Christmas Aftermath

What do four grown children do at their parents' house after all the presents have been opened?

Play with their stocking stuffers of course - which just happen to be stuffed animal slingshots.
Did you know such a thing existed? Yea, neither did I, but Mom found them.

Ah, loving brothers. There's that middle child again always causing trouble.

(Pause . . . while Aunt Sally stands up and shakes her fist at me, all the while claiming middle children DO HAVE IT THE HARDEST . . yea, yea, OOOOOKKAAY!)

And me, being the always tattling big sister am right there with my camera to catch the prankster in action.

"MOOOOOMMMMMMM!"

Every year we get a new Christmas ornament, and most of the time Mom finds ones that commemorate our year. This year was award winning.

Matthew started managing a landscaping crew this year, so he got a little lawn mowing man.
Danny had his epic stint at UPS, so he received a miniature package handler. We'll always remember what Brown did for us (the good AND the bad).
We gave Mom a little lighthouse ornament from our trip to Michigan to remember her childhood landmark.
Mom and Dad went canoeing in East Texas during their anniversary trip this year, and he now gets to hang a very accurate ornament on the tree (Mom always paddles in the front and Dad always steers from the back).
Mandy braved the woods hunting with Matthew and gets to remember it with her very own gun-totin' camo girl.
Joey transferred to UTD to play baseball and studying engineering, so he got a Comets keychain.
And this was the year I started running, farther than I've ever run before, so I get to hang a blushing runner on my tree for years to come. I even pretend she strained her hamstring too.
And those are the Christmas memories our kids will get to unpack each year that I make them decorate the tree while I tell them yet AGAIN how Daddy woke up in the middle of the night to move boxes while Mommy ran up and down Swiss Avenue . . . uphill both ways in the freezing rain.