It went something like this:
The setting: 1:20 am, Sheldon is sitting at the desk, working hard and diligent, preparing Chase’s Ipod for the big reveal, wanting it to be all set up when the boy received it. A few curse words here, a few curse words there. A few memories of the days of putting toys together on Christmas Eve and thinking that was a pain in the arse.
Here is the way the conversations leading up to the exciting opening of Santa’s loot.
1:30am- Michelle: Sheldon, please just give up, let me wrap it and let’s go to bed.
Sheldon: Heavy sighing, little mumbling….
Michelle: We need to go to bed; it is just a matter of hours before we will be summoned by the kids.
Sheldon: Fine, but it is not ready, so I will just leave it hooked up, I will set the alarm and get up in one hour to make sure it is complete, then you can wrap it.
Michelle: Fine
{The time is now 2am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 2:14}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is now 2:45am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 2:57}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
At this point, I realize that there is no sleep in my future, so, get up…but wait, the Ipod is still not wrapped. I must sneak past the kid’s bedroom, retrieve it, go into kitchen and wrap it. I feel like I am a guest character on Mission Impossible as I work my way to the kitchen passing both of their rooms. I get the present wrapped, and head back to bed, thinking maybe I have at least a half hour.
{The time is now 3:16am}
Mackenzie: Mom, is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
{The time is not 3:24am}
Chase: Mom is it time?
Mom: NOO, go back to sleep.
Realizing that I will never get any sleep now, I roll over, nudge Sheldon, telling him to wake up, he grumbles loudly IN HIS SLEEP, cause he has escaped all this fun of waking every time my eyes closed. My theory was if we just got up, let the kids have their loot, perhaps I could get at least an hour of sleep before having to get up to go to D2’s at 8am.
The next time Chase entered, (3:30am) we got up. Sheldon was still grumbling as we made our way through the house to get to the living room.
The kids were way excited, the smiles and shouts of enthusiasm made it all worth it…mostly.
We laid back down for a catnap around 5am, arising again at 7am to go to our next designation to receive a few more cool presents. It is now 1:19am, now December 26th, and I am so tired, I cannot sleep…yeah me. Sheldon apparently does not have the same problem as he is snoring, sucking all the air out of our room…maybe I am not sleep deprived, maybe it is the air I am deprived of????
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Memories
The day is finally here. CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!! The kids are bouncing with excitement. I am excited that they are excited.
Monday night they were talking about how tomorrow (Tuesday) they could say it was the day before Christmas Eve. So yesterday morning, they stumble out of bed, sleepy eyed, but only for a couple of minutes. Then they seemed to wake fully and start with the today is the day before Christmas Eve chant. I can hardly wait for them to wake this morning, knowing that the excitement will be 10 times more intense.
Chase and Mackenzie are planning the sleeping arrangements for the tonight. What time will they go to bed, when they will get up, who will wake who up...
In fact, Chase has set the alarm on his cell phone to wake him up at 3am. Note to self, I have to remember to sneak that away from him and cut that off.
Every Christmas I think back on two memories from my childhood, one not so good and the other is probably one of my favorite memories of my brother and I.
Not so good...My mom and my dad, when we were all together, would let us get up whenever we woke, reasonably, anytime after 3am would be a fair guess. It was always so fun for us. We would get up, open presents, then most of the time we would all curl up on the living room floor and go back to sleep. I would always curl up with my new doll, since I got one every year!!! (I loved dolls so much.)
After my mom and dad separated, our Christmas mornings were traded, one year with mom, the next with dad. The first year we were at dad's, my new step-mother was listening to me and the excitement that I was bounding with. When I got the part of getting up anytime after 3, she burst my bubble so bad. She looked at me, her smile gone, and told me, "OH NO, you will not get up until after 7." I was totally crushed. I almost could care less about Christmas that year after that moment. I am not sure what happened between mom and dad, but that was our last Christmas morning there. (I loved my step-mother very much, this was just a bump in the road.)
