martinzoo

Merry Christmas to all my blogging buddies!

We had a great Christmas here. In fact, GB decided that it WAS the best Christmas ever, which is really funny if you are a family member because my mother says this with absolute sincerity every year — and we all crack up.

This was the first year that GB did not believe in Santa. I thought it was going to be really sad, but just like his older brother he seemed more excited than ever. I think it was because he felt like there was some control over what he would get. You can’t truly predict what Santa will bring. But his anticipation was on high status in the days leading up to Christmas. And on Christmas Eve he could hardly stand the slow passage of time.

Of course, he got the things he wanted the most. So he was very happy about that. We didn’t get him very much because the one thing he really wanted was an X-Box 360, which cost a fortune. But we got it and one game (Halo) to go with it. He also got a new G I Joe because his others are in such decrepit condition. These are definitely his lifetime favorite toys. He has them with him constantly and they are always fighting each other. My dh also insisted on getting him this helicopter thingy that actually flys around. And they are planning on the maiden voyage soon. His Christmas Eve gift was a little used game from Gamestop. We love Gamestop and can’t figure out why people would buy these video games brand new. He was very content all evening after he got his game.

Aquagirl seemed really happy with her presents this year. We got her a robe from Carnival Cruiseline. She and her friend had just been in love with these robes when we took the cruise and I knew she’d love to have one. But they chose not to use their vacation money for them. I tucked that little information away for later and….. voila…. Christmas! We also got her a Sonicare electric toothbrush because she is very fanatical about her teeth, ever since she worked in our dentist’s office a couple of summers ago. I have one and I knew she would love how it makes your teeth feel. And she does. They’re really great. We also got her a Zune Mp3 player, which we haven’t gotten working yet because for some reason her laptop says she’s not running Windows. Wierd!

For Aquagirl’s Christmas Eve gift we gave her a Bun Bun purse. These are purses you design yourself at a party, kind of like a Pampered Chef party, but for purses. You pick out the fabric inside and outside the purse, what kind of purse style, which handle you like, what kind of clasp, pockets, and ornamentation. Truly unique. I made hers a vivid pink with lime green and lots of pockets for cell phone, mp3 player, keys, and camera. She loved it.

Jabem is always difficult because his interests are so hard for the rest of us to comprehend. One year his Christmas list literally was composed of product serial numbers and codes. It was easy for us to buy but we had no idea what these computer components were good for. But this year I really wanted to surprise him with a little creativity. We got him a really cool chair for his downtown apartment from Walmart.com, which still hasn’t come yet. I’m a bit peeved by that. It’s a good thing Jabem isn’t a little kid who’d be terribly disappointed. But still, since we only give them three things on Christmas day I was annoyed by the no-show.  We also got him a t-shirt from his favorite online video game, World of Warcraft, it has his character, who is a Shaman. And we got him a portable hard drive so that when he is fixing people’s computers he won’t have to bring his whole CPU with him. He seemed to really like his stuff.

But Jabem’s favorite gift came on Christmas Eve. I wanted something he could ‘play’ with. This is hard because the only games he plays now are World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons. But I did some search online and found this cool little geeky site which put together a kit so you could build your own video game console and download and program games onto it. He spent all night…. literally…. he didn’t go to bed until 7:00 a.m. and then we woke him at 9:00, on it. But he was in such a groove with his little soldering iron. He even posted pics of the project on his facebook page. That’s when you know you got the right gift.

Murphy thinks this is too early for an old dog to have to get up out of his bed.

And look at my dh. Doesn’t he look deliciously scruffy?  He’s unwrapping his big present, speakers for the tv. Personally, I think the newish tvs are in a conspiracy to force you to buy speakers because you just can’t hear a darned thing. So we caved.

All in all, I think we made all the kiddos happy. My goal for each year. Sometimes we’re not too successful, but we shop with love. And that’s what counts. I really feel blessed with my family. God did such a great job with the people I’m surrounded by. And we are happy. And I love that!

I hope you all had a wonderful day, also. Now we are off to Chuck E. Cheese. This is absolutely the best day of the year to go. There are no crowds, all machines are filled with tickets, and the place is spotless. You gotta love that!

Friday we had our annual homeschooler’s Christmas party. I’m not sure exactly how many were in attendance, but there were a LOT. It was such a festive and fun time.

Nancy decided to teach the kiddos how to play Dreidel. They were totally into it and some of them played this game the entire party.

Honestly, I think they viewed it kind of like legal gambling…..LOL!

The food was out of this world with so many choices!

GB is not into the crafts, but I love doing them. So I stayed in this room most of the time helping the little ones and making my own angel.

Isn’t she pretty? Her body is made from an oyster shell, painted artistically in spots with gold paint. Her head is a small wooden bead. Her hair is made from florist’s moss. And the halo is a washer from the hardware store. Her wings are made from ribbon.

Nancy and Hilary deconstructed this craft from an expensive ornament that they found in a store. And I truly think these home made ones looked better. No lie.

Some of the kids really got into the gingerbread house decorating, and spent most of the party working on those. GB wasn’t interested in that since we had already done a house this year.

And one of the older teens brought the fixings to help the little ones put together some reindeer food to sprinkle on the grass, on Christmas eve, for all of Santa’s reindeer.

It was so nice to be part of such a great group of moms, dads, and kids. We are so lucky to have found this group, and this lifestyle.

It’s a sad thing when a child loses his beloved pet hamster. GB lost his little Teddy a couple of months ago. But that just gave Chippie (his other hamster) new and improved living quarters, which we swankified today by connecting the two cages, cleaning them top to bottom,  and even putting in a teeny, tiny Christmas tree.

Peek-a-boo!

We feel sure that Chippie is now in the Christmas spirit.

What do you do when it is Homeschoolers Park Day and you look out the window and see this?

42 degrees and yucky!

You all head off to Inflation Nation. This is a really cool indoor bouncy playground. And the kids had such a blast. In fact, I had to stop GB twice to take a small break. His face gets so red when he overheats.

Even the moms got in on the bouncy fun!

All the kids thought this obstacle course with the HUGE slide was really fun. GB and O-man are on the top making battle strategies.

Sometimes you worry that they’ll go in……….. and never come out!

The place was huge! And our group of kids were the only kids there. This is a huge advantage for homeschoolers. I talked to the manager and she told me that *legally* they have space for about 150 kids. We brought 15. And typically they wouldn’t have any at this time of day because it was during school hours. So our kids were really given the special treatment. This manager recognized an opportunity. And you could tell she really appreciated our business.

Unlike some OTHER companies who think they don’t have to work for business. Don’t worry. I won’t rant about that again.

Look at him. Is that not pure joy?

A snack bar…… all to yourselves…….. priceless!