Post Christmas Report

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. Like many of our friends and family, we were snowed in for Christmas. We had planned to visit my folks in SD but Jack Frost decided to show off and drop around ten inches of snow last weekend. It made our pine trees look as if they had multi colored cotton candy on their branches as the Christmas lights shown through.

It also turned our porch roof into a carnival stage as each bulb melted its way through the snow.

As it was, we still had a nice family Christmas. Since we were home, we were able to attend Christmas Eve church service. The kids really look forward to this because they get to hold a lit candle and sing Silent Night. By now the kids can recite the candle rules by heart. Never tip a lit candle! We've never had a candle mishap, but I can still remember an event from my childhood involving open flames in church. I was probably ten years old or so and I was diligently holding my lit candle. I only flinched a little bit when the hot wax dripped on my finger. However, just a few people down the pew sat a friend of mine holding his candle. He was a couple years older than me so I'm sure he was ready for a little hot wax. One thing he forgot however, was to hold the candle a little bit away from his body. Because when it was time to pray, he bowed his head, dipping his bangs into his flame. It only took a quick forehead slap to put out, but the burnt hair smell provided a good after church story for him.

After church, we headed home to harvest the gifts that had sprouted under our Christmas tree for the last few weeks.

The kids each got a pair of ski goggles with a camera included. So that meant they each had to wear their goggles to open the rest of their gifts.

Once that was done, it didn't take too much convincing to get ready for bed. Sweet Pea however required some pre-Christmas preparation before bed. For some reason, she got it into her head that she needed curls in her hair for Christmas morning. So we found a dozen curlers and Lady Di obliged.
SP also had to sleep on the floor under the blanket tent she rigged up with her dresser and window. I guess a special night needs special sleeping arrangements.

And here is the result in the morning.

We then went outside to play in the snow and all of the curls disappeared.

Since the snow kept us home, it also kept a number of people in town home bound. So we ended up enjoying our turkey and mashed potatoes with another neighbor family. We ate, played games and watched the kids play Mario Kart.

After our company left we realized that no one had inquired into their Christmas stocking yet. Santa was right on the mark this year. Each child received a Wii game. SP got Littlest Pet Shop and Number One Son received Star Wars Force Unleashed, his first teen-rated game. We draw the line at games with blood, shooting and killing. This game has fighting and a lot of lightsaber slashing, but it seems quite tame compared to the violent games some of N1S's friends talk about.

All in all, we had a great Christmas even if our travel plans fell through. One positive result of the blizzard was the return of our annual snow hill. Every year our favorite plower (Ronnie) piles all of the snow from the cul-de-sac next to our driveway.

This year we have the tallest pile he has ever made. When we play king of this mountain we really want to stay king. I found out that grown ups seem to fall a little harder down this hill than in years past.

Hopefully, the snow will take a break from falling now. I'm tired of clearing the driveway twice daily. A little sunshine, even if it's cold sunshine, would be welcome.