I am going to try to catch up all the neglected pictures / events before the end of the year (so prepare for a busy next week on here!) but I wanted to throw the pictures from last night and today on here before heading to bed.
Every year for a long time (or maybe ever?) we've been spending the evening of Christmas Eve at my in-law's house. We eat goodies, do a nativity for the kids, listed to Pops read the Bible story, and usually do a white elephant gift exchange of some sort. A good time is had by all.
Well, this year I was just walking in to the kitchen to make us an early dinner so we could leave to drive out around the lake. I saw Lizzie curled up on the couch huddled under my cozy sweater; not normal behavior. Sure enough, she had a fever. So.... we ran to the store to pick up a few goodies to have our own at home and had Grandma come over to our house (she was going to go with us around the lake anyway, but we're super glad we had her to be our "company").
Grandma played Christmas hymns for us on the piano. We played a little white elephant game. Sierra decided that day that she HAD to cuddle with Daddy all evening. She even shoved things out of the way so she'd get her favorite place :) I whipped up a cheeseball and we picked up dip and vegis / crackers to eat it with. We also had homemade caramel with sliced apples and little bottles of Martinelli's sparkling cider. Oh, and candy cane truffles! I made those with crushed candy canes on top; stir them into hot milk and you get amazing minty hot chocolate! We also watched "Mr. Kreuger's Christmas" which the girls really love. (Daddy also shown here playing on his iPad -- a bonus he earned from work!!!)
The girls got to open their new pajamas and got dressed for bed (oh, you can see the box of See's chocolate's I'd been hoarding too). Grandma got to play with Ginny and her cat wand (that cat can do the most incredible flips!). Then Daddy read us the story from Luke 2 and Matthew 2. Off his smartphone. Cause we're so technologically advanced. Grandma told the girls the story of "The Magic Curtain" -- a family tradition; and they were off to bed!
The girls snuggled up in bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. Well, the younger two did -- Kate had a hard time sleeping last night (what a surprise!). There is a little lit tree in each of the girls' bedrooms. I love how Lizzie and Sabrina tucked theirs next to a picture of Christ with the children.
Santa made his visit. He filled the stockings and put three little presents under the tree (because they didn't fit in the stockings -- mostly because we looked EVERYWHERE and couldn't find our stockings, so I chased Grandma home and borrowed hers.) Since we got the kitties early the girls knew we weren't getting big presents from Santa this year.
The girls got up about 7:30 and ate the Frito's and played in the Phineas & Ferb activity book left at the end of each bed. Then we ate some of the fancy breakfast Santa had left and got ready for church.
It was wonderful going to church on Christmas morning!
After church we came home and opened every individually wrapped present in the stockings, then the other things under the tree.
A few of kate's highlights: Kate got toe socks she's been asking for (her sisters each got a pair of fuzzy socks too). She also got a water bottle (from Lizzie) to go on her new(er) bike that has a water bottle holder on it. She was very excited about a nutcracker Santa brought and the earrings with the promise that she can get her ears pierced. (Hopefully that goes well tomorrow!) She also got a little planner she was hoping for (the rest of the present from Lizzie) and a jewelry making kit from Sabrina. She's particularly excited about making earrings she can wear eventually.
Some of Lizzie's favorites are a computer chess game (it helps teach rules and possible moves, etc. -- great since she's always begging for someone to play chess with her!), an itty bitty "muttles" puppy (each girl got a different one), some lip gloss and nail polish from Sabrina, and a bell for her bike from Kate. Another cool thing is "story dice": 9 dice with 6 images on each. Roll them and make up a story including all 9 elements! She's excited to try it out.
Sabrina got the blanket (from Kate) she was hoping for, as well as a stuffed puppy (from Lizzie). She was ecstatic! She had a fever today, so she spent quite a bit of time with those two gifts. She also got her favorite candy bar (each of us did), and a new winter cap (each girl did). She loves an old fashioned wooden top and the thing she's been asking for for weeks: ice skates! Of course, they came as ice skates for her build-a-bear rather than for her (much more useful that way ;))
Daddy got a several goodies (cause he's impossible to buy for!) along with a couple of card games and Hungry Hungry Hippos. Kate picked the hippo game for him because he keep singing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". So he got TWO! I also got him a book by Henry B. Eyring he's looking forward to reading.
I got some jewelry in my stocking (each girl had a cute flower ring in her stocking also) as well as a nice new razor (hint, hint? ;)) and some hand warmers to use while riding my bike (yes, I've been riding a bike around the neighborhood!). The girls got me a pair of USB powered speakers since my laptop speakers aren't very loud at all so I'm always hauling around speakers to listen to shows or audiobooks while doing chores around the house. I'm listening to Harry Potter book 4 even as I type right now actually.
The highlight of my gifts: Michael got me a purple ukulele!!! I LOVE it!!!!! I hope to learn enough songs on it to use it during singing time in nursery at church. Besides: it's SUPER cute. Seriously. It's purple!
a few misc. pictures cause those are cute girls. Wish I had some fuzzy socks about now!
The piece de resistance: under the tree there has been a largish package from daddy and me. We weren't going to be doing anything fancy like this on account of the kitties... but we had an opportunity and the means, so we went for it. Daddy held the large gift and the girls each held their last gift from Santa. I love the expressions on their faces! They could not believe their eyes! We got a BLUE wii! It came with one controller / nunchuck. The gifts the girls opened was a pretty PINK controller for each of them. They're absolutely adorable. We borrowed a wii play disc and they've played a great deal of cow racing and billiards this afternoon.
This pretty much wraps up Christmas -- Kate with her hat and wii-mote. This picture just turned out really pretty so I had to include it. We have had a very merry Christmas -- sickness and all. We feel so very blessed to have so much family and so many friends around us. We missed out on the family gatherings, but it was really kinda nice to just "have to" relax at home!
So Merry Christmas to All! I'm headed to bed.
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