winter break blogging, chapter four, Christmas Day edition

... in which the author takes a few moments to tap away at the keyboard rather than clean up the disgusting pigpen her small house has become in less than 24 hours. 

The day began with a quiet tap on my arm immediately followed by a hushed but confident, "It's 7:05 on our clock!" The four year old delight that is Pudge happily waited until that 6 turned into a 7, and since Red wasn't yet awake, he and JAM even humored us with an additional fifteen minute snuggle time, which allowed hubby and I to bring our total sleep time to a whopping five hours.

That's right, we were wrapping presents until the wee hours of the night (or is it of the morning? let's just say really freaking late), and we were entertaining ourselves by tuning into what could possibly be called the least appropriate television programming ever for Christmas Eve -- Comedy Central roasts. Crazy, crazy stuff. But, it helped pass the time while we pulled together gifts for the kids from us and my parents. I began to use the tape more judiciously about halfway through when I realized our supply was actually finite, and by the end of the job, my wrapping was admittedly lame and unattractive. Guess what? No one noticed in the frenzy this morning.

There wasn't much this morning in the line of questioning Red has been posing lately... the whole just-tell-me-if-he's-real-or-not type of questions. Though, the cookies were assessed as half-eaten and there was a bit of wonder at the tooth marks on the carrots. (You guinea pigs are certainly coming in handy this week!)

It was a bit of a plugged-in kind of Christmas this year, with JAM getting his own DS and the younger two getting some games for the DS that I call mine (since I got it for reviewing the 100 Classic Books software a long time ago) and the V.Reader that we call theirs (even though I also got it for review, too!), so some of our day looked like this:

In fact, at one point, all three children were on gaming thingies, hubby was on his laptop playing a game, and I was looking up recipes on our home laptop. Happy technological holidays to all.

Other highlights of our low-key Christmas day included:

• Skyping with Mem and Pepe: Oh, to chat with my parents on the phone is always a fun adventure, as they each get a handset and often spend half time time talking to, or playfully bickering with, each other. Switch over to Skype and I get the added visual aspect which makes me miss them even more. Just look at them- aren't they awesome? Thank you to technology for bringing us close when we can't be together!

• Our yearly bacon and cheese quiche brunch: It's only for me and hubby, and sadly this year it was not accompanied by mimosas, but it was as delicious as usual.

• The changing of the guinea pigs' stinky cage: For when the cage is to be emptied, the pigs must go somewhere else. For a little bit, this included each child's lap. The reactions ranged from "YAY!" to "It's alright," to "Get this thing off of me. RIGHT NOW!" 

• The annual viewing of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas: Which allowed hubby and I to do dinner and kitchen-y things for 30 (mostly) uninterrupted minutes. 

•  JAM the Chef and Frosty the Meatloaf: Hubby got JAM to make the macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight, which involved some frustration but an eventual delicious side dish, and I got creative with my ketchup dispenser on tonight's Nontraditional Holiday Meat Dish.

• A plate of deliciousness: Sure, it may not look like most folks' plates for Christmas dinner, but it was incredible to me. Meatloaf, JAM's mac-n-cheese, garlicky mashed potatoes with just the right amount of lumps, green beans, corn, and Italian Herb Bread fresh from the breadmaker. And don't forget the wine. Yum, yum.

• Fifty-five minutes driving slowly with every other resident of Prince George's County: We decided it would be a good idea to do what we did last year and go through the Festival of Lights at Watkins Park tonight, since it's free and all. Man, I love my kids dearly, but being enclosed in a vehicle with them for any significant amount of time makes my brain hurt. Sure, there was Christmas spirit, but it was also accompanied by some "Bah humbug"-ing from the back, incessant rambling and noises from the middle row, and a fair share of "Will you just be quiet and enjoy the lights?!" from the front. Sigh.

• Glorious, glorious bedtime: Upon our return almost two hours after we left home, Christmas Day was officially over for everyone in the under-twelve division of the family. Red donned some new socks, JAM threw on a new hoodie in which to burrow himself asleep, and Pudge... well, Pudge owned his new PJs, that's for sure. "In control..."

Tomorrow will be another major cleaning day, along with my favorite holiday activity, Let's figure out where the hell all this new stuff will go. It's a grand old game, so fun to play. It's usually followed by a round of Schedule a Charity Pickup online, which is also a feel good family game. Not sure what the rest of winter break will bring, but we have officially spent another Christmas Day among our wacky selves, with smiles happening at least every once in a while. I consider that a Christmas miracle.


 Happy not to be wrapping presents for the next few hours,