Merry Christmas! The final frontier & how Noah broke my nose

The final ho ho ho...

After we left my uncle's house, we drove to my mom & dad's house to spend the night. Poor Noah was BEAT. He only caught a 45-minute nap on the way to my uncle's that morning, so he was asleep in the car about 1 minute into the ride. When we got to my mom's, all three of us dozed on the couch for a half-hour until the rest of my family showed up. Noah didn't even make a peep when I put him down for the night at 7:30 (earlier than usual).

Once all the kids were in bed, the adults decided to play a game of Harry Potter Clue. It's just like the old-school version you know and love (room, murderer, weapon), but this time you're playing as Harry, Ron, Hermione, etc., and your suspects are Peter Pettigrew using the portkey in the Potions room. It was a refreshing twist to one of my favorite board games, and we all howled our way through the game to Jen's ultimate victory. I have to admit, that's one of the things I look forward to every Christmas; my family always gets out several games to play with one another. It's such a simple way to have a great time.

The next day was Saturday, Dec. 27, and it marked the final Christmas event for my little family at least. My son gave me the very best present—he slept until 9:20 (me too!!!). David slept downstairs both nights we were at my mom's because he was a coughing mess. He knew he would wake up Noah if we all slept in the same room, so he crashed on the couch.

Evan & Grandma work on rolling out sugar cookies. Evan chose a Shamrock cutter, which made Aunt Tif laugh.

After breakfast, my mom whipped up a batch of sugar cookies. We have a decades-old tradition of frosting dozens and dozens of sugar cookies each year, although mom's recruits are getting sparse.

Auntie Jen & Noah work together on some cookies.

In recent years, the younger boys liked to frost, but they've come to find their Nintendos more exciting now. So my sister, Jen, my SIL, Anita and I did most of the work. Evs helped a little here and there, and Adam joined in later. Noah even took a turn on Auntie Jen's lap. His idea of frosting mostly included shaking the decorating balls out of the container, but it was the thought that counts.

Uncle Jeff arrives, much to Noah's delight.

At 11:30 or so, my brother's family showed up, and the final round of present-opening began.

McCamey hangin' with Auntie Tif

Again, kids first, and again, Noah could have cared less. He did enjoy the presents, but he would have been just as happy wandering around the house exploring. Maybe next year...


Evs, however, loves to open presents. Here he is showing us his Batman muscles in his new suit.


Tim & my dad modeled their new winter hats... one will be used to run in, and one will be used for golfing. Can you guess which is which?


After Jeff opened a new Browns jersey as a gift (two of them, actually), Emily whisked away McCamey for an outfit change. Then they both emerged in matching Browns gear, a moment that boasted more "Oh, look at that!" comments than I've heard in a long time. A rather lengthy photo opp ensued as we all couldn't get enough of the getups (and McCamey's chubber legs... so sweet!).

Evan, Jen & Chris get close while they open their piles of presents.

And before I knew it, it was all over—five Christmas events later. :)

Uncle David wrestles with the boys.

That day turned out to be far too exciting for Noah. We couldn't try, suggest, bribe or beg our way into getting him to lay down for a nap. So at 7:00, I decided it was time for him to turn in. We spent a very long hour—far different from his usual easy routine—trying to convince Noah that he was tired and that he could sleep in Grandma's crib (that he had no trouble dozing in the night prior).

At one point, I had him on my lap and he flung back toward me in his usual goofing off manner. But this time, the back of his head connected with my face, and my nose literally CRUNCHED under the force. I swear I saw white lights explode behind my eyes, and I let out a loud "OH!" at the impact. I handed off Noah to David to collect myself. Remarkably, my nose did not bleed. Once I could convince Noah that mommy was okay (he was hysterical knowing that I was hurt, which is pretty darn sweet when you think about it), I jogged downstairs to check out my face and get some ice.

I walked down the stairs and announced to my mom, Anita and boys that Noah had broken my nose. I could feel a new flat spot on my nose that wasn't there before (and those of you that know me well know that I have a nose with character and plenty of bumps). My mom said you could plainly see the flat spot too, and that I'd better ice it right away.

That ice must have done something right, because it made the pain feel considerably better (that and some pain killers), and it seemed to help the swelling too. I was very pleased that I never developed black eyes from the bump... that sort of injury always draws plenty of unwanted attention. (Note: two days later, my nose is still swollen, so I don't yet know if I'll still have a flat spot. I've come to the conclusion that Noah must have cracked some cartilage but not done any permanent damage... I hope.)

Later that night, we all watched Wall-E, and I was smitten from the first moment. What a great movie! You can be sure I'll be adding it to our collection very soon. And it was especially entertaining to watch it in a room full of kids. They were giggling and repeating every line. It was nice to know that even almost-10-year-olds could still enjoy an old-fashioned cartoon.

The next day, Sunday, zoomed by. There was church in the morning, then we loaded up our car, weighed down with bags of presents, and drove back to the Mount.

It's taken me two days to unload the car, organize the presents, take out the trash, etc., but I have the rest of the week off to get myself back in order. I'm loving the time off, and I'm already looking forward to the final hoorah—New Year's Day dinner—before I have to go back to the real world.

To all of you: I hope you have had/will have a wonderful holiday!