Christmas Week

In my family, because it's so large (extended), Christmas lasts nearly one entire week.

We have one celebration with my dad and new step mom on Christmas Eve, do our Christmas morning thing with the kids, have a day-after Christmas party with my future in-laws, do a day-after-the-day-after Christmas thing with my mom and step dad and have a whenever-we-can-all-manage-to-get-together-after Christmas gathering with Grandma Judy.

Yes, that's five - count 'em, FIVE - separate Christmas celebrations, not even counting the one the kids spend with their Dad.

The kids have been maintaining a constant buzz since Wednesday, part adrenalin and part sugar high, from our various festivities. Crowbar's wild mood swings, while somewhat frustrating, are not entirely unexpected due it his candy-cane intake and non-existent nap schedule.

Still... it's been a great Christmas week. Here are some highlights:

Crowbar's God complex. Crowbar scored the role of shepard in his day care's Christmas program. However, when you ask him who he was, he responds, "God." When pressed, he grows increasingly irritated and says, "I said, 'I'm GOD!" He says it with the same tone and intensity as Alec Baldwin in the movie Malice.

Turns out, because his costume looks exactly like some of the illustrations in his "God Book" (a book of children's Bible stories), he called his costume "God clothes" and thus, insisted he was playing God in the pageant.

"Cha-cha-cha Chia!" Again, Crowbar amuses and amazes. He asked for (and got) a Scooby Doo Chia Pet. When he opened the gift Christmas morning, he exclaimed, "Oh man! Cha-cha-cha Chia!" Who knew that my kid could be so jazzed over pottery that grows?

Crowbar asked for this. Seriously.

Glitter and Glam. The twins got some fancy rock star duds (most of which were stamped with Hannah Montana logos) and some fun glitter hair gel. So, ever since Christmas morning, they've been styin' with their fancy outfits and funky hair. I assure you, it's all very age appropriate. They're just growing out of anything pink or girlie and into muted colors and calling themselves "tomboys."

Wii! This is fun! Mark and I splurged and bought the family a Wii game system. It's only been a few days and everyone is hooked. Mad Dog won the home-run derby this morning, The Deuce got her first turkey bowling and Mark stayed up til 1 a.m. last night playing Blazing Angels. I honestly can't see this game system getting old. Ever.

Knit one. Purl two. Mark bought me a starter kit and instruction book on how to knit. So far I've been knitting almost every free second I get. My fingers are sore and last night, I dreamed about patterns. Seriously, I'm super proud that I'm getting the hang of it solely from looking at black and white pictures in an instruction manual. I can't wait to get a cute little bag to keep all my stuff. When I completed my first practice square, I promised Mark I'd make him an ugly vest ASAP.

Yep, we've had a busy, but insanely fun Christmas week. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too.