Friday, January 29, 2010

Simply having a...

wonderful Christmastime! Has anyone noticed that lots of my blog titles are titles or lyrics of songs? Just an observation.

Anyway...

Christmas morning dawned early at our house. Every morning does since Jack likes to wake up before 6am. We had everything out and ready and took the kids into the playroom straight away. They were THRILLED to see a lovely new play kitchen waiting for them. We had to move Jack's train table to a different spot so the kitchen would fit and it was like he had a brand new toy! So funny how if you change something just a bit that the novelty is enough to spark a whole new interest. The kiddos played with the kitchen while we made breakfast... cinnamon rolls and fruit salad. Yum. We ate and ate and ate...

Then came The Tree. We opened gifts from Yaya and a few from Santa.

An aside... The topic of Santa. Some folks are all about Santa. Some are completely against him. In our house our kids understand Santa doesn't really come and bring gifts but we like to pretend. The magic of the make-believe is so fun for them. So, we talk about Santa; we make cookies for Santa, etc. On Christmas morning as we were handing out gifts we would say "this one's from Santa". Jack would look at me and laugh and say "You're just jokin' Mom!" He thought it was too funny. At the most, he believes Santa is a character on The Polar Express so, we're going with it.

Back to the gifts. Caroline got an American Girl Bitty Baby from Yaya. She and Jack named her Maggie. Maggie has her own high chair, cradle, diaper bag and wardrobe. She's a hit. Jack and Caroline love to feed her in the play kitchen and take her for walks or rides in their grocery cart. Jack got a scooter. We all love it! We saved quite a few gifts back to take to Gigi and Pappaw's later in the day. That always proves to be a marathon gift opening session.

Around 11am we ventured out. Almost everything was still covered with snow but the roads had finally cleared. Good thing we waited a bit before heading out. We heard lots of awful stories of folks being stuck on the roads in the mess. It seems that TxDOT was not prepared for all the ice and snow that accumulated on the roads overnight. Thankfully, we didn't have to mess with the mess.

At Gigi and Pappaw's house we had a delicious lunch together. The kids probably ate their weight in Aunt Emmy's macaroni and cheese. So yummy! After lunch we skipped naptime and got straight to opening presents. That lasted quite. a. while. Both kids got loaded up in the gift department. They had so much fun tearing into gifts and playing with all their new toys.

We stayed past dinner, gave the kids a bath, got them jammied up, loaded the car and headed home. Jack and Caroline were passed out before we hit I20. We had a wonderful Christmas day and were exhausted at the end. We're so blessed to have such wonderful family to spend our day with and celebrate the birth of Jesus!
The discovery!Cups!Jack and his new scooterMe and Jack's new scooter. I realize this isn't really flattering but it's funny, nonetheless!Caroline and Maggie. Care-care opened a tiara and earrings first and had to wear them all morning. Every picture we have of her opening gifts has her wearing them. Funny girlA NEW TRAIN!
Please note: The ONLY thing Jack asked for was a train that was black and blue. I went to Toys R Us the Saturday before Christmas (not smart) and they had ONE. TRAIN. LEFT. It was black and blue. The Big Man was looking out for this mama!Playing trains on his new train quilt, courtesy of Yaya. He hasn't slept a night since Christmas without this quilt on his bed.Caroline in the kitchen in her apron and hat, another Yaya creation.
Watching Bolt on his scooterThe next day... my little chefs!
*I realize we have ZERO pictures from Gigi and Pappaw's house. For some reason we just didn't get the camera out. Strange.

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