The Raft

"Can I open them?"
"Yes, but you have ot wait your turn. Why don't you give one of your gifts to your cousins?"
"Leen!! LEEN!!! THIS IS FOR YOU!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

"This one of for Abby, from Grammie and Grambear."
*Eyes light up, takes present, hugging it* "Oh, Thank You, Grammie!" Then, she proceeds to open it.

Don't get me wrong, there were a few "can I have more presents, mommy?" but I would have to say that overall, I was quite proud of my very polite and sweet little girl!

Every little thing she opened was like the greatest thing she had ever seen.
Examples - she opened a package from Tono that was Belle pajamas. Wide, overjoyed eyes paired with a huge, toothy grin found my face, threw them towards me and yelled, "look, mommy! BELLE!!!"
A simply wrapped gift, a hardcover book from Uncle Bobby, received the same exact response, "Mama! A Snowman Book! We don't have a snowman book!"
After her baby brother opened up some shirts that we all thought were adorable but understandably agree that kids would/should find boring, Abby opened up a few articles of clothing and screeched "Look! I got clothes, too!!!" Like she had never had any before in her life!

About 457 gifts fly threw the air pretty quickly when 454 of them are for kids under the age of 8. We all had our favorites, of course, but I have to say that there were no stinkers. Not one. At least not that I see under our tree. Maybe someone else got a stinker but judging by the air at 256 yesterday, I would have to guess not.
There was a lot of love in that house.

My mood was dampened a bit by my own arrogance. After reviewing the menu with my mother, I took it upon myself to decide that she was ill-prepared and I went ahead and ordered a tray of Chicken Parm to be served along side her Ziti, Sausage and Peppers, Marsala and Tossed salad. I hurt my mom's feelings, pissed my brother-in-law off and I am not sure that my husband is completely thrilled with $60 worth of Chicken Parm taking up space in our freezer right now.
Eh.
It's good to be humbled every now and then.

The whole family couldn't be there. As we get older, our relationships and commitments spread and we can't all be at every function.
As much as I wish we could be.
As much as I have a hard time swallowing why some of us couldn't be.
It is simply not up to me. Priorities are personal.

Back to the good stuff... Right now we are watching Annie (from Auntie Frannie & Tio) while Wyatt chews on a card from Abby's new Memory Game and Abby plays with her new "Dad and Toddler" people for her "Happy Family" Dollhouse.
The living room looks like a bomb went off but I have 2, no make that 4, very happy kids in my house.