Sorry for that abrupt departure.
I was sick.
Sick. Sick. Sick.
(Starting off with laryngitis, sorethroat, cough, leading to fever, sneezing, zero energy/ambition, finishing up with a royal ear infection.)
But I'm on the mend. Taking my anitbiotics faithfully. Getting lots of rest.
Each day I'm seeing a bit of an improvement. I'm getting there.
Yesterday I felt a little burst of energy and chanelled that into the laundry and cleaning out some closets and cupboards. I got quite a bit accomplished.
Today though...ha. I'm just tired. I realize I over-did it a bit yesterday. So I'm taking it easy and not pushing myself.
Since I'm so mellow today I thought it would be a good time to caught up on blogging Christmas.
Christmas Morning at our House...
Max is pretty routine in the fact that he sleeps in until about 7:58am each morning. (not including school mornings - he has to get up earlier than that.) He's like clockwork. It was no different on Christmas morning. At 8:00am on the dot he was in our bedroom excitedly shaking the two of us awake. I can't really complain. From a parents perspective, that's a pretty decent time to wake up on such an exciting day. We told him he could go down and open his stocking while we woke up. But no. He wanted all of us to go down together at the same time. So that's what we did. :-)
So a couple little rules we have... before gifts are opened, the coffee has to be made and Christmas music is put on. A few years ago I bought a 3 Christmas CD set from Avon. They are called "Christmas Eve", "Christmas Morning" and something else. You simply just play the appropriate CD at that time. The music really compliments the setting. The "Christmas Morning" cd gets turned on when we come down the stairs. Oh...and we light the candles too...for some sparkling and glowing ambiance! :-) Max was hopping around the place, excitedly inspecting the packages under the tree and curiously glancing at his stocking while we were waiting for the coffee to brew.
Let the fun begin...
Max came home from school this year with his very own stocking that he had decorated during class. He thought it would be a good idea to use that stocking this year instead of the one we've used in the past. And why not? That lead Keith and I to do something a bit unusual as well. We used our stockings from when we were kids. They definately have a retro feel to them...
Keith's is the first one and mine is the middle one. They are soooooo little compared to today's stockings! My brother Jon had the exact same stocking as me and we used to pretend they were a pair of boots and wear them around the house. Back in the day.
Cute Story: One of the things in Max's stocking was a package of silly bands. He looked at them and excitedly announced to us "Cool!! Chinese Characters!!". See Keith cracking up in the background? They were "New York Yankee" silly bands....if you can recall the Yankee symbol, I guess it looks like chinese characters to the Maxter. We had a good little chuckle over it all.
My Keith is such a thoughful honey... :-) At the Gap they always have this big glass cylinder vase filled with boys watches. Max loves them and is always begging for one whenever we go in there. And for whatever reason I always say no. Not sure why. It's not like they are a huge expense...only about $10 or so. Anyway...Keith remembered how much Max loves these watches. So when he was out Christmas shopping he made sure to pop in and pick one up for the Maxter. Then he wrapped it up (unbeknownst to me) and slipped it into Max's stocking. Max was so excited when he opened it up. And since I had picked up the loot for the stocking...it was quite the surprise for me too! In the photo above, they are busy figuring out the little alarms and stop watch features on it. :-)
In case you are wondering about all the cards and envelopes stuffed in our tree below...We always write out cards for each other and then place them in the tree to be opened on Christmas morning. One of those little traditions that just kinda "happened" over the years.
"Adventure in Odyssey" CD's from Focus on the Family. Since this fall, Max has totally gotten into them. He often has them playing in the background while he's playing with his cars and legos or whatever. This year was an easy year for Christmas shopping for him...We knew that the CD's would be a big hit! :-) (And they were a lifesaver while he was sick the other week. He just rested on the couch and listened to them over and over. Good timing I guess, if you have to be sick.)
Each year, Keith takes Max out shopping to pick out and buy me something extra-special. I just love it! And he absolutely loves giving me his special present picked out with so much thought, deliberation and so much love!
In case you're wondering what it was, it's a beautiful bracelet. The saying "bigger is better" certainly subscribes to Max's opinions when it comes to buying jewellery for his mama. Keith gets such a kick out of it. He has learned that arguing is futile with the Maxter. Max knows what he likes and what he wants to buy for me. I always know that it will be memorable. This year's choice did not disappoint. It's absolutely gorgeous...very "Barbie" inspired I would say. I love it and wore it with pride to our Christmas dinner that afternoon! ;-)
This next gift was a big hit as you'll see by Max's expressions below...
What could possibly cause so much excitement?
A rod hockey table. We have the perfect spot in the basement for it. And I have to say, we're only half-way through January and it's already been even more of a hit then we thought it would be. That table is getting a good workout....yikes!
Just want to comment on the (not-so-great)quality of all these photos I'm posting...
1. I hate taking photos indoors. This house especially does not have good natural light so taking pics is a challenge at the best of times.
2. We did not have alot of sunshine over the Christmas holidays so nice natural light was a challenge to come by even outdoors.
3. I couldn't have been bothered to fiddle with camera settings all morning long so I just set it on one setting and snapped. You get what you get. The moments were captured and that's good enough for me! :-)
Back to Christmas morning...
Max was so happy and excited and grateful all through opening his stocking and presents as you've probably been able to tell through the pictures. The rod-hockey table was the last gift under the tree to be opened. After it as all over and done with, he was happy...but you could tell there was a bit of sadness/disappointment glimmering under the surface. He's only 7 after all...it's hard to hide your feelings. You see there was one item that was on his list he reeeeeeeeeally wanted. It actually first showed up on his Christmas list about 3 years earlier and has always made an appearance each year since.
This year, Santa did not disappoint. But I fear he may have played a little trick on the Maxter and hid the very last present to be opened. We told him to walk around the tree and see if there was anything else he may have missed opening....
Well what's this? Stuck way in the back of the tree near the bottom was small package addressed to Max...
And as he started ripping off the paper, this kind of excitement ensued....
What do you think?
Do you think his dream was FINALLLLLLLY realized?
You bet. Finally Santa came through...
He walked around with a perma-grin that just wouldn't wipe off...
Love this pic below. Keith was setting up the parental controls and Max was just over-the-moon!
Love his cute toothy grin...one of those front teeth are starting to make a move and come in. Love it! :-)
Amazingly enough...there was time amidst all the excitement for some breakfast. Cinnamin buns from Cinnabuns. I love that they have the ready-to-go-packs that you can buy. It's our little treat on Christmas morning. Pop them in the microwave to warm up and mmmmmmmmmm! YUM!
And this is how the last few minutes of Christmas morning at our house were spent...
And then it was a hop-two-three....time to get dressed and out the door to the Gerber Christmas celebration. More on that, coming right up.
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