When I finally woke up, I overheard my parents commenting about the snow. Fully expecting to see at least three inches on the ground, I was a little bit surprised to see that there was really only a light dusting on the grass. As much hype as they gave it on the news, I figured we would be snowed in at least for the day, but that wasn't even close to happening. As it turned out, we didn't receive any more snow, but we got the lovely 40 mph north winds that I could really do without.
When I came into the kitchen, my dad gleefully informed me that he decided to bake some cheese bread and rolls for our lunch. (Yes, my dad does bake, and he really does a good job of it!) Cheese bread is a treat in our family that had its origins with my Grandma Hladik. Sadly, it was one of those traditions that I never got to experience with grandma, since she wasn't always in the best of health while I had any memory of her. (In case you were wondering, cheese bread is basically white bread with a filling made of Cheez-Whiz and onion soup mix. This year my dad added his new favorite seasonings, Dill Mix and Tomato Powder, from our good friends at the Savory Spice Shop in OKC!) With a some help from my mom, the bread turned out beautifully!
My parents and I spent the better part of our morning doing some last-minute baking and present-wrapping. Around 12:30 or so, my sisters and their families made it over. Emily's crew was first, and Cody & Kyle wasted no time telling us about their new BB guns. After a while, Gina's family made it over. Wyatt also got a BB gun and a remote-control helicopter. Andy's big toy was a remote-control monster truck. I believe that Cole's big toy of the year was a drum. Between BB guns, RC toys and a drum, it could be quite interesting to babysit these boys anytime in the near future!
Our lunch spread was awesome, and fairly low-stress. We reheated and added some to our turkey/chicken noodle from the day before, so there wasn't much work in that. Gina brought over scalloped potatoes, Emily brought sweet potatoes; we pulled out the salad (also from the day before), and heated up some green beans. We ended up taking the easy way out on our meat, and defrosted some brisket and pork loin from our "4th of July" party. At the time, we had more meat than we knew what to do with, so we popped it in the freezer. I am happy to say that it tasted just as good as it did the day my dad made it! Truth be told, even though we didn't have that much food yesterday, we still probably could have got by with just soup and bread, because that's really what we ate the most of. Oh yeah, and I made a cheesecake for dessert, but I'm sure you could have guessed that.
After Scotty got Cole down for a much-needed nap, we got the boys ready to open presents. By that, I mean that we tried our best to contain their excitement, but really, they were so wound up that there wasn't much we could realistically do to thwart that. Oddly enough though, the three older boys still begged to pass out presents to everyone instead of sitting and opening their own. I'll go through some of the highlights of everyone's presents.
All five boys got "cowboy" shirts, jeans, and boots. (Cole didn't get boots though, because he just got a new pair, and his feet grow really fast.) They also got a race track set, that really enthralled the three older boys. Gina & Jeremy got a patio glider set that they wanted. Scotty got tools and Emily got a bagel-sized toaster and an electric roaster. Dad got identical chimineas from both Gina and my mom. My mom got books, perfume, and a shirt. My parents got six tickets to the Gaslight Theater, and my sisters and I got tickets to a Mannheim Steamroller concert this Saturday! (Actually, I knew about the tickets about a month ago, but now I can talk about them on here! :) ) We will also be accompanied to the concert by my parents, two of my cousins, and two of my cousins' friends...it will definitely be a blast!
As for me, I received some wonderful gifts from my family. I got running clothes from Emily's family, a wireless printer from Gina's family, a knitted scarf and crocheted headbands from Gina's in-laws, and a Garmin running watch from my parents! The theme this year was running, and I think that this may help me to gain that motivation I have been so desperately seeking, if nothing more than for the fact that I will feel bad that my parents shelled out the money to buy a fancy watch if I don't use it! I am very, very excited!
At some point in the craziness, Cole woke up and opened his presents, largely with Scotty's help. I believe that his favorite was a blanket that Gina made him, because his face really lit up when he saw it! The three older boys went out to play with their track that my dad already had set up for them. The rest of us napped and examined each other's new treasures. Little Andy was on a roll yesterday, providing us all with lots of laughs. He is three-and-a-half, and is VERY expressive. He began by putting on his new stocking cap from me, which is the red bird from Angry Birds, and he "pecked" everyone...aka he headbutted everyone. It was much funnier than it sounds, I promise! Then, he had a catchphrase for a while, "It's okay!" It started when Cole picked up one of Andy's presents and was chewing on it. We told him that Cole had it, and he told us, "It's okay!"...Cole started crawling over a semi-napping Gina..."It's okay!"...Cole got out his new blankie..."It's okay!"...Cole started crying when Scotty took presents to the car..."It's not okay!" I think that that one was the funniest!
Shortly after, everyone went their separate ways, and my parents and I enjoyed an uneventful evening at home watching my dad's new movies. It was just what we all needed! I hope that you all had a great day, and a Merry Christmas, wherever you were!
All five boys got "cowboy" shirts, jeans, and boots. (Cole didn't get boots though, because he just got a new pair, and his feet grow really fast.) They also got a race track set, that really enthralled the three older boys. Gina & Jeremy got a patio glider set that they wanted. Scotty got tools and Emily got a bagel-sized toaster and an electric roaster. Dad got identical chimineas from both Gina and my mom. My mom got books, perfume, and a shirt. My parents got six tickets to the Gaslight Theater, and my sisters and I got tickets to a Mannheim Steamroller concert this Saturday! (Actually, I knew about the tickets about a month ago, but now I can talk about them on here! :) ) We will also be accompanied to the concert by my parents, two of my cousins, and two of my cousins' friends...it will definitely be a blast!
As for me, I received some wonderful gifts from my family. I got running clothes from Emily's family, a wireless printer from Gina's family, a knitted scarf and crocheted headbands from Gina's in-laws, and a Garmin running watch from my parents! The theme this year was running, and I think that this may help me to gain that motivation I have been so desperately seeking, if nothing more than for the fact that I will feel bad that my parents shelled out the money to buy a fancy watch if I don't use it! I am very, very excited!
At some point in the craziness, Cole woke up and opened his presents, largely with Scotty's help. I believe that his favorite was a blanket that Gina made him, because his face really lit up when he saw it! The three older boys went out to play with their track that my dad already had set up for them. The rest of us napped and examined each other's new treasures. Little Andy was on a roll yesterday, providing us all with lots of laughs. He is three-and-a-half, and is VERY expressive. He began by putting on his new stocking cap from me, which is the red bird from Angry Birds, and he "pecked" everyone...aka he headbutted everyone. It was much funnier than it sounds, I promise! Then, he had a catchphrase for a while, "It's okay!" It started when Cole picked up one of Andy's presents and was chewing on it. We told him that Cole had it, and he told us, "It's okay!"...Cole started crawling over a semi-napping Gina..."It's okay!"...Cole got out his new blankie..."It's okay!"...Cole started crying when Scotty took presents to the car..."It's not okay!" I think that that one was the funniest!
Shortly after, everyone went their separate ways, and my parents and I enjoyed an uneventful evening at home watching my dad's new movies. It was just what we all needed! I hope that you all had a great day, and a Merry Christmas, wherever you were!
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