when I was a kid, I remember wanting the Junior Girl Scout doll from the GS catalog, a giant stuffed Pink Panther at Trenton, & The Sunshine Family for Xmas. my kids have asked for various toys, movies, cds, clothes, games, & book series over the years. this year Katie wanted WiiCheer2 & Bratz dolls. KJ wanted the new Smackdown vs. Raw game. Kevin got a new Chiefs hoody & deb got a bag full of dvds.
when I was a kid, we opened our gifts on xmas eve, after milking & supper, because we had to milk early & head to Grandma Grace & Grandpa Vermals in Trenton xmas a.m. for mom's family xmas.
we saw Santa at church xmas programs at Half Rock. he'd bring every kid a gift & we'd have gift exchanges.
my kids have participated in church xmas programs sporadically over the years. right now we dont' attend church much.
santa always left the Axsom kids a thank you note for his fudge & coffee.
I didn't even put out Santa snacks this year,,,,the last few times we did, KJ ate them. KAtie requested I put the stockings out this year & she stuffed them. koren couldn't wait to tell kj that santa wasn't real, he couldn't wait to tell katie, & katie has no one to tell until she becomes an aunt!
back when we lived away, had to plan our little xmas with our kids around visits back home to family & our service industry jobs...so we opened our gifts anywhere from Dec. 21 on when we had a few minutes. spending holidays back homemeant spending the nite at my father in laws, so had to pack clothes, diaper bags, blankies, huggies, plus the Santa snack & stocking stuff. what a royal pain in the keester. now that we're back home we mainly stick to ourselves, inviting my parents over for supper when we're in the mood, but mainly hanging close to home for our holidays.
this was the first christmas koren couldn't come home...had an ice storm, & blowing blizzard conditions, so her & cody spent their first married xmas home with Lola & Watson in their cozy duplex. I bet they had a blast! I miss her, but I'm glad they got to have a low key day with the 2 of them, no long car rides, luggage, etc.
korens first xmas we were poor as church mice, we went to the new bethany walmart to get her a gift. he wanted the pink teddy bear with the ice cream cone that played music. i wanted the elephant with the huge rainbow ears. we couldn't afford both. he wiggled the toys in front of baby koren, she picked the bear. we went thru hardee's drivethru on the way home & split an order of fries with our change.
kj got a power ranger saba sword when he was 2. i'd forgotten the batteries, so drove around albany & found a gas station open & paid a fortune for batteries. he was SO happy!
when katie was still small enough I rocked her to sleep (& why I did this with 3 kids & never learned my lesson I still don't know!) she went to bed waaay early so I put out the santa stuff. she woke up about bedtime & was craning her neck to see why I wouldn't let her look over by the stockings. kj of course knew why...
I used to pose the kids by the tree before the school xmas concert...& make them listen to xmas stories...I made koren read them katie's first xmas while I took pics of them...I made it a point to watch every xmas special....this year can't even find the classic cartoons dvd set I bought a few years ago ...or the vhs OR dvd of my fave xmas movie National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. we did make cookies for the Girl Scout Xmas party, but that was our holiday baking, with the exception of pumpkin pies for thanksgiving & xmas. koren made xmas candy, but it is at her house.
over the years we have cut different holiday deals in the barn, I was supposed to have the morning off this year, got a call at 6:53 from the guy who was supposed to do a.m. shift, he was stuck in a snowdrift, so I got kevin up, he cleaned ice off the truck, & I went to work, where we found the office door frozen shut so kevin had to break in thru the barn while I walked risers 45 minutes late. also had a frozen broken water line in hallway & the boar kept opening gates while I was breeding. kevin had xmas eve off but had to go back tonite.
so, merry freaking christmas to us. and may god bless us everyone!
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