Christmas Recap

Christmas has come and gone, and we are barreling toward 2012. How is that even possible? Wasn't I *just* in Hawaii the other day?!

I suppose you could say our Christmas season began on Thanksgiving. That's when I dragged all the Christmas stuff out of the attic, discovered we did not have a single full, working strand of lights for the outside bushes, and trekked out to Wal-Mart, which for some strange reason is OPEN on Thanksgiving Day. Over the course of the weekend -- in between the kids' hockey games -- I decorated the house.

The following Friday was my company's holiday party. Hubby and I got all fancied up and made the marathon drive -- on a work night -- to Greenbelt, MD for a very nice shindig. Alas, neither of us won the ginornous flat screen TV or the game system or any of the other gadgets that were given away. But we had a good time, and the food is always good. :)

I did most of my shopping in the month of December this year. How unlike me. I have discovered Amazon Prime, which I highly recommend! My 30-day free trial is about over, but I think I will be paying the annual fee. SO worth it!

We took a break from holiday stuff to go to Lake Placid the second weekend of the month with Keeper Boy's hockey team. What a fabulous trip to a small town with such a history. I think its entire identity revolves around the events of February 22, 1980, but that's okay. We had a blast -- even though we rode up and back on a bus with a hockey team of 13 and 14 year olds.

Gma G arrived on the 22nd. By then we were all done with our shopping, and the cookies were all baked. Gma G and I attended the Grandparents Day Sing-a-Long at J-Mav's school. That day also signaled the beginning of the boys' break from school. And our cousin K and her new hubby arrived for an overnight stop before heading to the airport the next morning for their honeymoon. It was a fun evening!

On the 23rd, Hubby and I worked, and Gma G and the boys hung out, shopped, and wrapped gifts. We celebrated Gma G's birthday that evening (a few days early because she actually flew home on her birthday).

On the 24th we all got up early and drove up to PA for my family's annual Christmas Eve dinner. It was the first time Gma G had been to my parents' new home, the first time my family had all been together since my grandfather died, and the first time we got K-dog to successfully use the steps I bought her to get into and out of the truck (what a show). We arrived around 10am and were able to visit with our niece and her mom before the rest of the family showed up. That was nice. We had a great day... always lots of laughs. And we were back home by about 8pm. There was work to do. We put out cookies and milk for Santa, got the kids in bed, and did what needed to be done.

We managed to hold the kids off until 8am on Christmas morning. Then they opened stockings and we had some breakfast before my parents arrived. Once they arrived and brought their gifts in, the chaos ensued. We opened gifts for about two hours. Lots of awesome stuff all around. Then we had a relaxing day of games, food (steak, gourmet potatoes, garlic sauteed spinach...), and family. It was awesome to have all three grandparents here at the same time as it was the first time in many years that that happened. We talked to Uncle Hooter and Jenrie and kids in Hawaii a few times on FaceTime, as well as my aunt, uncle, and cousins in PA (love that iTechnology).

The day after Christmas was all hockey. Tournaments for each of the kids... at two different rinks.

And Gma G flew home on the 27th. It seemed like a short visit. My parents left last night. Their visit seemed short, too. It was nice to have everyone here, and we are looking forward to my parents coming back at the end of January and Gma G coming back at the end of March before she and Keeper Boy leave on their European adventure!

Hubby and I have returned to work, although I worked from home today and will do so again tomorrow. Cousin K and her hubby return to town tomorrow and will stay with us tomorrow night before heading out. And then we have a New Year's Eve party to attend, as well as a Winter Classic Party on Monday. And then I guess it's back to normal life as hockey craziness will resume.

But I can hold on to Christmas by a thread for as long as I have the tree up and decorated. Maybe a couple more weeks. Or maybe I can just take the Christmas decorations off and put hearts on it... then shamrocks... then eggs...

Christmas

This year, we had Christmas in four parts...

Part I, Early Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa
Two weekends before Christmas, Mom and Dad came down for a quick visit. They arrived on Friday, we had "Christmas" on Friday night, and then basically spent the rest of the weekend in hockey rinks. It was a lovely Christmas with very nice and very generous gifts. The boys really liked the toques brought to them from Alaska. They have worn them almost non-stop ever since. Hubby and I have worn our scarves brought from Scotland. Hubby's is black watch plaid, and mine is some plaid that has both the red of my coat and some orange (my favorite color) in it. Love it!

