Christmas and a Few Family Traditions

When my children see this picture of Braydon, I know they are going to say that as a grandma I spoil the grandkids and let them do things they were never allowed to do. They are right. When we made cut out cookies when they were little, they were never allowed to lift the cookie out of the dough and put it on the cookie sheet. They could push the cookie cutter into the dough and then I lifted it out of the dough and placed it on the cookie sheet. OK, so as grandmas we weaken by the sweet innocence of all our grandchildren who are angelic and never do anything wrong!!

As for Christmas gifts, my gift that I have been waiting for for years, was finally finished. I am so excited and now just need to get some area rugs. Yes folks, the original gold, shag carpet that was in the house when we bought it 22 years ago is gone, torn up, ripped up, and picked up by the City of Beaumont. I LOVE my wood floors (well, OK, not real wood but laminant if that's how you spell it) and they were put in just in time for a few Christmas decorations.

While growing up, decorating the house for Christmas was always a fun thing to do. The most fun, decorating the Christmas tree. You see, my dad always has believed in the perfect Christmas tree. We would walk in the freezing cold from one tree store to another and to another, until my dad found the "perfect" Christmas tree and until our toes hurt from being so cold. My dad would put on most of the ornaments and if we got to help, we knew we had to put the big ornaments on the bottom and the smaller ones on the top. When it came to tinsel, it was put on one strand at a time. I can remember my dad coming home for lunch and grabbing just a few strands to put on one at a time and then he would do a little bit more the next time he was in the house. We were allowed to help, but the law was "one strand of tinsel at a time". So, here is our "perfect" Christmas tree with large ornaments on the bottom, small ornaments at the top, and tinsel put on a strand at a time. I was trained by the best Christmas tree decorator in New York.

Christmas morning is kind of lonely when you are used to 7 people unwrapping gifts and you are down to 2. Last year, we spent Christmas with Kim and her family, enjoying the twins opening presents, ripping away at the paper. We watched Kaylin and Maren open packages and say, "I picked this out". This year, we went over to Maren and Ryan's to share Christmas morning with Braydon and them. On Maren's blog, you will see our first Christmas surprise when we read the shirt Braydon was wearing that said "Sh" on the front and "My mommy has a secret in her tummy" on the back of his shirt. We were so excited to find out that Braydon will be getting a baby brother or sister, and that we will have the privilege of having 9 grandchildren in July. After that surprise, Braydon started to open his gifts; and his favorite was the Bat Cave that Santa had brought to him. And, the morning was topped off with a great breakfast cooked by Ryan. It was wonderful, as my Christmas breakfast was always a Christmas cookie when we opened gifts with the kids years ago.

Maren and her Dancing with the Stars Wii game

Maren and her karaoke Wii game (I thought Christmas was for kids?)

Braydon and his DSi that he received from an
anonymous gift donor (and no, Maren, it wasn't
us).

After our morning with Maren and family, we headed back to our place. Eric and I opened our gifts and so did Hatcher. Santa brought him a squeaky red and green stuffed bone that he squeaks and squeaks all day long. I think Santa put a squeaker in there that never breaks. Oh great!
As you scroll down to Part II of our Family Christmas, you will see more fun and laughter and just how crazy our family is. Hey, it's supposed to be a Merry Christmas!!