We spent Christmas Eve afternoon with the Rogers eating a scrumptious dinner at 2:00 p.m. and allowing the abundant cousins to run amok. The adults chatted and picked at food until it was time to eat it and open presents. The kids sat in a circle orchestrated by Grandma Phillis and took turns opening their presents for the gift exchange.
Amelia received some jewelry and lovely hair bows and flowers along with a little snowman tea set that her Grandma Phillis had been saving for her until she was old enough not to break it. She was rather excited about her presents, but expressed some concern that the jewelry sets came with pierced earrings. She covered her ear lobes and said with wide eyes, "Earrings?! I can't wear earrings. Do I have to get my ears pierced?"
Her Uncle Brant explained that the jewelry sets just happened to come with earrings and that she could save them for later or give them away. And I reminded her that they were her ears and that she could decide if she wanted them pierced.
Crisis diverted.
Dylan received some cool little die-cast cars in his favorite colors, $10 for winter clothes, and an awesome Magna Doodle that he uses all the time. The little cars were kept in his special back pack for several days in a row and taken out at bedtime so that he could sleep with them.
Dylan received some cool little die-cast cars in his favorite colors, $10 for winter clothes, and an awesome Magna Doodle that he uses all the time. The little cars were kept in his special back pack for several days in a row and taken out at bedtime so that he could sleep with them.
Yes, I think he liked them.
In the evening the kids bathed and put on their fleece sleepers complete with footies. Then Amelia prepared the offering for Santa for the first time. She drew a picture and chose this giant plate and a small glass of milk. Then as an added measure she made a sign and portrait that said "fo Santa" in case he was confused about the intended recipient of the offering.
Yes, those are poker chip chocolate "flavored" candies. They were a gift.
Don't ask.
And Amelia decided that Santa should only have two because he might get a stomachache.
This concern turned out to be prophetic, though it was Amelia who woke up with the stomachache in the morning. The early morning, in fact. She vomited a few times around 2:30 and didn't really fall asleep again until 3:30 or so. So, come Christmas morning, see-what-Santa-brought time, she was in no mood to move from her bed. Santa had carefully arranged his gifts under the tree, so Dylan saw his cool stash of vintage Adventure People toys circa 1976 (Santa must shop on eBay--these are the exact toys Evan had as a boy), while Amelia stayed in bed.
We opened the rest of the gifts in Amelia's room. Well, Dylan actually opened her gifts and showed them to her (how often does that happen?!). Eventually she felt better.
The two munchkins ventured outside with their new small toys and set up camping in the dormant flower bed.
The two munchkins ventured outside with their new small toys and set up camping in the dormant flower bed.
Then, Amelia must have really felt better, because she tossed handfuls of the autumn-esque leaves that were finally falling and danced around and made leaf angels.
We spent Christmas Day afternoon with the Richardsons and I forgot my camera, so no photos are present. But we did manage to make way too much Tex-Mex style food, enjoy some awesome salsas, jump on the trampoline, and open more gifts.
We spent Christmas Day afternoon with the Richardsons and I forgot my camera, so no photos are present. But we did manage to make way too much Tex-Mex style food, enjoy some awesome salsas, jump on the trampoline, and open more gifts.
And that was our Christmas.
