Christmas 2007

Christmas morning started at our house around 6:00 a.m. (It actually started at midnight, because I was still up wrapping, setting up, etc) when Talia woke up and cried for another sippy. I got up to get her one, and as I was going upstairs Rob and Sarah came out of their rooms and asked to go see what they got. Little did I know that they had already been down to check out their gifts 30 min earlier, but didn't want to tell me because they thought it wasn't allowed. Anyway, they were ecstatic with what Santa brought (a Wii for Rob and an Easy Bake oven for Sarah). They wanted to open everything else, but I said no way. I went back to bed and told them to wake me up at 8. Don't ask me what they did for 2 hours--I don't really care. But at 8 am sharp, they were tapping on my shoulder, telling me it was time to open gifts. Chris and I got up and got Talia up (who was thrilled with her Cinderella dress-up outfit and shoes that Santa left her) and we opened everything else. The kids got plenty of new clothes. Sarah and Talia were excited about their matching newborn Baby Alive dolls and strollers. Rob got a Red Ryder BB gun. It was a great Christmas! After opening gifts, we had a great breakfast and then packed up and headed to the Matthews for more Christmas celebration! We stayed two nights there, and enjoyed spending the time with Allison's family. The kids loved seeing their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents again.

Rob with his Wii--he's incapable of smiling normally for pictures these days.

Talia in her Cinderella attire.
Sarah on her new sled.

Rob is becoming a true Yankees fan--with a lot of encouragement from his dad. Chris got him this jacket when he was in NY to watch the Yankees last summer.

Favorite Chrismtas Traditions

I know Christmas has come and gone, but I just downloaded all my pictures from December so I'm in the mood to share some Christmas memories. One of our favorite traditions is making a gingerbread house. Last year we used a store-bought kit that we got as a gift, but usually I make it all myself because all the store-bought ones contain traces of peanuts. Anyway, this year we had a successful gingerbread house, despite one small setback when the front of it broke in two (oops!)

Another favorite tradition is our advent calendars. This was a tradition my family had when I was growing up, and I have passed it down to my kids. We have the nativity scene calendar, a candy calendar, and our countdown books. For the books, I wrap 24 books that have anything to do with Christmas, winter, snow, etc, and we open one every day. The last book to open on Christmas Eve is the one with a bow on it, and that one is always "The Night Before Christmas". We started this last year, and it was even more fun this year.