Ho ho ho

Christmas eve and Christmas day were full of expectancy and excitement. We tracked Santa's journey around the world on Norad (Bronwyn: why does it look like a cartoon?).We spent part of the evening at Nicole's for a lovely pre-Christmas gathering. Eventually we got Bronwyn to bed, but she got up at about 1:30am and said she was too excited and wanted to see if Santa had been. Oh no. Luckily, we managed to talk her into going back to sleep...phew! It was just a typical night for River!

The first thing Bronwyn did when she got up was to look and see if Santa had left anything for Ellee in a little Christmas space she'd made for her...Santa had left a stick. She was very excited about that.

It reads: "Put Ellee's presents here please" (where Ellee's bed used to be)

I had told her that Ellee didn't need presents and that Santa wouldn't bring her any. She kept disagreeing and assured me that he would. What can you do? She opened her presents and wondered aloud in amazement how Santa could have known she wanted this or that. Asked some tricky questions about wrapping paper and labels. Our cover was almost blown. I must admit there is a part of me that is uncomfortable with the Santa business. Bronwyn asked a lot of intelligent questions about Santa and logistics and after a while I started to feel like the gang member who begins to crack under pressure; sweating and desperate to confess and come clean in the face of intense interrogation. "Arrggghh! I can't take it any more! Alright, it was me. It was me and your dad. We did it. We did it all! Bought the presents and then pretended they were from Santa! Then we kept up the pretense and kept lying. We ate the cookie and drank the milk. Yes, and Rudolph's carrot...and the dirt on the roof from his hooves...all us! I admit it! Just stop the questions!" Anyway, she was very happy and very excited. And it was wonderful to watch her. River was completely uninterested in opening presents. So Bronwyn opened most of his for him.

Bronwyn loved her gifts; lots of small stuff. Before Christmas she said the best gifts were ones that were made and that she'd be happy with anything that Santa bought...awwww...very sweet. But I held off knitting her a set of Zoobles...he he.

Trini and Lorne came over and we had a delicious Christmas dinner. I cooked free-range chicken. No point in cooking turkey when only 3 of us eat it and we don't want to eat turkey for the next 2 weeks.

It was a good, busy day and great to spend time with my sister and Lorne. River seemed a little overstimulated by evening and unable to settle, but that seems to be par for the course these days when his routine is greatly interrupted.

Now I hope that I will just be able to relax and not do much for the rest of the week...except perhaps anticipate the new year.

I like this quote by Dickens (from Pickwick Papers, which I've been reading for months now):

"Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitatility, merriment, and open-heartedness; the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently and calmy away".

Of course the only thing missing is friends and family who live far away. Hope you're having a wonderful Christmas. Thinking of you. Especially our family in England and Germany x