It Went A Little Something Like This...

A re-cap. Of sorts. Most people wrote about their Christmas 2 weeks ago, you know, when it actually happened, but whatever. I like to make my own path. So what if it's a tardy one.

Our Christmas started with two glorious nights at Opryland Hotel. A place where everyone still thinks sequined blinking christmas -wreath sweatshirts and furry santa purses are 'appropriately festive'.



Oh, and they have something like 2 million lights all lit-up and stuff. It's real fancy. And real crowded. It was kind of like Disney, but with a lot less mice, and a alot more uh, scooters.



From there, it was on to Huntsville, Alabama - THE Rocket City, where we spent our Christmas.



This guy showed up too. I can't seem to shake him. He followed us everywhere...


[and he totally forced me to write a series of dumb notes and tell a few too many lame elf-themed jokes]

After Huntsville, we stopped in Birmingham, where my children schooled their great grandmother and great-great aunt on the plot developments of Spongebob Squarepants.


The Finer Points of Spongebob from emily hartley on Vimeo.

Next, it was time for the Queen City, Cincinnati. Home to Skyline Chili and some flying pigs. And me. There, we had Christmas. Again.



You'll never guess who tagged along.



He later spilled that powerade ALL OVER one of his notes I'd worked really hard on. Really. This guy was soooo starting to try my patience. I mean, it was after Christmas already, and he was totally starting to overstay his welcome.

Many important firsts happened on this leg of the trip....

1. My grandparents threw a bowling party. Possibly the best Christmas get-together in family history. Ever.



2. After my children expressed much love for 'Bohemian Rhapsody' we gave them their very first taste of Wayne's World. Which kind of just ended up making me feel really, really old. They loved it though, and that was totally worth the personal humiliation.



3. We made some gingerbread trees that could only be referred to as MASTERPIECES and then thought it was a good idea to let the boys actually EAT them. Later, all of their teeth fell out. Oh well. Saves on toothpaste.



4. And most importantly, my little Jedi finally got a couple of Lightsabers.



Wanting to master their skills of lightsaber handling and aunt and grandparent manipulation, the boys elected to stay a few extra days in Cincy, while Aaron and I headed home. Quickly. Before anyone could change their mind.

This plan resulted in many things, a little rest & relaxtion for us, much fun for my family, and my children mastering the lyrics to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" [sung here to the tune of uh, our spaghetti dinner]. I should be um, proud, right?


Pouring Some Sugar from emily hartley on Vimeo.

They got the chance to road trip back home to Nashville with my dad, which is always a treat, and hardly ever dull [Just ask me sometime about the great pepsi-as-winshield-fluid incident of '92].

Saturday night, I put away all the Chrismtas decorations [cuz you know I know how to party!]. I was really kind of proud of myself, as I usually really drag my feet on this part. I gave myself a big pat on the back of congratulations only to find this face staring back at me from the couch:



Our eyes met and only one word came to my mind. And I'm not typing it here. Let's just say the little guy is now on a very long vacation. To the Bermuda Triangle.

I can hardly believe the holidays are already over and we're already slamming right into 2009. I'm not sure I've completely recovered from all the excitement yet, nor have I even begun to catch up. I think this last picture pretty much says it all, so I think I'll just leave it at that....