Christmas Revelry

I'm finally blogging again.. but I'm using the computer that has a few broken keys and there are kids literally crawling all over me, but nothing like doing a little blogging to give you an excuse to ignore everyone and try to come up with some complete coherent sentences. Let's see how I do...

We just had a simply delightful Christmas this year.

Thanks to little Poem's arrival, we were homebound and expected it to be a long two weeks with the weather cold and the kids stuck inside for Winter Break... so we were SO EXCITED when Jonah's parents decided to come see us on Christmas Eve and stay for four wonderful days. They also bought us an Aerobed and had it sent ahead of them so they'd have a comfy bed when they got here... what fantastic guests.

And somehow there is not a single picture of either of them in my camera which is really dumb because I should've gotten one with them holding Poem. Darn. At least I'll see them this next month in CA and then I can repent and take a proper photo.

Anyway... I LOVE the photo above because my husband is so darn handsome. That's Elsie's flash new Barbie Bike that Santa brought.

I

I snuck into the living room in the early morning before the kids got up. They were sleeping in our room on the floor because one of our Christmas traditions is Family Slumber Party. The kids got their stockings in our room in the morning and then came out one by one to see what Santa brought. Elsie got the bike (which was good because Santa didn't know what he's be bringing and then a friend called him and said she had a new bike that she'd had for years in her garage and didn't know what to do with it and that Santa could just have it...), a headlamp, headphones and a Webkinz. Cam got a Lego headlamp, a lantern, a Nerf sword, a WEbkinz, and headphones. Ana got a little iPod speaker set for the iTouch she and Cam share, a headlamp, headphones, and a WEbkinz. Sorry about the lists... but I just had to document Santa's generosity for posterity...

Ana's new horsey farm boots-- courtesy of grandparents.

The kids saw their Santa presents and then we had Bisquits and Gravy for breakfast. Then the kids opened one present and then Jonah took everyone out crabbing. By this time it was noon and the kids had opened one present. They were dying... but I loved it because I HATE when all the presents are opened. I like to prolong it as long as possible.

Jonah's parents enjoyed crabbing with the kids and Jonah... and I think they enjoyed even more when we ate fresh crab for lunch. ... and dinner and lunch the next day and the next day...

Finally, after lunch was cleaned up and Jonah got the boat and crab pots cleaned up and put away, we let the kids slowly open some more presents. Most of their great presents came from their grandparents... like the horse set above.

Because I just love a billion presents for everyone to open, I went crazy at the post-Halloween sales and got everybody a BUNCH of wigs and costumes (at 90% off). Jonah's wig is one of the scarier ones.

Ana luckily got some new clothes from her Papa. You know your kids are growing up when some of their favorite presents are clothes. ...

and books...

Another of Cam's favorite presents was a pair of Puma shoes. I don't think he's ever had new shoes, so he was thrilled (he usually just gets hand-me-downs or Thrift Store specials).

Elsie loved her new Sleeping Beauty costume and lots of books among other things.

THIS is the best costume. Cam put it on and did a little Super Mario Brothers dance for us....

Elsie's new press-on nails stayed on for about 4 minutes... but they were a deliciously fashionable four minutes.

Well, Jonah's parents suffered through the 12 hours of present opening with us... there weren't that many presents--Jonah and I just tortured the kids and made them go VERY slowly.

It was a great Christmas... very relaxed and no pressure. Thanks Poem for that. A new baby is a great excuse to sit around and soak it in.

Thank you especially to our generous family who sent so many great presents and good wishes and love.

Merry Christmas!

Well, I think I started taking down Christmas decorations that night and finished on Boxing Day. It's always such a relief... especially when you have a bunch of makeshift decorations because all of the nice ones that you inherited from your mom are still in storage... I think with everyone helping it took about 30 minutes. I also had to delete my Christmas music stations off of Pandora because I think Jonah was about ready to shoot a hole in the speakers since I've been blasting the Christmas music non-stop since the week before Thanksgiving.

Well, the photo above:

Elsie looked so cute in her new dress from Papa. She really wanted Cam to pose with her before we left for church on Boxing Day, but he was not too excited about it.

Yep. Who doesn't like having their picture taken?

Not Elsie.

On Monday, we tried to visit Salt Creek tide pools, but the tide wasn't low enough to see anything. Darn it. I really wanted to find an octopus.

Instead we headed back and showed Jonah's parents Crescent lake (from the car.... it was freezing!) and then they took us all to a movie (Narnia) and to dinner (Thai food... yum)!

And then the next day they took us to an animal preserve that is literally right next to our house and we've never been there. We can hear all the animals during feeding time and we've even had their peacock over here, but we've just never gone in. Well, I'm definitely impressed. It was a blast! They had a bunch of the animals out roaming that we could feed bread to from the car... check out the YAK above.

I never knew I'd actually touch a yak.

They also had a bunch of retired movie star bears who could catch the bread in their mouth when we tossed it to them. They were VERY very cute, and also gigantic and thankfully not allowed to come up to the car with those giant claws and teeth.

Jonah took the kids back later that afternoon after his parents headed off to the airport because he hadn't gone with us that morning. The one advice I gave him was, "Don't stop in the buffalo and reindeer field..." Well, when a group of buffaloes stopped in the road, he slowed down enough that suddenly a giant buffalo head ate a bagel off of his lap.

When I asked Elsie if she was scared, she said, "Don't worry mom... I just laid down on the floor of the car and covered my head".

Here are the reindeer chasing the car as Jonah drives away.

Luckily, the car and its occupants suffered no damage.

I realize that Poem has been sorely underrepresented in this post... so here she is. She only weighs 9.5 pounds... those extra two pounds are clothes and blankets and the basket.

She's been a good little baby and LOVES sleeping in the midst of the kids' craziness all day and then being awake all night because it's so quiet she can't sleep. Awesome.

Well, Christmas Break finally came to an end. We've had some beauty sunsets and the kids even got out of the house a few times in the last few days before they had to go back to school.

We hope January is our last month of winter!

Let's get it done! Bring on springtime!