Christmas 2010

{Slowly catching up}

Christmas was a bit different this year as my November was not normal and grief was very prevalent. I didn't do Christmas cards, neighbor gifts or other homemade goodies that seem to define the holidays for us. I wasn't going to do much for Christmas either, but since a magical Christmas was one of Jeffrey and Brandon's favorite memories of their mom, I decided that I must not slack in that. So I pulled together for that. I felt quite numb, but I think the kids had a good Christmas. We had Jerry and Carolyn here so that made it fun too. Just a few snippets:

The surprise this year was lottery tickets. I designed them in Photoshop, printed them as a glossy photo at Costco (two cards per photo) then mixed half dish soap with acrylic paint to paint over the options. With that combination, they were fairly easy to scratch off. The boys' options were tasks, treats or money. The girls got treats, prizes or tasks. Jerry and Carolyn got pampering, adoration, tasks and options to tell stories from their childhood (they were good sports with my craziness).

Each group also had different tasks to draw from. The girls' were just simple things like "Ride a Grandpa Horsie" or "Do 3 somersaults". Jerry and Carolyn's were things like "Have a race from the back door out to the BYU on the fence with Caleb. Run 3 times. You get to wear shoes. He doesn't. If he wins, he gets $1. If you win, you get to quote us a poem." The boys' were a bit more complicated and crazy. Each task had 3 options to choose from. Some examples are:

Pictionary! Choose a partner to guess your drawings (not mom or dad). You have 2 minutes to draw for each option. Read this next part quietly.

Option 1: Draw each of these words, getting 10¢ per word: car, clock, glasses, sock, drum, towel, milk, candy bar, bathtub, snow, banana & couch. If you get all of the words, you get $2.

Option 2: Draw each of these words, getting 25¢ per word: DVD, artichoke, stop watch, chapstick, race & lawn mower. If you get all the words, you get $5 each!

Option 3: Draw each of these words, getting 50¢ per word: lovely, pedestrian, play dough, occupied. If you get all the words, you get $10 each!

----

Option 1: Blindfolded, go down to the storage room and get a can of green beans. If you get it right, you get $1!

Option 2: Blindfolded, go down to the storage room and get a can of vegetables, a can of fruit, a muffin mix, and peanut butter. If you get it right, you get $3!

Option 3: Blind folded, go down to the storage room and get 1 can of apple sauce, 1 can of pinto beans, 1 can of Chicken Noodle soup and a chocolate cake mix. If you get it right, you get $40!

Some pictures completing the tasks:

As always, I regret not taking more photos.

I think the kids were all happy with their gifts (that portion was also downsized a bit this year too.)

Cache's main gift was books. Most of these were from DI, some were new. See the biggest one? An unabridged dictionary. When he opened it he said, "Cool. I've always wanted one of these." He is a bit of a picky (but voracious) reader and so getting books is always a bit of a gamble, but I think we scored on this gift. He got a large variety of reads: Shakespeare, Dilbert, American History, Science-- to give examples of a few genres.

Caleb got a running watch. That was not top on his list, but I think he likes it and is finding it useful in training. They are pretty amazing tools and now that he has orthodics I think his running can improve even more.

Top on Chandler's list was a sock monkey--you can see his excitement in getting that. Also in that package was art supplies which he has love, love, loved.

Tessa and Greta both got babies and strollers. Much loved. Tessa immediately named her baby Brea and we helped Greta pick a name she could say. Her baby is named Ella (E-ya in her language. It is so cute to hear her ask for her, especially since she doesn't have the largest speaking vocabulary at this point.)

A few other random pictures:

We did a Christmas Day service project again this year. We left home in the middle of unwrapping gifts and delivered oranges with a note to lonely senior citizens home alone. I can't find the note we gave with it, but it thanked them for the good things they have done in their lives and the contributions they've made. Such a good, good thing for the kids to step back from 'their' day and see others' needs and cheer and bless and brighten.