Christmas

Happy Holidays, Internet!

The culmination of the Most Wonderful Time of the Year went down in typical Hough fashion, once again. Both girls started to stir at 6am - which woke us up - and as they banged around in their room getting dressed and using the bathroom and what not, I was able to turn everything on (the tree, the 'fireplace' on the TV, the coffee maker, etc.) before they actually got out to the living room. 

Once we let the dogs out and Kris got her lazy ass in gear, we were able to start the kids off on their stockings. .  after the dogs were placated with theirs (they know the deal now, and have little patience until they get some plunder themselves.)

Watson works on one of the Christmas Cookies from his stocking.

I think this year was probably the fastest the girls have gotten through presents since they were infants. We started shortly after 6am and were well passed being done by 8am. And that was at a leisurely pace, too. 

Again, like I've said before, we're buying fewer gifts for the girls these days because all of their gifts - which you're about to see - are far more expensive than, say, cheap little plastic toys (Shopkins, Playmobil, Star Wars, and whatever the hell they used to play with.)  That being said, those Christmases where it was nothing but toys were easily my favorites in terms of watching kids open gifts - these days they open a present, say 'thank you,' set it aside, then reach for another one. 

Samson not-so patiently waits for Alayna top open up his stocking for him. . .

Teenagers suck.

Anyway, we took it easy around the house after opening up gifts, like we always do. The girls retreated to their individual rooms to enjoy their new stuff, Kris made a big breakfast, Ella came by to show off all her new stuff and check out all the stuff our girls got, mimosas were drank, Yours Truly (and the dogs) took a much-needed nap on the couch, and we finished watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation from the previous evening. Then later, in the afternoon, we met up with Jeff and his family over at Mom's to do Christmas with that side of the fam (minus Chris, whose children - unsurprisingly - were being terrors) before returning home to have a couple nightcap drinks with the Johnsons.

Yet another exhausting Christmas in the Hough house.

Behold. . . 

Abby helps Samson get more treats out of his stocking.

This is pretty typical: Samson will get super excited about treats, bones, toys, etc. But, instead of enjoying them like a normal dog would, he just hoards them. He'll lay like this and just get anxiety over other people touching his treasure, it's super weird. He did this throughout the morning.

Beginning the girls' stockings. Kris picked out a silver treble-clef ring for Alayna (since violins only play in the treble-clef, and Alayna really likes the design.)

Not sure what these are - Kris filled up the girls' stockings with beauty and care products from Ulta and other such stores. Lots of make-up, accessories, spa treatment stuff, nail stuff, hair stuff, etc. At least they've grown out of the candy phase.

Samson, desperately hoping the stuff Alayna keeps pulling out of her stocking is for him.

Some kinda hair towel Kris Santa threw in the girls' stockings this year. . . I assume to keep wet hair out of their faces after a shower?

Like Alayna's silver treble-clef ring, Abby got a set of silver bass-clef earrings ('cause cello.)

Stockings took a while this year, probably more than the actually gift-opening.

This is for eye-lashes. . . I'm told.

Some necklaces she's had on an Amazon list for a long, long time - Santa must've bought those for her so he didn't have to keep seeing them on her list.

Alayna was pretty easy to buy for this year - we were able to buy her one main thing (which you'll spot in a bit, here), and then pick up a bunch of stuff on the side. Abby was more difficult, though: all she wanted was clothes, perfumes, beauty stuff, etc., so there was no 'main focal point' gift for her. Kris and I felt like all we were doing for her was buying her a bunch of clothing, so Alayna helped us pick out a few albums she knew Abby would like (but didn't ask for.) If only to break up the monotony of all her other gifts.

We ended up getting a few for both girls, actually. And when I say 'albums,' I'm not talking about the 'good' kind of albums (like the ones I collect) - no, these are K-Pop CD's, stuffed with a bunch of additional media (posters, trading cards, stickers, liner notes, etc. They're more like collector items than your typical, run-of-the-mill CD release - the girls go nuts for 'em.

