The Boxing Day Haul

Because of various plans and in-laws and other conflicts, my family gathers for The Gift Exchange each year at my house on Boxing Day.  We order pizza.  Some highlights:

1. My niece, Ainslie, aged two, received a small etch-a-sketch thingy in her stocking.  She started playing with it and didn't want anything else.  I tried to give her a great big box to open and she said, "No thank you."
2. My nephew, Alex is nearly six and he opens every gift like it is the best thing ever.  "They're Pajamas!  With Mario on them!  And not just Mario!  Mario Kart!" 
3. My mother won the gift-giving prize this year.  She commissioned (read as: got an artist friend to practice) mini-portraits of the three kids for my brother and sister-in-law.  They made Becky cry.
4. The handmade gifts were for our friend Janis, who actively volunteers with her church and a homeless shelter in her neighborhood.  We filled a big box of hats and gloves and scarves for her to contribute to her group.  We made the scarves and picked up the other things at random stores throughout the holiday shopping season.  It looked something like this:

And then I received the best gift of all - the Bears won.  And because I am finished with the furious scarf-making project, I am working on blankets for Project Linus.

I am on vacation this week and have no plans for anything in particular.  So I will finish 50 Book Challenge, make blankets, watch movies and Academic Earth.  And take naps.

That's a good holiday.