Christmas Eve day was fun. Chase wanted to make cookies for Santa, but all we had was break n' bake chocolate chip cookies, which seemed fine when I bought them... but when it came time to make them, they just didn't seem "special" (there goes that word again!) enough for Santa. So we whipped up some homemade-from-scratch sugar cookies and attempted to roll out the dough and use the cookie cutters. It was only a minor disaster! But what comforts me is that my mom assures me it was always a disaster when we made them in the past... and all I remember is how wonderful it was, so hopefully that's what Chase will remember as well!
When Eric got home he made homemade eggnog while I worked on the breakfast casserole for the next morning. Then we sprinkled Chase's "reindeer food" (did you know that reindeer love oats, sprinkles and red hots??) in the yard and headed to church. Afterwards we rode around our neighborhood to look at all of the Christmas lights, and went home to make some "Christmas pizza," complete with red and green peppers!
The next morning was a blur of wrapping paper and smiles... Chase was more than thrilled with his race car track and kitchen, and the many other toys he received. We had a bit of trouble getting him to open his presents because the very first one he opened was a package of underwear "from Siena!" He was not too anxious to open anything else after that. :) Siena's favorite toy was the teething ring that Santa left in her stocking. She got lots of use out of that because her first tooth broke through that morning! I had the song, "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" humming through my head all day!
We were a bit sad and lonely on Christmas this year without any extended family to celebrate with. :( Of course, it was nice to create some of our own traditions and have a "quiet" day, but in the end I think Eric and I both really missed the chaos of a big family gathering. Our neighbors were nice enough to invite us over for Christmas dinner that evening, but that turned out to be a bit disastrous (again, just a "minor" disaster... seems to be a running theme here)! The only thing we were asked to bring with us was dessert. Eric and I whipped up a beautiful peanut butter pie with nothing but the finest ingredients... Oreo cookies for the crust, peanut butter, whipping cream, sugar, etc. We could WAIT to eat it, and share it, of course. But after dinner, when the time came to cut the pie, it didn't cut. I was literally chiseling away at the crust with a knife, trying to pry a piece out for everyone! I'm not sure why the crust ended up so rock-hard, but it was impenetrable! Once I managed to get at least something on the plate for everyone, we looked like a scene straight out of "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. We were all sitting around trying our best to chew on the tough crust while acting polite about it (think: the infamous over-cooked turkey). However, I will say that the actual peanut butter pie filling was AMAZING!! :) I'm sure the neighbors will never ask us to bring anything again! The second part of the minor disaster occurred when our neighbor's kid fell out of his top bunk. He said that Chase pushed him, which could very well be true based on how those two play together (just like brothers)... so the evening ended on a very awkward and weird note, with us trying to get out the door with a fussy and tired baby, while trying to be appropriately concerned for their son's well-being and apologetic if it was Chase's fault. That's the tough part about being a parent and even a pet owner. You have to take full responsibility for the things they do wrong, and the guilt that comes with it. I'm sure some of you remember what happened last Christmas, with our weimaraner Elvis nipping at Cooper (same kid) and us having to find him a new home. It took so long for us to feel really comfortable around our neighbors again after that, and then look what happened this Christmas! Of course, it's not nearly the same and I'm sure they don't blame us, but still, it just makes things a little weird.... especially because they say he's still in a lot of pain.
ANYWAYS, on to happier thoughts. Every year Eric has to go out of town for work on the 26th of December for at least several days. This is why we haven't traveled for Christmas since he's had this job. So while everyone else is hitting the after-Christmas sales or spending more time with their families, he's working and I'm a little bummed out. This year seemed like it would be especially tough since we didn't have any visitors to keep me company. So when Eric called me on the morning of the 26th from Boca Grande and told me to "pack up the kids and drive down," I was ecstatic! It turns out the place that he was staying was HUGE and even though he was sharing it with two other co-workers, there was still plenty of room for us. And it was right on the beach! We never really got to see Eric because he worked crazy 13 hour days, but we had a great time hanging out on the beach, walking through the cute town, and just relaxing. It was a bit too cold to swim in the ocean, but Chase enjoyed building sand castles, collecting shells, and wading in the water! I loved every minute and I'm so glad we went.
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