Thank God that's over!

I love the holidays, but man, are they a lot of work.. and adding 2 new babies to the festivities is simply exhausting! But they have come and gone, and my house has not yet broken at the seams from all the new stuff the kids got.
Christmas eve was spent at my house.. There were about 15 of us.. My brother in law cooked- and as always, there was way too much food, but it was absolutely delicious.. I've been enjoying all the leftovers since then! The kids got to open their presents after dinner, and then the adults did a Yankee swap. I ended up getting a new DVD player from the swap (my mom always brings something that she got at her work Xmas party, last year it was a vacuum- which I won briefly, but my father traded for some dumb wind chime..) Anyway, the opening of the gifts was literally a heart breaking experience for my 3 year old. My family had asked me what the boys needed.. well, they needed clothes.. so that's what they got. My son was freaking out every time he got a rectangular box.. crying! He ended up with one toy, and about 10 outfits.. Obviously I hadn't thought about how opening pants, and shirts would make him mental. Especially after all the hype about the "Christmas party" Poor thing.. and poor everyone else who had to listen to his whining!
The girls were less than thrilled too, only their issue was with all the people suddenly in their home. They screamed for a good 15 minutes or so, and soon everyone realized that looking at them was not an option. Anyway, a couple of my sister's friends came over later, and stayed til about midnight, it was a lot of fun.. The girl my sister invited spilled an entire glass of red wine on my carpet. She felt horrible.. I was psyched.. I just kept thinking one stain closer to wood floors!! And btw, we went looking at some today, so it looks like I'll have my wood floors soon!! I'm going to have to thank her for her clumsy spill! :)
Christmas day was spent at my in-laws, where I dreaded how the girls were going to react to yet another huge group of people that they don't know. Surprisingly, they did really well. I'm guessing it was because all those strangers weren't in their home, on their turf. My 3 year old finally understood the type of box clothes came in, and just brushed them aside. My oldest son was great, and very thankful for everything he got, even the clothes!
My husband is off all week (yea!!) This morning he cleaned up the basement, and my nephew moved back in.. He's off to Vermont for the week to see his girlfriend.. it's going to be very strange having him back.. but the rent money will come in handy!
So, we have officially called an end to the Christmas season.. we took down the decorations yesterday (I know, bah hum bug huh?) But we seriously needed the room with my nephew coming back, and with all the new toys to put away. I'm now looking forward to New Years Eve, we actually have plans (first time in years!) My husband has been playing in a band for a month or so, and the drummers having a party at his house. Should be interesting, I haven't met the guys that he plays with (aww, the guys he plays with, it's like he's 5!) But I'm looking forward to a night out.. :)