January 5, 2009
Whew! Made it through another year.
Wow, guys, I’m sorry about the slow December. But I’m sure you all know how busy December is. All that planning, shopping, cooking, wrapping, sneaking, deceiving, outright lying…yes, Christmas brings out the best in us all…
Well, to tell the truth, Christmas was really just kind of so-so for me this year. The presents on Christmas morning were not exactly what had been requested, partly because the letters to Santa got off a little late this year, after Santa had done the majority of shopping for our family. Santa used Amazon.com extensively this year, and therefore the kids were stuck with what they got. There was a little moping at first, but they bounced back fairly quickly and seem to enjoy what they got.
The number of wrapped packages under the tree was also fairly limited this year. In fact, Mom and Dad only gave the kids one real gift this year (Santa gives the majority of the presents right now). We told them that the package was small, but it was worth more than all the other gifts combined! (No, the package was not from Tiffany’s) After we had opened all the other gifts, we gave them a note that sent them on a treasure hunt throughout the house. Andrew had made up nine or ten different clues leading them from the bedroom, to the silverware drawer, to the computer, to the fireplace…uh oh, what happened to the clue that was in the fireplace? Could that cheerful Christmas morning fire burning in the fireplace have anything to do with its disappearance? Yes, that’s right, we burned up one of the clues. Fortunately, Andrew remembered where it was supposed to send them, and the kids were able to pick up the hunt on the next clue.
Finally, after much eager running up and down stairs and in and out of doors, the last clue sent us all back to the Christmas tree, where, hidden underneath the skirt, was an unlabeled CD. We popped it into the computer, and here is what the kids saw:
(OK, so there was a little bit more to it, but I haven’t figured out how to put on videos yet, so I’ll have to show that to you later)
That’s right, we’re going to Disney World, baby! As soon as I get Andrew to tell me how, I’m going to have to post the video of the kids reaction, because it was not what I expected. Rather than erupting into loud screams of joy, they just stared at the screen in stunned silence. It took quite a while for it to sink in. But every day now, they get more and more excited. We just finished watching a History channel show on Disney World and some of the big rides there, and the anticipation is definitely building. I’m excited, but a little bit nervous, too, especially about taking all the kids on the plane. Actually, I’m more worried about James and Lily than the older kids. Any tips on how to handle a fidgety toddler on a four hour plane flight would be greatly appreciated!
As for the New Year…we had a great little get together with some of our friends on New Year’s Eve. We actually let Parley and Brianna stay up until midnight (Lily made it as far as 11:00, which wasn’t bad for her), and they had fun screaming and banging pots and pans and watching the South Jordan fireworks from their windows. But then, all the commotion woke James up, and he would not go back to sleep. Everybody else left and went to bed around 1:30, but James was still up and having a ball and refused to go to bed until after 4:00 AM. I’m telling you, there’s no better way to ring in the New Year than by watching HGTV at 3:00 in the morning while your one-year-old merrily runs around the house. And to top if off, even though James was finally asleep by 4:30, I was having stomach problems and couldn’t get to sleep until after 6:00 AM, right about the time Andrew got up. Fortunately, Andrew kept the kids quiet enough for me to sleep in until 10:00, but needless to say, New Years Day was a little bit hazy for me. I guess that’s as close to a hangover as a good little mormon like me will get!
As for the future, I can’t guarantee that I will have much opportunity to regularly update this blog, since Andrew has all these video projects he’s working on, and all the kids are home from school for a month, and they all are fighting over who gets to play with their web-based toys first. I’m kind of last in line when it comes to computer time. But that’s probably a good thing, because after a whole month spent online shopping and planning a vacation, I could really use a break anyway. So, here’s wishing you all a glorious New Year. And if any of you missed our family email/newsletter, check out Andrew’s blog at andrewalma.wordpress.com.
Robin's Song 