My favorite memory...and it is a favorite, possibly one of my favorite childhood memories. Once my mom and dad had separated, and it was just mom, Tim, and myself nothing changed about the early waking. But the waking happened like this:
Mom and I shared a room. I had a small bed on one side of the room and she had her bed on the other. My brother had his own room. Every year, I would be sleeping, dreaming of sugar plums, when someone would grab my toe. I would look up, and there would be my Tim. He would motion for me to go wake Mom. So, I would. Do you know how heavy an adults leg weighs? Well I do. I do because she would ALWAYS have me lie down beside her, and she would wrap her arm and leg over me and begin rocking back and forth, trying to get me to go back to sleep. She would doze off, but I would be trapped. All the while, Tim keeps coming to the door and making motions for me to wake her up. Every time I would try, she would say, "Shhhh, go back to sleep honey." This would go on for maybe an hour before she would give in.
When she gave in, she would tell me to go wake Tim. Now we all know he has orchestrated this whole scheme. I would go into his room, and "wake" him. EXCEPT, he would pretend to be sleeping and wake up grouchy and disrupted that I would be waking him at a God awful time of morning. He would do the big brother bashing the little sister act. EVERY YEAR we did this. He always denied it, and what proof did I have? I was the little girl who was way more (or expressed way more) excitement about Christmas than he had. UG.
This continued on year after year. The funniest one for me now is the Christmas that he had first been married. He and my sister in law spent the night at our house. Yes, he did the same thing early in the morning. When I ran around waking everyone, he pretended to be sleeping. My sister in law was in shock that we were up so early, she did not "wake" for a good 30 minutes. Do you think anyone would believe the younger sister, when Tim was a married man and all? Well, let me tell you, NO NO NO.
To this day when this comes up, Tim will grin but still will not confess. I think by the time we were grown, Mom and D2 knew but played along.
I fully expect to be up in the wee hours of the morning. My husband never really did big Christmas' as a child so this is all foreign to him. He grumbles and says crazy stuff like, "I cannot believe..." and that is where I stop him. I like getting up, it is what we do, and I will never be my step-mother and squash that for the kids. Sooner than we can imagine, Sheldon and I will be waking up alone on Christmas morning, we better savor every part of the fun now. If they want to get up at 3, we get up at 3. I mean really, they have been excited about this day for 364 days!!!
Merry Christmas to all, and I hope you too get woken up at the crack of dawn. Have fun.
Monday night they were talking about how tomorrow (Tuesday) they could say it was the day before Christmas Eve. So yesterday morning, they stumble out of bed, sleepy eyed, but only for a couple of minutes. Then they seemed to wake fully and start with the today is the day before Christmas Eve chant. I can hardly wait for them to wake this morning, knowing that the excitement will be 10 times more intense.
Chase and Mackenzie are planning the sleeping arrangements for the tonight. What time will they go to bed, when they will get up, who will wake who up...
In fact, Chase has set the alarm on his cell phone to wake him up at 3am. Note to self, I have to remember to sneak that away from him and cut that off.
Every Christmas I think back on two memories from my childhood, one not so good and the other is probably one of my favorite memories of my brother and I.
Not so good...My mom and my dad, when we were all together, would let us get up whenever we woke, reasonably, anytime after 3am would be a fair guess. It was always so fun for us. We would get up, open presents, then most of the time we would all curl up on the living room floor and go back to sleep. I would always curl up with my new doll, since I got one every year!!! (I loved dolls so much.)
After my mom and dad separated, our Christmas mornings were traded, one year with mom, the next with dad. The first year we were at dad's, my new step-mother was listening to me and the excitement that I was bounding with. When I got the part of getting up anytime after 3, she burst my bubble so bad. She looked at me, her smile gone, and told me, "OH NO, you will not get up until after 7." I was totally crushed. I almost could care less about Christmas that year after that moment. I am not sure what happened between mom and dad, but that was our last Christmas morning there. (I loved my step-mother very much, this was just a bump in the road.)
