Like a Fiddler On a Roof!

So, now that Christmas is long gone, one would think that the busyness of my life would have gone along with it (hence the lack of posts as of late). Because I’m usually busy, but you take busy and add, like, 20 million more things to The Busy, and…well, you get the general idea of how the end of 2010 went for me. (And for some reason the fun hasn’t stopped. I need a remote, like Adam Sandler in the movie "Click".  But I think I’d perpetually have it in the pause mode, so maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea.)

Anyway, Christmas was awesome. It always is. But you know how I was whining about how we don’t have any traditions? Well, after I thought about it, I realized that we really do. And we added a few more this year. Wanna hear about it? (YES, Nat! PLEASE fill us in on what happened 3 1/2 weeks ago! We’re on the edge of our seats with anticipation!!!!)

Tradition 1 (old, but tweaked to be new): For FHE after Thanksgiving, we set up the Christmas tree. Usually I decorate it by myself, and try to have the breakable ornaments at the top. I also try to get the ribbon just right, and have all the ornaments all spaced evenly. But by the time Christmas rolls around three weeks later, all the ornaments have been moved (thanks to my kids) and the ribbon has been pulled down (thanks to my cat). So this year I had the kids help me, but we ended up with about 42 ornaments on a single bough. Oh well. They had a blast decorating, and that’s what matters, right?

Tradition 2 (new tradition): In Pete’s family, I guess they drew names amongst the siblings when they were younger, and then exchanged those gifts on Christmas Eve. They still did the everyone open stuff all at once thing, though. So I told Pete that Christmas morning we can have the kids open things all at once, but on Christmas Eve the kids were going to take turns. This is the first year I’ve had the kids draw names and get gifts for each other. So they took turns, and it was really great because they got to see the gifts that they got for each other. They were all, “Thanks, Brock!”, or whoever gave the gift. I loved that part of opening gifts when I was younger-seeing the person’s reaction to what I got for them.

They all did a great job picking gifts out for each other-I only helped Ivy with the selection.  Jakob got a Bumblebee from Brock, Brock got an Ironman from Ivy, Troy got a Batwing from Jake, and Ivy got a Rapunzel barbie from Troy.

Tradition 3 (oldie but goodie): Early Christmas Eve evening, we did luminaires. Which, I guess they’re called “luminaries”, but I think that sounds weird. We also ended up doing them over at my parents’ house as well. I think it looks really cool when they’re all lit up. I didn’t get a picture of it, though, because it doesn’t show up very well in a picture. My whole neighborhood did luminaries growing up, and it looks SO cool.

Tradition 4 (another golden oldie): We went over to my parents’ house and ate a very yummy dinner. And then we had a little Christmas program, where we sing songs, and read stories, etc.

That night I took a video of Jake playing the piano, but I held it sideways, thinking that there was some button I could push to make it be upright, but apparently not. So sideways it is, and I know better for next time around. I’ve been teaching Jake piano this year, and he is doing so well at it.  (I tried to upload the video of Jake playing the piano 4 times, and for some reason it won't do it.  So tilt your head to the left and pretend you're watching Jake play "Jingle Bells" and "Silent Night".)

Tradition 5 (a yummy oldie): For Christmas morning, I made butterscotch rolls. They are called different things by different people-I’ve heard Sweet Rolls, and Monkey Bread, and Breakfast Rolls, but to me Butterscotch Rolls is the most descriptive. (My kids say “butter-squotch”. Super cute.) What was that? You say you want the recipe? Happy to oblige:

BUTTERSCOTCH ROLLS

Place about 12-15 frozen Rhoades rolls in the bottom of a greased bundt pan. Melt ½ cup (one cube) butter and pour over the rolls. Sprinkle one 3.5-oz. package of Cook N’ Serve (NOT instant) butterscotch pudding on top, along with ½ cup packed brown sugar. Add nuts if desired. Let it sit overnight with greased Saran Wrap on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes with a piece of foil loosely on top.

Like I said before, we had a great Christmas. Jake got a Robot Cop:

Brock got a Megatron and a new Woody from Toy Story:

Troy got a Batcave:

Ivy got a “Tih-chin”, or a kitchen:

We all got movies, too:

And, the grand finale, from my parents-a Wii! We bought Dr. Mario for it, and I totally got my mad skills back. (Can we say Level 20 on Hi? That's right, baby.)

So, like I said, Christmas was great. Add to it the elementary school program, my piano students’ recital, and doing Brock’s school party (where we did the star thing like in Jake's kindergarten class), and you get why I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

The week after Christmas was a lot more relaxed. Though, that’s when I started potty training Ivy. That story coming soon to a blog near you. Meaning this blog.