Christmas...Finally

Well.

I didn't mean to take quite the hiatus there right at Christmastime, but the truth of the matter is that I'm a bad procrastinator when it comes to blogging "events" like holidays, vacations, and such because it means I actually have to plug up the camera and upload some photos. (Mindless things like face creams and my 40th Birthday Party Celebrity Guest List? I can blog about those things till the cows come home.) This time procrastination was even worse because I "de-Christmased" our house Tuesday, so in my mind, Christmas is O-V-E-R.

But, two of my blog readers -- which I figure might be half of my blog audience, and maybe one of those was my mother -- are chomping at the bit for a Christmas report, and who am I to disappoint?

You might want to wait until you've read this post before you answer that question.

I'll start with Christmas Eve. Our church did something a little different this year and had our entire church "schedule" on Christmas Eve...so essentially, we treated it like it was Sunday, but we just did everything Saturday. The only problem with that is that I was so discombobulated about what day it was that I didn't know which end was up.

(It also apparently confused Amelia because they celebrated Jesus's birthday is Waumba Land -- our church's version of preschool Sunday School -- so on Christmas Day, she was adamant that it wasn't Jesus's birthday anymore because they had celebrated it the day before. And maybe on Christmas Day she said it was Santa Claus's birthday. Oops. That's something to work on for next year.)

Anyway, church was great, and then we went to Panda Express (Amelia's choice) because nothing says "Christmas" like a bowl of chow mein noodles and String Bean Chicken. Then we went home because my cousin and her husband were coming over that afternoon for what has become our traditional "eat dessert and open presents extravaganza."

Here are a couple of photos of that.

This is a Delta Mocha Chiffon cake (from the Southern Living 2000 cookbook). I've made it about five times in my life, and each time, I vow it is the last. It is a PAIN to make and is very time consuming, but it is oh so delicious.


Here are Vicky and Robert. I tried to get Amelia to pose with them, but by this point, she had lost her charm and willingness to do what I asked of her. And yes, Vicky is posing with Amelia's dog, Lily.


That night, we went to Chili's for dinner -- because nothing says "Christmas" like Southwestern Egg Rolls -- and then we came home to get ready for Santa. Here's Amelia with cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. And she also drew Santa a picture of Woody and Buzz that she insisted I roll up like a scroll and tie it with a red ribbon. (It looks like Santa is finally getting his high school diploma, doesn't it?)

I also like how you can see Darryl in the background with his laptop. He was in the Christmas Spirit, yes?

On Christmas Day, Amelia woke up at about 7:30. I think we have just a year or so left before she wakes us up at, say, 3:30 in the morning.

Santa brought Amelia some Toy Story toys and a chalkboard easel, and she was happy.

Now, I'm about to get a little lazy on you and give you a photo collage of Christmas Day.

I also love this next photo. Someone was very excited about the Hello Kitty umbrella that Santa left in her stocking.


(In the above photo, you might also see a "Jackasses" Calendar for 2012. I get this for Darryl every year because sometimes he likes to be a jackass. I say that in love, and it has been a long-running joke between us. Anyway, I think he has a collection of five of these calendars hanging in his cubicle. One year I didn't give him one and he was so disappointed I had to go out the day after Christmas to find one.)

(Sorry to get sidetracked with a story about Jackass calendars. Where were we?)

For lunch, we ended up having steaks with assorted butters on the top (1--I don't think I've ever typed the word "butters," and 2--Darryl's had garlic butter and mine had blue cheese butter), and
smoked gouda mashed potatoes. Delicious.

We had a low-key day, but that evening we went to Waffle House (because nothing says "Christmas" like Waffle House and because we wanted to get out of the house).


Then we went to look at some cool Christmas lights in our town that were synchronized to music. That was pretty cool and seemed like a great way to end the day.

It was kind of an unusual Christmas for us because we typically travel to see our family AFTER Christmas, but this year, we went the week before because Darryl's sister and her family were heading out of town Christmas Day. But we did enjoy a nice day just the three of us, even if we did get a little cabin fever.

If you have made it to the end of this post, I thank you.

Merry Christmas!!!