Christmas with TRS...part 1

So you put up your Christmas tree and took your Jingle Bells CD out of the player? Well put them back on, throw on an ugly Christmas sweater and sit down to hear about what Christmas looks like with a Roaming Southerner.

First and foremost it means heading back south.

Kdubs and I always take off as much time as possible for Christmas so we can split it with our families. They live just close enough (2 hours away) to visit on the same trip but just far enough (a state away) that it is obnoxious at times.

So after initial negotiations of whose family gets what day was put on hold while my mom went into the hospital (trust me, me and my brother both said, "Mom, if you wanted us to stay for Christmas Eve you didn't have to go to extreme measures."). Because K-Dubs' mother, Mrs. Dubs, claimed Christmas Eve, I had to move my traditional Christmas Eve plans with my family to the 23rd. And this is what we do:

My godmother, who is one of the best women I know, comes over with her family. They have done this since I was a baby to help me make cookies for Santa. 27 years later and only a few Christmases missed due to illness or an odd vacation on both sides parts. Now the festivities include my godmother (who we call She-that is a whole nother post), her son Ray,
her daughter Robin and Robin's husband, Tim and their two girls. Side note: if you want to know two of the most perfect girls on earth look no further to these two girls. I hope that my kids can be any where near as wonderful as them.
On to the festivities:

They include a cut throat cookie decorating competition:
This is Hope's cookie version of her, one of the Jonas brothers (I think the young one), and his body guard. Yeah, I'm not really sure why but she thinks it says Christmas because it is what she really wants: To hang out with Nick or whatever his name is.

I do my best work by cutting out cookie shapes and remaking them into something else. I made ballet shoes (for Emma, she is a ballet dancer) out of a deformed reindeer cutout.

This snail, I made from a defunct angel...the hat made it a Christmas Snail, duh

This is Emma's creepy jack in the box (she was a little sugar high when she made this).

And this was one of my favorites: a penguin wearing a hat and scarf that KW got me for Christmas. She was made from a cut out Hope made to be herself...it turned into a blog that looked like...well a penguin, in my opinion.

And this is my piece-du-resistance (no idea if that is french or correct)....My holly and berries that have dimension and texture...Martha, eat your heart out.
However, the judge: aka my dad. Did not think so.

He picked Robin's "Christmas appropriate tree.

Here is the winner gloating.

Robin and I have been battling this out since I was 6. And they let me win when I was a kid, but now, they say I can't win...it would be impolite. Even though mine is clearly better!!!!

I did what any good hostess does...I stomped and screamed and cried about the injustice happening upon me on a celebration of the Lord's birth...it was just not right...

And then the Chinese food came and I was happy again.

Chinese food: righting the injustices of the world since The Christmas Story.