The Christmas That Lasts All Season

As promised, here are the photos:


Well, we all weathered Christmas very well considering each and very one of us is nursing colds of one degree or another. Having taken the two weeks off that the girls have off from school has made it less stressful for me, but I still feel like there is too much to do and not enough time to do it. Brigid had school on Monday and Tuesday, so on Monday I took Margaret and Patricia to Burlington for a little shopping and lunch. While there, I found what I thought to be a perfect gift for Auntie Shell, only to get home and find it had chipped in transit (so Michelle, if you're reading this, be prepared for only part of your Christmas present). I was very, very disappointed, to say the least.

We had some whopping snow storms over the days before Christmas, which would assure us a true white Christmas for the first time in many years. But temperatures have climbed so it's more like March out there today, with rain and melting snow, slush and icy sidewalks. Yuk. But the girls have had fun in the snow in the backyard regardless. I'll post a photo I took on Christmas Eve day when I can get to it.

Christmas Eve day was pretty relaxing. Jack had to work, but he was able to get out early in the afternoon since there is no paper on Christmas Day. Baby B and I took a long afternoon nap in anticipation of Christmas Eve mass and party at the Grandparent Downs' house. Mass on Christmas Eve at St. Peter's is sometimes a slugfest for seating no matter which mass you attend, so Jack and Margaret walked over ahead of time to get a pew, only to find it not so crowded this year. Patricia, Brigid and I followed closer to 6 p.m. It was a comfortable crowd, with seats in the back still open. Usually, there is a crowd standing in the back by the door and veiled threats that mass won't start unless people shove over. It was a nice service, with the church decked out in pines and pointsettias. The baby Jesus was carried in during the processional -- once again, a baby Jesus who is nearly as big as his mother and father in the manger scene. I don't get it.

We then went over to Grandma and Granddad Downs' for the annual Christmas Eve gathering with Grandma's cousin and her family. It was a mellow night, and we ate the buffet and enjoyed Christmas cookies then packed up to go home and get the girls to bed. They were happy to comply, and it didn't take me too long to get Brigid to sleep -- even though she had had a long nap, she was tired. The colds didn't help, either. Jack and I finished our Christmas preparations under the tree and then collapsed ourselves. We were joined as usual by Brigid later in the night and we all got to sleep in a little Christmas morning, actually rising about 9 a.m. Margaret and Patricia were already up but were content to watch TV until we joined them. As usual, we had stockings first then breakfast -- a disappointing crock pot casserole I made for the first time that was overcooked and underflavored. But the girls said they liked it. We then went out to open presents. Brigid, in her first year of true understanding of the way it works, was wonderful, handing people their packages, asking for help opening her own. She was very excited to find a Radio Flyer tricycle under the tree from Santa. I have photos to post from Christmas as well, but they are hard copies, not digital, so I'll have to have them developed and put on disk first.


We had a visit from our tenant, Kathy. Jack had to work, so I invoked the stay-at-home rule and I cooked dinner just for us -- standing rib roast, yorkshire pudding, squash, peas and potatoes. It was very good. Apple pie and squash pie for dessert topped it off. Jack had to go back to work after dinner, but wasn't gone long, which was a nice surprise. I got Brigid to bed but not before she had a mini-meltdown demanding "I want presents!" over and over again when she discovered a few gifts still under the tree meant for other people. But she finally understood they weren't for her and she gave up and went to bed. The other two watched part of a movie with Jack before heading up to bed themselves. It was a nice, relaxing day -- in fact, Margaret and Patricia never got out of their Christmas pajamas they received the night before.

Friday we hung out. Jack took the girls and Tessa to the dog park for a romp, and then Brigid and I took a nice long nap, waking in time to get ready to go back over to Grandma and Granddad's for a day-after-Christmas dinner and gift exchange. We received some very nice and generous gifts and had a nice dinner. After dinner, we had a rousing game of "Bananagram," a Scrabble-like tile game where you spell words independently of the other players. It was a lot of fun.

Bedtime was more difficult for Baby B this night, and I'm not sure why, but I ended up quitting about 11 p.m. and put her in our bed with Jack. She was up beyond midnight, talking and kicking. To make matters worse, she woke up about 7 a.m. and just dozed on and off until 8:30 a.m. today so I expect we'll have a tired and cranky Brigid on our hands later.

We still have some Christmas celebrating to do this season with Auntie Shell and Uncle John, and we'll get together with Matt and Kristin, too, so our holiday season is still in full swing. Thank God I'm still on vacation!