Christmas Day Fun

Merry Christmas to all - lots of photos to share today!




Christmas Day was an extremely wonderful day. Matt was here, and having a bit of extension (2/3s) of my family here made it feel really wonderful.

Santa DID put his plate on the counter as requested, and he left a note that said "Thanks, Lil, Love Santa" which was recited to us all day. As you know, everybody got what they wanted and couldn't have been more excited. Lily woke at 6:20 and waited in her room until 6:40 before feeling like the clock would NEVER say 7am and coming out. Addie didn't fall asleep for good until 1:30, so Lawr and I were both up with her a lot until then, and she slept in until 7:30. Lily tried her hardest to wait for stockings but she just COULDN'T! So she was all OVER Addie while Addie was opening her stuff, slowly and unconcerned with any rush.

I tried to help stall Lily by telling her she had a surprise in the guest room. She thought it was a gift and ran in, flipping on the light just to find Uncle Matt and give him the biggest hug, jumping in to bed with him acting not surprised at all, but completely thrilled. This only held her off for a moment as she begged him to go down with her to open her stocking. She already raced down there and came back to report that he HAD come and he HAD left the plate on the counter the way she'd asked. I thought she was starting to get croup again, but she was simply out of breath.

Addie loved the bag of Teddy Grahams in her stocking and the bag of Caramel Popcorn that dad wrapped up for her from Trader Joe's. I got some photo snow globes, a mat for the kitchen, and some organizers for the back of the door I'd been wanting.

Lily got a bunch of games, and we were right about the sticker maker, she blew through the entire cartridge in one nap time, tho being very frugal. She loves it and thanked God for it in her bed time prayers 2 nights in a row.

This age is so amazing for them both. And it felt so good to just sit together all in one room and play and talk and open gifts for the whole morning without another care in the world.













It was so much fun to unwrap gifts and was also nice to know that we didn't go overboard on the presents, so didn't feel the normal guilt of overspending. Matt got us the game Blokus 3-D. Blokus is our favorite game, so this is that game with a whole new twist. We've been taking turns getting good at it and beating each other one game and totally getting owned the next game. Lily pretty much stuck to Matt's side the whole day and I really can't imagine how her Christmas would have been without him by her side. We decided not to go to Joseph. Too much time and money. Mostly that we loved being together with nothing to do but be together and we realized that out of the next 3 days we had together, 2 of them could be spent like this and 1 together or 3 just spent like this. We decided to take this.

Mom said that knowing Matt and I were together made it all okay for her. Somehow know we were together made it less lonely. I don't know how to describe it, but her saying that made me cry and I knew just what she meant. When you grow up with a family as small as ours, it just feels wrong when all 3 units are alone for the holidays. As long as 2 of us are together, it feels better. I think my mom also knows that she will be okay no matter what, and I won't be alone no matter what, and although Matt really doesn't care about such things, it is obvious that he is really enjoying his time with the girls and us. As usual, they are exhausting him and Lily runs him ragged with her shananagins. But it is all fun, and he likes the family, the love, the game playing, and the competition of beating the pants off me and Lawrence at every game we own. We welcome the family, the help with the kids, and the new blood GLADLY and with open arms!

Addie tried her first lemon today. She wouldn't give it up, she'd hate it, shake her head 'no', carry it around for a while, then keep eating it. Very funny. I tried to get a video, but by then, all the sour must have been out, because she happily ate it without the 'no'. I'll try to upload a few sledding, and Addie crazy dancing in her getting ready to go outside clothes. (It's sideways, I forget that you can't turn that! Still too funny, not to post!)

We went outside to make a snowman, sled, and got a decent family picture before the snow melted away. I can't believe I'm actually getting tired of seeing pictures of my kids in the same old snow clothes day in and day out! :) We are ready for this stuff to go, but it'll be slow going, and we are going to have fun while is lasts.

A very very Merry Christmas was had by all. As we celebrate God's unending love to us today, it is abundant and is noticeably all around us! You can see it in the smiles, the snow, and the gift giving amongst us!


If you stopped by to see what we were up to on Christmas, pleas e leave us a comment to tell us you were here! We love hearing that you are checking on us! Much Much Much Christmas Love!