Merry Christmas!

Santa was very good to our family. I think I headed to bed around 4 a.m. At 7:10 a.m. I heard Leigha out in the hall. I had blocked the entrance to the stairs to give her the hint she was not to go downstairs. I wanted to see her face as she saw her stocking and the presents that Santa had brought.

In order to get a little more sleep, I invited her into our bed. She was shaking. She kepts clasping her fingers together and repeating, "I hope Santa brought me a pink guitar!" I thought she was going to make herself sick. Finally, we woke up the boys and let them all go downstairs to see what Santa had brought.


Before Leigha even made it down the stairs all of the way, she saw what Santa had left her!



Santa brought the boys two chairs, a couch, and a little reading table. I think Santa knew we were a bit overloaded in the toy area and he knew that the boys LOVE to read!


Our big gift to Leigha was her flat screen monitor and the move of her computer from my office to her desk. On second thought, that might have been my Christmas present!


The boys loved Leigha's pink guitar, too!


The boys were more fascinated with their freedom of being able to run around in Leigha's playroom than the presents themselves. They finally started getting the hang of opening presents and finding the good things inside.




My brother-in-law, Felix, and his family came over for lunch. Unfortunately, I was so busy trying to get the food fixed that I didn't take pictures of everyone. I hate when I realize that too late. At least I got part of their family!

Felix and Chloe



The boys' have a new drum set. Robert seems to be the one that is a natural!


Felix had to work so we had a quick lunch and then they were off. April stayed with us for the afternoon. My aunt and uncle were the next ones to come for a visit. We had just put the boys down for a nap, well that was my intention. While the kitchen was safe, Aunt Bobbie gave Leigha her gift. Knowing how much Leigha enjoyed putting together the gingerbread houses, they bought Leigha a gingerbread Christmas tree. The best part, once again, was that Aunt Bobbie helped Leigha to put it together. The amusing part, knowing I didn't have to do anything, was when Aunt Bobbie realized that she had to MAKE her own frosting! Both of our house kits have come with the frosting ready to go!




If this was your house, would you be scared? A guitar and drum set, music to our ears?


By this time, they were pros at opening gifts.


The boys got a kid friendly digital camera. Taking pictures of the boys can be very difficult because they run to the camera as soon as they see it. Now they have their very own camera. So far they are doing a pretty good job of sharing it. I am impressed!



They also received these neat head lamps! The kids love running around with their animal flashlights from last year. They turn off all of the lights (when I need them on) and shine their flashlights on the walls and ceiling. My mom told me about a commercial I haven't seen. I guess there are a bunch of kids lined up on a couch, staring at the fireplace, with these head lamps on. They are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. Fast forward some time and you see lights going in different directions depending on how the kids fell asleep.


Now the flashlights are constantly on here. They mostly run around with them in their hands, but Leigha will wear hers on her head and sometimes one of the boys will let her put it on their head, too!

While I was preparing the pumpkin pie for everyone, Matthew did something that totally shocked me! He was trying to stand up, on his own, without holding on to anything. Of course none of us had our cameras nearby. He stood up one time for a brief second, and tried to take one step, but he fell down. Do you think the shock of hearing everyone scream, at the same time, could have made him lose his concentration? I thought maybe he would try again if I rewarded him with pumpkin pie. He had only one thing on his mind- pumpkin pie!


To make our wonderful Christmas even better, we made our yearly trip to Sunset Gardens to see the Gift of Lights. We make our donation to Goodwill, we buy our hot chocolate from the Boy Scouts, and then we are on our way through the beautiful display of Christmas lights.