Merry Christmas!

It's 10:12 Christmas night. The kids are in bed and the house is clean so I have a moment for a Christmas Day recap. But, first, I have to back up to Christmas Eve. We had our customary pizza for dinner. Then, we let the kids open their presents their Aunts and Uncles sent. They enjoyed the unexpected treat and played for a while until watching Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (the old animated version) for about the twentieth time this week...you know, three times a day for 7 days...They donned their Christmas jammies from Ama and went to bed quickly. They didn't dare get up because someone told them they had to be asleep for Santa to come and if they kept getting up, Santa would not come. He he he. It's about time I got some leverage out of that one! :) Remarkably, we were in bed by midnight and the kids' gift to us was to sleep until 8:14 this morning! I can't think of a better present for the parents of three...or one or two, for that matter!

We came downstairs to find that Santa had indeed come in the night. The girls had a blast going through their stockings and one of the biggest hits of the day was the puppies Santa brought them. Juliana got a white one with a pink bow and Kathryn's is brown with a purple bow. They each came in a little handbag and they bark, pant and wag their tails (Kathryn's checking out the wagging tail in the picture above.) Man, did they love these puppies, as you can plainly see. And, on the rare occasion one was left unattended for a moment, Alexander grabbed it and hauled it around. Juliana very graciously shared her puppy with her little brother. I know, we were surprised, too! We unwrapped presents for a while and then took a break to have french toast on thick-cut french bread for breakfast...mmmmm...french toast...Here's the living room after round one of presents: The girls became engrossed in a Champion Dog Breed toy which gave Nate and I an opportunity to exchange a few gifts. Alexander was very helpful with the 10 pound weights we got for daddy. We invited the girls to rejoin us and continue opening presents and they were all too happy to oblige. Round two ended with a small blue basketball that had a tag saying it went with another present downstairs. So we all headed to the basement to find a huge playhouse complete with a basketball hoop, soccer net, gas station, school house, market and bank. Oh, did they love it! Alexander immediately crawled in, turned around, said "ba ba" and shut the door! They had a blast shooting hoops and climbing in and out of the windows. What a wonderful memory. With so many options, we know they'll get a lot of mileage out of it. This afternoon, Kathryn and Juliana took their puppies to have a playdate in the clubhouse and they said the puppies were so happy, they were barking and wagging their tails!
We got the house tidied up in preparation for our Christmas Dessert Party. We started this tradition last year. With our family so far away, we thought it would be nice to invite some neighbors to join us for dessert. It was such a hit, we decided to do it again. The kids ran around and had a great time while the adults enjoyed visiting. Although I cut back on the baked goods this year, I still have a ton left over and will be hauling some of it to MD this week! I baked a Caramel Pecan Pie and a Mrs. Smith's Deep Dish Apple Pie (the only thing not homemade) and I made a Double-Layer Pumpkin Pie. I also served the cookies I've been making for the past couple weeks including: Unbaked cookies, Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies, Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal cookies, Snickerdoodles and Chocolate Dipped Brandy Snaps. I also made Festive Holiday Bark (vanilla confectioners candy with pretzels and holiday M&Ms), Buckeyes (peanut butter balls), chocolate covered pretzels and Butterscotch Brownies. And, I say "I" loosely, as the girls helped with a lot of it; they are expert Snickerdoodle rollers by now, that's for sure! In addition to what we provided, the Clarks brought the best brownies I've ever had, the Steeles brought a pumpkin pie, which, thank goodness, I convinced Denise to take with her when they departed, and the Becks brought an assortment of gingerbread and sugar cookies they made and decorated. We had a great time and look forward to continuing the tradition next year.

When our last guest departed, we hauled our exhausted young un's up to bed (around 9 PM) and by 10:00, Juliana was still fooling around so Nate unscrewed the light bulbs in her room. She's been very difficult to get to bed, often reading and playing until falling asleep with her lights on. She doesn't nap during the day, so she tends to be extra special cranky following these late nights. Hopefully, with nothing to do in the dark, she'll give up and go to sleep. We'll see how it goes...I'll probably find her asleep on the bathroom floor with the light on and a book in her hand...I have no doubt that she'll find a way to show us! :)

Poor Alexander had a runny nose today and coughed so much this evening, he started wheezing. I gave him a dose of his inhaler from his last illness; the Dr. recommended I keep it for just such an occasion. I hope this doesn't mean extended asthma issues, but it's not looking good. Gave him some medicine for his sinus' before bed so hoping that'll help him sleep. Here's my snuggly baby. I'll keep you posted on his health.Now that it's 11:37 PM and Christmas is almost over, I'll wrap it up with one more hearty Merry Christmas! I'll be posting more often after the hubub of the holidays is over.