Kris uses matcha in the afternoon for an energy boost, so when I was picking up small shit for her stocking at Marshall's a few weeks ago, I found some kinda matcha oil. I have no idea what it is or what it's used for, but she thought it was hilarious for some reason. Pretty sure she returned it a couple days later.

Alayna and a bunch of super-feminine, Korean boys.

Kris bought the girls matching, electronic toothbrushes. This was more of a practical gift, and it didn't even come out of our Christmas budget. . . we actually got them in the fall but figured it could be one more thing to open under the tree. They're like $100 toothbrushes but, seeing how she works at a dentist office, she got 'em for like $25 apiece.

Just what every child wants on Christmas morning. . . f***ing toothbrushes.

I would tell you about this great piece of Dunedain lore, but you wouldn't appreciate it.

Alayna has been wanting a tote bag for her music binder and accessories for Orchestra, and found this one online somewhere.

. . . I don't get the joke.

(Pardon the swearing, kids - flash was being stupid.)

Abby's a big fan of this not-at-all-appropriate, female rapper named Ice Spice. A bunch of her friends have a flag of her in their rooms, so Abby's been wanting one too.  Whatever floats your boat, kid.

That's some ugly-ass hair.

This brand of scents is all the rage with girls right now, and Kris really, really wanted this particular scent from their website. Like, to the point where she was telling me where, when, and how to purchase it for her, and reminded me (multiple times) to let her know if I wasn't getting it so that she could get it for herself. Which, you know, kinda takes away from the magic of the season, blah blah blah.

I can't tell what she's opening here - I honestly didn't take as many pictures as I used to in previous years, and I definitely didn't get pics of everything they opened. Again, like I said before, I just wasn't feeling it this year, who knows what my deal was.

Abby got some hair rollers that she's been really wanting lately - she's been spending a lot of time curling her hair, she likes the wavy look.

Watson's pissed no one's getting him more stuff out of his stocking.

Defeated, both dogs kinda settled in on the couch and napped while the girls continued to open up more of their stuff.

An amethyst and sterling silver Claddagh (an Irish design) ring that Alayna's been wanting for awhile.

Unfortunately, Amazon sent her a Size 7 ring instead of a Size 5, so I'll have to go through the bullshit of returning that for her in the near future.

Abby got multiple name-brand hoodies,  (Kris and I aren't big fans of dropping $50 on a frickin' sweatshirt, so Christmas  - and birthdays - is the only time we'll really splurge on crap like that), leggings, and sweatpants. This girls is suddenly super into name-brand stuff.

Some books ths girls wanted. . .

Some Midland High spirit wear. Alayna buys/wears tons of this stuff, and Abby's going to be a Freshman next year, so we figured it wouldn't hurt giving her a head start on it.

Even more K-Pop albums. . .

Showing each other different Korean pop star trading cards. I seriously can't even say that shit with a straight face.

These girls don't even own CD players, what the actual f***. . .

Why won't anyone ever pay attention to Watson?

Kris continues to go through her stocking. This wouldn't obviously fit in hers so I just wrapped it up and shoved it under the tree (once again, we only exchanged stockings this year.)

Kris is a big fan of the bubbly.

Fuzzy Crocs (yes, that's a thing), and one of those super-rendy, Stanley mugs that girls are obsessing over these days.

You don't wanna know how much I spent on that mug. It's stupid.

She was super-excited to get these - believe me - I just happened to take the pic at the precise moment where it looked like she wanted to kill herself.

Kris bought me a cologne sampler from Ulta so I could try out a few new scents, since I'm kinda getting bored with mine. This was also too big to go in a stocking, so she did the same thing I did and just shoved it under the tree.

There. Now Alayna can stop stealing her mom's hair straightener.

Alayna's main gift - Apple 2nd Gen AirPod Pro's.

I watched these for a few months on various sites before pouncing on a lightning deal sale (I think through Walmart Plus), and was able to get them for $50 off.

Neveretheless, something this small should not cost as much as it does. . .

