Early Christmas

Our family of 5 did our "just us" Christmas day a week ago Sunday. We realized with the various small gatherings we had planned and the girls going to Pittsburgh that December 19th was our last day just the 5 of us until January 16th. So we made the most of it and pretended, pretty successfully, that it was Christmas. What that mostly boiled down to was one of our family retreat days with presents added. With the girls already enjoying their new chrome book, we just had stocking gifts to enjoy opening. We have the ability to make that last a few hours, especially with how meticulous Terah is in opening packages. 

This year Jason and I had landed on the Old Time Candy Shop when we were looking for Lifesavers and trying the sometimes-almost-impossible-feat of avoiding Amazon. The good thing about attempting to do so is that we land on some fun treasures. This was quite the find. We ended up going down through the site and picking out a handful of types of candy that we remembered well from our own childhood and figured our kids never would have experienced. It was a hit! And it was like a major trip down memory lane. In some cases it might have been better to leave our memories intact of how much we liked a certain thing 30+ years ago. Rolos were such a disappointment!!!

In addition to Rolos, our girls have now experienced Runts, Andes Mints, Pixie Sticks, Rock Candy, Necco Wafers, Nerds, Juicy Fruit Gum, and Barnum Animal Crackers. The most sentimental of all of those gifts for me was Juicy Fruit Gum, which I tried unsuccessfully to teach Alida to blow a bubble with. When our family lived in Jackson, MS we were part of Voice of Calvary Fellowship. The strongest memory I have from Sunday mornings, other than the gospel choir, was all the kids flocking to Mrs. Cooper at the conclusion of the service. She was an elderly black woman with a big heart and a purse full of Juicy Fruit Gum and she would hand out stick after stick. The flavor took me back in time! 

The site also had some old time toys. We've already been reimbursed for the whoopie cushion that didn't even last long enough for us to prank our visiting family members with it, so they were spared. The kaleidoscope has been a hit, as well as the drawing board. Some other things were a little lack luster (like those capsules that grow in water - what a let down...). But we got a lot of good laughs out of the morning. At one point Kali opened her rock candy and hers was the one that the handle - a little wooden stick with a ball on the end - had broken off of. I had given it to her as I assumed she'd be the one least disappointed. She looked at the package and was clearly trying to figure out what it was. We busted up laughing when we realized she thought the little stick was some kind of mallet to break apart the rock structure - she didn't even realize it was edible at first. She had just been opening a whole series of comical/odd presents, so of course she didn't think it was just a rock candy lollipop with a broken stick!!

Wally joined the festivities for the first time and got a few presents. The one he seemed to enjoy the very most was his very own "iceberg" [ice pack]. 

Later in the day, Kali made a final decision to depart once again from long hair and I did the honors of cutting her hair for donating. It was fun alternative giving moment added to our day - mostly because it was a less busy day where something kinda spontaneous could fit, but it added a nice touch to an otherwise sweet (in multiple ways) day!

Mostly the day was sweet because we got to spend it together! We watched a video of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever (I laughed...I cried) and we also watched Clifford (which Terah had a very hard time with as we were completely incapable of convincing her that nothing bad would happen to Clifford or the little girl). We had filled ourselves so full of Christmas stocking treats and other snacks that we only made one of our two Christmas meals. Instead of spending lots of time cooking in the evening, we enjoyed playing games together. And Jason and I even got a nap while the girls practiced their Christmas concert. It's nice to know we can successfully shake up the schedule and it can still feel very Christmas-y.