So how are the little darlings doing today? LOL

[DammitJanet]

Did they get all they wanted? Are they being extra nice?

We wont get Keyana till tomorrow but I expect she will be running on adrenalin by then after having Santa today with her mom and that side of the family. We will do our xmas stuff at Cory's tomorrow. The tree will be all set up for when she arrives and we will tell her Santa made a special stop at his house too...lol. Fitting since she went and saw Santa with both sets of parents!

I am a bit ticked off with one of the presents I bought her. I got her this Mp3/Mp4 player...or I thought I did. It was advertised on Black Friday at Walmart as one. I just opened it up today and found out after I tried to download some videos to it that it didnt take Mp4's, it took smv's. Ok...so I downloaded a converter. It didnt even work when I downloaded the converted videos to this player. I am ticked. Im taking it back and complaining. I still have the Black Friday advertisement too...I think. I downloaded that online.

I wish I had opened this thing earlier because I could have taken it back and bought another one. Oh well...I can do that next week before we leave for my dads. Or I will just download the videos to a dvd and she can play them on the dvd player.

 

[tiredmommy]

Duckie is being a pita. She apparently didn't sleep hardly at all last night.

When is bedtime?

 

[DammitJanet]

Oh...I bet bedtime wont come early tonite either...lol. Did she get anything nice and quiet she can play with that will keep her out of your hair? DSi maybe? Or maybe its time for the movie marathon.

 

[everywoman]

Janet, we won't see JJ and Violet until tomorrow either. I did talk to JJ earlier today and he was soooooo excited. I can't wait to just sit and snuggle with them---difficult child had his girlfriend's son with them today, so at least we had a child in the house for the day. It has been a very relaxing Christmas day. We've got a big crowd tomorrow---only 9 for dinner today, but we'll have about 30 tomorrow---and 10 kids 7 and younger---should be loads of fun!

 

[flutterby]

Christmas morning was nice. difficult child let me sleep in. Everyone had a good time and liked their presents. We had breakfast and watched a movie.

Now, however, difficult child is in "stuck thinking" mode - over getting her bookmarks onto her new computer and a flash drive to move files. When I ordered the laptop, easy child told me we had one. Apparently, we don't. I don't know. But, she's stuck on it and every 5 minutes she's asking about the flash drive and the bookmark thing...has to be right now right now right now.

easy child thinks he's funny, but he's just obnoxious. He always gets carried away. Even my mom told him to stop yesterday.

I didn't have much patience to begin with. What's left is really being tried.

 

[Wiped Out]

For the most part the kids have been really good. easy child has been in a very good mood for her and so has difficult child. They have only had a few squabbles and they seem typical sibling compared to usual for my two. difficult child had a meltdown over dinner because we forgot to order him the type of pizza he likes (forgot to take off mushrooms and peppers). He did recover quickly for him though.

So far a very peaceful day.

 

[DammitJanet]

Well in a surprise move...we got called and told we could come get Keyana an hour ago! So...Tony left a bit ago to go get her and we will snuggle here overnight and then take her over to Corys in the morning to have Santa there. We could do it tonight but I would think that would just a be a really long day for her. Much better to split it up. Besides...football is starting in a few minutes...lol.

She cant ride her scooter we got her until tomorrow anyway. It has to charge overnight too. Plus its dark outside. She can wait and be excited one more night.

Yes this is one spoiled little girl...lol.

 

[mstang67chic]

Flutterby....depending on how the old bookmarks are done....difficult child may be able to just pull them up. I have a ton of things bookmarked under my yahoo log in on the tool bar. I'm not sure how it's set up but as long as I'm logged into my yahoo email...I can pull the bookmarks up from any computer.

 

[Hound dog]

The grandkids here had a nice xmas although actually their parents toned it down a few notches this year realizing they had gotten carried away in years past. lol This year parents focused more on what the kids really wanted and would enjoy rather than what the parents wanted to give them. Which is such a good thing. easy child, bless her heart, could smother Darrin in toys he really didn't ever play with.

We went to easy child's for dinner. Darrin met me at the door with HIS present to Nana. Pride shone in his eyes and face. I had to be very careful not to hurt his feelings when I explained I would have to open it with all the other gifts. Cuz he chose this gift himself and wrapped it himself.....and you could so tell it. lmao!

Darrin had a soldier xmas. This boy is major into the military so much it makes me wonder. All of the males in husband's family are West Point grads...tradition that stopped with husband's generation. Darrin exclaimed when he opened the rifle I'd gotten him that OMG he finally got what he'd always wanted. lol

Aubrey got a dress up and artsy xmas. She is into both big time. She just got her ears pierced a few weeks ago. Her big present was an esle (sp) and Nichole found books and supplies that won't stain the carpet/walls. But Nana got her a bucket o' plastic jungle animals and I thought she was gonna explode!!! She was not going to open more presents and wanted only to play with her animals. lol

And Brandon refused to open a single present. But he did like them once they were open and out of the box. lol First kid I've ever been around that didn't play with the boxes and wrapping paper.

Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

But that present I mentioned from Darrin.........nearly had me in tears. He sat with me when I opened it......which was really hard because he glued the wrapping paper on. The present he had chosen for me was his much beloved crayon tin (Lionel Trains). He eagerly waited for my response. The rest of the family (except easy child) didn't understand and started to poke fun at him. When I told him that he had given me the perfect gift cuz he knows how much his Nana likes to collect tins! Little guy just about popped out of his skin with pride. Meanwhile Nana was fighting back those happy tears. Reminded me of a very tender moment with my own much beloved grandmother when I'd spent hours in a store with a whole dollar searching for the perfect gift for her....and her beaming smile when she opened it. She treasured those dime store earrings until the day she passed away. Darrin's old crayon tin is sitting in a place of honor this evening in my livingroom. Took a few moments for the rest of the family to "get" the meaning behind Darrin"s very thoughtful gift. But I'll treasure it forever.

Surprisingly, Aubrey was in no way a difficult child today. She was sweetness and light and full of please and thank yous that she really meant. She had just as eagerly waited easy child to open a pair of earrings she had chosen just for her.......

Turned into a rather special xmas with Darrin and Aubrey both old enough to participate in gift giving this year. And was so nice to see how carefully they chose the presents for those they'd decided to give to.

It wasn't about money. It wasn't about stuff. It wasn't about what he got or she got. It was about finding that perfect gift to make someone smile from their heart. Awesome!!

 

[everywoman]

Okay Lisa, you just made me tear up. Between the board and Hallmark movies, I can't stop crying this week! Darn it! And I DON"T cry!

 

[Mattsmom277]

easy child is at her dads today, I will phone her shortly to ask about her day with her father and step mom. We did our Christmas yesterday. The kids were bowled over. The gift(s) I had picked were what they really wanted. The secret santa gifts just put them over the edge. We took our time opening gifts and just enjoying watching both kids take turns. They were truly appreciative. Funny enough, difficult child loved his new comforter and pillows the most lol. You'd think he'd been sleeping on straw bedding or something . It was a wonderful morning.

We had a delicious turkey dinner with my cousin and her son over. My brother and his g/f stopped in briefly to say hi (right in the middle of turkey dinner lol). By the time easy child's dad came after dinner to pick her up, she was near tears. Excited to go to her dads, but really just wanted to stay home and play with her new things. I guess she's fine by now as it was a traditional Christmas day with her dad.

S/O, difficult child and I went to see Avatar today in our pj's and Santa hats, as usual. It was a fantastic movie!!! We are all snug and warm back at home now. I'm finishing making turkey soup to simmer overnight, then we are all going to watch a dvd and finish our popcorn from the theater earlier. I couldn't ask for a nicer Christmas. The past 3-4 days have been wonderful.

Thanks for sharing how all of your days went. Sorry to all who have overexcited kids tonight!

 

[Marcie Mac]

Went over to visit the grands for a little while and brough them their presents. Nate was spending the day at his dads so didn't get to see him. I bought both boys clothes, and three WII games addressed to them both which will be opened by both of them when Nate gets home. Wyatt said ewww, clothes, and promptly threw them in the trash having a fit he didn't want any clothes, he wanted toys..sigh..but I wasn't surprised cause last year, I bought him clothes and a toy, and the clothes were balled up and thrown across the room in anger. At least the baby liked her doll, and sat her in the stroller while she made SO and I pretend dinner in her new play kichen.

Its nice that I can spend some time, and when the gfgness gets too much, to say, well Grammy and Poppy have to go now. and come home to relative peace and quiet.

Marcie

 

[Hound dog]

EW I'm still having the tears over Darrin's present. And I am sooo NOT a cryer, even of happy tears. lol And I have a feeling (a very strong one) that Darrin will be the one to get my antique food tins some day in the future.

MM I'm so glad the kids had a wonderful xmas this year. Had to lol over difficult child and the comforter just like a kid huh?

Janet I meant to add I'm so glad you got to have Keyana over tonite. That I'm sure was the perfect ending to her day. Smart of you to go ahead with things as planned. I know that by supper time the grands here were already showing signs of exhaustion. lol

 

[Hound dog]

Its nice that I can spend some time, and when the gfgness gets too much, to say, well Grammy and Poppy have to go now. and come home to relative peace and quiet.

So very true!! And we earned it. lol

 

[hearts and roses]

I loved reading all the family stories! Lisa, I got chills reading yours. TM, sorry Duckie gave you a hard time today - hopefully bedtime is on the horizon by now?

easy child and difficult child are on LI with their dad yesterday and today. They will return tomorrow.

I am really ill - I have walking pneumonia apparently. I am on all sorts of wonderful grugs. However, H and I did not break our tradition of hitting up the movies on Christmas Day and I think it may have been too much or me. I'm exhausted and it was mostly a very laid back day! We saw Sherlock Holmes and we both liked it a lot. Our 'foster' son was up from the shore and came with us. We had a nice visit. I made him a scarf and he loved it. When we returned home, our neighbor had left us some delicious Puerto Rican food on our counter ..... omg, yum.

