Of Harmonicas and Musicals

I can't make New Year's resolutions. I just don't see the point. Instead I just take the opportunity on any old regular day to decide to start something that I will decide to not do anymore a week later. I surely don't need the start of a new year to help me not do all the things I should be doing.

So today, I think I'll just talk about some of the fun moments with the kids from Christmas.

1. My dad brought a tree cut down from his 40 acres for our outdoor Christmas tree this year. He decorated it with 6 strands of lights and it was beautiful and the kids loved it. In fact, DJ even named it....Old Man Jenkins. Huh? I don't know why, but that is the tree's name and we must call the tree a "he", and we must refer to it by name. An example;
DJ: "Mommy, mommy, mommy! Come quick, it's Old Man Jenkins!"
Me: "Honey, I know, he's crooked from the strong wind."
DJ: "Someone has to fix him."
Me: "It's okay, we're nearly done with Old Man Jenkins. He has to be thrown out for recycling. They'll chop him up into wood chips."

2. DJ received a harmonica for Christmas from my parents....much to my great joy and happiness as you can imagine. (Admittedly, the child does show some talent on the thing.) After receiving said harmonica, DJ stood up and declared it the best gift of the whole Christmas and the best toy he had in his whole room....then played himself out with a happy little ditty. Granted, he couldn't remember the name of it for a number of days, he would call it a flute, a clarinet and occassionally a percussion...who knows. Now, after hearing it nearly non-stop for a few days, it was quite odd that all of a sudden I noticed a quiet settling over our house a day or two ago. I actually had the nerve to ask where the harmonica was. He told me that he had to hide it in a super, super secret hiding place and it was safely tucked away. Apparently harmonica-nappers are a big problem around the neighborhood.

3. DJ also received the fancy new Razor scooter that is shaped in a 'Y'. Since there are feet upon feet of snow outside, we moved some rugs around in the basement and both the kids have had quite a time taking turns and riding the heck out of that scooter. Michigan...how I loathe you.

4. AJ received her dream gift, the Nintendo DS Lite in a pale shimmery pink. Oh the joy! She's been wanting one for over a year now. She's decided that it was well worth the wait and is becoming quite the expert on Cookin' Mama. Unfortunately, she still can't say Nintendo. She received the DS, new in the box, so she could clearly see the name of it on the box. Also, everytime she turns the DS on, she's sees it's name. Knowing that she's seen all of this, knowing that she's heard me say it a million times, it's unfathomable to me that she still insists on calling it her Intendo DS. Where in the hell does that 'N' go?

5. Happily, the kids got lots of Playmobil for Christmas. They were thrilled, mommy was in heaven....unless someone else tried to put the sets together, oh no, that's my job, no one touches the Playmobil but me. When will people learn to not mess with my obsessions?

6. My husband got a Wii for Christmas. He was spoiled, but I figured he deserved it after wanting a game system for about the last 7 or 8 years. Don't think I just handed it over to him though, nope, I put it in a large Pampers box. When he opened it, I told him I was pregnant. Hooray! He didn't cheer. He didn't even smile. At that moment, I'm pretty sure, he thought it was the worst Christmas of his life and he was cursing his greedy little heart for even unwrapping that big old box.

7. This is the first year that DJ wanted Legos. Oh he loves the Legos so so much. Mostly Star Wars Legos, some Indeejana Jones though too. When I asked him before Christmas what he could see himself playing with on Christmas day, he answered, "Star Wars Legos and those little chubby Star Wars guys." He of course means the Galactic Heros Star Wars characters. Some of the cutest things ever made and a sure fire bet for my next toy obsession.

8. Speaking of obsessions, AJ is obsessed with all things MUSICALS! She loves musicals. Of course the obligatory High School Musical, but she wanted oh so much more than that this year. She had to have Mama Mia, Camp Rock, Chicago, Hairspray, soundtracks...ANYTHING! Where on Earth does she get this crazy obsession thing from....

All in all, it was such a great Christmas. We had 4 full days together with no one having to go to work or anything. There has been lots of movie watching, or musical watching..whatever, lots of playing Wii, sharing the scooter (even with mom and dad), building new fantastic ships/jets/vehicles/towers with the Legos, setting up of the new Playmobil city, and in general just complete enjoyment of this winter break. Except for the winter of it. Best of all, this could all take place while I read a book or played some computer solitaire...why? Because my kids are imaginative, creative, friends with each other, smart, and just plain old enough to play on their own! That deserves a Hooray!