T'was the night before Christmas, and the carnage after.

On Christmas eve, after much last minute shopping...we finally got the kids ready for bed. They were determined to meet Santa this year. So...we allowed them to camp out in our family room.

The eldest would not let me buy cookies for Santa, because in her words "He needs to go on a diet." I almost died laughing in the grocery store. Yet candy canes, and a small piece of Ghirardelli chocolate is okay.

The little jingle bell was for the reindeer...just in case they lose one of theirs.

Not much sleep happening.

Too excited to sleep.

Finally, around 11pm, we realized that the kids were asleep. My husband had to sneak into the garage (I bought a few more toys on Christmas eve at 7pm...yes, I know, I was asking for trouble, but seeing the mass of humanity at Toys R Us...I didn't feel like such a chump). Our garage door is right next to couch, and the door creaks. I was cringing when he slid the door open. Let's just say that my husband will never make the cut for the C.I.A.

As we were wrapping the last few presents, we heard little feet come down the stairs. We flung the presents, scissors, tape, and wrapping paper in the back room just in time to see our son ask us if Santa arrived yet.

We finally got everything wrapped and underneath the tree around 2am. The kids woke us up at 6:30am.

The eldest with her most requested gift.

The male progeny with his most requested gift.

She wasted no time getting the Nintendo DS open.

Neither did he.

The irony of Christmas morning? The son took all the discarded boxes, and started playing with those instead of his new presents. I could have saved a ton of money my child!

Ah, but look at that smile.

Daddy Hu bought Momma Hu this for Christmas. Hmm...I really appreciate this, but I'm starting to wonder if it's a hint about my current physical condition. Thanks babe!

Daddy had the unfortunate task of trying to put a Lego set together.


Daddy Hu also received a gift from Santa...he got an iPOD nano.

L, Thanks for hosting Christmas lunch/dinner! C, Daddy Hu had a great time hanging out with your hubby, and we'll try to have you guys over for dinner soon. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Why I can never be a chef...

I set my alarm to wake up at 6am. My office party is today. For some reason, I thought that making two quiches FRESH this morning was a good idea. So, I spent about 30 minutes cutting, dicing, slicing, etc....put the two quiches in the oven around 6:30am, made a cup of coffee, and figured that I had plenty of time to relax. Well, the timer just went off....I went to check on the quiches, and they were.....uncooked.

I'm not sure how I turned off the oven, but I apparently did. I have at least another hour before I have to get the kids on the bus, but damn...it's not my morning!

Holiday Gifts for teachers

I am one of three room parents for my son's kindergarten class. Since we are in a Chinese Immersion Program, we have two teachers. Both the kindergarten and1st grade class (my daughter is in the 1st grade Chinese Immersion Program) share the same two teachers.

This year, the 1st grade room parents and I decided to combine our respective classes holiday contributions and get gift cards for the teachers.

Guess how much we collected? $600! That's $300 per teacher. I am really excited, because we all know that teachers are sorely underpaid. There is one teacher in particular who is always at our school. I remember seeing her after a PTA meeting (and it was way after 8:30pm) at school. I am amazed at how much time teachers actually spend at their jobs.

What amazes me more is the incredible generosity from the parents. I didn't ask for a particular amount, but left it up to each family to donate as little or as much as they'd like.

One family in particular has fallen on hard times, but the mom came up to me and gave me a contribution. I can tell that she was embarrassed by the amount that she gave me (a bag of 7 quarters), and actually started to tear up and said that she wished she could have given more. I told her that her donation was incredibly generous and gave her a smile (I really was trying to keep from tearing up in front of her).

I know that Christmas can be an incredibly commercialized and materialistic time, but it's people like that particular mom that has restored my faith in the season.