Merry Christmas

Today was the big day: Christmas! All the girls slept well, and at about 7 AM, Eliza came in and said soooo very excitedly, "Mom! Santa's been here. He drank all the milk!" Then later she said, "He ate some of the cookie, Rudolph ate the apple and Santa at the mint I left him." She was so genuinely excited; it was very cute. We couldn't keep her from taking a peek at the tree where she exclaimed, "See I told you came!" Then she proceeded to look more and read whose name was on which presents. She found some for her and about one said, "I think my first present is an American Girl!" "And I think Ellie got a chair." (We had taken that out of the box and put it under a blanket.0 But that little smartie pants! Next year we are going to have to be way more sneaky about how we wrap. I did not think she would guess so easily. Libby got up a little bit later and they both had to look under the tree again. We waited until about 8 AM for my parents to come over, then we ate cinnamon rolls, juice and hot chocolate. After a quick breakfast and feeding Ellie right after she woke up, we began opening presents. It started nice and slow and organized, then somehow snowballed into a crazy, quick explosion of presents! It was fun though and the girls seemed to really like everything they got. Before we started, Libby saw a big box for her and said, "It's a Jeep!!!" I was a little worried since we decided against getting those for the girls, but she was thrilled to get the doll house along with several of the rooms. In fact, neither of them has mentioned anything about not getting a Jeep. Eliza LOVED the American Doll and the clothes. She also got some Sunday clothes, books, a volleyball, and lip gloss. Along with the doll house and rooms, Libby got a soccer ball, a dress, lip gloss and bracelets. And Ellie got a little Weebles tree house and her rocking chair, which she loved and hung out in for a while. My parents gave them a bucket full of art supplies (sidewalk chalk, watercolor pencils, crayons, markers, doodle pads, sketch pads, etc). They love that and Eliza has already created her first watercolor masterpiece. They also gave them each a dress, CD, hair stuff and a puzzle. Eliza also got a bike helmet, a Ken doll and some clothes, beaded bracelets that my mom made, and a make-up bag full of little girls' make up. Libby got bracelets, too, ar remote control car, Ellie got a cute plastic purse with plastic make up, keys, coin purse, etc., some plastic balls and a little fire truck to put them on, and some soft, blocks to stack. They were in heaven. After the Christmas tornado hit, Brian's parents stopped by to check things out. They brought Eliza and Libby a Lennon Sister doll and a book and paper dolls. Ellie got a nursery rhyme musical toy and a book. Brian and I each got some socks and in January we will be getting some meat from the cow to use throughout the year. We need to get our outlet fixed now so the freezer will work correctly.

Brian got some great things, too: shirts, CD case, books, GPS/navigation thing he's been wanting, a camping stove and walkie talkies. My parents gave him a pair of pants for work and a nice ladder. Now he can get in the attic! Santa was kind to me, as well. I got the lens I've been wanting: a 25-75mm, f/2.8. I am excited to try it out and take lots of pictures. I also got perfume, gift cards to buy shoes, a soft robe, Photoshop Elements and my watch fixed. My parents got me a light disc I've been wanting (now I really need to take some pictures--any volunteers for me to practice on???), a darling little notebook from Anthropologie, VERY cute Mary Jane type shoes, hair clips and ponytails, and a new photography book that should be here soon! We also got the Book of Mormon for LDS families--one we've been wanting for a long while! I know I am missing some things, but I am so grateful for everything we received and the generosity shown. It is much appreciated.

It was fun to have my parents over to join us. We got my dad some jeans, dress pants, socks, a tie and some tennis shoes. And for my mom we got her a gift certificate to take a class from Big Picture Scrapbooking.

After the festivities at home, we went to Brian's parents' house where we had a ham lunch and the kids played with each other. Eliza watched Hanna Montana with Sara and Libby helped pick up pecans that had fallen from the tree and she did some swinging, too. I played a game of croquet and did terrible! But it was fun anyway.

Overall it was a great day. I think the girls have overload because when we got home, they were not getting along or sharing, so that was frustrating. I sure hope they get some rest and do better tomorrow.

But now that Christmas is over, the next couple of weeks will be filled with getting decorations taken down, make some baby shower invitations for a friend's shower, finishing up some writing deadlines, YW stuff and planning for the new year, make a project for 7gypsies and thinking about Eliza's birthday. But I am ready for it all!