I'm not sure who was more excited about Keeper Boy getting Risk... Keeper Boy or Hubby! And J-Mav got Parcheesi, a favorite from my childhood. Keeper Boy got a new hockey bag -- one made specifically for goalie equipment. ALL of his equipment fits in the bag (as does J-Mav as we found out).

There were lots of awesome gifts... Star Wars Legos for J-Mav, a USB turntable for Hubby, a purse and some plates for my Christmas set for me, the bag for Keeper Boy. And Mom and Dad seemed to really like their gifts, too. I keep hearing that the train puzzle we gave my dad is giving him fits (but that as of this morning he is about 2/3 done with it). Mom loves her Mukluks and the hockey Santa we gave her.

A very good start to our Christmas celebration!

Part II, Christmas with BFF and kids
The night before we left for Ohio, we got together with BFF and her kids N. and V. The kids opened their gifts at BFF's house and we had pizza, and then we all piled into the truck and headed across the river to National Harbor and ICE! It was really cool... tons of ice sculptures, all in the theme of the Grinch!

Highlights of this part of Christmas included a 5-foot goalie fathead for Keeper Boy and a new set of knee hockey nets for J-Mav.

Part III, Christmas Day
Christmas morning was chaotic. With nine people, it took more than two hours to open gifts. We were in Ohio at Gma G's house. Also there (from Hawaii!) were Uncle Hooter (Hubby's brother), Jenrie, and the kids -- J. and P. It was the first time we'd met P. and she was ADORABLE. She wasn't shy around us at all, even though she's almost a year old and had never met us.

Highlights included learning a new game (Blockus), that the kids had learned over the summer when they visited Gma G. And Keeper Boy got the game for Christmas, so we can play here, too. Other highlights were a Kindle for Keeper Boy, an iTouch for J-Mav, and plane tickets for our family to travel to Hawaii this summer to visit Uncle Hooter, Jenrie, and the kids. Can't wait!!

We also celebrated P.'s baptism and 1st birthday (a month early) the day after Christmas. Hubby and I are honored to be her Godparents. :) The following day, we celebrated Gma G's birthday. The guys took the kids sledding one afternoon. And one afternoon Gma G took the boys to see Gulliver's Travels while Hubby and Uncle Hooter saw The Fighter and Jenrie, P., and I went shopping. (No Kohl's on Oahu, so we spent some time there.)

The night before we came home, we all went to Dayton and stayed in a hotel as Uncle Hooter and family had an early flight out of Dayton to go home to Hawaii. Their flight ended up being cancelled. :-( So we all went to brunch and then they went to Cincinnati, where they were able to get a flight out the following day, and we headed home. A long trip home for everyone, but everyone got home safely.

Part IV, Santa
J-Mav had sent Santa a note early in December asking him to leave his and Keeper Boy's gifts at our house rather than delivering them to Ohio. This was because J. and P. wouldn't have room to take their stuff home on the plane and J-Mav didn't think it was fair for he and Keeper Boy to get their gifts and not their cousins. Very empathetic on J-Mav's part. :)

By the time we got home from Dayton, it was after 10pm, so the boys opened their Santa gifts the following morning. They were very excited... Keeper Boy got a new Caps jersey (Neuvirth); J-Mav got a new Cowboys throw-back jersey (Romo), a Star Wars action figure set, and a couple games for his DS. Excitement all around. :)

So I think Christmas is officially over. As I type, we are watching the Winter Classic and the Caps are up 2-1. Hopefully that lead will hold and we will be a happy family tonight! Luckily, the kids don't have school tomorrow, so we are letting them stay up. I guess tomorrow I'll start taking the Christmas decorations down. Today the kids asked if we could just leave the tree up all year. I'd love to!! But I fear that would be a little weird.

In conclusion... Happy New Year!! And remember: only 358 shopping days left until Christmas!!

I love my iPod!!

My MIL got me an iPod Nano for Christmas... an ORANGE one at that. :) I spent a few hours ripping songs from Hubby's and my CDs over the past couple of days and now have 93 of my favorite songs at my beck and call -- with space for many hundred more!! Woo hoo!!

