Christmas

What with Christmas yesterday, I guess I didn't get around to blogging - well, obviously, I didn't blog, but I guess that the justification is that it was Christmas. Anyway, 'twas a good Christmas. Josh, who had taken an especially long nap the day before, awoke around 5:30 AM, and tested to see whether or not we were yet awake. This is done by opening our bedroom door about 6 inches and then slamming it shut. This is done repeatedly, presumably until we make some indication that we are awake. Much more effective, however, is the sound of him running downstairs, since he has been known to wreak havoc when left unattended downstairs; the sound of him heading downstairs almost invariably gets one of us out of bed, in order to avoid otherwise certain disaster.

Amy, knowing that she had a trifle to prepare, could not sleep in and got up for the day. I can't remember if I snoozed any longer or not. Thankfully, while Benjamin is aware that Christmas heralds the coming of Santa Claus and presents, none of our boys have yet determined that awaking early will bring the opening of presents any sooner. So, we aren't yet awakened at 4 AM in order to drowsily watch the kids open presents.

All in all, I think the kids had a good time. There were a couple of gifts for each and plenty of candy. By midmorning, Ben was playing a Spongebob computer game with his enslaved mother as his helper, Josh was unwrapping every lollipop that he could find (he had five or so going at once, and so I confiscated them to avoid a sticky catastrophe), and Joseph was blissfully unaware that the day was any different from any other day.

Early in the afternoon, we headed off to the extended family's for a grand Christmas nosh and gift exchange. The food was delicious, and I was grateful to have been a good boy - diet-wise - for the week so that I could thoroughly enjoy the food. I received a wonderful set of gourmet apple ciders (two of which Amy and I have taste-tested and found to be wonderful), and an awesome looking ice cream scoop, that I look forward to using. Earlier in the day, I also received an awesome little USB removable drive that stores 1 GB of data on a device that smaller than one of my fingers - amazing.

We also had a chance to talk to Mike, who is doing well in Brazil. It was nice to have a chance to tease him over the phone; as an older sibling, I must occasionally tease my youngers lest I explode. He sounds like a good missionary ought, and it sounds as though he is really feeling a change within himself. He was also calling just after having had a baptism, about which he was happy.

Towards the end of the day, I spoke with Mom on the phone. The call was short, since we'll be driving up to visit them over New Year's. I feel bad for the short notice, but I hope that they won't mind seeing the boys - or us for that matter. Nevertheless, it was nice to chat and sounds as though they had a good Christmas as well.

In any case, 'twas a wonderful day.