#ThinkKit11 Day 25: All is calm, all is bright ...

First off, from my family to yours, Happy Holidays! Santa Claus showed up in Southern Illinois, even though it was 50*F and nary a snowflake in sight

Sunday, Dec 25: 'Tis the Season
Share a photo from your year that highlights giving, thankfulness, traditions or finding peace.

I'll post two quick ones for the day here in Southern Illinois:

First, Christmas morning always begins with a "calm before the storm". My niece (6) and nephew (9) stayed the night, along with my sister. They finally - FINALLY - crashed out about 11pm, although my nephew put up a pretty good fight waiting for Santa to show up.

Unfortunately, my brother-in-law works the overnight shift as a police sergeant, and got off work at 7am. No one told my niece & nephew that Christmas would be slightly delayed and they could sleep in. Those two were loaded for bear by 6:00am - ugh. So, we had a little bit of breakfast waiting for their father to arrive. I took the dogs outside to "relieve them of their 'duties'", and snapped a Christmas sunrise:

My brother-in-law arrived at 7:45am, and the Festival of Flying Paper was in full effect. Granted for the two kids, it was a matter of "quantity" over "quality", so they were thrilled unwrapping individual Skittles, pens, pencils, and a bevy of other toys. Although, I'm not sure if it's natural for both kids to be given their own Nook Color tablets, but hey, knowing my father (their grandfather), I just KNEW something was coming that would make my mom and my sister roll their eyes in disbelief.

After things had settled down, the paper no longer airborne, and a few naps were taken by those older than 12 (myself included) ... and then some good fresh coffee ...

A wonderful Christmas dinner with the immediate family, a viewing of "A Christmas Story", and a plethora of desserts to make a dentist wring his hands in anticipation later, and we were ready to being playing & reviewing our new gifts. While I took a number of good photos of the flying paper and all, there's one picture that stands out, because it was a matter of sheer luck and timing.

My niece (the 6-year-old) was showing off a new Lego sorter. It's actually pretty cool! You pour all your pieces into the top, and then shake it. The big pieces stay at the top, and the small bits filter to the bottom bowl. To me, it was ingenious. However, when she came over  to get her picture taken with it ... well, let's just say she moved just right and ....

After seeing this (and knowing my li'l niece the way I know her), this is somehow quite fitting. She's always hungry, but yet seems to never gain an ounce. She's also always wearing a smile that makes you think she's up-to-something. Somehow, someway, I have this feeling this picture is going to end up in the archives for many years to come.

Anyway, that's Christmas 2011 from Southern Illinois. I haven't decided what first I'm going to play with ... Lego Harry Potter for the Wii, or start reading one of my two new books. The Wii seems so much more fun.