Well, not so hard when you have an excited 6 year old. She sure doesn't care what temperature it is. As soon as Grammy walked through the door with wrapped presents Katie wanted to open one. We do open one present on Christmas Eve, but it was hard to convince Katie that she had to wait. She talked about it non-stop from that point on. And then we had to tell her she could not open it until right before bedtime. That is the main reason that I did not wrap her presents early. She would have been unbearable! And Connor would have ripped them to pieces.
Mom and I did get to do some junkin'! Tuesday we hit the new Goodwill Clearance Center in Hernando. WOW! These huge bins of clothes, book, and junk! You have to dig through them to find your treasure, and we were not as zealous as we could have been. As soon as we walked in I spotted this wonderful wreath!
And a great Santa dish for our gingerbread cookies.
I sifted through the book bins and came up with a few good finds.
But the true FIND of the day was in the back of the store. I was looking through one row of furniture when I saw it, a wonderful old chair! Only one problem, another woman was already looking at it. She had her grubby hands all over it! She was turning it to the sides, testing its stability, and checking underneath. I walked behind her, barely glancing at the chair. Can't let her know I am interested! So, I pretended to be looking at the crud that was around us. She set the chair flat, she stepped back from it, and she took a few steps away. I GRABBED THAT CHAIR SO FAST!! I still had books in one hand, and I was trying to fit it in our cart, but I was so excited I dropped the poor chair! Who in their right mind could have passed up this chair for $12.50!!?? (the Rockband Guitar came later)
I also found a really nice wool sweater from Old Navy that will fit Katie next year. Altogether I spent $19.69!! Not bad at all :) And that chair, it tended to be the favorite spot to sit when we had the whole family here. And it is the perfect chair for the drummer in Rockband!! Of course, I bought it to take pictures in, but I think it can pull double duty for now. We did go to the Salvation Army (or the Sally as it is affectionately called by the junking community), but we only found a few little things. They did have a whole collection of owls that were adorable, but I did not want to go overboard. And since I could not decide which one I liked the best, I just let them all stay there. Katie got an old pair of metal safety scissors for 59 cents.
Connor did find his own outdated Christmas bell. Katie got one a few years back from a junk store in Atlanta, dated 1997. Connor's is dated 2000.
We also stopped by Walgreen's to pick up some nail polish to give ourselves manicures (which we never did). We also got a face mask to do, but Katie is the only one that did it, and she only did about half of her face before she started complaining that it burned. Apparently she is not a believer in the "no pain, no gain" school of beauty. She was content to play around most of the time, so we never got around to painting our nails. I will be taking our fabulous selection of nail polishes to Atlanta. We have hot pink, blue, and purple. We will be STYLIN'!
Wednesday, Katie and Daddy had a date. They went to see Desperaeux and do a little shopping. I think that might get to be their little tradition. They both love going to the movies, and it will give me time to do some last minute stuff. Hopefully Katie will let Connor join in when he is older. Mom and I went to Kohl's. It was not as much of a madhouse as I thought it would be on Christmas Eve. We found Connor a winter coat. And my Mommy bought me a couple of tops. Thanks Mommy!! And, we decided that since we did not have enough to do we would look for an apron. I have a horrible tendency to fling food upon myself when I am cooking, so you would think I would have an apron, but I just have never gotten around to buying one. And of course, there was not one to be found. For awhile Hancock Fabric had a TON of them, but they were all out. We did buy some fabric to make our own. The kind with the apron already printed on it, and to be really crazy we bought enough to make three. Then we decided to make them reversible, so we bought three panels of another pattern. Yeah, we are pretty much nuts!
Katie finally got to open her one present. She was so excited. But we needed to bake cookies for Santa first. I love the picture that Mom took of our hands! I especially love Connor's little head as he ran around.We even made her eat dinner and take a bath before she could open it. I am pretty sure she thought we were just trying to torture her. I tried to sidetrack her by wrapping a strangely shaped package, but she ended up choosing the big package from Grammy.
The we just had to get the kiddos to sleep! Katie and I went in the front yard to put out the Reindeer Food. In the distance we could see a really bright light headed our way. Santa was on his way and Katie needed to get in bed FAST! Connor did not want me to tuck Katie in first. He was screaming and bawing. So, I took him upstairs. Katie crawled in bed with Grammy. They were all out like a light ... including Grammy. I just let her sleep. I had to make her stocking anyway! I finished it up, and we got all the presents out and wrapped, stockings filled. We were in bed at 4:30. Then I was the one out like a light!
Three hours later I was awoken by Katie "Mom, is it time to wake up?" She said it was 7:58, but when I looked at the clock it was 7:28 ... I went and woke up Connor and Daddy, then I let her come into the living room to see what Santa had brought! Is there a better feeling than being a kid on Christmas morning?? Well, until you have kids of your own. It was all going great. Katie was opening presents. Santa brought a PS3 and Rockband. She got her Nintendo DS and games. She got a bunch of other stuff ... then the inevitable happened. Katie ruined Christmas. She started crying because Santa had not brought her the 6 makeups she asked for!! CRYING!!! She got a ton of other stuff, but those 6 cheapo make-ups she wanted just ruined it. Oh the joy I have to look forward to every year from here on out!! I must have done the same thing as a child (Mom, backs that one up) and I know my brother Geof did. One year he returned EVERYTHING he got because he did not get the car radio he wanted. She did eventually calm down. She helped Connor open his presents and the rest of the day went much better. We cooked and cooked. Mom and I made my apron, the other two are still in panel form. Chip's parents made it out in time to eat. A few hours later his sister Lauren and her two youngest showed up. Katie LOVES her cousins, especially Tori. We had a great time playing Rockband and hanging out.
Lauren and Tori ended up spending the night so that they could do some shopping the next day. Now, I love my in-laws. I love Katie spending time with Tori. I love them being here, but it is extra stressful. Connor is used to having Mommy to himself, pretty much. The house was too loud and he couldn't sleep. We finally got him down, for a bit, and then he would be woken up by dishes clanking or laughing. Finally, all us girls got out and rode by Graceland to see the Christmas lights. We made it just at midnight on Christmas night.
That is enough of an update for now. I am headed to Atlanta tomorrow, so I will be computerless for a week. That should be enough pictures to hold ya over! Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas from Dixie!!
1 comments:
Well, hello! Just coming to hey right back atcha! I have actually been reading your blog for weeks. I'm sneaky! Your kids are adorable! Nice to meet ya!
Dee
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