Christmas 2011

Christmas was so fun this year!! I have to admit I had a hard time sleeping because I was so excited to see the kid's faces in the morning. I just LOVE giving gifts!! I had a lot of fun surprises waiting for everyone. We were worried that the kids would come down to get us (our bedroom is downstairs) and see everything before we could see their initial reactions. So we stuck Henry the Elf at the top of the stairs and recorded him to say, "Merry Christmas. Don't go downstairs until your mom and dad come up to get you." We told them to simply talk into Jack's monitor and we would come up with a quick breakfast before we could all go downstairs. They were sooooo excited!! I brought up an english muffin for Sadie and some oatmeal for Jack (we knew they couldn't wait through a gourmet breakfast) and then headed downstairs.

We knew the "show stopper" gift was going to be Sadie's pony. She asked Santa for a pony and he brought her the next best thing. You can sit on it and it moves at the touch of a button. You can clearly see how pleased she is.

I was really excited to give Chase his Mexican Coke. Apparently it tastes better than American Coke. He's had a bottle everyday. His sugar induced gut will thank me later.

With a new snow white dress it was necessary to ride "side saddle." A princess would never dream of sitting any other way!!

When I went to Goodwill to find stuff for Halloween costumes I totally hit the jack pot!! I found a ton of plastic sandbox trucks for Jack. That's where I found Sadie's pony too!! I love buying toys used because kids grow out of them too quickly. Besides, I have a hard time putting a brand new tonka truck in the sand box. Jack and Sadie thoroughly enjoyed the peanut butter cups in their stockings and Jack's "new" bulldozer was great at hauling them around. CC and Pops gave me a new mini camera so Sadie got my old one (that barely works) and she's thrilled about taking her own pictures. Chase got me some new rain boots. My old ones had holes in them so water would seep in. Kind of defeats the purpose. I LOVE my new ones!! Flarp was a big hit with the kids. Sadie was playing with her friend Avery's a few days before and they couldn't stop laughing at the silly sounds it produced. Santa was kind to her this year:-)

I did my best to use less paper this year. I save all my boxes and ribbon every year but even after all that recycling, it still looked like a bomb went off in our living room.

I was so glad Christmas fell on a Sunday. It's always nice to put the presents aside and head to church to feel the real spirit of Christ. Chase and I were pretty involved in the program as we were both performing in at least three musical numbers. We had to be there 45 minutes early and while practicing through some of the songs, the words really got to me and I totally started weeping. There's something to be said about the "heaven's exploding with music everywhere" when Christ was born and singing about Mary and her baby is just too, too much for a 9 month prego lady. I'm glad it was just a practice. I held it together for the real program. I just didn't look at anyone in the audience especially while singing Mary's Lullaby.

My mom sent some adorable new outfits for the kids to wear to church. I think Sadie looks like an English princess and Jack looks like a botanist, ready to go examine some plants. His face is filled with glee because inside that wrapped fist is a melting Reeses peanut butter cup.

When we got home from church we were finally able to relax, get back into our pajamas and make our traditional gourmet breakfast. Sweet rolls, little smokies (cooked in Chase's Coke of course), and spinach/cheese eggs. Jack surprised everyone after eating about ten little smokies!!

After breakfast we cleaned up the Christmas explosion in the living room and got ready for our friends to come over. Jaime brought the ham, Shayna made the rolls, and I whipped up a Southern chocolate custard pie.....YUM!! Chase turned culinary on us and made a whole crock pot of wassail. It was delicious. The kids had a great time being wild and it was fun to wrap up the day celebrating with friends.