{"id":5684,"date":"2009-12-25T17:18:04","date_gmt":"2009-12-26T00:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/?p=5684"},"modified":"2009-12-25T22:35:13","modified_gmt":"2009-12-26T05:35:13","slug":"unbridled-avarice-but-done-relatively-neatly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/2009\/12\/25\/unbridled-avarice-but-done-relatively-neatly\/","title":{"rendered":"Unbridled avarice… but done relatively neatly."},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow. We told the kids that they could not dive into the holiday bounty until we gave the go ahead… and they listened.<\/p>\n

(Please forgive the unfinished touches of the room. Have a mentioned that we’re in year 5 of renovation on our 100+ year old house… wait, I have? Well, don’t I get to use that excuse for at least a decade or so? Or at least get some reprieve because it’s Christmas?)<\/p>\n

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\n\"xmasday
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Paul and I were exhausted. Presents had been stock-piled far away from child eyes for weeks — Will has developed an “exploration” habit — because we couldn’t risk a security breach. So, it was a last minute effort to pull it all together. The effort would have come off without a hitch, had Kate’s tea cart come with both a right side and a left side. Instead, it was equipped with two left sides and a nice note on the receipt asking buyers to please return the items by December 15th if there were problems. The item? It’s no longer available on the seller’s website. <\/p>\n

This is yet another reason why doing Christmas shopping early is SO OVER-RATED. Next year, I am totally waiting until the last minute.<\/p>\n

Here’s another behavioral surprise for the day: the kids also took turns giving out gifts and watching others open them. (With constant reminders, but still.) <\/p>\n

I did manage a few surprises for Paul, despite his finding out about his Very Special Surprise, which I had worked for months to acquire. (By months, I mean reading a few internet articles and wiki forums.) So when he opened the awesome astronomy binoculars I researched and planned for, he was underwhelmed. <\/p>\n

Wait. Why did I work so hard for weeks in advance?<\/p>\n

BUT. I did surprise him with this little cutie. A piece by a local folk artist:<\/p>\n

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\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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It says:<\/p>\n

“I loves you once
\nI loves you twice
\nI loves you more than
\nbeans and rice”
\n<\/a>
\nYea, you rite!<\/em>
\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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Kate loved her surprises. A Belle dress from Will, dress-up box and Fancy-Nancy book from Nana, princess puzzle & bracelet from friends Dave, Shelly & Zoe, cute socks from Aunt Deb & Uncle Gary, games from Uncle Skip & Aunt Emily, toys from cousins Brayden & Maggie…. and CINDERELLA’S CASTLE from Santa.<\/p>\n

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\n

<\/p>\n

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\"xmasday
\n<\/center>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

At it’s opening, I was expecting an ear-splitting scream, followed by a fainting episode. This didn’t quite happen, though she was definitely excited. Who wouldn’t be? The castle lights up. And plays music. <\/p>\n

Really, we were all enthralled.<\/p>\n

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\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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Will’s interest in it was a bit different. He was looking closely for things to push later on, for the purposes of driving his sister crazy. A skill he is VERY adept at using.<\/p>\n

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\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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Also? There were one of a kind hand-made gifts!<\/p>\n

Nana made a BEAUTIFUL matching sweater and hat!<\/p>\n

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\n<\/a><\/p>\n

\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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Gwen made felt SUPERHERO capes!<\/p>\n

Super Will…. with his pants unbuttoned.
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\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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And Super Kate, too.<\/p>\n

\"xmasday<\/p>\n

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HAPPY HOLIDAYS!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow. We told the kids that they could not dive into the holiday bounty until we gave the go ahead… and they listened. (Please forgive the unfinished touches of the room. Have a mentioned that we’re in year 5 of renovation on our 100+ year old house… wait, I have? Well, don’t I get to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51,85,109],"tags":[127],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5684"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5684"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5700,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5684\/revisions\/5700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.coldspaghetti.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}