Silence is truly Golden

Well, after all is said and done, I love my family, but sometimes don't realize just how QUIET our house is...even with a toddler, 2 cats, a dog, a husband, and the radio (or XM on the satellite) constantly on...

We spent Christmas Eve day finalizing our gifts, and plotting a course of action for putting together a present from Grandma and Grandpa to Captain Chaos that was shipped to us last week...how nice of them!

We went to Church, and then to my folks' for dinner and fellowship with PreacherMan and his family. After eating way too much food, and sitting around talking over each other and the niece and nephews for a couple hours, we headed home, got Captain Chaos to bed almost at his normal time! The next 45 minutes was spent assembling a darling table and chair set for the boy, and putting out the gifts. We tumbled into bed around 10, which, all things considered was not bad.

Christmas morning dawned gray and dreary with the promise of snow thick in the air. We enjoyed Captain Chaos opening his gifts, and getting completely sidetracked with his new bucket of Legos, and deciding that was all he needed...After breakfast and the Captain's nap, we headed back over to my folks for the present opening with them, and more food. Captain Chaos was totally enamored of his big cousins, and spent most of the day chasing around the remote control Jeep that SuperNephew (the youngest) had received. We convinced him to sit down and eat some food, and then he was off again!

Thankfully, and blessedly, after a loud afternoon and evening, the Captain went to bed without much ado, and slept until after 8 this morning! WOO HOO!!!

His new blocks, puzzles, Legos, and the "Little People Learning Market" are put nicely away at his new table, and he's napping quitely. I've put away the beautiful handmade apron, tote bag, table runner, and napkins that Mom made for me, the gorgeous handmade tablecloth and napkins sent all the way from Ethiopia by the Missionary and his wife to us. I also received the book written by Tony Dungy, and can hardly wait to read it! BB received a giftcard to his favorite woodworking store, an angle gauge (don't ask me what that is, I don't really know!), some great new shirts, several books by his favorite author, Vince Flynn (very cool books BTW), AND only one item needs to be exchanged/returned/swapped out for something else...I bought BB a gorgeous wool Pea Coat that is, unfortunately, the equivalent of one size too small...GRRRRRRR!!!! I also bought him the DVD collection of Firefly (the TV series that spawned the recent flick Serenity), which he loved.

At this moment, I'm sitting quietly on my family room couch, enjoying the silence, broken only by a snoring dog, and a purring cat, and the occasional hum of the furnace turning on. The sun is shining, BB is at my brother's new house helping run new electrical, Captain Chaos still sleeps on, the laundry is done, and I'm putting off the ironing while I debate with myself if I should be sorting out the rest of the baby clothes, or running the vacuum. Somehow, I think that baby clothes will have to win out...followed by the ironing...because even though I know BB will only be working at the office for a few more weeks, I'd rather have it done...besides...he's not here to be "pushed" out of the family room while I iron...hmmmmmmm...

I hope you all enjoyed a very Merry Christmas, and that you made wonderful memories this year!