Christmas In a Nutshell

'Twas the Night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was sleeping...because mother and child have a genetic commonality that makes it impossible to turn one's brain off after reaching a certain critical mass of anticipation. There was no way that was ever going to rhyme, but like I said I haven't gotten enough sleep in the last 10 days, so I'm a bit punchy.

I engaged in a crafting sprint to the finish on Christmas Eve. Photo cubes, magic wands, monkeys and matching nightgowns for Vi, Knuffle Bunny and Baby Rojo.

It was my intent to totally exhaust myself, so that I would fall asleep easily, but it didn't work.  We were awake at 5:30 AM on Christmas.  The smell of my crockpot breakfast casserole probably did not make it any easier to stay in bed, so we all stumbled down the steps at 6 to see what the big guy left us.

I was an orgy of wrapping paper and glitter. The glitter has been so thoroughly tracked through my house that I am now finding it in my underwear.  NEVER leave a craft happy four year old alone in a room with a vial of gold glitter.  Daddy has born the brunt of the glitter onslaught, largely due to his Christmas bling.

Violet said Daddy needed a "big ol' Daddy necklace" for Christmas. Done.

Mommy got this little hunk of high tech crack after Daddy bullied T-Mobile into letting us upgrade a month ahead of schedule.

It's a Samsung Memoir and IT IS FULLY AWESOME!

Despite family wide fatigue, we continued the day's festivities with my in-laws.  There were more presents there and Violet and her cousin showed definite signs of Holiday PTSD.  Fabulous gifts were unwrapped and met with cold, blank stares. Later, the girls could be seen rending their garments and crying out for a nap.

The monkeys were a big hit though and my faith in love and humanity was restored.

I was asked by Aaron's Aunt to take family portraits for her.  I'm telling you. You buy a big fancy camera and suddenly everyone recognizes your artistic genius.  They turned out nice, but I'm not going to out the in-laws online, so here is the photo I am sure certain people wish we would have used on our Christmas card.

Notice how my child looks like a drunk sorority girl after a Halloween party. That's when you know it is time to go home and take a rest, before the next round of gifts.

Christmas continues for us this coming weekend, when the out of town presents get opened at my Aunt's house.  Hopefully, Violet will sober up by then.  For now, she's recuperating with her most extravagant gift.

Oh, and this also happens to be my 400th post.  Thanks for reading and commenting and generally validating my very existence.  There will be many more to come in 2010, unless someone convinces me to shut up.