My favorite memory...and it is a favorite, possibly one of my favorite childhood memories. Once my mom and dad had separated, and it was just mom, Tim, and myself nothing changed about the early waking. But the waking happened like this:
Mom and I shared a room. I had a small bed on one side of the room and she had her bed on the other. My brother had his own room. Every year, I would be sleeping, dreaming of sugar plums, when someone would grab my toe. I would look up, and there would be my Tim. He would motion for me to go wake Mom. So, I would. Do you know how heavy an adults leg weighs? Well I do. I do because she would ALWAYS have me lie down beside her, and she would wrap her arm and leg over me and begin rocking back and forth, trying to get me to go back to sleep. She would doze off, but I would be trapped. All the while, Tim keeps coming to the door and making motions for me to wake her up. Every time I would try, she would say, "Shhhh, go back to sleep honey." This would go on for maybe an hour before she would give in.
When she gave in, she would tell me to go wake Tim. Now we all know he has orchestrated this whole scheme. I would go into his room, and "wake" him. EXCEPT, he would pretend to be sleeping and wake up grouchy and disrupted that I would be waking him at a God awful time of morning. He would do the big brother bashing the little sister act. EVERY YEAR we did this. He always denied it, and what proof did I have? I was the little girl who was way more (or expressed way more) excitement about Christmas than he had. UG.
This continued on year after year. The funniest one for me now is the Christmas that he had first been married. He and my sister in law spent the night at our house. Yes, he did the same thing early in the morning. When I ran around waking everyone, he pretended to be sleeping. My sister in law was in shock that we were up so early, she did not "wake" for a good 30 minutes. Do you think anyone would believe the younger sister, when Tim was a married man and all? Well, let me tell you, NO NO NO.
To this day when this comes up, Tim will grin but still will not confess. I think by the time we were grown, Mom and D2 knew but played along.
I fully expect to be up in the wee hours of the morning. My husband never really did big Christmas' as a child so this is all foreign to him. He grumbles and says crazy stuff like, "I cannot believe..." and that is where I stop him. I like getting up, it is what we do, and I will never be my step-mother and squash that for the kids. Sooner than we can imagine, Sheldon and I will be waking up alone on Christmas morning, we better savor every part of the fun now. If they want to get up at 3, we get up at 3. I mean really, they have been excited about this day for 364 days!!!
Merry Christmas to all, and I hope you too get woken up at the crack of dawn. Have fun.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Counting Down
The countdown is on…
Last week I counted down for Friday, which was my last day from work until Monday the 28th! Now I am off this whole week and I am ecstatic about it. It is Sunday night and oh what a feeling it is to know that I do not have to get up and go to work in the morning.
The kids are counting presents under the tree to see who has the most. I am certainly losing with only one gift under there at this time, however, I am typing on my Christmas present, as I have a brand new laptop. Yippee! (It types so smoothly, I have WiFi that picks up at my house, it has all these cool things…) There are many many gifts under there, and only a few belong to others. I am getting so excited about the gifts that I have chosen for everyone.
Chase is counting down the days before Tuesday, he is expecting a friend to come over. He is planning all the things they are going to do. I am not sure, but I am pretty confident that aggravating Mackenzie is in the plan.
Sheldon and I are counting down the days before Christmas Eve. D2 always takes the kids to see his aunt in Roanoke Rapids. Sheldon and I will have a day to ourselves. We will be busy wrapping, stashing, hiding and giggling preparing for the big night. I will probably be doing a little baking, Santa will have to the perfect snack when he comes by.
The kids are counting down the days before Christmas. I bet they have been to the calendar 10 times just today. I am guessing they think that it might miraculously change from one hour to the next.
I personally am counting down the minutes before bedtime, so these urchins that are sucking the life our of me will be safely tucked away for the evening….
Last week I counted down for Friday, which was my last day from work until Monday the 28th! Now I am off this whole week and I am ecstatic about it. It is Sunday night and oh what a feeling it is to know that I do not have to get up and go to work in the morning.
The kids are counting presents under the tree to see who has the most. I am certainly losing with only one gift under there at this time, however, I am typing on my Christmas present, as I have a brand new laptop. Yippee! (It types so smoothly, I have WiFi that picks up at my house, it has all these cool things…) There are many many gifts under there, and only a few belong to others. I am getting so excited about the gifts that I have chosen for everyone.
Chase is counting down the days before Tuesday, he is expecting a friend to come over. He is planning all the things they are going to do. I am not sure, but I am pretty confident that aggravating Mackenzie is in the plan.
