Pre-Christmas

Well, Christmas 2011 has come and gone and, for us, it was a wonderful time spent with family, too much food, and lots of gifts!  Christmas really is a reminder of how fortunate we are in so many ways.

Our Christmas celebration lasted for a week...starting with a visit from Papa Steve, CC and Uncle Stephen the weekend before.  It was a quick visit but we kicked off the gift exchange extravaganza with them!  Nate actually got his "big" gift from them this year...CC and I were on a mission to find a LeapPad and, after much determination (and a tiny bit of craziness - on my part) we secured our coveted prize!  I got my first taste of having to have the "hot toy" of the season...and I learned that I, in the future, will either go in to the holiday season knowing if there is a toy that might be on this list so that I can buy it before Thanksgiving or NOT at all! :)  Regardless of the frenzy, it turned out to in fact be a perfect gift...he has barely put it down and has been doing a lot of letter tracing and puzzle games so it is serving it's purpose - entertainment and education!  Thanks CC and Papa Steve and hope to see you again soon!

It appears that I captured looks of indifference on my children's faces...I assure you that wasn't the case!

The next day we had our annual pre-Christmas lunch at Alie's. She filled the boys' stockings with fun surprises and made a delicious lunch.  And while she does a great job catering to the boys rather particular taste buds, she did try to expand their palette by serving their carrots with butter and herbs...which prompted Nate to alert her that there was "grass on his carrots".  They forgave her for the "dirty" carrots once the Christmas cupcakes came out!  Thanks Alie!