Christmas in Virginia

When we’re home for the holidays at the Haksch house, we always celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. Celebrating usually involves getting dressed up, going to church, eating fried fish for dinner, singing some carols, and opening presents. A month or two ago, Susan bought a very cute outfit for Andrew to wear on Christmas Eve. Without a doubt, he looked quite handsome wearing it.

This year Andrew did very well with his wish list items. Some of his highly sought after gifts include: Mouse Trap, a plasma ball, a Fushigi magic gravity ball, and a Pillow Pet, which he named Freddy the Frog.

The plasma ball had an interesting story behind it. Earlier in the week, we went to a toy and train show in Richmond. Andrew and I discussed our budget and decided that $20 should be our limit. We walked up and down the rows and looked at everything on offer. When we reached the middle aisle, we found a small plasma ball. Andrew showed a strong interest, but I was able to keep him moving along. At another table, we found a cool build-it-yourself project kit that uses magnets. While he played with this, I told Susan and her mother about the plasma ball. After a while, Andrew and I continued walking the aisles. My list for him was at four items, but he said he had six or seven items on his list. Eventually, the show was about to end and we found ourselves back at the display with the plasma ball. Andrew was nearly in tears as we tried to tell him he couldn't get it now (because Susan's mother already bought it). Just as we had him calmed down and ready to leave, the salesman showed him the voice-activated option. Argh! Again, we calmed him down and finally left the show.

After everything was opened, Andrew opened his new Fushigi ball. The package contained a DVD showing how to manipulate the ball. We all watched it and laughed as the demonstrator said how easy it was, with just a little practice. After the video, we enjoyed watching Andrew and Noah attempt to demonstrate some of the gravity-defying tricks for us.

Even with all the great things he got this year, Andrew was still a little sad because he didn’t get what he “really” wanted this year. According to Andrew, he really wanted underwear!