Christmas Morning

When we got home from Tony's brother's on Christmas Eve, Ant and Al were fired up and ready for Santa's visit. They didn't want to go to bed and COULD NOT WAIT for Christmas morning. Alex had gotten a movie earlier that night so she put her movie in and actually let Anthony watch it with her. Must be Sweet Christmas Fairy Dust (or she breathed too much polyurethane in the last couple of weeks.) They finally went to bed. I should have known that was too easy. They had a plan. The plan was to set their alarms and get up in the middle of the night to see what Santa brought them. Alex's alarm went off at 1:30 but I happened to still be up and was able to turn it off. My alarm was set for 6 a.m. so that I could get up and get my shower, fix breakfast (my mom and dad always come for breakfast and to see what the kids got for Christmas), and pretty much just to get my day started without a rush. When I got out of the shower, Anthony's alarm was going off but, of course, he didn't hear it. He never hears his alarm. I was sure I had thwarted all of their attempts and plans. I was doing a certain degree of gloating that I had outfoxed the foxes. Little did I know, they had outfoxed me. Anthony just happened to wake up at 5, woke Alex up, and they came downstairs and peaked at some of their gifts. Ha ha on Ant though, the one he opened and wrapped back up was in an Adidas shoe box. He went to bed at 5:15 a.m. thinking he was getting Adidas shoes. Ha!, well at least I have that...

We have always told the kids they can choose three Christmas gifts for their wish list since Baby Jesus got three gifts. This year, their wish lists were very expensive so their Christmas was limited to their three gifts. And only those three gifts. There were no presents under the tree from us this year, partly because of our recent construction status - I was wrapping gifts on an as needed basis - and partly because Santa was the only one who came through for them this year.

While they had made their Christmas lists several weeks ago they were still not quite sure what they were getting. Anthony was somewhat surprised with this new Carhartt coat.

He also got some Union Cavalry soldiers. I think I'll be buying toy soldiers for the rest of my life. There are different soldiers for all the different wars you know. He can tell which soldier goes with which war by the gun they are carrying. (Note to toy soldier manufacturers: Always, ALWAYS put the right weapon with the right soldier with the right war - there are 14-year-old boys out there who know the difference!)

I think this was his favorite gift. A new paint ball gun. He was quite surprised by this one. He kept asking me if I had gotten it yet and I told him that I think they must have been out of them because there wasn't one like he was describing at the hobby store we go to. Was he sure that is where he saw the gun he wanted? You know, the normal Christmas fibbing... It helped that when he woke up at 5 a.m. it didn't look like there was a gun under the tree since the gun was disassembled and in a smaller box.

And for the Adidas shoes... This box actually held the paint ball vest he had been wanting. It holds the air tank in a pouch on his back so that he doesn't have to have the air tank attached to the gun. It looks more real this way...

We even remembered to get an air tank filled up so that he could shoot his new gun right away. That is the mistake we made a couple of years ago with his first paint ball gun. He got the gun and an air tank. Who knew the air tank could be explosive had they shipped it with the air in it? Live and learn.
Alex, on the other hand had been lied to all month. She wanted a laptop computer. I told her there was absolutely no way she was going to get a laptop because they were so expensive. I told her Santa might bring her some money and she could add that to the money she would be getting from grandparents and she could order herself one after Christmas. So, that was her plan. When they came downstairs at 5 a.m. and opened and rewrapped one of their presents she luckily opened a Wii recharger. So, when she came down Christmas morning to open presents I think she was already a little bummed. A Wii charger? She didn't even ask for that... She opened two of her three gifts from Santa and left one of them laying on the floor and started on her stocking stuff. I think the remaining gift looked like a clothes box to her. Long and flat. Finally, she got around to opening that third gift.

I missed her initial expression - it was priceless. She was very surprised when she saw the Dell logo on the side of that last box.

And it was pink. And she was very happy.

Now, she can be seen on most days with her laptop on her lap, Itouch in her hand, and phone laying beside her. And she lived happily ever after.

(To stay true to my utopia form, I will not disclose the many conversations I have had with certain citizens from India while trying to get the laptop in good, wireless, operating condition.)