Christmas '08

Our few days of Christmas... a very. long. post.

I've always been an everything should be saved to open on Christmas, except one gift on Christmas Eve, kind of girl, but after hearing what my mom was doing with the boys I loosened up a little bit and let Madeline open gifts from friends as she got them. Next year, I think I'll let her open more, earlier, so she'll get to enjoy more of them one on one.

We started Christmas Eve out with breakfast at the Omelet House- always yummy. Then Madeline decided that she wanted to take her new puppy & carrier (one of her early gifts) to Petsmart, so Thor took her to get Sophie a present, even though we had decided that Sophie's life would be her present this year (she's been sick, and costing lots of $$).

Maison took his nap and when Madeline got back we frosted cookies for Santa with GG and the boys. I tried not to get worked up when they licked the frosting off their knives. It was kinda nice that they all got bored after about 6 cookies and me & gma got to do the rest while they went outside and chopped down the lump of snow that used to be our snowman with a play broom. Their cookies all looked nice and yummy. And some of them even made it back to my mom's for Santa. Gma's and my cookies were definite works of art, if I could say so myself.

I believe these were Ian's masterpieces...

Notice the "carrot" nose (GG's design)...

Then we had dinner over here with just us, my parents, Grandma Forrester, and my grandparents. It was nice and quiet. The boys went to their dad's to do their Christmas. My mom brought Miss M a puppy dog that grows a little bit every day. You hook it to the computer with a USB cord and program in the kids name and what the kid names the dog, and those details are worked into what the dog says. Toys these days.

Soph had a little too much eggnog...

Christmas morning was fun. Because of the dog and Maison, we couldn't put any presents out until Christmas Eve, so when the kids got up in the morning there were lots and lots. The opening went a lot slower than we thought it would. Maison was more interested in his old toys than in opening the new ones. And Madeline wanted to play with every single thing as she opened it. We took a break for breakfast at about 9:00, then went back to opening and finished at about 11.

Maison really likes his bowl (thanks, Ang!)...

Among lots of other things, Madeline got a kitchen and some dress-up clothes from Santa; lots of new clothes, a game and a kitchen tools set from Omi, Oma and Roy; and some books, dog and dinousaur figures, and stuffed animals from mommy and daddy. Maison got a spinning top toy and some cars from Santa; lots of clothes, blocks, a neat stuffed horse and a little piano from Omi, Oma and Roy; and some puzzles, sippy cups and bristle blocks from mommy and daddy.

Here's the new Hannah Montana...

After naps we headed over to my parents house for dinner and more presents. The hit of the evening was the Nerf dart guns my nephews got that morning. All of the kids and grown men were shooting at each other all night.

And, of course, Wii music kept us entertained in between, and during, Nerf gun battles.

The highlights of the evening, gift-wise, were: for Madeline, an awesome trampoline and baby doll stroller from my parents, a pretty ladybug bracelet (just like GG's), a treasure box, and a great big Sophie dog from my grandparents, and a cute princess radio and some really nice clothes. For Maison, lots of musical instruments from my parents, including a guitar that Madeline likes to "rock out" on, a super cute riding lion from my Grandparents, and an Elmo phone, a book, and some really nice clothes.

As for me & Thor, we scored big time, too. I got the small camera I wanted and a photo and wireless printer, a Fiesta pie plate, a rockin' dust buster, and books. Thor got some CD's, PS3 games, gift cards and gun stuff.

I love Christmas time, but like vacation, it's nice when it's over.