Christmas

We had a really fun Christmas day. We woke up around 6am and saw that Santa Claus brought a outdoor climber, slide and table and chairs for the kids. He also left them lots of practical things in their stockings (socks, hair care stuff, toothbrushes, toothpaste) and a dvd and book each. Jackson crawled right into the middle and it all. He really enjoyed having so much stuff on the floor to play with and put in his mouth. Abygail enjoyed the climber so much that it took 3 hours before she opened her last present (slow and steady wins the race!).First things first, Mom & Dad, I need to go down this slide!

Now let's see, yup, it's just my size (ignore the yawning mom in the background)

After opening presents I made our traditional Christmas breakfast of monkey bread, I also made some eggs and bacon to counter balance the sweets. Soon after breakfast was over I was making our Christmas feast. We enjoyed ham, corn casserole, raw veggies, rolls and my grandma's Christmas punch. Afterwards the kids and I took naps while Jason cleaned up my kitchen mess. It was so nice to have a good long nap. After naps we got cleaned up and took our Christmas baked goods to friends. When we got home we just enjoyed the remainder of the day, playing and watching Thomas and Friends (Abygail's new dvd).Things I learned this year:
1. Start baking early so that the few days before Christmas don't turn into a circus and one is not exhausted by 3pm on Christmas day.
2. When big presents/toys are given there is really no point any buying anything else - it's just not even seen.
3. Just relax and enjoy the day. The opportunities for pictures will manifest themselves and it's so much fun to just watch the kiddies!
4. I enjoy baking and getting ready for the holiday season.
5. Put up the Christmas tree as soon after Thanksgiving as possible so that Christmas doesn't sneak up on you.

Today we've already taken down our Christmas decorations and packed them up, along with our dvd collection and some other odds and ends. The closing date has been postponed, again, to Friday. All in all it's going to be a race in the next few days to get everything packed and moved so you may not see much from us until after the New Year.