Christmas Weekend

Merry Christmas! It's here! Or it was. It came and went and because it was on a weekend it almost felt like we might return to some normalcy on Monday morning. But nope. Not yet. First there was our pre-holiday party on the Friday before Christmas Eve. The charter schools were off so I hosted a little gathering at our place with donuts and pizza and ornament crafts. The kids watched Elf and we got to toast with some mimosas. It was a perfectly chill day at home before the hubbub of Saturday and my all day baking extravaganza. With Nacho working, I felt like it was time to swing into full holiday mode. And so I covered myself and half the house in flour and powdered sugar--a winning combination! Actually the baking was kind of like holiday therapy for me since it really helps me focus and relax in a way that I enjoy. With most everything wrapped and ready, I was so much more calm this year. I kicked my procrastination trend to the curb and so baking was the best thing to fill in a long day of waiting for Santa to arrive. The girls jumped in to help me crack a few eggs and ice some of the sugar cookies. And then we were off to Carmen's apartment in LIC to join a few families for her traditional Christmas Eve get together. Nacho made it home from LA in time to pick us up around 9:30pm and whisk us home to put out treats for Santa and the reindeer. The girls hotly debated how many reindeer and whether or not we should leave two carrots each. In the end, I think they were well fed and the bounty left behind the next morning was signal enough that these girls have been very good this year...or close enough. I mean, if anything can help me forget all the crying, fussing, fighting and screaming this whole year long, it's Christmas morning. That is reserved for joy and wonder and goodness only. So let's have at it!

I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" alone the night before Xmas Eve...quiet in the house 

and I had George Bailey all to myself...ahhhh....

The all day baking was fun and I was happy the girls enjoyed icing the cookies...well, some of them

Christmas Eve we found ourselves at Carmen's house for dinner with friends before coming home and jumping in bed....

Christmas walk to the playground...a beautiful day

And yes, once again there was a lot of shrieking on Carolina's part and smug assuredness on Elisa's. She always seems to act as if Santa was in on HER plan and not give much credit where credit is due. But Carolina, boy, she is always surprised and delighted and she let's everyone in our building know...cue the video...

So yeah, we had a very nice celebration here at home all morning with Papa. Nacho was able to trade his early morning trip on the 25th (to Aruba, no less!) for a later show in the afternoon to Amsterdam. The fact that this switch came only a week out was actually pretty amazing and I wasn't taking anything for granted this year. We had such a wonderful family trip to Brussels earlier in the month that I was kind of counting as our holiday together, so this turn of events was all the more spectacular. He was home. After missing two of the last Christmases all together, I was thrilled to have him see the girls on their biggest morning of the year. That they slept in til almost 7am was great considering that Nacho and I still didn't make it to bed til after 1am. We had our sugar cookies and coffee for breakfast and kept unwrapping and cutting out the toys until the mountain of cardboard and plastic was ready to overwhelm our hallway. The girls were overjoyed to get a 10 ft long gymnastics mat which quickly became the thing to play with as they practiced their cartwheels over and over. Carolina's attempt to do her gym routine at home turned into a bit of a spectacle as her scissor kick went a little overboard:

But all's well that ends well and she got up and rubbed her back for a bit on the couch. OUCH! Oh man, I felt bad. But these girls are pros and they had so much fun tumbling all day. We hosted Carmen and her mom with Leonardo for dinner and played a few rounds of Racko to polish off the day. Checking in on Olive and Johnny later who were dog sitting, we managed to walk with them for a bit after having our Bailey's and listening to John Lennon sing his Christmas tune on their jukebox. A jolly good night if I do say so myself. It didn't even put a damper on things that these fucking Hatchimals *the hot toy of 2016* failed to peck their way to freedom. Maybe they were hiding out from Trump's fascist regime? Who knows. But I managed to break them out with some help from the troubleshooting I found online. And Elisa seemed not to mind one bit. We saw them peck and heard them coo. But they didn't have it in them to make a swift exit. So yeah, there goes all the fun in that shitty toy. Ha. Oh well. It helps that the girls went with it and that we managed to laugh about these silly things after all the hype. And once again, I'm so glad this journey into parenting has brought me full circle to such great memories of my own Christmas mornings. My days of playing dolls and hanging with my sister are never more vivid than when I watch these girls of mine. My heart is full. That's about all I could ask for and I know we are lucky to have this time together to enjoy it. Merry Christmas indeed!

Holiday Greetings

All the nuts

Finally feeling festive

Coming back from our weekend in Belgium and hitting the ground running was kind of a good thing. It felt like we'd dived head first into all things Christmas-y so it was just a matter of bringing that market spirit into our home and counting down the days til the big event. Our tree selection went better than expected with Nacho's help to get it done while the girls were in school. Somehow I picked the most perfectly shaped tree ever, even if it was on the lean side. The new lights we bought at Costco in October were also a big plus--they actually change colors from white to multi-colored and so the Christmas disco party was on! Unfortunately, Carolina went from hyper at a send off baby shower for her assistant teacher that day to lethargic and feverish just hours later. She collapsed on the couch and spent most of our tree trimming asleep. But I revived her in time for dinner and to hang a few ornaments for a photo op. The medicine was working because she bounced right back and seemed to be in a decent mood. Or who knows, maybe the Christmas spirit doesn't care if you're sick. You must hang an ornament and sing some songs! 

But the next day the fever was back again and so Carolina spent the rest of the day at home recuperating. By Friday I was really hoping she was on the mend since she was fever-free without medication. I kept her home just so she could rest up before her big rehearsal for the Nutcracker that night and her performance on Saturday. When I told her she had to stay home to get better or else she's be missing the ballet, she burst into tears telling me that she had to make it or else her teachers who were coming to see her perform would think she was a liar. Oh Carolina! You know how to work up some drama when you want.