Christmas Time is Here...

Christmas 2008 was relatively quiet and peaceful. The kids woke up very early to let us know "Santa" came with all their presents. Evan has already figured out who Santa really is, and we suspect that Madeleine knows as well, but we aren't asking. In the time a Yuletide cheer, a little denial never hurts.

Our tradition is that the kids are allowed to open 1 gift the first thing in the morning. Actually it's less a tradition and more of a strategy. This gives Tina and I some additional sleeping time since we don't want to get up as early. Calling it a tradition just sounds better.

Once we're all up, Gigi comes over and the gift giving starts. Overall the kids were extremely happy this year. The big gifts included an Ipod and a Nintendo DS. This was also the year of the UnderArmour The kids love them and they got shirts from us, Gigi and their Aunt and Uncle.

A few days before Christmas Evan was rattling off what he wanted when we asked him if he knew what we wanted. Silence ensued. We proceeded to explain to him that this was the season of giving and not necessarily getting. Evan was astute enough to inquire that if this was the season of giving, why were we asking for things from him? Good point. Fortunately that night Evan with the help of Gigi put together coupons from Evan including " getting a massage from Evan" and "Evan helping dad all day". Also included was "being 100% good, only on a weekend". I didn't realize that his coupon came with restrictions. An additional gift from the kids was a movie night. "They gave us two movie tickets with a dinner prepared by them.

In lieu of the traditional Christmas dinner with turkey, we opted for the less traditional steaks on the grill. That was after the homemade pizza for lunch. Keeping it simple helps make the day relaxing and fun.

The day ended with the Peppermint Pig. What is the peppermint pig? It's a pink candy pig where everyone takes a tap on it and makes a wish for the coming year. Gigi's friend, Martha mails Gigi one every year so it is now becoming our tradition.

The next week we'll catch up around the house and probably go into Philadelphia to the IMAX and Franklin Museum. Then.. back to work !

Banquet Season

Last weekend Madeleine and Evan went to their sports banquet for football and cheerleading. Essentially it's a time to sit in a room, eat bad food and hardy hear what is being said since all the kids are screaming the whole time. Other than that, it's great.
It was a fun year for both of them. Madeleine enjoyed the cheering and Evan liked the Running Back position this year. Evan will play next year, but Madeleine is questionable. We need to see how Madeleine does in school for the rest of the year as it's a huge time commitment at the begining of the school year.

Both Tina and I are "officially" off from work until after the New Year. We both however have things we need to get done over vacation, but it shouldn't take too much time. We're looking forward to getting things done around the house over the break.

Last week we got the roof replaced. We weren't planning to do it right away, but we just wanted to get it done. So for now the big projects are done (at least outside). Time to focus on the inside again.

I managed to get the gifts wrapped today so I won't need to stay up late Christmas Eve doing it. We're looking forward to a peaceful holiday.

Merry Christmas !