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Well, the last time I posted was Thanksgiving! I am seriously slacking. My MIL, SIL, and hellions - er - nieces came for Christmas, also. See, shortly after Thanksgiving, SIL decided she'd had enough after her boyfriend (now ex) was supposedly mean to her oldest daughter. So, she moved back in with MIL and left him. At Christmas, things were still chaotic from the move, so we had Xmas dinner here. It was a hectic time, for sure.
Let's see, a Christmas recap. The weekend before Xmas, my parents came out to do Christmas early. They drove out on Thurs., Dec. 18, arriving just after Brenna got home from school. It was her last day before the 2 week break. We had fun. The kids got to open their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Brenna got an outfit to match her AG doll Mia (mom bought her one to match one that Mia already had). Ada got this http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3048742 and loves it. Grant and Brenna like to play with it, too. It has SO many cool options, and you can record into the play Ipod and take it with you. Grant got the GeoAir airplane addition to his GeoTrax set and loved that as well. I got my mom a Garmin Forerunner (it's a gps thingie for runners, well she's a walker). She had been using an internet site to plan out her walks so she got a certain distance in, but that's a PITA. With this thing, she can just go and walk wherever she wants, while it keeps track of her distance, time, and pace. We used it the day after they arrived, as my mom and I went out to do 10 miles to prepare for the half marathon that she'd talked me into. lol The forerunner worked great, and my mom uses it all the time now. My parents left on Monday, Dec. 22.
We went to dh's dad's house (they're divorced and he's remarried) on Christmas Eve. You know, they're not really that interested in us or the kids, and it's kind of sad. It's not that they're older and can't take part in their lives. It's that they're self-centered and involved in their Greyhound rescue dogs and the veterinary clinic (FIL is a vet). Despite the fact that they travel all over the western US and Mexico, they never come to our house to visit - we have to go over there, dragging 3 kids (2 of whom are still small and uncooperative) with us for a 45 minute car trip. They don't even remember the kids' birthdays. Dh will usually call his dad and give them a heads up about birthday parties. So far, in the last couple of years, he's only done something for Brenna. He comes out, takes her out to eat, then takes her to the store to get her something. He's never missed Brenna's birthday. I take it back, he's done this once for Ada (and she was THRILLED). He's never acknowledged Grant's birthday, and he'll be 3 on Easter this year. So I guess all of this is what builds up. I was a little ticked when, after we (okay well I) shopped for them and got them things that I knew they'd like (based on interests and what she collects), they gave us a gift card to Walmart for $100. Okay, don't get me wrong, we could use it, but that's basically $20 per family member, which is less than our budget for them, and also it's not like they tried very hard, KWIM? I could almost understand that the economy has affected them (people don't spend money on pets when times are tight), but before we left, they were showing off their new, 40k plus price tag Ford Expedition, with leather heated/AC seats and an automatic step which is disguised as a body panel. Thing is, I KNOW her kids and her grandkids get better treatment. They always make it a point to not open Xmas gifts, instead she gives out gifts as people are leaving, so that no one sees (we don't even see the wrapped stuff - she smuggles it out as they leave). It's just a bad situation, and I feel like we stick out, because we have young children, while her grandkids are all older teenagers now. His sister doesn't bother going over there for Xmas eve anymore.
Christmas morning was great. We had to wake the kids up at 8am. Dh woke up and said, "It's 8am on Xmas, where are the kids?" lol I think they were worn out from going to his dad's the night before. I also had to give Ada some Benadryl, because being at his house around the dogs (he has 6 or 7 dogs) made her break out into hives. That probably made her more sleepy than usual. The usual tearing into presents ensued. The highlights were more GeoTrax stuff for Grant and one of those Tonka bounce back racers (which we managed to get only by chance - they were hard to find). Brenna and Ada got new, pink cameras - Brenna an 8MP digital (I got it at a Black Friday sale) and Ada got a Fisher Price camera. They got a ton of other stuff and were totally spoiled this year.
Later in the day, my ILs came over, for a continuation of the crap that I had to put up with on Thanksgiving. This time, though, my SIL didn't bring anything (she usually brings sweet potatoes but "didn't have time"), and my MIL brought this HUGE layer cake (OK I had already made 2 pies, and she didn't mention wanting to bring dessert - I'd have skipped one of the pies if I'd known). We were short on veggies, but oh well, that's life with them. Suffice it to say that after they left, the bookshelf in the girl's closet was emptied, the bottom shelf broken, heaps of stuff left on the floor (looked like a tornado - so bad I almost took a picture - and it HAD been all cleaned up). My niece had gotten into a bead set of Brenna's (which my kids know better than to get into without asking) and dumped it on the floor (you know, the little tiny seed type beads). While they were playing outside, my niece completely dumped out the baskets we have for patio toys and filled the baskets with rocks. My other niece told Brenna (because I told her to speak up next time they came over and ask them for help with cleaning up) that she didn't have to clean up. When Brenna told her that it's not nice to go over to people's houses and not help clean up, she answered that some people don't care and she wasn't going to. :0 I was glad when they were gone. We did go out and look at Xmas lights - there's a neighborhood around the corner from us where everyone does cartoon themes - mostly Disney - and puts up hand painted characters in their front yard. One house does "Ice Age" and covers the whole front yard with white sheets and uses a fog machine. So the kids' excitement over their gifts and the lights were the the best part of Xmas, I think.