So the Cannonball had a fuzzy, black AirPod case on her list too, so we picked that up for her. And, knowing my own child like I do, I also purchased a Google Tile (identical to the Apple one), that she can clip on to her case that track's the case's location - she'll be able to launch an app on her phone that will give her a pinpoint location of where she lost her AirPods (because it's inevitable with this child.) Peace of mind, folks.

Another pair of shoes for Abby. All she wants to wear these days is white shoes. If you know this child, you know how dangerous this is.

She already owns like two or three pairs of Chucks, but she was adamant about getting white ones. We'll see how they hold up.

Booze, scented oils for my car (that Toasted Marshmallow one Kris bought me a few of is one of my favorites - it's from Bath & Body Works but smells identical to the Haunted Mansion), leather seat wipes, coffees, etc. My stocking was pretty legit.

Abby unwraps another super-trendy gift - a LuluLemon cross-body bag. This is like straight-up crack for Gen Z white girls.

This gift was an add-on, since the girls were even at this point and it wasn't asked for by anyone, but Kris got it because she spent so much damn money in Ulta this year. . .

A plush robe. Alayna still wears hers but Abby grew out of hers years ago, so we figured what the hell. 

With presents finished, the girls retreated to their individual rooms to check out their new stuff, text friends about what all they had gotten, and otherwise avoid their family on the most family-oriented holiday of the year. Kris, meanwhile, set to work making breakfast.

This is like one of my maybe three days a year this family eats bacon. The girls love it, but Kris and I can't stand the way it stinks up the house (not to say anything about its abhorrent nutritional facts.)

After a couple cups of coffee (I was running on fumes, still recovering from the evening of Dec. 23rd), it was time to break into the mimosas. . .

Alayna emerges from her room. 

Settling in to the couch for a movie.

I question her allegiance to this country.

That mimosa sapped the last of my reserves, and I promptly fell asleep on the couch. I was soon joined by the dogs.

The Cannonball, in some of her new clothes and accessories, in front of her wall of Korean boy bands. . .

Ella came over later in the morning, eager to show off some of her new stuff and see what the girls got (she's basically family), and all the shrieking that exploded among her and Abby upon her arrival - not to mention the dogs barking - woke me up from my much-needed nap. So I just poured another mimosa and resumed my movie.

Gangsters.

Another Christmas morning in the books. This scene of the movie always speaks volumes to me.

Around 1pm, we drove over to Mom's house to celebrate Christmas with her and John, Grandpa Chinery, and Jeff and his crew.

More jewelry (I can't tell what this is.)

We recently redid Abby's bedroom (I'll mention that whole shit-show in our end-of-month round-up), and she's been stocking up on posters. This Simpsons' nod to Abbey Road was on her lists, so Mom snatched it up for her.

(I don't know what this is either, sorry - I was talking with Jeff and missed a lot of the gift-opening. I'm a shitty parent.)

You've heard of weighted blankets I'm sure, but have you ever heard of weighted stuffed animals? They exist, and Alayna wanted one.

Mom opens up one of the gifts from us. I think this one was a gift card to a coffee place they like . . .

Then there's this.

Kris designed the page layouts, and had my brothers send pics of their kids and families to add to it.

Kinsleigh (Kinsley? I'm gonna have to learn how to spell that), Mom, and Abby.

Grandpa opening up some of his presents

It's impossible for me to sit in a chair without this happening.

Hanging out in Mom's kitchen.

Scarlett does some drawing - the Hough's artistic gene is strong.

Everybody left Mom's house around 6pm, around the time Grandpa Chinery was driven home (e can't stay up late anymore.) When we got home, folks snacked on leftovers and watched more Christmas movies. Yours Truly broke out today's installment of the Twelve Milkshake Stouts of Christmas. This blonde ale was not my favorite.

We closed out the night by hanging out with the Johnsons, just kinda sitting around and having a few drinks. Nobody felt up to raging or anything, this day exhausts everyone, but it's nice to be able to just unwind with other adults after a high-charged, kid-centric day. We wrapped up by 9:30pm, if you can believe that - we were all beat, and still had Christmases coming up the next day. Theirs was somewhere in town with his side of the family, and ours, of course, was in Clare. . .

- Brian