Christmas: Chipmunks & the Gingerbread Family

With four sets of parents living in different locations, holidays are tricky. We have been on a four year rotation. This was our year to stay home. It worked out for the best as the stress of preparing for my Zumba evaluation crippled my immune system and left me defenseless against the seasonal cold. By Christmas Eve, my voice was completely gone, allowing me to experience a truly "silent night." Thanks Rich for making all the holiday calls for us.

The morning of Christmas Eve, we accompanied Uncle Mort, Aunt Lacie and the cousins to the matinee showing of The Chipmunks II: the Squeakquel. Good recommendation Molly! It did not disappoint. It was a blissful moment listening to Rocky's constant giggles and seeing Jack mesmerized by his first big-screen movie. I've never seen him so still, only moving every 10 minutes or so to rotate between Aunt Lacie's lap and mine. We completed the experience with a trip to the theatre arcade to pretend to play the games. How long can we make this last until the kids will actually require quarters to be entertained?

Then we spent a quiet Christmas Eve at home with just the kids, for the first time. Unsure of how to proceed during this precedent event, we were relieved when my friend Jennifer showed up with a family of gingerbread cookies that bore a striking resemblance to us. An hour of playing ensued as we danced and marched our tiny Sorensons around the table, dipped them in milk and utilized every movie quote that could apply such as, "It's just a flesh wound"..."I'll bite your legs off".. and "Not my gumdrop buttons!" David threw in a few of his own and Jack growled and gave a commendable impersonation of the Cookie Monster as he devoured tiny ginger Jack. David, disturbingly, insisted on dismembering and consuming the Momma cookie.... maybe it's just because it had the most frosting... yeah... I'll go with that. Like the family parades we are known for, this will be another Sorenson tradition from now on.

The kids opened their matching Spiderman jammies, pranced and hopped in a spider-like fashion around the living room then were herded to bed... early! Merry Christmas us!

Christmas morning was perfect! Their reactions to Santa's deliveries were priceless! Jack headed straight for the miniature drum-set ($20 at Walmart!), sat and began drumming like a little dilettante. Our family band is on its way! Every gift that Rocky received was followed by exclamations of gratitude and, "This is EXACTLY what I wanted! This is the best Christmas ever!" Jack reacted to his gifts with giant grins, exuberant pointing, unintelligible excited babbling and a chorus of "Ooooh's!" Rich and I couldn't have been more pleased with our kids. They really made Christmas special this year. I wish we could freeze their current ages forever. I love this stage! Jack's favorite gift was his puppy Scout that was programmed to say, "Hi Jack," play music and teach him things. By far the most amazing toy I've seen and only $15 from Amazon! Santa found amazing deals this year. I recommend this for any puppy-loving toddler. Jack immediately embraced it with unparalleled joy, rolling around the floor with him and saying, "Ahhh..." lovingly. He takes his puppy everywhere. Scout sings lullaby's to him every night, and we know when Jack is up in the morning when we hear his puppy barking and laughing with him. What an incredible toy.

We joined Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick on Christmas morning for their traditional fried mush and bacon. Then we returned that evening for a Sorenson family Christmas dinner. Then I collapsed in illness for the remainder of the weekend grateful that the kids had new toys to keep them occupied. David made sure Froggy was included in the festivities and helped him open the toy bins he had placed under the tree for him. David expressed confusion as to why no one else gave anything to Froggy but was placated by our assurance that his contributions were enough to make Froggy very happy.

Happy New Year everybody!!!