When Elisa posted Saturday, she mentioned that we'd love to hear your Christmas traditions if you'd like to share them with us. I thought I might try and get things going by sharing one or two of my favorites with you today.
I'm sure that today you're trying to recover from all the people, wrapping paper, and excitement of yesterday, so maybe you'll enjoy reading snippets of my family's day. =)
It's tradition for my younger sisters and me to have a sleepover in my room the night of Christmas Eve. Originally this started out as my way to ensure that I got a fair amount of sleep by keeping the girls with me for as long as possible Christmas morning. Thankfully, it worked. There have been no more hourly rushes for the tree starting at sun-up; for which I am extremely grateful.
But then, as time went on, I realized that they were pretty darn warm to snuggle up with, and that as long as I was quick to fall asleep, I could miss all the snoring. It really hasn't been such a bad deal. They get all excited about it every year. The past year or two I have been sick at Christmastime, and not up to having overnight guests. This year we were
all sick, but since I've been taking medicine for walking pneumonia, I was feeling up to it.
Boy, did I forget how late we end up staying up.
I also forgot that at the first ray of light, my oldest little sister
always wakes up. I can't wait for that to change in her teenage years! And when VW is up, it doesn't take long for her to "accidentally" wake up all the others; which in turn, means I have to coax everyone to hold on a bit longer. And if I'm too lazy to talk, I miss the crucial point.
Of course I missed it.
What with all their eagerness and all, you would have thought it was Christmas morning or something. Sheesh.
At the first sound of little feet running from the room, something amazing happened. I was overcome with terror, and I was blessed with a burst of energy.
"WAIT!"
Silence.
"Yoiucowmeback, kk?"
...
VW: "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"
Me: "SHHH! You'll wake me up."
VW: "...uh....Paige, you
are awake."
Me: "That's what you think."
My middle little sister pipes up right about here, and says something to the effect that I am clearly awake, and that if I would only use my brain, I'd know that it was Christmas morning, and there are presents and candy waiting downstairs.
"And they'll keep waiting. Go back to sleep."
All: "But it's 7:30 already!"
I took this opportunity to remove my head from under it's shelter of three pillows, my arms, and a comforter. I squinted at the alarm clock just inches from my face, barely able to see the light of...gray....much less the glowing green numbers.
"So what if it is?" My voice cracks. "Wait 15 more minutes, ok?"
The girls reluctantly agreed.
And so began the 15 minutes game.
I bought myself extra time by coaxing Rapunzel (my youngest sister) to snuggle with me.
I had the older two (VW and Ladybug) brush their hair, and talk over snow plans. It has only been an inch at a time this year, but when Christmas Eve promises a
brown Christmas, and the next morning there is as inch of snow outside, it's a pretty big deal. That kept 'em busy.
Too bad VW is getting so old. She didn't take more than two rounds of the game before she huffed and said it had been plenty of time, and she was going downstairs.
By this time, I was on top of my pillows while still under my comforter, so my reaction time was quicker.
In a final attempt, I slammed a button on my alarm clock and hoped it was the radio.
VW stopped and came back, as it was one of her favorite songs.
Me = smug smile.
As the song ended, I pretended to be in control - doesn't everybody? - by saying, "So, it's just like I planned. It's ... eight o' seven and ... 37 seconds. Time for you all to get out of my room and - "
If VW and Ladybug had tails, that would have been all that was left to see of them.
Rapunzel rolled over and looked at me.
I pretended to pout.
"Are you going to leave me too and make me get all cold, babydoll?"
Two serious blinks. "No, I'll stay with you. Besides, you're warm. I don't want to get cold."
We chatted about the snow, brushed each other's hair, and went to go ruin Hunter's day by being the first faces he'd see. Mwaahahaha!
Turns out he was already awake. I ripped his blankets off and dragged him downstairs whining and complaining. Well, that was more or less how it went.
^ That's pretty much a morning tradition right there. ^
~
Usually we host Christmas.
We spend a frantic hour or two cleaning up the remains of our morning, pulling out more presents, cooking, roasting, filling sparkly glass bowls with candy, sneaking candy and getting caught, playing new games, fighting about who gets to do what first, and getting dressed.
This year we only had one of my Uncles over. And the entire day went differently because of that. No bowls of candy, no more presents, no roasting, and a lot of relative quiet. It was pretty nice.
~
The girls and I went outside and took some pictures. Tradition is for me to take all the pj pictures while we wait for Mom and Dad to join us in the morning. Silly faces, yawns, and camera snatching are pretty normal. Because I dropped my camera down a flight of concrete steps back in September, I didn't have a camera to do that with. I did get a new camera of the same model yesterday morning, but we'll be sending it back for a replacement since there is a line across the screen. Usually that is caused by water damage, but I'd only turned it on and off a few times, and changed settings, never going near anything wet. It wasn't me.
Anyway, I felt a little lost without a camera in my hands.
VW, Ladybug, and Rapunzel went outside to play in the snow, and I joined them with my new camera.
 |
| VW |
 |
| Ladybug |
 |
| Rapunzel |
 |
| This was supposed to be our nice picture. Thanks to VW... well, it's real. I also told Ladybug to leave her barbie out of the picture... |
 |
| Typical. So typical. |
Altogether yesterday was a blessed day.
Our crazy Christmas celebration with the rest of the family is this Sunday. So is a triple birthday party. Talk about crazy...and wrapping remains...and dessert stomach-aches!
If that's how it's gonna go, then let's do it right - that's probably my Mom's battle cry, haha.
I'm probably going to be exhausted Monday. And heavy. That's a lot of dessert to live through...
We may or may not post Friday. Please don't count on it. I work all afternoon, and I'll have less than half an hour between getting home and leaving again for youth group Christmas party. Elisa will be busy too.
We'll see peeps, we'll see.
Again, we'd love to hear about your Christmas, or other holiday time traditions! Do you have plans for New Years? Did you get something you always wanted yesterday? Has your week (so far) been very blessed indeed? Do you think my face scares people? (<-- A legit question, lol)
We'd love to read your comments!
Until whenever,
- Paige -
