Welcome to Christmas, Observed (Wisconsin)! We put on such a convincing act around here that it felt odd not to be calling the rest of our families to wish them a merry Christmas. Sam woke us bright and early this morning ("Wake up, Daddy! It's Christmas time! The moon and stars are not out! Wake up!"). Well, he woke Eric and Gabe; I, who had slept horribly from two o'clock onward, was already awake. Anyway the cookies for Santa and the carrot for the reindeer were gone; it was obviously time to party!

Sam, predictably, was the big winner, with his whiteboard/blackboard easel, tow truck, school bus, books, Legos, clothing, and remote controlled train set. My grandmother also got him a marshmallow shooter that he can't use, as he can't blow hard enough; my parents got him a bucket of cotton candy that may swiftly disappear to be doled out in more reasonable portions. Of it all, the train set is beyond doubt the champion of the day; Mom and Dad got him a base set of track, and we supplemented with a couple of boxes of additional track pieces. He's in "conductor heaven."

Gabe is resplendent in his new shoes, and he's been snuggling a little with his bear blanket (in the pictures at the side). Beyond that, he's blissfully oblivious to the events surrounding him and the small pile of toys and clothing that were labelled as his. Eric lucked into a large assortment of cooking-related items, including a new rolling pin, a stick blender, a cast-iron Dutch oven, and other things; he also got a new pool cue, which he wants to take out and try later today. I got, among other things, a few shirts, a beautiful blue and white teapot, some candles, some Philosophy body washes, and all four volumes of Pretear on DVD. We all had a pretty good Christmas, as far as gifts were concerned, I think.

I don't think we're going to get to do much of anything else, though. It was hard enough to drag Sam away from his trains long enough to feed him lunch. Go out to see Christmas lights? Are you kidding? I had to bribe him with the idea of no nap today just to get him to eat a little. He'll be driving those trains until either the batteries or his eyelids give out. Gabe's sitting sideways on my lap as I type, watching Sam intently and waving his arms and legs in silent desire. He looks like he'd give just about anything to be down there on the floor with him right now, making fun sounds and pushing cars about.

Tomorrow there will be more playing, along with some packing. The next day, at around one in the afternoon, we'll hop a plane and fly out to West Virginia. There, we'll relax, enjoy some family time with Eric's folks, and try to keep the boys on some semblance of their regular schedules. It should be a good ten days, I think.

For now, I'm going to go drink a cup of cocoa and play with my kids. Christmas comes around only...well, twice a year, if you're us.