It's That Australian Baby, Grace! My sister Amy and her gang landed in Atlanta on Monday night. This girl is like a real, full-sized baby now and not just a little bean. So snackable!
Everyone in the family converged on my house to welcome the Australia crew, and it was a serious, class 1 hullabaloo. We had thirteen people sleeping in the house Monday night. I miscounted how many people would be there for dinner, and I made barely enough food. The sleeping arrangements were carefully orchestrated, yet during the night, two preschoolers wet their beds, and somehow Matt wound up huddled on a little folding steel cot. I didn't know any of this. I was dreaming that I was on a Greek island. There were goats and white roofs and I didn't want to leave.
It was a perfect kick-off to Christmas. We were reunited and it DID feel so good.
On Tuesday we loaded up in one big ass caravan and headed down to Mom and Dad's Pensacola house. Matt and I had four kids, one dog, and the entire set of Rock Band instruments in our van. (Okay, we weren't going to bring the Rock Band stuff, but both my brother and brother-in-law got a little wistful about leaving it behind.) We got out for lunch, somewhere deep in Georgia, and realized that not only was Hank barefoot, we hadn't brought any shoes for him, none. My mad organizational skillz, yo.
On Tuesday we loaded up in one big ass caravan and headed down to Mom and Dad's Pensacola house. Matt and I had four kids, one dog, and the entire set of Rock Band instruments in our van. (Okay, we weren't going to bring the Rock Band stuff, but both my brother and brother-in-law got a little wistful about leaving it behind.) We got out for lunch, somewhere deep in Georgia, and realized that not only was Hank barefoot, we hadn't brought any shoes for him, none. My mad organizational skillz, yo.
Now I'm blogging while my sister and sis-in-law wrap Santa presents. Here's the thing: when we were kids, presents from Santa just appeared unwrapped. That made sense to me. Then I married Matt, and to our union, he brought an expectation that Santa wrapped the presents he left. So it's a mixed marriage, but I've come around to his way of thinking. It means more to unwrap for the kids and more prolonged enjoyment. Is this how you do it? And Santa gifts have to be wrapped in virgin paper that hasn't been used for any other gift. Also, the gift labels have to be written in odd block letters that won't be recognized as parental handwriting. Of course, Laura has not shown much talent as a graphologist thus far, as I've been writing her notes from her freakin' elf all since Thanksgiving.
So I will sign off with a Merry Christmas! I don't know about y'all, but I've been an awful good girl.
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11 comments:
Merry Christmas to all of yall. We are having our wonderful Christmas with Lindsay, Brian, and the kids. Funny, Santa wrapped the gifts here too.
Hug everyone for us.
Merry Christmas, Becky! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time with your gang, even if poor Hank is currently shoeless. That baby niece Grace does look awfully scrumptious.
Merry Christmas Girl!
Glad your kin made it in from Australia. If there's anything more precious than family, I've yet to experience it.
Enjoy and Best Wishes to all of You!!
It is so wonderful to hear that amy and family made it up for Christmas. That baby is surely nibblable.
Have a very Merry Christmas; shoes are optional.
Merry Christmas!!!! Hope you guys are having a good trip. Can't wait to celebrate when you get back!
PS- Santa still wraps our gifts complete with scribbled handwritten tags and he makes sure that they're not under the tree until after midnight on Christmas Eve!
How fun and yes she is scrumptious. Santa does wrap here and the wrap is always red and he does the same block letters written, written WITH THE LEFT HAND. And no way in hecks does Santa do any bows, ever.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Becky!
Mark and I began discussing Santa wrap for future years, and our plans got quite elaborate. I think the turning point was when I suggested an occasional slip of paper reading "Inspected by Elf Jeanette."
Merry Merry! It sounds like a fantastic Christmas. We had a small one, but still family-icious.
But, UNWRAPPED gifts? Gah! How terrible for you as a child! Nope, all of ours were wrapped. Even the tiny things in our stockings (and occasionally even the toe-orange). All carefully planned to keep us from waking our parents up at the butt-crack of dawn, I assume.
As a child, gifts from Santa were not wrapped and gifts from my parents were. We had both types on Christmas morning. It made sense to me at the time because Santa didn't have time to wrap the millions of gifts he needed to deliver to the kids around the world. John and I continued that same tradition when our guys came along.
How wonderful! Happy Holidays to all!! xo
Pretty Baby Girl Grace!
We've had that same shoeless scenerio. Multiple times.
We're also a 'mixed marriage' so we've done it both ways. Whoa. I mean we've wrapped and not wrapped. What I mean to say is Santa is so spontaneous around here. And his handwriting is just like mine, and he uses the same paper we do. Weird!
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