I'll continue more later. This at least gets me to the end of December. lol
Well, the last time I posted was Thanksgiving! I am seriously slacking. My MIL, SIL, and hellions - er - nieces came for Christmas, also. See, shortly after Thanksgiving, SIL decided she'd had enough after her boyfriend (now ex) was supposedly mean to her oldest daughter. So, she moved back in with MIL and left him. At Christmas, things were still chaotic from the move, so we had Xmas dinner here. It was a hectic time, for sure.
Let's see, a Christmas recap. The weekend before Xmas, my parents came out to do Christmas early. They drove out on Thurs., Dec. 18, arriving just after Brenna got home from school. It was her last day before the 2 week break. We had fun. The kids got to open their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. Brenna got an outfit to match her AG doll Mia (mom bought her one to match one that Mia already had). Ada got this http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3048742 and loves it. Grant and Brenna like to play with it, too. It has SO many cool options, and you can record into the play Ipod and take it with you. Grant got the GeoAir airplane addition to his GeoTrax set and loved that as well. I got my mom a Garmin Forerunner (it's a gps thingie for runners, well she's a walker). She had been using an internet site to plan out her walks so she got a certain distance in, but that's a PITA. With this thing, she can just go and walk wherever she wants, while it keeps track of her distance, time, and pace. We used it the day after they arrived, as my mom and I went out to do 10 miles to prepare for the half marathon that she'd talked me into. lol The forerunner worked great, and my mom uses it all the time now. My parents left on Monday, Dec. 22.
We went to dh's dad's house (they're divorced and he's remarried) on Christmas Eve. You know, they're not really that interested in us or the kids, and it's kind of sad. It's not that they're older and can't take part in their lives. It's that they're self-centered and involved in their Greyhound rescue dogs and the veterinary clinic (FIL is a vet). Despite the fact that they travel all over the western US and Mexico, they never come to our house to visit - we have to go over there, dragging 3 kids (2 of whom are still small and uncooperative) with us for a 45 minute car trip. They don't even remember the kids' birthdays. Dh will usually call his dad and give them a heads up about birthday parties. So far, in the last couple of years, he's only done something for Brenna. He comes out, takes her out to eat, then takes her to the store to get her something. He's never missed Brenna's birthday. I take it back, he's done this once for Ada (and she was THRILLED). He's never acknowledged Grant's birthday, and he'll be 3 on Easter this year. So I guess all of this is what builds up. I was a little ticked when, after we (okay well I) shopped for them and got them things that I knew they'd like (based on interests and what she collects), they gave us a gift card to Walmart for $100. Okay, don't get me wrong, we could use it, but that's basically $20 per family member, which is less than our budget for them, and also it's not like they tried very hard, KWIM? I could almost understand that the economy has affected them (people don't spend money on pets when times are tight), but before we left, they were showing off their new, 40k plus price tag Ford Expedition, with leather heated/AC seats and an automatic step which is disguised as a body panel. Thing is, I KNOW her kids and her grandkids get better treatment. They always make it a point to not open Xmas gifts, instead she gives out gifts as people are leaving, so that no one sees (we don't even see the wrapped stuff - she smuggles it out as they leave). It's just a bad situation, and I feel like we stick out, because we have young children, while her grandkids are all older teenagers now. His sister doesn't bother going over there for Xmas eve anymore.
Christmas morning was great. We had to wake the kids up at 8am. Dh woke up and said, "It's 8am on Xmas, where are the kids?" lol I think they were worn out from going to his dad's the night before. I also had to give Ada some Benadryl, because being at his house around the dogs (he has 6 or 7 dogs) made her break out into hives. That probably made her more sleepy than usual. The usual tearing into presents ensued. The highlights were more GeoTrax stuff for Grant and one of those Tonka bounce back racers (which we managed to get only by chance - they were hard to find). Brenna and Ada got new, pink cameras - Brenna an 8MP digital (I got it at a Black Friday sale) and Ada got a Fisher Price camera. They got a ton of other stuff and were totally spoiled this year.
Later in the day, my ILs came over, for a continuation of the crap that I had to put up with on Thanksgiving. This time, though, my SIL didn't bring anything (she usually brings sweet potatoes but "didn't have time"), and my MIL brought this HUGE layer cake (OK I had already made 2 pies, and she didn't mention wanting to bring dessert - I'd have skipped one of the pies if I'd known). We were short on veggies, but oh well, that's life with them. Suffice it to say that after they left, the bookshelf in the girl's closet was emptied, the bottom shelf broken, heaps of stuff left on the floor (looked like a tornado - so bad I almost took a picture - and it HAD been all cleaned up). My niece had gotten into a bead set of Brenna's (which my kids know better than to get into without asking) and dumped it on the floor (you know, the little tiny seed type beads). While they were playing outside, my niece completely dumped out the baskets we have for patio toys and filled the baskets with rocks. My other niece told Brenna (because I told her to speak up next time they came over and ask them for help with cleaning up) that she didn't have to clean up. When Brenna told her that it's not nice to go over to people's houses and not help clean up, she answered that some people don't care and she wasn't going to. :0 I was glad when they were gone. We did go out and look at Xmas lights - there's a neighborhood around the corner from us where everyone does cartoon themes - mostly Disney - and puts up hand painted characters in their front yard. One house does "Ice Age" and covers the whole front yard with white sheets and uses a fog machine. So the kids' excitement over their gifts and the lights were the the best part of Xmas, I think.
I'll continue more later. This at least gets me to the end of December. lol