The kids were awake by 630 watching TV in the bonus room, so Brian went down to the Merc to pick up Sue and Mary while I made a big pot of coffee. When they returned Brian got the kids together at the top of the stairs, made them close their eyes, and led the procession into our living room. The biggest hit of the day (from Santa) was our new friend, Cookie. Faith thought it was just an empty cage at first, as the guinea pig was of course terrified of the commotion, but once she saw that it was a REAL, LIVE animal, she couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. She met him and instantly named him. They bonded while the boys checked out their gifts from Santa- a huge Star Wars lego set for Tanner and a EZRider for Jake. We took our time on stockings and by the end of the socks were surrounded by candy, small toys, coffee mugs, cozy socks, and SB cards. No one was ready for breakfast yet so we had Faith flip the quarter at the tree to determine the first present to open. We stuck mostly with the Simonich method of Christmas morning, starting with that first random present and then letting the person that opened the present pick the next one (no peeking at who it is for!).
Halfway through presents we stopped to make a big breakfast- bacon, pancakes, sausage, and cheesy eggs.Brian also took the time during our present opening hiatus to take the quarter used for choosing the first present, drilling a hole in it, and turning it into an ornament for the tree for many years to come. Mary, Sue and I downed more coffee while the boys sipped on their Monster energy drink (a once in a lifetime gift from Santa!). Oh, yeah... and Tanner finished off a giant sized box of Mike and Ikes without us realizing it. Oh, we were in for a huge crash later!
When Jake opened his gift from us- two tix to a Giants game in July for Brian and him- Tanner’s face fell, thinking he wouldn’t get to go since it was only 2 tix. So we bent the “order of presents” rules (see “Simonich method” above) and let Tanner open his present from us next: two tix to a Yankees game in Seattle in June for Brian and him. That kid is a huge Yankees fan and he was pretty excited. Faith wanted Lego Friends, Beados, and Glitzy Globes and she was not disappointed. Of course, for her, Cookie was the best present ever!
Brian and Faith spent some time bonding with Cookie, setting up her cage and supplies- in Faith’s room- and Faith read from the “How to Care for a Guinea Pig” book. At one point as I was doing dishes and everyone was sitting around the living room doing their own thing, Faith piped up, “Mom, what does A-N-U-S spell??”. That got a pretty good laugh and another giggle was provided when a few minutes later she turned to Auntie Sue and said, “What’s “inbreeding” mean?”. Yep, this guinea pig is an education for my little girl!
We got a really fun game called “The Logo Game” from the Crebars and we spent some time playing that, but most of our day was spent listening to Apple Radio on the Tom T. Hall station and playing round after round of SkipBo with Grandma Mary and Auntie Sue. The kids would come play a round, then go upstairs and play with their toys or Cookie, then come back and join us for awhile. I think all in all we spent 5 solid hours in this manner. It was kind of idyllic. No fancy dinner for u (I hope Auntie Sue and Mary will forgive us this breach of Simonich tradition but there was nary a turkey or ham to be seen and no mashed potatoes or stuffing). Brian’s request was hot pastrami sandwiches, so we took a break from cards to make a fast and easy dinner for the 7 of us.
It was really a great holiday. We were so blessed to get to include Auntie Sue in this special season and I think she really enjoyed being a part of our craziness and also seeing the Simonich tradition live on in her nephew’s house. Grandma Mary taught the kids to knit and played countless games of cards with the kids. There was shopping and coffee and baking and chez mix and games and chaos and a whole lot of love. Merry Christmas 2015!
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