Christmas, AC (After Children)

Before the kids were born we decided that we would try to be home for Christmas Day as much as possible, at least while they were little.  Sometimes that means we have family or friends here, and other years it means we get to eat Christmas dinner in our PJ's and hang out.  I think we've been home every year on Christmas morning since the Girl was born.  Lots of times we've traveled before and after Christmas day, even gone to someone's house for Christmas dinner, but it is nice to be home on Christmas morning.  I don't know if our philosophy would be different if any of our parents still lived in our childhood homes, but it is nice to wake up in my own bed, even if it is before dawn.

One of our family traditions is that kids can open their stockings as soon as they get up, but that grown ups don't get up until daylight and that the gifts under the tree are not to be touched until the grownups are up.  And Santa is really good about making sure that there is a box of Captain Crunch "in" each stocking.  When the kids were really little we had to make sure there was a small container of milk so they could get themselves breakfast.  One year, when he was about two, The Boy ate all the tangerines out of everyone's stocking before we were up--about fifteen total. He was very sticky...These days the kids not only eat their cereal, but can turn on the oven and make eggs, too...Maybe I should leave a coffee cake for them to pop in and remind them to start the coffee.  If they are up before us, that is. We also take turns opening gifts--no crazy, paper flying chaos (well, not usually)  

2001  was our first Christmas with a child.  The Girl was about four months old.  I kept propping her up to try to get pictures and she just wasn't interested.  We called this the "angry baby" face.  Maybe she is angry because she is dressed head to toe in "Santa barf".  She actually looks pretty worn out--this might have been a day of multiple outfits and pictures.  I loved that hat...I'd still make her wear it if it would fit on her head.

 In 2002, we went to my parents' house right after Christmas, but we were lucky enough to spend some time with Mr. Ranch's grandparents before we went north.  The Girl did not want her picture taken though.  Mr. Ranch actually has a cousin about the same age as our daughter, so I'm guessing she was trying to escape to go play with her cousin and her cousin's giant stuffed pony.

2003--I tried to convince The Girl to look at the camera, she seems more interested in her mittens...This is actually a Christmas Eve picture. We went up to a ski resort for the day.  The Girl and I tubed while Mr. Ranch and his Dad skied. She also used a tiny pair of LLBean cross country skis--somewhere there are adorable pictures of that...well, pictures at least...I think she screamed a good deal of the time. It was a very fun day!

2004--you get to see two pictures...I know there were pictures of the two of them together, but who can refuse a baby in a Christmas stocking? Or a 3 year old napping with her kitties in her adorable Christmas dress?

2005--Shortly after Christmas I broke my foot and was on crutches for a week.  The Boy had to learn how to walk quickly...This is actually a New Year's Day 2006 picture, but you get the idea.  We had a lot of stuff crammed in that 1600 square foot house by this point...Alice the Cat still likes to sleep in that Pooh chair, it is like a kitty hammock.

2006

The Girl brought home reindeer food that she made in kindergarten and sprinkled it on the front lawn--look at all the snow!

 This was the year that The Boy got a lot of cool stuff--here he is with his tool belt on--he wore it with everything for months!

2007.  This was a fun year.  The first one at the new house and my parents as well as my brother and sister-in-law came for Christmas.  My parents actually flew in on Christmas day and rented a car.  They had a long, snowy drive from the airport and when they arrived announced that  we "lived in the middle of nowhere".  Ironic, since at that time our town had a population of about 45,000 and their's a population of 500.  It was a long snowy drive, though ...This was also the only year that we've had the tree in the living room of this house--every year since we've put it in the family room, where it doesn't show up from the street, but we get to enjoy it more.  And get to sit on the couch, rather than dining room chairs, when we open gifts.

2008...kind of blurry, but all of them from that day seem to be..don't know why...it's like there was Vaseline on the camera lens or something.

2009--I don't know how I managed to get downstairs before them!  Apparently the "no adults before daylight" was broken this year, too!

2010 This is a very exhausted group of children and Grandude--we had friends over for Christmas dinner--their kids wore their jammies over.  It looks like there are Christmas gifts strewn about and the children are half-heartedly playing wii...they must be tired...The Boy seems to be wearing a homemade mask of some kind...ironic..it is Christmas night, there are toys all over, and he created a mask out of an old box.  Seems about right.

2011--ok, not really a great picture of anyone, but you can see the family immersed in gifts.  The pile seems to be engulfing the children.

2012  We tried to get Mr. Ranch in this photo.  Really.  You get a nice view of some of the ten million ornaments on our tree though.  Maybe that will be a post..."ornaments I have loved and broken".

 The Girl saw reindeer food at a store and had to buy it (with her own money) for The Boy to spread for Santa's reindeer.  She got lots of "points" for that.

Last year was also a very cool holiday season--one of Mr Ranch's uncles decided to fly out and surprise the Uncle who lives here.  We spent several fun days after Christmas in a condo, at a ski area, surrounded by extended family.  Two of the relatives own condos in the same building and the third was able to rent a unit. I think there are three generations represented here. The kids and Mr. Ranch skied (snowboarded, in The Boy's case) and I read books and walked around the village--The Girl created a rule for one of Mr Ranch's twenty-something cousins, that every time he cursed he owed her a dollar...I think the running total was up to fifty-some dollars at one point.

We're quite a group, aren't we?

This year's plans are much simpler...Grandude will be here for a few days before and for Christmas with his buddy, Maggie (the dog).  There will probably be some skiing (snowboarding for The Boy).  The Girl is scheduled to be an altar server for Christmas Eve mass and I hope to read a couple books...I'm looking forward to some "nothing" time.

Merry Christmas, everyone!