Ahhhhh, Christmas... Since moving out here, we have only had 1 white Christmas I think. Meanwhile, back in Washington state, they have had about 3 of 4, I believe... I never got White Christmasses as a kid... Figures.

Anyway, I know we'll get snow sooner or later. But still, we had a rainy Christmas. Now, a rainy New Year's! And Mac is working (last night he came home the latest ever! I am not even sure what time- and he went ahead and slept on the couch, so as to not wake me up.) But Mac did not have to work for 5 days in a row, right up to Christmas. That was very nice. The kids got used to him being here.

So, since we didn't need to travel this year, the extra $$$ went into some extra presents. (We still came out ahead, though.) We did have a lot of presents for the kids though. I'll have to download, then upload my pictures very soon. I haven't done that yet. I'm finding that during breaks there is some competition for the computer!

I unfortunately bought some large presents, which I find will not fold away or fit on any toy shelf. Like the T-Wrecks Hot Wheels machine. It's fun, but the kids played with it for about 2 days straight, and since then it's been sitting in the living room taking up... 4 sq ft of precious space. So, I guess T-Wrecks will have to come out to play on some type of a schedule... *Sigh* I can not resist a sale.

Other large unyielding presents: The Barbie "party boat" and "party plane" combo-- that one *may* fit on a shelf; the Little Ponies "Teacup Palace", which currently I can not find... (I think Isabel hid it because Luke is obsessed with "My Little Ponies" and he probably tried to play with it), two huge "Optimus Prime" transformers that my brother gave Steven and Luke, and various Thomas the Tank Engine play pieces-- like the engine caddy. That is huge.

So, we are filled up with presents. I think I will do no cleaning at all until the older kids are back in school! Then I may be able to get ahead. Right now, it's just not happening.

So, in other news... I got nothing from my parents. I don't really know why? Maybe they are giving us something later in January when they come to visit? (They never were big on celebrating things on the actual day.) When we are there for Christmas, we usually get lots of stuff. Dad went Christmas shopping-- I know this because he sent me an email on the 23rd saying he was off to go do his shopping. Usually, we also get a nice little envelop stuck on the tree somewhere that has some type of a gift-- usually it's a "credit" or something towards "paying off a loan". But nothing yet... So we'll see. I'm not too concerned, I just would like to be remembered! They brought presents for the kids during Thanksgiving. As long as the kids are remembered, I'm good.

We, of course, didn't get anything from Mac's family. They don't give gifts unless you are physically in their house on the day of. Plus they only care about Mac. They don't mind seeing the little kids, but they don't really care about them. For instance, after Mac had been in medical school for one year, at which point they still didn't even realize that 1) he wasn't actually a doctor yet and 2) he actually lived across the country-- not just in Seattle, we went to his parents' house for a visit. It was summer, near the twins' birthday. We told them we were coming, and that we'd like to celebrate the twins' birthday with them. They were turning 4. Some of my family went with us, too. We got up there to their trailer, which they had decorated with balloons and streamers. It was very sweet. There were also a few pinatas for the kids, lots of scrawny dirty neighborhood kids running around, lots of hanger ons whom Mac didn't even recognize, and some of his uncles and other family members there. They also had a huge cake. Which said, "Welcome Home Junior." The twins did not care at all-- and in fact there were several presents there for them (when my MIL realized that some of the guests thought they were celebrating the twins' birthday, she ran out to the towns only store and bought some hideously overpriced gifts for them!) but the party was clearly for my dear husband, whom I have to call Junior when he's at his parents' house.

So, needless to say, not even a phone call from Junior's family for Christmas! I sent them some stuff- a picture of Mac graduating. I know the score now. They don't really care about the kids, but they do feel proud of their beloved son. So I'm not setting my kids up, or forcing them to "hug their grandparents" when we go to visit them once a year. There's no relationship there, and that's ok. They have *plenty* of relationship with my parents and my grandparents.

Blah..... Humbug. Boring post. I will throw some pics up next time.

g2g. (That's got to go for all you text-IM-challenged peeps out there.)