Fantastic Christmas

Well, this week has been tough with a cold going around. It's not so much that the cold has been miserable, but it has prevented playing with friends and cousins. In fact, we didn't even go to my parents' house for the Christmas Eve program last night. We dropped by long enough to pick up the traditional pajamas and trade wrapped gifts to open today.

Today was really wonderful, though. Here are a few pictures from last night and this morning.

New jammies from Bama!

The girls' Santa stuff

Buster's stuff

Kandy has her new American Girl Doll in the cradle I fixed up. She has been asking for an American Girl Doll for 3 years.

And Sunny did get her Baby Alive doll.
Abel got a cool ride-on/push toy. I didn't get a good picture of it, though. He really likes Sunny's doll. I missed the picture of him snuggling it.

Buster and his "cute choo-choo."

We took things really slowly. We looked at stuff from Santa and unwrapped a few things. We played with cool toys from cousins.Then we unwrapped some more things.

Missy got "How to Train your Dragon" and a diary from Santa. This book is from Kandy.

If you're interested, there are tons more pictures in my Picasa album, Christmas 2010.

We managed to make Christmas morning excitement last about 5 hours. The kids have had a great time playing with all their new stuff. Now if we can just get over our sniffles and go play with cousins! I think it's one of our best Christmases ever.

The Christmas Palace

by Missy Kendrick. Grammar and spelling has been mostly standardized.

This is the story of how the twelve days of Christmas came to life, so listen carefully.

Once upon a time, there was a working and building company. Their boss told them to build a beautiful castle for Santa to work in. The workers started on the first day of Christmas. That day, they got their materials.

First floor: On the second day, they put down the floor. On the third day, they put up the walls, and on the fourth day, a door. On the fifth day, they put in windows. And sixth day, wallpaper and carpet.

Second floor: On the seventh day, they put in ceiling and floor. 9th, walls; 10th, windows; 11th, wallpaper and carpet...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, they put in stairs, hung up lights, decorated the castle with furniture,

And called it the
CHRISTMAS PALACE!
the end

Under the Toe

Kandy was singing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in the car the other day. In case you don't know the lyrics:

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus
Underneath the mistletoe last night.
She didn't see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peep;
She thought that I was tucked up
in my bedroom fast asleep.

Then, I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus
Underneath his beard so snowy white;
Oh, what a laugh it would have been
If Daddy had only seen
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night.

Kandy suggested that I should kiss Santa! Sunny piped up and said, "She wouldn't want to kiss him under a toe, though!"

---

And speaking of the Man in Red, Sunny was talking to Ben the other day about what she wants for Christmas.

"Daddy, I want you to buy me a Baby Alive doll."

"Why do you want me to buy it for you? Didn't you ask Santa for one?"

"Yeth, Daddy, but Kandy hath been athking him for an American Girl Doll for three yearth, and she hathn't gotten it! I don't think he'll bring me a Baby Alive."

Given some of her comments lately, I'm not sure if Kandy believes in Santa. I think Sunny does, but she doesn't seem to have much faith in his actions.

I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning.

What Would We Do Without the Internet?

I really love the Internet, and I am so grateful for it! I'm prompted to mention it tonight because of the amazing support group it provides. Aside from blogs and facebook, you can find support for just about any problem you might be having. Cat peeing on your bed? Lots of other people feel your pain. (This is not my current problem, thank goodness, but I have been there!) Dog won't stay out of the cat's food? Well, you might not find a solution, but it can be comforting to read about everyone else complaining about it. When Sunny had that little episode of HSP a few years ago, I mentioned it on my blog, and someone invited me to support groups for it. There I read horror stories that made me feel even more blessed that her episode was so short and has not recurred.

And if you have something quirky going on in your body (my reason tonight), you can hop on and type into a search engine for ideas. Can you get a definitive diagnosis? Probably not. Can you get scared by all the serious things it might be? Sure. ("I thought we agreed that you'd come to me before checking Starfleet Medical Database." Dr. Beverly Crusher to Lt. Reginald Barclay, Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Genesis.") In my case, it could be anything from a vitamin deficiency to something a lot more serious requiring years of treatment and surgery. It was just really comforting, though, to read all the other people on one of the ask-question pages that said, "Hey, this has been happening to me, too!" It's always nice to know we're not alone when we're in pain or confused.

On a happier note, I love shopping online (Christmas shopping and shipping in one stop!). I also enjoy searching for information just for the sake of learning. I can get seriously lost on Wikipedia, especially after reading historical fiction or watching a documentary. I don't have to take my kids to the library for research projects, either (at this age)--they do it all from my computer. I can research everything from windshields to spiders from my family room.

So hooray for the Internet! I know we all used to live without it, but its prevalence coincided so neatly with my own advent into adulthood that I do not know what life was like as an adult in that pre-Internet world. I'm so grateful I was born in this era!