Ho Ho Holidays

Gosh it's been so so long for this blog to get some love.  I've been having a sort of identity crisis with this blog lately.  I can barely keep up with my life and really, not much I have to say is all that interesting but I know I'll regret not being able to look back and relive the boys' lives later so I'll pretend to be exciting and put my thoughts down.

The holidays in our house: 
Our Tree: I try to remember to water it or check it daily.  It doesn't need water daily anymore but I'm afraid getting out of the habit will mean I just forget all together and it will never get water.  It's so much fun to sit in the living room and watch the tree, and the fire because it's been cold here.  Wesley loves the tree too, but he always surprises us by how much he doesn't mess with the ornaments. He loves to pull off the candy canes Walter puts on, and try to open them.  Walter loves to move around the ornaments on the tree.  

Our lights: Still aren't up outside....think they ever will get there??  We will go look at lights, though!  Zoo lights is on our list for this weekend.  

Our Elf, Pop: is probably Walters favorite thing ever.  He wakes up every morning and looks for Pop and then opens his "box" and he is better about remembering what day it is, than I am.  He totally believes in the magic of Elf on the Shelf and is so paranoid of touching him.  I kinda like it too.  i have fun trying to think of fun places for Pop to hide and fun mischief for him to get in to.   Evan: not so much.  He thinks he should sit on the shelf, like his name implies.

Our Advent Calendar: I really really love having an activity each day, I kinda wish we could do an advent calendar all year long (OK I bet it'd get tiring soon) but it's really nice to have something to look forward to for the kids.  And I've forgotten most of what we planned so I am also surprised when he opens it.  

Presents:  This year I kinda hate presents.  I'm sorry to say that.  It's pretty ridiculous how much STUFF we have, and no one in this family needs anything.  I really do enjoy the giving part of the holidays but I don't like the "I want this not that, this person already has that/is already getting that/ wouldn't like that".  I really really really want to go write a check to someone who needs the money and call that it, and send everyone a card and say that so-and-so received a donation in your name, but I know the kids will have a lot of fun and a lot of joy opening their toys, even if they play with them for 45 seconds.  Work is making it worse.  Some people in particular, spend at least 5 minutes a day with each other person in the office engaged in this conversation "what are we doing for gifts this year?  Are you buying a group gift?  Should we buy a group gift?  are you buying for everyone? "  The answers never change, but they WANT the answers to change.  I tried to organize a gift exchange for anyone who was interested to buy 1 gift instead of feeling obligated to buy for everyone but no one gave me their name that they wanted to participate. Then I tried to organize a few donations to some charities that we work with, instead of gifts and everyone said they do their giving on their own, and they didn't want to participate.  So, now I probably need to come up with gift ideas for my team...don't I?  I can't get a good solution.  Last year I sent a massage therapist in to the office but i'm too late to the game for that.  I wish I could buy a nice lunch/breakfast platter, some fancy treats, or a few bottles of wine and have that be enough but I know there are 2 people who work for me that really really like the gifting and they really would be disappointed if I overlook that part of it.  I need ideas!  (can't be food which is really limits my options).  Oh have I mentioned we leave in about 5 days?  I don't want to sound like Scrooge I am not, I just don't like how commercialized this time of year has become.  And I'm disappointed in Evan and I and that we don't think this way more times of the year than at the holidays.  We should be more giving all year, not just when we feel the pressure to do so.  So... that needs to be goal 1 next year.  Be more giving.  Have less stuff, do more for others.  Evan says I donate my time (too much of it lately) and that is a big commitment but I need to find something other than Childrens.   EVERYONE wants to give money/time to sick kids.  Sick kids is everyone's worst nightmare and they get so much support/money/time, there are a lot of organizations that need it just as much.  I don't want to quit the guild, but I just wonder if there is somewhere else I can have a bigger impact.  (that is wayyy off topic)

Back to gifts:  Evan is worse than me this year.  He keeps seeing/thinking of things we should buy Walter   He wanted me to get him a Lego advent calendar this week and then didn't understand why I didn't buy him one sooner since he had never heard of/seen them.  So, now we have more than we planned.  He's going to open 3 gifts, go nuts and the rest will sit for weeks like his Birthday.  he JUST Opened his last birthday gift tonight! But, we still got him the stuff, so it's our fault.  Poor Wesley, he got 2 books.  And 1 gift to open here when we get back.  


Other Misc/Non Christmas
We got rid of cable and it's soooo amazing.  I haven't missed it at all.  I read, I wrap gifts, I plan things, I go to bed early, we play games.  Walter never watches the real TV anyway unless he's watching a DVD so he doesn't care at all.  Tonight the internet was slow so Netflix was slow and he didn't know what to do for his 15 minutes of screen time.  I said, we could watch a TV show, and he was like "nah, let's read a book".  

Evan was supposed to have the week off but that got changed thanks to some work projects (not sure if I can say/write?  So I'll leave it out).  So he no longer gets his week of complete free time.  (darn) and gets to push his use it or lose it till next year when we can all spend it together (yeah!).  

I am so burnt out of work this next 3 days cannot go fast enough.  I have enough random work to do while we are home but I hope to have at least a few stretches of 2 or 3 days without any work.  

Battery is going to die, so I'll end with update for pictures.  I have to finish ordering Christmas gifts, and finalize our card, now that I've had a minute to walk away and come back to it.