That’s right, after today, the kiddos are off until, I think January 8th! We’re freakin out already wondering how we can keep them busy, especially after Christmas. Thanks to the three of you that commented yesterday, Uncle T who told us who he’s donated to and suggests it’s not too late for all of us to do so too, Aunt B who rightly recognizes that we are all very lucky and spoiled and Grandma Annette who shared her Christmas experiences as a little girl. For those of you that don’t know how to access the comments, here is Annette’s,
Annette says:When we were kids we always went to San Francisco to see Santa at the Emporium. We rode on the rides on the roof of the store and Santa had a slide just like the movie Christmas Story and we got a present for a boy or girl. That movie makes me laugh everytime I see it . We would go to the City of Paris to their qourmet food dept. so my Dad could stock up on all the goodies he wanted. My brother and sister would tell me what they wanted and I would tell Dad. I was daddies girl and he would never tell me no (spoiled?). After all that we would go somewhere nice for dinner and go look at the lights on the fire stations. They had big competitions at the fire stations for the best displays. Christmas morning at our house was always hard for us kids. Santa did not wrap presents so the bottom of the tree was covered by a sheet. We had to wait for Grandma to wake up and eat breakfast before we could see what Santa left. Santa always left one big present and the rest was clothes and some small things like books. I almost forgot our stockings were always on the bottom of our bed and we could look in them as soon as we woke up. They were always very special and one of the best things about Christmas. We also went to the candle light service at church on Christmas eve one of us kids were always in the play (angel, wiseman, shepard or Mary). We sang all the old Christmas songs, they are still my favorites. I really miss my parents at Christmas. This turned out to be a little long. Love you all
Now first off, what are you doing up at 3:35am? That’s my time, I should have called you as I too was awake then. Back to her comments, what a great story, especially the stockings hanging on the end of the beds, how neat is that! It’s good to hear about you singing Christmas songs, we too as a family were singing the 12 Days of Christmas in the car the other day.
Speaking of singing, and sorry to go all political, last night was the oldest ones Christmas concert at school. The entire 3rd and 4th grades were on stage singing for 3o minutes. At the end the misses and I noticed they didn’t sing a single song with the word Christmas in it! The did sing one song called Shalom Shalom but no We Wish You a Merry Christmas or anything like that. It was blatantly obvious. I mentioned this to the wife who said there is a Jehovah Witness kid in 4th grade who objects to Christmas or something like that. I couldn’t believe it, I mean you read about this stuff in the papers but now it has made its way down to our own neighborhood. The misses said, “can’t they just give us Christmas back”. I’m so shocked I think I’m going to write a letter or something. Look out people as Christians are slowly being pushed to the back of the line when it comes to who has rights or who gets what. It’s really kind of scary if you think about it.
On another note (and then I’ll stop, I promise) the House and the Senate have passed a defense bill the President is set to sign, that gives the government and/or military, the ability to now detain U.S. citizens indefinitely without a trial if they suspect them of terrorism. This is total disregard and contradictory to our constitution. I cannot believe this is going to pass. We’re entering dangerous times and on a slippery slope, I don’t know what else to say.
Ok, no more politics, back to the school concert. Besides the choice of songs, the kids were great. We arrived an hour early to get seats in the front row. The misses said she was tired of standing in the back year after year. We were the envy of all the late comers asking “how early did we get here?”. The oldest did great but was bummed as the kid he had to stand next to is known far and wide for having sort of a”gassy” stomach, enough said, I think you know what I mean. (sounds like a character out of the Christmas Story, huh Annette) Also with a few hundred parents and grandparents, plus 100 or so kids in the gym, it got pretty hot after a bit. I was thinking ahead and brought a couple of bottles of water, thankfully. We arrived home around 7:45 and of course the boys were starved. The way they talked, you’d think they hadn’t eaten for weeks! Finally at 8:30 or 9, we had everyone in bed.
Today is a big day with party’s in both classrooms. The misses is somehow involved in both while I will be driving around to the warehouse and accounts and working the phones trying to keep my $1 million dollar worth of purchase orders all on track.
The oldest just came down letting me know tomorrow is his birthday. I don’t know about you but around here, no one can forget this as we’ve had hourly reminders all week! He’s quite excited as he should be, 10 years old is a big one!
The dog’s barking to come in and I need another cup of coffee, thanks Annette for the comments about Christmas when you were young, now it’s up to the rest of you to chime in, get off your butts and let’s hear from you!
Merry Christmas, that’s right, I said it! Have a blessed day, God, Mary, Jesus Christ, nativity scene, a cross, the bible, etc. (just had to get in all the things the government will no longer let you say or put up on public property)
Take care,