Find Kardus

Mom had us playing a Christmas version of Charades / Pictionary.  Every kiddo got it on it.  They were so proud when someone guessed their drawing.  Mom may or may not have mouthed the answers a few time when the babes were sketching to give us adult guessers a hint.  Shhhhh.....

What a difference a year and a half makes.  This curly-headed little girl used to be sooooooo far up her mommys hind end that she wouldnt have a thing to do with anyone else.  And now shes the sweetest, most loving little thing youd ever meet.  Unless you make her mad.  Then she turns in to the Hulk, complete with tense, shaking body and green skin.  Shes probably 20 pounds soaking wet but scary as hell!

We took the full family photo in front of the tree this year instead of on the couch.  You know, mixing it up a bit.  Probably the best family photo weve ever taken.  No one is crying.  No one is squirming.  Most of us are smiling.  Winner, winner chicken dinner!

We then tried for a Basham family photo before opening presents.  Tyler was trying to be a good sport but he wanted to open presents SO BAD.  He was done with the picture thing.

I have no idea how Lily came to know the "duck face" pose.  Though she calls it the "kiss face" picture.    You may see a few more of these faces coming.

As one would expect with 6 young kiddos, plus Jason who will always be approximately 6 years old when it comes to Christmas, it was total mayhem.  Paper going everywhere.  Squeals of delight.  Lots of "Mommy!  Look at this!" and "Daddy, can you open this for me?"  So much fun.  The next five or six years are going to be grand when it comes to Christmas.  Then were going to have some pre-teens in the house and well see what happens to the squeals.  For now, Ill enjoy the hell out of it.

Over the course of the two days we also played lots of games.  I never won.  But Im not bitter or a sore loser or anything.  Even Joel played.  That never happens. 

While we didnt have a white Christmas, we did have torrential downpours resulting in basement flooding at Moms.  This sent most everyone in the house into to action.  Joel and Josh decide to head outside and be manly and try to check on what might be the source of the leaking.  And then, since they were already wet, decided to clean gutters.  Cause thats a good time on Christmas.  At least it was like 60 degrees outside!

Meanwhile, us girls, and Ayden, were on water clean up duty.  Let me tell you, that kid can WORK.  He knows how to use the shop vac better than I do.  For the rest of the visit, Tyler and Ayden were on water watch and would make trips to the basement every so often and let us know if the water came back.  They alerted us several times during those two days.  And ever since then, when it rains, Tyler lets me know that Grams house leaks when it rains. 

30 total combined minutes of cleaning up water across those two days had me fed up (yeah, doesnt take much).  Not sure how Mom deals with it all the time - by herself.  Takes a lot more than 30 minutes to clean up when you dont have 4 people helping you.  After Christmas, I promptly started calling around to some places and got Mom an appointment for an assessment and estimate.  Need this fixed.  Like, now.  Now we hold our breath on cost....

I think that about wraps up the excitement from Moms house.  Christmas Eve evening, we loaded up the car and headed back to Columbus.  Tyler fell asleep before we even got out of Moms neighborhood.  Lily wasnt too far behind.  Its so peaceful when we travel a night.  Too bad that neither Joel nor I are good night drivers.

After we got home and got the kiddos tucked in bed, Operation Santa Claus went in to effect.  We had managed to wrap all the presents just before we went to Evansville.  Joel "helped."  He was a little out of practice though and was a little off on his paper measurements.


So Christmas Eve night all we had to do was pull all the presents from the 4 or so hiding places we stashed them in (under the bed, in the attic, in suitcases, in an opaque storage tote) and put them under the tree. 

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Lily and Tyler each had their own wrapping paper and there was a key on the wall to help them know whos was whos.  I was trying to get creative here because I have a distinct memory of recognizing my Moms handwriting on the Christmas presents.  No clue how old I was when I did but probably not < 5 years old, but I figure I cant be too careful.  Lily is sharp!  And she asks a lot of questions.


Because we got home late and the kids were totally out of it, Joel put the cookie crumbs and milk out on the counter.  He also wrote a note from Santa.  Apparently I was also too out of it to apply the same handwriting concept to this note that I applied to the gift identification.  It was written in Joels hand writing!  Next year we may have to type it up.  The kids checked right away to see if the cookies were gone.



After reading the note, the kids went to town on their presents.  But they were soooo thoughtful and considerate of each other.  They took their time and helped each other out.  Took an interest in what the other one got.  It was very sweet.  An absolute joy to watch.  One of those moments that makes all the tantrums, fighting, screaming, attitude, etc all worth it.

 

 
 


Lily got a karaoke machine.  Its pretty cool.


Tylers favorite gift, hand down, was the fart gun.  He had been asking for it for months.  He couldnt wait to get it out of the package.  And hes hardly put it down since.  Sleeps with it even.  Has a total meltdown if he cant remember where he put it.

Then, after a bit, we opened stockings which typically contain lottery scratch offs.  You know, teaching our kids to gamble at a young age.  Lily is a lucky ducky - just like her Daddy.  Shes the only one who ever wins at these things.



Christmas Day afternoon, the Basham clan descended on the household and we had round 3 of gift opening.  The idiot photographer didnt realize she didnt have the card in the camera until AFTER all the presents were opened.  Soooo missed that.  I did, however, have the kids lay in their custom made sleeping bags (lovingly and artfully crafted by their Auntie Ree!) again so I could have a picture do-over.  (Note that Tyler still has the fart gun in his hands....told you he doesnt put it down.)


The kiddos got some goofy glasses in their Meme stockings which made for some silly photos.

 


 But also got some really, really good "serious" photos.


Meme came up with a really cute game with a giant ball of cling wrap which had prizes stuck in it.  You unwrapped until you came to a prize and then passed the ball.  It was pretty fun.


 
 

We also took some pictures of the whole Basham clan which we had not done since I think maybe Tylers 1st birthday?  It turned out really good despite the Basham brothers acting like total goofballs and cracking everyone up to the point that posing nicely for a picture was a serious challenge.  (Again, please note the fart gun makes an appearance in every picture...)


A very precious picture of Meme and Papaw with all their grands.  I dont think weve taken one of these since Tyler existed.  Seems last time we did this, Lily was about a year old.


This one of Tyler looking at his Papaw just melts me into a puddle.  A total puddle.




And that wraps up Christmas.  It was a really wonderful Christmas.  One of the best ones I can remember in a long time.