Avalon had a fantastic Stay-cation at home with Mom and Bubba. It was great to have the kids home with me. I'm sure not everyone feels this way but I love being with my kids. What better company to keep than that which you've made!? I realized how well my daughter is reading and how much effort she has been putting into deceiving me. You would have thought asking her to read was like walking on hot coals. Once I told her that "almost first graders" have to read in small groups when the get back to school and that if she didn't practice she was going to be the slowest reader, well, that got her attention.
I took Avalon to see the nutcracker being put on by a local dance school. The performance was really cute and Avi walked away wanting to get a nutcracker and take very good care of him. I remember feeling that way too so I got her one from the grocery store for a good price. She was so thankful I was almost afraid she didn't like it. She was all quiet, inspecting him and after a long minute she looked up and said, "Thank you so much mom, you're the greatest." :) We also went to see Santa up at church. Kieran was not a fan this year but he sat still enough for the woman to get a few shots of the family.
Christmas was very special. We went to midnight mass with our friends the Maxwells. Four adults and five kids under six years old. It was great! Kieran and his little friend were intermittently loud which, in my opinion, is all you can expect from toddlers. It was really funny to us because all the garble coming out of my son's mouth was so confident and joyful. Perfect for Christmas! Shawn said that it was the best mass he'd ever been to. The three big kids fell asleep quickly so they were no trouble at all.
After mass we went home and staged, I mean, set out the cookies and milk for Santa then went to bed for a few hours. Avalon woke us up at 8:30 for breakfast and presents and I have to hand it to her, she's one of the most pacient kids I've ever met. We invited my dad over that morning and she waited for him without complaint. The kids only get 3 gifts and their stockings for Christmas.
We call it our 3 gifts of the Magi. I highly recommend doing this with your kids. It keeps everything in budget and gets them to focus on what they really want. She always tells us what she wants to be her three gifts and if it is something like a robot horse that she can ride on (yes, she did ask for that) we look it up on the internet and see how much they cost then I tell her how long dad has to work to pay for something like that and we decide if it something that she really wants or if she would rather get some other really great thing. You might think that's stingy or not letting her really enjoy Christmas but kids now-a-days are bankrupting their parents with the "keeping up with the Jones".
So this year She wanted a ball like Mrs. Walsh (her teacher) and an American Girl Doll that looks like her. She couldn't really think of anything else. So we bought the kids a Wii as well. It's really a lot of fun and she is learning how to play with others and be a good sport.
Kieran got some cars and an aircraft carrier, and some other things. Both kids loved having Grandpa there to share the day with. I made a Christmas ham and big dinner. I stayed in my pajamas all day (bet you thought I was going to say pearls). The rest of vacation is a wonderful blur of playing games and spending my time loving these kids up. I can tell Avi was ready to get back to school but I enjoyed seeing her so much during my day again. I can't wait until Summer vacation!
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