Sheldon and I are counting down the days before Christmas Eve. D2 always takes the kids to see his aunt in Roanoke Rapids. Sheldon and I will have a day to ourselves. We will be busy wrapping, stashing, hiding and giggling preparing for the big night. I will probably be doing a little baking, Santa will have to the perfect snack when he comes by.
The kids are counting down the days before Christmas. I bet they have been to the calendar 10 times just today. I am guessing they think that it might miraculously change from one hour to the next.
I personally am counting down the minutes before bedtime, so these urchins that are sucking the life our of me will be safely tucked away for the evening….
Thursday, December 11, 2008
What We Have Been Up To Lately
It is amazing how fast time goes. I remember hearing my elders saying this while I was a kid. It
made absolutely no since at all. Boy has it clicked now. For example, my last post was on the first of December. It seems like it was the day before yesterday when I wrote that one.
So what's been going on in the Perkins house? It seems like we are busy all the time, so I should be able to remember right? (I also remember my elders taking about when you get old, you forget things...Hmmmmm)
Last Friday, Sheldon and I both had the day off. We took the kids to breakfast, then to school. We had some errands to run, one being at the mall. We found this awesome sale on men's clothes. Sheldon needed some new things since he was to start his new position in Investigation the following Monday. I will not go into great detail about what all we bought, but when I added the regular (not on sale) prices, it was $1140. I paid $239 for them. I was way excited, as was Sheldon. He almost got a new wardrobe, and a brand new very nice suit.
We went to pick up his take home car over the weekend. It is pretty awesome. It is an Impiala, solid black, with black tint. It looks really sharp. He looked and has looked really handsome everyday as he has left in his dress clothes and tie. He is hot.
Tuesday night Mackenzie had a school performance of a Christmas Play. She did not have a part in the play, but she was one of the singers. I looked at all the kids up there with her. Mackenzie seemed to shine to me, because she is so animated. When she is performing she looks so happy. She seems to thrive on the performing arts.
Chase got his interim reports this week, all A's again. I am so proud of his hard work. Tomorrow night there is another school dance. He is excited.
I have been buried in Christmas cards. I think tomorrow I will be able to put them in the mail. That will be such a relief.
We are all on the count down, the kids get out of school on the 19th and that is my last day at work until the week after Christmas. I am so looking forward to the time off. I take a vacation every Summer but we are out of town. I love this vacation time because I am home, with the kids, slow pace, sleep until I wake, no schedule, no rush rush!!! Did I mention we were counting the days down? Well we are!!
made absolutely no since at all. Boy has it clicked now. For example, my last post was on the first of December. It seems like it was the day before yesterday when I wrote that one.
So what's been going on in the Perkins house? It seems like we are busy all the time, so I should be able to remember right? (I also remember my elders taking about when you get old, you forget things...Hmmmmm)
Last Friday, Sheldon and I both had the day off. We took the kids to breakfast, then to school. We had some errands to run, one being at the mall. We found this awesome sale on men's clothes. Sheldon needed some new things since he was to start his new position in Investigation the following Monday. I will not go into great detail about what all we bought, but when I added the regular (not on sale) prices, it was $1140. I paid $239 for them. I was way excited, as was Sheldon. He almost got a new wardrobe, and a brand new very nice suit.
We went to pick up his take home car over the weekend. It is pretty awesome. It is an Impiala, solid black, with black tint. It looks really sharp. He looked and has looked really handsome everyday as he has left in his dress clothes and tie. He is hot.
Tuesday night Mackenzie had a school performance of a Christmas Play. She did not have a part in the play, but she was one of the singers. I looked at all the kids up there with her. Mackenzie seemed to shine to me, because she is so animated. When she is performing she looks so happy. She seems to thrive on the performing arts.
Chase got his interim reports this week, all A's again. I am so proud of his hard work. Tomorrow night there is another school dance. He is excited.
I have been buried in Christmas cards. I think tomorrow I will be able to put them in the mail. That will be such a relief.
