Whew! Christmas' Past is Passed!

Did Christmas really happen?  It flew right past me like everything else seems to do these days.  The mess in my house is proof that it has come and gone as all the new toys and gifts have not found a home yet.  I feel like I need to throw away some of the other stuff to make room for the new stuff.  Why do we accumulate so much?  And we even "scaled down" this Christmas, by not getting them as much.  For the first time in our 14+ year marriage, Darin had no Christmas bonus coming to him this year (small companies have to work up to that).  And, with Darin's back surgery bills and Dakota's never ending medical bills, we've had to put the "moolah" elsewhere.  I have no need to complain, though, as we are all happy and  healthy.  And my girls didn't seem to know the difference.  They were just as excited as ever about Christmas.  Although Santa didn't bring any "big" presents for the girls (the expensive ones that stand out), Santa is still alive and well and worthy of the chocolate chip cookies and milk we left out for him on Christmas Eve.

THE GIFTS OF 2009
Here are some of the new things our family will enjoy ---
Our girls love to watch movies.  It has become a weekend "treat" that they look forward to, even more so, now that Darin almost has the new small "movie theater" finished in the basement.  They asked Santa for the various movies that they had been wanting.  Santa was nice and got them each a DVD.  Then Daddy got them each one.  That is a lot of new flicks (including my personal new favorite, Disney's "Up".   They don't come any cuter.)  Our family also got a Wii game called "Outdoor Adventure", two more Wii paddles (so that the little ones can play, too), and a recharging station for the paddles.  The younger ones got some Princess dress-ups and Brooklyn got a tiny hand-held sewing machine.  We added several children's picture books to our collection, including the "Olivia" books and the "If you Give a..." book series.  This week we will go shopping for "Build-a-Bear" clothes with the $$$ they got to go toward a purchase there.  Grandma Hyte won some extra points from the girls with the "Pillow Chums" she gifted them (big stuffed animals that flatten into a big pillow/pad).  Aunt Heidi gave them each a "Warmie" to wear (kind of like the "Snuggie").  Several friends gave our family fun things, too.  And, I understand there are even more gifts coming to us after Christmas from other family members in Vegas.  The girls went to the dollar store and chose one thing for each of their sisters.   Those gifts turned out to be a big hit.  Who knew?  I will post pics from Christmas and other Holiday festivities later.

All in all, we didn't do so bad.  It helped me to realize that my kiddos are still pretty easy to please.  There is something, however, that is still bothering me and maybe some of you do the same and/or have suggestions on how I can change this.  It seems that as the holiday approaches, the Santa threats given by parents to their unruly children increase.  I am no exception.  Every time my kids misbehaved at home, in the car, at the store, I would used the phrases "Santa's watching!" or "I'm gonna' call Santa and tell him not to bring anything this year" as a threat.  The more I think about this, the more I realize that I am doing nothing more than teaching my kids to fear Santa more than me in these situations.  Even though those empty threats are VERY effective in getting them to change their antics immediately, they are learning to do it for "Santa" instead of doing it for ME.  Next year (I've got a whole year to practice), I am going to try to not use the "Santa" incentive, but the "Mommy" incentive like...ummm....let me think....still thinking of something....DARN!  How do I compete with Santa!!!!  (Any suggestions welcome.)

I have a lot more to blog about, but as usual, it is too late to continue.  I also have a lot of "catch up" posts to do.  (You know, the ones that I haven't had time to blog about, like outings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)  Yikes!  I am so behind.  If I don't blog about them soon I'll forget about those experiences and then find myself 8 years behind like I am with my scrapbooking.  I haven't scrapped a page in over a year.  So much for the hobby that used to consume me.  (Actually, it didn't...I never had time to let it consume me...hence the piles and piles of scrapbook supplies that could have been used up 5x over and boxes of printed photos waiting to be placed in an album and enjoyed.)  I haven't even printed a photo in almost four years.  My poor Oakley keeps reminding me that I have not made her "baby book" for her to look at.  She turns 4 in March.  C'est la vie!