My, my we had quite a Christmas!

Saturday Randi couldn't sleep because her ear hurt. She also had a fever -- I don't know how high since she's a bit obsessed about taking her temperature and had broken the thermometer. I finally convinced her to take some tylenol and she slept for a bit after that.

So I looked up some home remedies and set off Sunday to get stuff for her ear and more pain killer. Oh, and a new thermometer (I learned my lesson and got a cheap one this time). It took a couple of tries and much adamant protest from her, but I think her ear is going to be okay.

We got the tree out of the shed, only to discover that the top portion had broken off. Kelsey tried to blame it on Drew (who has a tendency to just throw things in the shed and this would not be the first time something got broke). But I'm thinking the real culprit is the fiber optic angel topper I bought last year. She was quite heavy and by the time I took the tree down, she was pretty much upside down. The older two didn't even want to put the tree up at all, but I figured we could just go with a 3/4 tree this year. And it kind of turns out to be a good thing, since the angel sits quite securely on what remains.

Randi's ear would start bothering her when she stood, so I ended up decorating the tree all by myself. I really need to get some new ornaments! The older kids also told me I was trashy since I only put the lights on the front part of the tree. Oh, well. Seeing how they refused to help decorate I figured I could be as trashy as I wanted.

Kelsey cooked dinner and Randi flat out refused to eat. Drew wasn't too impressed, but he ate it. And Kelsey was mad because she wanted ham and so wouldn't eat the chicken. She did eat all the brussel sprouts, though, so she certainly made up for it! I thought the food was delightful and while, I'm sorry to say, the company left a little to be desired, I just keep telling myself they're teenagers. And Randi was sick. I at least had a most lovely dinner.

Randi was feeling better, but since she had slept most of the day, she was unable to sleep when she was supposed to. And her stomach was hurting because she wouldn't eat. She spent much of the night whining because she didn't want anything I suggested that might help her. What she wanted was for me to go to bed, which I couldn't do because I had to play Santa and was waiting for her to fall asleep! So after waiting over an hour for her to dose off, I just hoped she'd stay in the room and got everything under the tree. Thank goodness I had all the gifts wrapped! Normally I do most of it on Christmas Eve, which would have been impossible this year. Once again, my guardian angel is looking out for me! She did catch me filling up the stockings, or rather the gift bags we were using for stockings since I have no idea where the ones I bought last year are. But I don't think she saw anything. She will be 9 soon and a friend has told her there is no Santa. She still wants to believe, though, but I think that next year she will be unable to hold onto that fantasy any longer.

The girls kindly let me sleep until 8 this morning. And then Randi made me a cup of coffee (I love my Tassimo!) to bribe me out of bed. We opened our gifts and I was pleasantly surprised that the girls had picked something out for me when they went shopping with my mother when we were visiting over Thanksgiving. I can't believe they managed to keep it from me all this time! Randi is generally not so good at keeping secrets. They got me a most wonderful pink nightshirt covered in hearts and it's the right size! And seriously, that was all I needed to make my Christmas perfect.

Randi was feeling much better, and played with her new toys all day. Kelsey was grateful and pleased with everything she received and made a special effort to be the perfect daughter and sister today. But, of course, in my dysfunctional family nothing can be perfectly perfect and Drew was nasty and rude from the moment he yelled at us when we woke him until he disappeared into his room later in the day. Again, I tell myself he's a teenager. And I ignored him the best I could.

And regardless of the half-assed way I do things and the trouble I have with the kids, I wouldn't trade my Christmas for anything.