Christmas?! What? Where?!

Whew! This has been a whirlwind of a week as I'm sure it has for everyone- Christmas isn't supposed to be over that fast; it just isn't fair!
So here are some tidbits:

Kids went to work with Mr. FixIt on Tuesday and I did some shopping for a few last-minute items and wrapped a bunch of stuff. Mission accomplished!! One item of the Race to Christmas arrived-Mr. FixIt's Sansa Fuze!

Christmas Eve day was a bit nutty with kids anxious for night to arrive. A beautiful arrangement of white and red Christmas tulips were delivered ~coincidentally, a hem~ as Mr. FixIt walked out the door with Monster Man for an "errand." I almost cried. Joking around that morning, I'd called him a shithead, and even though it was in joking and he knew it...and he DID deserve it, lol, I texted him to apologize. Items 2, 3 and 4 of aforementioned race arrived via USPS- WHEW!! We made some Christmas cookies that evening and checked the NORAD Santa Tracker online during commercials of the Christmas Story movie on TBS Christmas Eve...kids were running off to bed just before 10 pm as Santa was visiting Argentina and heading north! Man I love Santa Tracker! :-D

Kids did NOT sleep in Christmas morning. Yes, my kids are weird and most Christmas mornings they are not out of bed until Mr. FixIt has already made breakfast sausage croissants for he and I to enjoy with some java before the kids stumble upon Christmas morning excitement. This year, both kids were in our room at 6, cajoling us out of bed and down the stairs. I wish I'd had the camera or camcorder ready because Monster Man was hysterical, squealing with delight and announcing what he was finding around the tree. "I got a Hot Wheels Shark Park!! YEEESSSS! I got a Shark Park!!" Repeat that screaming phrase for every Santa item under the tree, lol. The rest of Christmas Day was very relaxing with movies, games, naps and yummy ham for dinner Mr. FixIt made. Mashed potatoes and noodles of course were present. Mr. FixIt was shocked and very excited about his mp3 player! Yes!

Friday started off with me outside doing the lovely chore of poop scoop duty when Monster Man comes running out to me in 20-degree weather in only his PJs and snow boots on saying, "That thing on the wall upstairs is going BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" WHAT??!! Off I run back to the house, dogs chasing me trying to knock me down thinking I'm playing- nice. My kids are gonna die some horrible death because the 60-pound pup has me pinned in the yard and the grouchy old dog won't let her up off of me because he wants to protect me from her! Jeesh!!! I get the dogs to back off so I can get in the house while I'm grilling Monster Man about smoke, flames, etc, to which he thankfully denies. It wasn't the smoke alarm but the carbon monoxide detector screaming- SHIT! I drug the thankfully still breathing Miss B out of bed who did NOT hear the alarm, started to open up the house, then run to inspect the basement. Furnace was running (only 2 years old) and I just ran past the vents on the side of the house and noticed normal steam/air so it was venting properly, but I clicked it off just in case. Hot water tank not running- check. Dryer not on- check. Neither fireplace or wood burning stove had been used for almost a week. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is going on??? (Thanks, Mon, I stil love that!) The battery had just been changed in the detector but just in case, I swapped it with another one and it's still wailing...until I walk by the open front door where fresh air is moving in and it quits squalling. NOT cool! Call Mr. FixIt to explain the situation while kids are getting dressed "on the double." Send kids to the truck, close house back up, toss dogs outside, run to hardware store to buy two new CO detectors (for $60 bucks), get those bad boys home and working- both gave the "all clear." YAY!! Whew! Apparently 5-year warranty on a CO detector means nothing. Mr. FixIt and I considered the one screaming at me, though only two years old, toast.
The rest of Friday morning was spent scrambling like a mad person to somewhat straighten "Christmas" that was strung throughout the downstairs, vac the house, fold some laundry and B helped me clean bathrooms and mop. Mr. FixIt came home early from work and fixed the chain gang starving kids some lunch. His family arrived just after 2 as I had just finished a shower and was slapping some makeup on. By the skin of my teeth as usual, I know no other way!!

Mr. FixIt's family brought a family gift for us all- Wii!! Woohoo!! I'm still amazed at the stuff this little box can do. I'll post more on that later. So a hysterical afternoon was had by all as "Wii" (sorry couldn't resist) played and cracked up over sports games, only stopping to eat dinner. What fun!!

Saturday Mr. FixIt went hunting for the weekend. Neighbor kids came over and back and forth, playing most all day, mostly with the Wii, until we Moms declared something had to be done for dinner, and it was time for all to go home. Oh and the temp outside was 65....SIXTY-FIVE?? No complaints from me!!

Well, the temps are back to normal figid levels now. The kids are still happily playing with Christmas gifts while I have the wearable items working through the washer and dryer right now. Mr. FixIt came home last night with another nice big doe to process, so we'll be doing that tonight.

Wow--that recap ended up being pretty long in the tooth, hehehe. Hope your holiday was just a crazy and eventful..well without the carbon monoxide scare! :-D