Funky Family Christmas

Maybe you don't know. My family can be kinda funky. Every year the Fraylicks get together for Christmas Eve and have a blast. We're mostly older now, and pictures of all of the girls with panties on their head have been replaced with themes (Cowboy, Camo, you name it) and ornament swaps. This year was a bit different - we did a gag gift swap. Rules were simple: buy a funny gift from the dollar store (or costing no more than a dollar). A gift can only be stolen once. Laurie didn't really like this rule, but I can tell you that there wasn't anything I would have stolen! Ah, but things did get stolen, and I haven't laughed so hard in quite some time.

So, I think Kristen picked 2nd. She went for the biggest gift. I can't blame her, I would have too. But she got this rooster* tail thing. She's not a rooster fan at all, so she was begging people to steal her gift all night. Funny. They beat Clemson, but no one really wanted the tail.

*known in some circles as a gamecock

Here she is.. showing how happy she is with her gift.


Somewhere along the lines, Laurie snagged this rockin Dale Jr. poster. Yeah, sorry Dale, no one stole that either.


Elizabeth managed to look excited about the FBI action play set.


She must have really wanted the golden cow that Jordan got. I noticed that he tucked it away so no one would remember.


Remember Foster's gator head? Well, know you know where it came from.


Kate admired Pop's rubber spider.


Alice models Drew's potty seat. What a practical gift! I should have stolen it.


Even my Grandmother got in on the fun. She got a package of Jim Beam coffee. If you know my Gramma, you'll know this was the perfect gift.


As for me? My first pick was a pack of crackers. Not the kind with cheese or PB filling either. Straight saltines. Mom was sweet and stole them from me. Then I picked an ovulation kit. Yup. I didn't even know they sold those at the dollar store. It was stolen from me and given to Kristen... remember the rooster tail? I ended up with a tube of Chapstick. I love Chapstick.

And in case you were worried that Kristen went home with that wretched tail thing, never fear - she really made out:

A bag of edible coal, a plunger, and an ovulation kit. Wow.

You know, one day we will all go our separate ways on Christmas Eve. I will miss it. A lot. As an only child, I've always loved our large gatherings. They are fun and exciting and loud and chaotic. And when everyone goes off with their own large families and have large Christmases with lots of chaos, we will go home to peace and quiet. And I will miss the loud, silly, funny, chaotic Christmases of my childhood.