Pix 'n Prose: A Christmas Scrapbook

Every second year (and this was that second year) the kids go to their dad's house late on the 24th and come back on the 26th 'round noon.
So this means that every other year I spend Christmas day alone.

I dread it a whole year in advance.
Disproportionate, no?

But by the time the actual day rolls around, I'm glad for the 24 hours of solitude.

Take this year, for example.
I was so looking forward to sleeping in, doing my Christmas baking, getting on top of the laundry mountian, sweeping the earth that has been accumulating inside my front door, cracking open one of the dozen of books I've been dying to read, and wrapping the gifts for my folks all while doing a year's worth of meditating and praying.

The trouble with planning a day such as this, is that it takes some planning. Specific planning that I did not do.

I did not have enough laundry detergent. Two loads were all that I completed. (Maybe I should have brought home the laundry soap flakes that were under the sink, next to the dishwasher in the washing machine-less condo we stayed in at Hemlock. Why would someone have laundry detergent in the kitchen in a residence that has no laundry facilities? It was in an unmarked clear container. It SO could have been dishwasher soap. No worries, - it didn't take long for us to sop up all the suds that oozed from the bottom of the dishwasher.)

Then there was the baking. Of Eis Gipfel. Which is a multi-stepped process involving yeast, separated eggs, kneading and a rolling pin. Even though my maiden name sorta sounds like hers, I am not June Cleaver. Why did I think I could don an apron and produce melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon roll type treats? I am not June. Or Martha. Or my sister.
I might have had more luck if I had all the ingredients. Which I did not. Improvising was my only option because, hello? it was Christmas Day. IGA ws not open. Unfortunately my substitutions were not condusive to light and flakey Eis Gipfels.

Then there was the problem with my rolling pin.
I don't have one.

So I used a 2L bottle of coke.
It didn't spread the dough thin enough.
How thin is thin enough? Think paper. The dough should be flat like paper. So that when you roll it, there are lots of layers.

Mine were more like cardboard. And those cinnamon and brown sugar coated strips of cardboard didn't like staying rolled up.

They sprung open during the baking process.

Discouraged was I.

So I watched the first season of The Office.

And delighted myself with the extreme ineptitude of Michael Scott, regional manager of Dunder-Mifflin. It was painful to watch. I cringed more than laughed. But it was addicting.

The kids called at 10:30 pm wondering if they should come home. I told them their dad was likely planning on them staying for night, so it would be best if we all stuck to the original schedule. Then I called my mom at the cabin to wish her a Merry Christmas and we talked for abit...

At 11:30 Clint called back wondering who I'd been talking to for so long. They had decided to come home but wanted to head up to the lake.

They got home at midnight and helped me do the packing and wrapping I never got around to doing and we left for Cultus at 1:00 am. Hey, I'm random and hip to the jive.

We arrived at 2:00 am, ate the leftover pizza we brought along then stayed up til 3:30 am so they could watch the first season of The Office too.

Merry Christmas.

No one knows how to celebrate like us O's...

Boxing Day was Christmas Day for my side of the family.

As has been the tradition since the cabin was built in '98, we meet there for turkey and yahtzee.

My mom decks the halls and tables nicely:

The adult table

And, slightly more whimsical, the kids' table:

The tree:

By 3:00 pm, all my kids were up, and the rest of the clan had arrived to a cabin scented with roast turkey.

It used to be that the gift opening was the highlight of the day, but we must be getting older. Just hangin, and talkin, and eatin, and playin games is great fun too. And in the end, I think that's what we all remember about the day - the fun we had.

Although, the gifts are good too:

Chad is looking forward to taking up a new sport - snow boarding...

Zac and Max. Some year I'm going to post pics of these two from Christmases past. In the early years, when they were just 2 or 3 years old, they used to be lost in a sea of presents while they sat side by side on a couch. Even though they're both 16, they still have those same looks on their faces when they share a couch and open their gifts.

Mandi-cakes, determined to move out as soon as she graduates from high school, received a grown up version of an Easy Bake Oven (convection toaster oven) for Christmas. Maybe she'll have better luck than I with Eis Gipfel...

That's my mom, crying.

I made her bawl.

I enlarged a photo of her parents from when they were dating, and put it in a Victorian style frame and the tears were spontaneous. That's a first for us... not too often we have emotional breakdowns when we open presents.

Seconds after the last gift was opened, the paper is whisked outside where it is prompty burnt. Minutes after that we realize we've probably destroyed instructions, gift cards and receipts.

No. We never learn.

Attention is then turned to preparing the bird and his accessories for the meal. Loved seeing Daryl kneeling before an open oven trying to coax the turkey's stubborn legs to stay closed and in the pan.

Some of us eat with our regular clothes on, the rest of us change into sweat pants even before the first mouthful.

And this year, a first for us ever, we sang grace (Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow) because the ohso musical WegFam was there to lead us. Unfortunately I was in the bathroom at the time, but the harmonizing sounded wonderful as background noise to the flushing toilet.

And as always, my number one, most favorite Christmas tradition of all ...

GUYS DOING THE SUPPER DISHES:

Then, it was time for some Wii-ing:

BOXING-

Boxing on beds

Bowling -

Jake was the man. Three strikes in a row.

More boxing:

Mandi got a new DS game. She got a little involved...

Dad, enjoying his kids.

David and Sarah:

Clint and Jesse deep in deep conversation:

At midnight, Drew used his gift from the Koops and started saudering bracelets.

By 3:00 am, the kids were starting to settle down for the night. We had been watching Season Two of The Office all evening and were too absorbed to shut it off.

Jess stretched out on the floor,

Chad moved two lawn chairs together:

Clint, Zac and Max claimed couches,

And Drew and Mandi snuggled on the big couch.

By 3:45 am I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer...

The next morning, I woke up to my second favoritest tradition...

the smell of bacon being frying and the sounds of breakfast being prepared by my sister and brother-in-law:

Afterwards, Jess and the youngin's cleaned up. Great new tradition?

Things I'm Thankful For:

1. Dad got his appetite back just in the nick of time to enjoy Christmas dinner. He's lost alot of weight this fall because of his lack of ability to taste food. He gained 8 pounds in 48 hours.