We are all on the count down, the kids get out of school on the 19th and that is my last day at work until the week after Christmas. I am so looking forward to the time off. I take a vacation every Summer but we are out of town. I love this vacation time because I am home, with the kids, slow pace, sleep until I wake, no schedule, no rush rush!!! Did I mention we were counting the days down? Well we are!!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Excitement Starts to Build
Thanksgiving was great here in the Perkins house. We had lots and lots of food. And then lots more. The menu began with a few items, then somehow I cooked this and that, and a little bit of this...it really was out of hand.
We had: Turkey, Ham, Deviled Eggs, Potato Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, Lima Beans, Corn, Turnip Greens, Sweet Potato Casserole, Dressing, Gravy, Squash, Rolls, Peanut Butter Pie, Chocolate Pie, Pumpkin Mousse Pie, and Rice Crispy Treats for the kids.
All this food for...ready? It was for 5 adults, 3 kids. Sheldon was at work, but I did take some food to him and his guys at the Police Department. Can I just say...left overs for days. I am tired of left overs. We had Spaghetti yesterday at D2's for supper. That was the best spaghetti ever, what a different taste than 3 day old turkey.
I shopped all day on Friday. When I say all day, I mean that I left home at 3am, and I returned home at 4pm. I loved it. I love the crowds, I love the fight of the last one, I love getting up and standing in a line at a store that I don't even need anything from, I love spending the day with my sister in law and my niece. I just love it.
I put my tree up on Saturday. This has to be the earliest I have done this in many years. My kids are driving me crazy. I think I liked it better when they could not read the names on the gifts. I put 4 gifts under the tree that have their names on them, Lord Jesus, they have begged and begged to open them now.
I do like the fact that now that we are decorated, it has sparked the excitement of Christmas with them. They are planning where they will sleep Christmas night, they cannot seem to understand why I will not let them sleep on the couch by the tree...(it is hard enough sneaking the gifts in as it is) They are asking what I told Santa to get them, they are revising their list, it is just fun. I like being the mommy and hearing all these excited questions, and remember asking the same things.
I am pretty certain that Chase knows there is no Santa, but he is doing a really good job of playing along. Mac still whole heatedly believes, however, as smart as she is, I would guess this could be our last Christmas with her believing. This makes me sad, but I guess that is just the way it works.
The joy in the kids eyes has to be my favorite part of Christmas!!!
We had: Turkey, Ham, Deviled Eggs, Potato Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, Lima Beans, Corn, Turnip Greens, Sweet Potato Casserole, Dressing, Gravy, Squash, Rolls, Peanut Butter Pie, Chocolate Pie, Pumpkin Mousse Pie, and Rice Crispy Treats for the kids.
All this food for...ready? It was for 5 adults, 3 kids. Sheldon was at work, but I did take some food to him and his guys at the Police Department. Can I just say...left overs for days. I am tired of left overs. We had Spaghetti yesterday at D2's for supper. That was the best spaghetti ever, what a different taste than 3 day old turkey.
I shopped all day on Friday. When I say all day, I mean that I left home at 3am, and I returned home at 4pm. I loved it. I love the crowds, I love the fight of the last one, I love getting up and standing in a line at a store that I don't even need anything from, I love spending the day with my sister in law and my niece. I just love it.
I put my tree up on Saturday. This has to be the earliest I have done this in many years. My kids are driving me crazy. I think I liked it better when they could not read the names on the gifts. I put 4 gifts under the tree that have their names on them, Lord Jesus, they have begged and begged to open them now.
I do like the fact that now that we are decorated, it has sparked the excitement of Christmas with them. They are planning where they will sleep Christmas night, they cannot seem to understand why I will not let them sleep on the couch by the tree...(it is hard enough sneaking the gifts in as it is) They are asking what I told Santa to get them, they are revising their list, it is just fun. I like being the mommy and hearing all these excited questions, and remember asking the same things.
I am pretty certain that Chase knows there is no Santa, but he is doing a really good job of playing along. Mac still whole heatedly believes, however, as smart as she is, I would guess this could be our last Christmas with her believing. This makes me sad, but I guess that is just the way it works.
The joy in the kids eyes has to be my favorite part of Christmas!!!
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