Christmas has now come and gone, and we're back into the swing of things, but I don't want to let it go without capturing a few of the great moments with the girls. As I suspected, it was such an incredibly fun fun fun year in our house. Payton's now 4.5 and Parker 2.5, and they are both in love with the holiday.
Both girls were in ah every time we'd leave the house in the evening seeing all of the houses with lights and decorations. On more that one occasion Parker gleefully shouted out "I see a REINDEER" to which Payton would respond "A REAL one?!?", and each time Parker answered "YES!!!"
Payton was quick to decide that the Pabst light display far out did our lights, due to the simple fact that her icicle lights were colored, while ours were white. Seriously kid, you're starting to give mommy a Leslie complex! She also informed me this season that it would be okay if I died and she didn't have a mommy (a terrible threat I threw out when she almost knocked me off the ladder) because she could just go live with Leslie. Wow, just wow.
This year is the first time we have had the girls enrolled in a dance class, and therefore there was a grand performance for the holiday. We of course had no idea how this would play out, so tried to keep our expectations in check. Last year I'd taken Payton to watch some of her friends dance recital at a mall stage, and when I asked her if she'd like to do that next year she was quite sure that she did NOT want to get up on stage. Apparently she's over THAT. Both girls did a fantastic job, maybe not catching all the steps just so, but they got right out there on a huge auditorium stage and danced their little hearts out,brought a few tears to my eye. Payton's already asking when they can do it again. I honestly don't remember ever doing anything like that so young, but I do remember going to see Angie (I think) at a recital in St Louis when she was little. That has got to be terrifying for them, but I was super duper impressed by both girls. When the show was over, we learned that Parker is the youngest student at the school, la-tee-da, as Grandma Orr would say.
As I suppose every generation realizes, Christmas just gets better and better for kids! There were SO many things to do in the weeks leading up to and even after Christmas. We had party after party, craft after craft to do. We went on an nature winter lights walk with Grandma Jackie and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. We had a cookie and craft party at Kaitlyn and Karyn's house. We went to the winter festival in Bonita Springs with the Nerneys, the girls played in "snow", Parker and I even got to go sledding! Of course there's our tradition of visiting Santa at Bass Pro, where I think the girls get almost as excited to see all of the fish in the big tanks there as they do to see Santa. So many events that we had to skip some, just to save all of our sanity.
In trying to make the most of our Christmas Eve we decided to cram in a day full of activity. We started by letting the girls open a few gifts. This is when I learned that Payton has become quite particular in what she likes and doesn't. I was so excited for her to open a fantastic deep red leather jacket, when she quickly burst my bubble, with a very flat "I don't like it" accompanied by a quick toss to the side. The next day it became more and more apparent that if it isn't pink it has no place in her closet. Thank goodness Grandma came through with Zhu Zhu pets, as the girls were very happy to have a fun toy to play with. We'd also invited Grandma Jackie to join us for a movie, Disney's version of Rapunzel, Tangled, at the theater so off we went with candy in hand. That went pretty well with everyone happy when it was all said and done then we rushed home for an abbreviated nap, then drug the girls out of bed and into their Christmas best to head off the madhouse, I mean church. Our good friends Tom and Jill had been talking about preparing a traditional Seven Fishes dinner, after going to church, and they invited us to join. At first I was hesitant and nervous. Hesitant because I'm not familiar with Catholic traditions, nervous to have my unruly children in a church service. But, as Jason said, he had to go as a kid, so our kids could too! We arrived early enough to get seats in the very, very back, and to have 10 minutes to sit before the service started. That was just enough time for Parker to get antsy. So, in the first 5 minutes of the service she and I headed outside where she informed me that she was ready to go home. Ha, ha, ha, not happenin kid. So back in we went. She made it a little longer, then headed outside with Daddy for a stint, then back in to finish off the service. Overall, I thought we did pretty well, and Payton was a very good girl throughout. We headed back to the Nerney's and had a yummy dinner and time to enjoy our dear friends, realizing how truly blessed we are.
From there I'll tell a story that is now funny, although it certainly wasn't at the time, and hopefully the girls will not remember. Momma got sick, very very sick. We got back from the Nerney's around 9 and the girls rushed off to bed after putting out Oreos in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. We'd eaten a ton, and I was so full that I suggested Jason and I set an alarm clock and lay down for a bit before doing our Santa duties. About 10 minutes before the alarm went off, I woke and rushed to the bathroom, which is pretty much where I spent the remainder of Christmas Eve and into the wee hours of Christmas morning. I'll spare the gory details, but I've NEVER felt so bad. I had thoughts of rushing to the hospital, but couldn't stomach the thought of destroying Christmas morning for the girls. How do you explain to two little girls that we'll be watching mommy barf in the emergency room instead of diving into Santa's treasures! Poor Jason was in a horrible predicament. He had a wife who was certainly dying, had very little knowledge of what/where Santa had hidden things around the house, and two little girls with big expectations. I tried and tried to go into the hiding room to get him started, but each time had to run back to the bathroom. Eventually he found the bulk of stuff, and tried to get some sleep while I tossed turned and ran to the bathroom all night. Eventually the sun started to come up and the reality that the day was coming and I was going to live (a little drama here). I was in good enough shape to realize I HAD to have a shower, but rough enough to not be able to do it myself. Jason showered my pathetic being, and we headed downstairs to see the girls in all of their amazement. And even though I was a mess, it was so much fun to see their excitement! Santa came through and delivered bikes for both and a kitchen to share. After playing for a few minutes Payton stopped dead in her tracks and said with a little fear, "but...where's my pillow pet???" We pointed out that there were still unopened packages and she was quite relieved to find her much coveted unicorn pillow pet, thank goodness. So the hits of this Christmas would be Pillow Pets, Zhu Zhu pets, bikes and the kitchen. They also seem to spend a lot of time playing in Parker's new tent and fighting over Parker's camp chair and Payton's Leapster game. There was so much that some of their gifts I've put away and will break out over the next few months so that they can enjoy everything as toys loose their luster. We played in the street with the Pabst crew and headed to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Barb's house for more gift opening and another great meal, which I could still hardly partake in at 6 p.m.. So sad, it looked amazing and Jason and the girls loved it!
We rang in the New Year with yet another party at the Carlson's and finished off our night dancing at the Nerney's until the wee hours of the morning. Boy oh boy are we gonna have trouble on our hands in the coming years. These girls danced until 1:30 in the morning and would have kept going if we'd let them.
I have to laugh at myself, because before the two week school break I was kind of sort of dreading being stuck at home with two hiped up Christmas junkie kids without being able to attend to work and have my moments of peace being in the office with adults. But I have to admit, it was really fun. The girls are getting old enough to do things and they just get so excited about it all! I even found myself getting weepy that this time in our lives is going to be so short. In the next few years they will learn about Santa, they will think that dancing with Mom and Dad in the wee hours of New Year isn't so cool (then in their 20's hopefully they will figure out it is cool), their wish lists are going to be harder to influence and in turn to fulfill, they won't be amazed by the REAL REINDEER in the neighbors yard. For now, I'll just savor the moments we have had, and look forward to next year!!