The 93 songs that are currently on my ORANGE iPod are quite an eclectic bunch... country, rap, R&B, rock, pop, blues, and metal. With a few exceptions, the song or two I took from each CD was/were the only song I REALLY liked from that CD. So cool that I can create one big "album" of my favorite songs... one that isn't available in ANY store!!

Some of the recent songs that have played on my ORANGE iPod:
All Summer Long, Kid Rock
You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi
Layla, Derek & The Dominos
Down with the Sickness, Disturbed
Faithfully, Journey
She Thinks my Tractor's Sexy, Kenny Chesney
Home, Doughtry
Just Lose It, Eminem
Every Rose Has its Thorn, Poison
I Heard it Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
Last Dollar (Fly Away), Tim McGraw (also the ringtone on my phone, FYI)

My current breakdown by genre is Blues (12), Country (54), Hip Hop/Rap (6), Metal (5), Pop (1), R&B (4), and Rock (11). OK... so it's still heavy on the country, and within that, it's very heavy on Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. But I still have some more CDs at the office to bring home and go through.

And Hubby got me a speaker thingy to hook up to the ORANGE iPod, so that'll be great for the office.

I'm off to browse iTunes... I have a gift card to spend!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all who are reading this little blog! I am sitting here watching Keeper Boy and J-Mav play with the Wii Santa brought them for Christmas. They were so surprised that Keeper Boy almost started crying. He said, "I was just hoping for a DS; this is AWESOME." I say Christmas through the eyes of children is amazing.

Our three-year-old nephew (JGS) is here, as are my sister-in-law (Jenrie) and mother-in-law (GmaG). JGS tore through his gifts and screeched in delight with almost every new treasure he ripped open. So fun.

Two and a half hours after we started, the chaos ended and it looked like Toys R Us had barfed in our living room.

We've talked to both of Hubby's uncles, my parents, and my brother. Jenrie also talked to her parents and sister. And the best call of all was when my brother-in-law (Hubby's little brother) called from Iraq. We all had a chance to talk to him for a little bit. The only way it would've been better, of course, is had he been here in the living room talking to us. I thank him and every other man and woman who is serving in our armed forces so that I (and all other Americans) have the freedom to celebrate whatever holiday I choose to celebrate.

Merry Christmas!

Close, but no cigar

Keeper Boy was 56 seconds away from a shutout today. But alas, the opposing team connected on what I think was its final shot of the game and got one past him. Our guys responded by taking the puck down to the opposite end of the ice and scoring one more goal. Final: 8-1. Another game tomorrow against the same team; this time on our ice. Keeper Boy will be the door keeper tomorrow. His goaltending partner will be in net.

Hung out with BFF and kids after the game. Good times. Heard from the Hubbys... One of them was happy: Ohio State beat Michigan 42-7 today. BFF's Hubby said he didn't have much fun after the 3rd quarter of the game. I hate to break it to him, but from what I saw, Michigan appeared to be done well before then. They will head back home tomorrow.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm sitting here by the glow of one the five Christmas trees I have in my house. I don't know what disturbs me more -- that I have five Christmas trees in my house, or that four of the five are completely decorated already!

This is early, even for me. But I realized at some point last week that this is the last weekend I'm going to be home until 12/13 and that weekend is pretty busy. So I had Hubby drag all the Christmas crap (as he calls it) out of the attic before he left yesterday morning so I could decorate this weekend. The house is all decorated now, except for the big Christmas tree. The kids and I will do that tomorrow.

J-Mav helped me put the garland on the stairway and hang the stockings by the chimney with care. He decorated the 3-foot tree in his bedroom; Keeper Boy decorated the 3-foot tree in his bedroom. And I decorated the 3-foot "hockey tree" downstairs and my 2-foot "elephant tree" in the dining room. Yes, we have one entire tree dedicated to hockey and another dedicated to elephants. Are you shocked? We put the candles in the windows, too. All that's left is the big tree in the living room. Oh, and stringing the lights on the bushes out in front of the house. I'll hope for a warm day to do that here soon. (Hey, a girl can hope.)

We won't turn on the big tree or the candles in the windows until we get home from Thanksgiving -- that's just ridiculous. But I love when the house is decorated for Christmas and I'll be counting the days until I can boost that electric bill!!