I guess I would be the difficult child today. Hahaha. H gave me a set of cookie sheets and a crock pot, some pretty panties and a leopard cami(?), and two shirts. All I wanted was an ereader/book. That's it. I can certainly get my own crockpot. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but he hit up my Amazon list, which I make for the girls only, and he went off that. He knew what I wanted as I've only told him about 8 million times. Maybe he got it and is saving it for my birthday. I guess I will find out then, in front of his entire family. Fun times. So, yeah, I must be the difficult child....I think I can also say that my mood is in part due to the massive dose of prednisone I'm taking along with major pms. I'm going to bed now.

I pray everyone was able to find a moment of inner peace and traquility today. Hugs to all!

 

[tiredmommy]

Duckie hit the hay at 7pm, she didn't even fight it. She wasn't really naughty today, just that annoying combination of hyper and overtired. But she did get crackly a few times with husband. She was living the day on the edge of ODD.

 

[gcvmom]

Well I'm one of the parents with PITA kids today -- both the easy child and difficult child kind, unfortunately. I think it's just too much time together combined with lack of sleep and too much excitement. difficult child 2 is bouncing off the walls today and very hyper. He was up at 4am and informed me he'd been waking every hour on the hour. Ugh. I scolded him and shooed him back to bed, shutting his door. He stayed in until about 6:30am when easy child got up. Then they woke a grumpy difficult child 1 up around 7:30am (couldn't wait any longer). And since husband and I got up at 2am to stuff stockings and put out SC stuff, we were a little ragged today.

My kids have been all very short-tempered, snappy and rude to eachother. I just had to warn them that one more nasty comment out of ANYONE and they would ALL be done for the night. That got them to change their tone and adjust their patience level very quickly!

I did enjoy the time at my uncle's today. My difficult child Dad was the last to arrive with my mom and the first to leave/bolt. He practically barked at my mom when he was ready to go... ugh. Can't pick your relatives, can you?

I'm glad to be home sipping some hot tea and finally working on my Christmas cards!

 

[Andy]

My darlings did well. We had Diva's boyfriend over for gift opening. We decided he had more gifts under our tree than each of us had from Santa so he may as well join in that part of the day.

For us, Santa wraps each of our gifts in our own wrapping paper. The stockings are laid out along the couch and all gifts are distributed with the stocking. Usually one large "main" gift for each and a few smaller ones to put in the stocking. I forgot to have Santa give me a main gift this year! LOL Oh well, I have gotten enough things this past two months with my curtains and bathroom. And since I coordinate Santa gifts, I have only myself to blame. I wonder if the kids have figured out why I always get what I want from Santa?

I am enjoying another year of being able to sleep in on Christmas morning. Even difficult child is old enough to be patient and wait. I really love the stocking plan of letting them enjoy their own stocking before the house wakes up - wish I would have used that when the kids were younger.

I made Diva help with the meal. It was very simple but the meatballs and green bean dishes took only 15 minutes in the stove so didn't give me hardly any time to get everything else set to put on the table. difficult child was playing Wii and X-Box with Diva's boyfriend otherwise I am sure he would have liked to help. husband mashed the potatoes as always.

difficult child shoveled snow - paths to each of our neighbor homes and our sidewalk this morning. (he had already done so yesterday plus shoveled snow off our deck - ALL of his own doing - we had not said a word to him about this).

Tonight difficult child is very tired at 8:30. He said he feels so tired lately. I think it is from all the shoveling he has been doing. Out of school schedule is also different from in-school schedule so that throws kid's bodies off during long vacations.

Diva received an Expresso maker and difficult child a Wii game plus a few small stocking stuffers for each of them.

No candy in the stockings this year and husband was the only one to notice. Puppy would have torn apart the stockings if there were any plus we still had more than enough chocolates and treats that no one seems to be eating. Christmas candy seems to be more of a tradition than a wish in our home. Very seldom do we get it and very seldom do the kids ask for it.

 

[flutterby]

Jo-
I think I'm being a bit difficult child-ish myself. Really, the kids were being good - helpful, kind to each other. I don't feel well, either - easy child had to help me get out of bed today - and I'm just irritable. To put it mildly. I took a nap and am in a better frame of mind.

difficult child hasn't been off her laptop since she opened it. We got her bookmarks transferred, got a flash drive and transferred her files. She's loving it. It's a nice laptop. I think I'm jealous.

 

[Lothlorien]

Missy went to bed at 10 on Christmas Eve and was up at 7:15. She was being a pita, mostly because she was too tired and was getting frustrated with all the things she got. She couldn't get the beads on the string, couldn't figure out the friendship bracelet thing, couldn't open this or that....ugh. So, around 12 noon, I suggested she go in her room and turn the tv on and take a nap.....she didn't even argue. (faint)

She slept for a few hours and when she got up, we got on the computer cam and talked to my sister and her kids and they were all showing each other the gifts they got for Christmas. She perked up and was fine after that.

Today, they were up early, quietly playing with their things. What a difference! There aren't too many mornings that I don't wake up to loud and bickering kids. I think I like the day after Christmas better than most other days of the year.