Merry belated Christmas to all!
We do apologize the blog is a little late in getting up but we've had a bit of a computer problem. It seems my theory of appliances dying on holidays is holding true. Our video card gave up the ghost Christmas morning. Fortunately it was a relatively painless fix.
Of course Vicky and I did the mad rush Christmas eve and wrapped presents that were hidden all over the house. Of course now that the monkeys are getting older we are giving some thought to putting them under lock and key. The tornado shelter might work for a that next year. And of course in the true spirit of procrastination we had to put off all the wrapping till the last minute. The wrapping combined with all our other usual Sunday chores around the house made for a very late night.
We decided to play it smart this year and get a picture of the tree and the presents while the monkeys were still asleep.
We had a bit of a revolt but insisted all monkeys eat breakfast before the festivities got started. I'd given some thought to insisting they get dressed also but the likely hood of a coup being staged was pretty high.
Finally we turned them loose with their stockings.
Of course what is Christmas without Christmas traditions? One of stranger Christmas traditions within our family was in fine form. Although the Wal-Martian was a little concerned about me buying 2500+ rounds of 22 long rifle on Christmas eve.
Emelie got a special present from Mommy this year. She got her very own Megalodon tooth, (think VERY LARGE Jurassic shark). Isn't it wonderful what you can find on Ebay?
Gee, didn't she already get her very own Dewalt drill for her birthday? Actually it seems that somehow Grandma Sheila happened to borrow the box.
Thanks Grandma Sheila! My very own deinosuchus, (think 50 foot long jurassic crocodile). It fits in with all her other dinosaurs but does tend to eat the smaller ones... Oh, how we have warped our #1 monkey.
Eli ended up with a very large stuffed snake from Grandma Sheila. He had seen it when we visited the Heard Museum for Emelie's birthday and have to have it. So far the snake seems to have a taste for either whacking or biting his sisters.
Olivia ended up with a stuffed Triceratops from Grandma Sheila. I even had to admit it's one of the cutest stuffed animals I've seen in a long time. Olivia immediately adopted it and added it to her already impressive pile of stuffed animals. She has a hard problem in the mornings when she wakes up, she wants to bring all of her animals out with her but her little arms can only carry so many.
Thanks Uncle Brad and Aunt Michele! The monkeys are very happy with their movies. We'd rented Cars earlier in the month. Eli was more than disappointed when we had to take it back. Of course now we have small wars breaking out over which movie is on the TV at any given time, Cars or Ice Age. And all three monkeys fell in love with Christmas Story when it was on earlier in the week. We decided it would be nice to have it added to our DVD library.
Aunt Beth and Uncle Charlie were competing hard for most favorite Aunt and Uncle status. Emelie was thrilled with her horse collections. Although one of them suffered a broken leg, (something about a 5 year old galloping them across the laminate floor). Daddy managed to fix the leg though, a bit of carbon fiber arrow shaft as a sleeve and some epoxy and the horse was as good as new. Dr. Vicky handled the stitching and sewing of the stuffed animals and Dr. Dave handles the ones that need splinting or "put down".
Eli has great fun with his flying propellers, Daddy has even more fun. I found I can sit on the couch, launch them across the house and keep the monkeys running back and forth retrieving them.
Olivia has discovered Little People now with her ark and playset. She's rapidly laying claim to all the little people stuff in the house now much to the dismay of her big sister.
Emelie ended up with two more very pretty dresses courtesy of Daddy. Although this time I didn't hear any complaints of, "I sure got a lot of clothes". Buying clothes at her age is fun now... Another 10 years and I don't think it will be as fun.
And from Grandad Bill and Grandma Sybil the monkeys ended up with the ever popular soft fuzzy stuffed animals. Some nights it's a wonder the monkeys can get into their beds due to the pile of stuffed animals. All are well loved though. Clothes were also a popular gift. Especially with Mommy and Daddy as the monkeys seem to be outgrowing stuff on a weekly basis.
Emelie and Eli were having a small battle over who had the biggest Christmas present this year. Both Vicky and I think it was pretty much a tie. Maybe next year I'll have a little fun and wrap up a refrigerator box for them. I won't have to put anything in it as they will have more fun with the box than anything.
Emelie continued the dinosaur theme with her latest toy. Push a button on it and it roars and moves all on it's own. And of course the eyes glow red. I'm waiting to see those glowing eyes some night at about 2:00 AM. That should be good for a wake up call.
Eli was finally able to get to his big package, we had put it all the way at the back to keep him from getting into it first. He got an extra large F-18 to play with. He has great fun "flying" it about the house and shooting missiles and bombs at stuff, (generally whatever his sisters are playing with). It makes for a good laugh to watch Emelie get her barn and horse corral all set up with her Breyer horse collection and then see Eli come in on it for a bombing run.
And this year since Emelie is five now she got her very real fishing pole and reel. Vicky and I figured if Zebco 202's were good enough for us to start out on they should work for Emelie. Of course she immediately wanted to get a bucket of worms and go try it out at the local pond, but we've actually been getting rain and cool weather so the fish aren't being real cooperative.
Ah yes, the aftermath of Christmas. I can see why the trash guys dread this time of the year.
