Catching up

We've been wrapped up in the holiday whirlwind here for the past week. The tissue paper is finally settling on the floor and things are starting to return to something that at least resembles normal.

Last weekend we went to Matt's work Christmas party, celebrated my birthday and then went to the annual Christmas Concert and Matt's mother's holiday party. I left the concert a little early with Norma to help her get the food all set up since Kay couldn't do it this year. Unfortunately, I forgot Matt no longer has a set of keys to my van. He and the kids were stuck at the church. Thankfully, his brother got him to the party and then Gertrude took him back later to get the car.

On Wednesday Kaylee had her best friend Emily over to play after school. All three girls had fun, although Ruby was a bit whiney. I think she may have felt a little excluded by the older girls. I don't think they were trying to leave her out though. They had a picnic in their bedroom and watched a Dora movie. They played for a few hours until Emily's mom came back to collect her. I think they all had a good time.

Keithen went to bed Thursday night and stayed up reading for a while. I was trying to get Ruby to settle down for the night when I heard him yell, "I just lost a tooth!" It was a pretty bloody one, so it took a bit of time to get him settled back in his bed. His tooth was placed safely under the little tree by his bed for the Tooth Fairy to find it. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have any troubles finding his new room.

Kaylee and Keithen had their last day of school on Friday. Kaylee had a class party which I helped plan. They had a "Polar Express" theme since they had just worked on that story last week. They took a ride on the Polar Express (their chairs formed into a train) and found jingle bells that we hid under their seats. They decorated their teacher like a Christmas tree and made train ornaments to take home. Then they had ice cream and cookies.


After school on Friday, the kids and I baked Santa's cookies. We didn't get them all decorated that night and put them aside to finish on Christmas Eve. (Note the flour on Kaylee's nose!)


On Saturday we packed up and headed to Fort Wayne to spend an early holiday with Grandma and Grandpa Williams and Mamaw Betty. We stayed the night in the same hotel where we had Grandpa's party last July. Ruby recognized it as soon as we pulled up outsie. Unfortunately, lack of planned meant we didn't get to enjoy the pool on this trip.

We had a big lunch at Grandma's house and then the kids dug into the present opening with gusto. Keithen was very tickled with his little digital camera and his CD/mp3 player with the Harry Potter books on it. Kaylee was head-over-heals with her big stuffed Diego doll and her Princess Dora castle. We made her wait until we got hom to open the box for the castle and I think she was about to explode from anticipation. Ruby was very excited to get the Barbie Hot Tub Bus and a ballerina "Our Generation" doll. Grandpa got a new popcorn machine and the kids were very much willing to taste test the first batch.








On Sunday afternoon we headed home to get everything ready for Santa. Unfortunately, we got a bit of a late start and had to make a couple of pit stops on the way home, so I didn't get to cook the Christmas Eve dinner I had planned. We ended up ordering Papa John's pizza instead. We finished putting together toys that came home from Grandma's house (the bus and the castle) and finished decorating the cookies. Ruby took charge of arranging a plate of goodies for Santa. (And of course there had to be popcorn for him again this year!) The kids opened their final Advent presents from Grandma Dollar (yeah.....I know.....I missed a bunch of days of blogging on those). Then we exchanged our family presents. The kids got their traditional pair of new PJ's and a treasured hardback book. This was the first year that they bought presents for each other and us. (Dollar Store shopping sprees for each of them!) They had fun exchanging the gifts that they had chosen on their own. Stockings were hung and the children were all finally off to bed very late!

Santa was quite generous this year, as you can see from the bulging stockings and the pile of loot under the tree! I think Keithen's favorite gift from Santa was his Pokemon gameboy game (although the spy gear will probably come in a close second). Kaylee of course was head over heals for her new Diego Rescue Center. Ruby's favorite has to be her Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses toy laptop computer.








Christmas morning I made scones for the first time in ages. Matt proclaimed that I "hadn't lost a step" because they were quite yummy, warm covered with fresh cream. Later in the day I finally got to make the meal I had planned for Christmas Eve, champagne garlic chicken. Yum! Of course a lot of time was spent playing and trying out new games and toys. The kids built a fort and a car with the "super fort" pieces Grandma and Grandpa Williams gave them.


Today Matt is back to work, the kids are buried in their new toys and I'm here catching up with life on the web. In a few days, the chaos will start all over. We still have Christmas to do with the Dollar family and with Nanny and Pappy. We have tickets to see Beauty and the Beast as a family and I'll be taking the kids to see Dance Kaleidoscope as well. Probably a couple of playdates coming on the horizon as well. So.....when do I get a nap?!