Happy birthday, Nana!

Christmas Day

The kids were up early Christmas morning as was expected.  I made them wait on the stairs until I had the camera and video camera ready.  Because, you know, it didn't happen if there is no documentation.

Jack had consistently asked for two things for Christmas: a Nintendo DS with Mario Bros, and a Jesus toy.  No, really.  He asked for "a Jesus toy."  Santa came through with both.  Ellie asked for an ipod touch and a Siberian Husky.  She got an mini ipad instead.  Sam asked for nothing, because he can't talk, so he got a plastic ride-on motorcycle.  He seemed pretty happy about it.


We had a pretty chill morning and then headed over to Tom's mom's house in the afternoon.  As usual, she went way overboard in the toy department.  We came home with two garbage bags full.  Ellie's favorite was a giant stuffed bear.  Jack's favorite was a remote control truck.  Sam's favorite was climbing in the empty boxes.


By the end of the night, I noticed that Jack was feeling warm and the following day both Jack and Sam were running fevers.  Despite all the illness, our holiday was relaxing and fun.  I declare it a win.

The flu and Christmas Eve

Ugh, I hate playing blog catch-up. But...since I turn my blog into books by the year, I need to get Christmas documented before January.  Because you can't start a book with Christmas. You know what I'm sayin'.  OK, so where did I leave off...oh yeah, Ellie getting sick.  Ellie NEVER gets sick.  She has not had a sick day in school for 3 years now.  And she still doesn't because she timed her illness with Christmas.  This girl takes her perfect attendance certificate seriously.  So, yeah, on the 23rd she came into my room crying and saying her legs were wobbly.  I felt her forehead and she was burning up so I decided to take her to our Pediatrician to get her a prescription for Tamiflu.  We have the worst insurance known to man so I don't take going to the doctor lightly.  When I got there, she tested positive for the flu, but the doctor talked me out of Tamiflu because of its bad side effects.  So, I went to the doctor for nothing.  I am glad I didn't get the meds because Ellie was all better within 24 hours.  Her superior immune system knows no bounds.  Anyway, even though she was feeling better by Christmas Eve, we still didn't go to my family's Christmas Eve celebration because we didn't want to risk contaminating the rest of the fam.  Y'all know how much I love my family's Christmas Eve traditions.  I think I love them more than anyone in the family. So this was a HUGE sacrifice for me.  But it actually turned out alright.  Tom and I drove through the neighborhood so the kids could look at Christmas lights using their funny, 3D glasses.  

Then, they were able to watch the Nativity play and Pack for Santa's Back via Facetime with my family.


 Modern technology is awesome, right? And then they set out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeers and it was off to bed for them.  A pretty chill Christmas Eve if you ask me.  Oh yeah, they donned their totally awesome Christmas jammies.

Best jammies ever.  I always wanted my own minions.

A trip to the North Pole

About 6 weeks ago, I decided to book tickets for the Polar Express.  Even though it was a month in advance, the only tickets I could get were for the daytime (3:30) trip on Monday, December 22.  I really wanted one of the nighttime trips because it would seem more authentic, but I went ahead and booked and made arrangements for Dianna to watch Sam.

Monday morning, the kids woke up and discovered that Jingles the Elf had left them the book, Polar Express.  We then dropped Sam off and drove the 3 hours to Palestine, Texas.  The kids had no idea what were were doing until we go there and then I informed them we were going to the North Pole to see Santa.

We boarded the train and sat at an adorable table with cookies set out for us.  Unfortunately, the conductor determined that our seats were double booked because another family had tickets for our same table.  The kids were halfway done with their cookies when we took a closer look at our tickets and realized we had gotten on the wrong car.  The more expensive car.  We made our way back to the cramped, table-less bench seats on a different car.

The kids still enjoyed the train ride and the hot chocolate and cookies, although holding hot chocolate in one hand and a cookie in another on a swaying train is just an accident waiting to happen.

After about 30 minutes we arrived at the North Pole.  It consisted of three small buildings and some Christmas lights which we could barely see from our side of the train.  I can only hope that it looked better at nighttime because once she saw it Ellie turned to me and said in a tone of utter disappointment and conviction, "That is NOT the North Pole."

On the way back, some dancing elves and Santa made their way back to our car and Santa signed the kids' Polar Express book and gave the kids a silver bell that had a Made in China sticker on it.

It really was a fun family day.  Would I have spent that much money on it if I had known what it would really be like? No. But I don't regret doing it because it was something fun we could do together as a family.  Plus, Ellie started running a high fever on the way home and by next morning our pediatrician confirmed she had the flu, thus cancelling our Christmas Eve plans with the extended family.  So, I was really glad they got to have that little taste of Christmas before we were quarantined.

Christmas with Grandpa K.

On Sunday, we went over to Tom's dad's house to celebrate Christmas with him and do the gift exchange with the kids' cousins.  It was a relaxed, fun evening with some yummy food from the Macaroni Grill.  And, of course, I had to take pictures,..