip top bags to send to our awesome men and women in uniform. It took us all morning, and it was more work than Joshua expected (who knew soliciting donations was such hard work!), but we were blessed with generosity. Here's what we got:

2 bags full of travel-sized soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shower caps, and combs from Shauni at Hampton Inn.

1 box of assorted toiletries from Manda at Camelot Inn and Suites.

And...1 bag full of ketchup packets, 1 bag of picante sauce packets, and 2 bags of Happy Meal toys from Noel at the McDonald's just down the street. Sweet!

Anyone who knows Joshua really well knows it's hard for him to talk to adults, especially people he doesn't even know. But we practiced before we left the house, and Joshua was great...I had to remind him to make eye contact and say, "thank you," even if he was told, "no." I was so proud of him.

(In case you're wondering, American soldiers hand the Happy Meal toys out to the Iraqi children. What an awesome thing to do :-)

So last night at the pack meeting, the boys packaged everything up. Here's some pics of all the items, ready to be bagged, and Joshua hard at work.

Another part of this pack meeting was coloring a picture and writing a short note to the soldiers on the back of the paper. Joshua made his letter, and Rebecca and Christina each made one too.

The boys finished up the night with some drinks and snacks. David stayed back a few more minutes to let the boys practice with the race car in preparation for Pushmobile on Saturday (which I'll explain more in a future post).

I was more than ready to come home and get everyone to bed. Wouldn't you know it? We're driving down our street, and I notice we have no electricity. Great! I manage to get everyone in bed by candle and flashlight, and right around 9PM, the power came back on. Whew...I have not-so-wonderful memories from Hurricane Ike dancing in my head.

It's past my bedtime now...good night!