Sugar Plums

Going to the Gingerbread Tea at the Fairmont with her friend Kiira was enough to send Claire into a royal tizzy! They looked so adorable and acted so lovely, and both were delighted with the selection of treats and the take-home miniature nutcracker they each received as a gift. Us moms didn't mind the glass of champagne, either...

Ya Got Me!

Where he gets these ideas, I'll never know...

Twinkle, Shimmer, Glimmer, Glow

Even though I was feeling a bit "bah, humbug" this morning, Chloe insisted that we go out in search of our Christmas tree. It was selected in record time this year, partly due to the fact that Claire, Jack, and Wynham were jumping on a trampoline instead of arguing over which tree was THE best.

Of course, as soon as we got it home Chloe disappeared to go bake cookies and everyone else scattered to the four winds while Wynham strung the lights, after which he was not seen again until dinner. I don't mind hanging the ornaments myself; there is literally a world of history on our tree, and the memories come flooding back each year. For a moment, I feel the childlike wonder of my own tender years...

The Best Gifts...

, ...aren't under the tree!

Boxing Day

Never mind the origins of the holiday; Boxing Day at our house is appropriately named because it's the day we start packing up all the Christmas ornaments in a multitude of red and green boxes. It plays out the same way every year: all the decorations are taken off the tree, then spread out on a beach towel on top of the piano, then individually wrapped for safe keeping until next year.

There was a moment of panic today when we couldn't find the miniature penguin ornament; it's one of my favorites and it went over the balcony with the poor bereft tree, but it was safely recovered after a couple of searches of the side yard.

Claire made this charming snowman at school earlier this month and he's sure to become a family favorite, too. I packed him right on top, so he'll be the first one to smile at me when I open that box in 2009.

Visions of Sugarplums

Well, Christmas Eve is finally here and Jack has his spot by the tree all staked out. Even though he has succumbed to sleep, he's not leaving his post. I can assure you, he doesn't want to miss a thing!

Collaborative Cookies

What was I saying about luster dust? We ended up using ample quantities of it. I worked on cookies for 14 hours straight, with lots of help. Leslie made dough; Deb and Heather rolled it; Claire, Jack, Aidan, Elena and Garth decorated; I botched another batch of royal icing. My pecan snowballs turned out more like pecan pancakes. But everyone had a great time, and no one seemed to mind my lack of organization or skill. Jack won the prize for most dough -- and most cookies -- eaten during the festivities. Anyone who wants one, come on over quick; I can guarantee you with my crowd, they won't last long.

Deck the Halls

At our house, trimming the tree never works out anything like it does in the movies, with everyone singing carols and drinking mulled cider and looking happy to be with each other. It's usually considered a Christmas Miracle if no ornaments get hurled and no one gets impaled as we try to right the tree. Just choosing the darn thing is a comedy of errors: too short, too skinny, too wide on top, a gaping hole on one side -- nobody can agree, but a tree is finally chosen through attrition of the people who just want to get home and out of the dark and cold.

I steel James' nerves for the lighting of the tree with a small serving of brandy-fortified eggnog. It doesn't do the trick. Jack, still toting his Spiderman Halloween costume embellished with some Elton-John-worthy star-shaped sunglasses, decides to run over all the strings of lights (which James has carefully laid out down the hallway) on his bike without pedals. James puts them on the tree anyway, but half of them don't work. "Grandfather will never approve," he sighs (Note to self: never regale husband with tales of your grandfather's legendary ability to string a perfect tree...).

He's too defeated to hang any ornaments, the little ones are watching Rudolph, Wynham just wants to know the football scores, and Chloe is out at a party, anyway. But Claire wakes up at 6am, and we quietly unwrap a few tissue-encased ornaments and watch a family history unfold: the glass pine cones my grandparents bought in Germany, the unusually-shaped rare ornaments they brought back from Japan, the hand-decorated eggs I bought in Prague, "1st Christmas" milestone ornaments for each of the kids, the exquisite ornaments my mother always sent us, all the children's handmade treasures from over the years: they are all old friends. Come on by; I'll introduce you...

Scary, Scary, Scary Christmas

(sung to the tune of Carol of the Bells)

Hark! How the bells,
Screeches and yells,
Ring through the room;
What just went “BOOM”?

Christmas is here,
bring me more beer
‘Til I have drowned
Out all the sound.

Chloé’s the worst,
My eardrums burst.
“Look at my hair!
What will I wear?”

Wynham's berserk
How can I work?
Presents to wrap;
I'm gonna snap.

Jack and Claire squeal;
What is the deal?
They're so wound up
They want a pup.

Ding, dong, ding, dong,
That is their song
On without end
I’m ‘round the bend

Scary, Scary, Scary, Scary Christmas
Scary, Scary, Scary, Scary Christmas

Poor inner ear,
Gone by next year.
All of the noise –
My Christmas Joys!

Ding, dong, ding… dong!