And A Merry Christmas Was Had By All

It's been a busy couple of days here at Casa Geek.

Christmas Eve we were at church shortly before 5:30pm until 8:30 or so. The girls dragged into bed late which results in added drama at bedtime.

The gifts from Santa were prepared and set out (one each) and I, grateful the day was over, went to bed.

I woke at 6:45 Christmas morning. We must not have our children sufficiently excited about Christmas morning yet, because they slept until 8:45am! When we finally made it downstairs the girls noticed the gifts "from Santa", front and center.

Brenna was very excited by hers, a Frieda Trunki, "Just what I wanted for Christmas!" Caelan got a Tika Kids Crayon Bag, which was immediately put to use.

The gifts from Mommy & Daddy followed, with Brenna receiving a microphone and Caelan a toy violin. And then from the girls to each other: Brenna got a Hooked on Phonics touch screen learner and Caelan got her own digital camera (so she can leave Brenna's alone!) That's 3 Christmas gifts; Jesus received three so we don't give our children more. We are, after all, celebrating the birth of Christ.

Gifts from the grandparents in Texas were books (always popular in our house) and a LiteBrite cube. Very fun!



The rest of the day sped by. The girls, my mom & I delivered the Fill in the Blankie to a new baby in the NICU at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. Because the baby was in NICU we dropped it off, with an anonymous note, with the nurses at the front desk. Our prayers go out to that family for their blessed baby.

Not long after that my family descended on our house and the fun began! So much food- soups, dips, crackers, veggies, pickle wraps and so many desserts! Pies, cookies, fruit breads... An abundance- even by our standards!

Gifts were opened and then brought out to play with, the big screen was pulled down and the Wii was put into use. There is truly nothing better on Christmas than family & fun. The gifts are really quite secondary.

A sledding party was planned for the next day but we had quite a heat wave - 45 degrees! - and the snow was melting as we slid down the hill. So the kids created a snow person- which has since melted to a blob with a hat. They were quite proud of it, though.


Tonight bring the Christmas gift for us parents. We are all going out to dinner (courtesy of my parents who each gave us a nice bit of cash and are watching all the kids tonight!) and then to see Spamalot!