Stories from Christmas 2008

I've been so busy that I have not had a chance to post about how great Christmas was!

We have this "tradition" in our family of wrapping gifts in a unique way. We make the receiver work to get their gift! Multiple boxes, layers of wrapping paper and other tricks are always fun!

This year my little brother was the recepient of a treasure box from my brother Pete and his girlfriend Debbie. They created this huge treasure chest out of cardboard boxes and duct tape. Inside the box was various boxes , crumpled up paper and lots of chocolate and other hidden "gems". The theme was "Legend of Zelda", my little brother's favorite video game. My brother Pete had sound effects the treasure chest too. He had the sounds choreagraphed for each box or layer.

We laughed as my brother went through each layer of paper and each box. The boxes either had chocolate or Little Debbie Christmas Tree cakes. He finally got down to a tiny ring box. He opened it to find a lone hershey's kiss. The little paper sticking out of the kiss said "failure"

So finally after his "failure" my brother hands him another box. It's smaller but as he starts opening it he finds more boxes. Finally he got to his gift and it was some flute from the video game. We were all tired after watching him go through all that to get his present but it was worth all the laughs.

We also did something similar for my Mom's gift. But her gift was more sentimental. We put together 6 boxes inside of a bigger box. Five of the boxes represented each of my siblings and the last box was the gift. We had her open the boxes in birth order.

Each of the five boxes had a momento and personal note from each of us. Each box was individually wrapped so Mom had to work to get her gift too! My box had an old ring and a little something of each of my kiddies. These things represented the fun times we had in the past and the Mom I had become because of her :)

We all cried as my Mom went through all the boxes and read all the notes aloud.

Finally she got to box six, the gift box. Inside she found something that she had been asking us to get her for years... A Mother's Ring. Her face was priceless and she cried some more. She actually took off her wedding ring and replaced it with the Mother's ring! My Dad laughed and took her wedding ring to replace his lost one.

I wish I had pictures but I do have a video of my Mom opening her gift. I'm just waiting for my Dad to upload it to the computer and send it to me. Once he does that I will post it up!

Preparing for a New Year

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I am excited about 2009. A new year always marks the possibility of change and new beginnings.

ISome things I am doing to start the new year:

1. I finally cleaned out my 2 e-mail inboxes!!! I had over 5,000 e-mails in my gmail account!!!
2. We went through all the toys and threw out everything that was broken or not used anymore. I would have donated some of the stuff but Julia's toys were not in great condition!
3. I started studying for the test to get myself certified to teach in NYC. I minored in English Education when I went to college as a back up and now I need to use my back up!
4. Making a plan to lose weight after the holidays. I need to get serious. I gained back all the weight that I had lost and I have to get control of my yo-yoing weight! 2009 is my year to lose the weight and keep it off!


My list is short but I'm sure there will be more to add in the coming weeks and months! What are your plans to start out the new year???

I wish everyone a Glorious, Prosperous and Happy New Year!

God Bless!!!