Just the regular ol' chaos of Christmas. That is what makes it so special, I guess. Waking early, the excitement of Santa's visit, family, wrapping paper piles, good food, a craft project, a timer photo, pies. Everything you need to have a Merry Christmas!
all photos taken 12.25.11
Santa ate all the cookies and this year he drank the whole mug of drink. Gretchen remembered that last year "He only drank half the milk. So, this year let's leave him Diet Pepsi." In front of the table, you see 2 homemade flannel pillowcases. Santa used those for stockings instead of the real stockings. I left those in NC because I knew Santa would have too much stuff to fit in them anyway. Carl got a train pillowcase and Gretchen got a snowflake one.
Carl reading his note from Santa.
Gretchen reading hers, too.
Carl's main gift he wanted from Santa was a stuffed Nemo that talks. Luckily, elves are good at making toys since this Disney toy is no longer made. What a trick it would have been if Santa had to find one online and get it shipped in time (say, arriving less than 24 hours before we drove to NY even though Santa may have ordered it, say 3 weeks prior).
Gretchen's big gift request had consistently been a 2011 Holiday Barbie with a necklace for her. She also had been very consistent in asking for the Baby Sleeping Beauty doll you can see laying on the couch next to her. If you look very closely, Baby SB has a silver star (paperweight) on her belly. That was Gretchen's very last minute addition to her wish list. Luckily, the elves had it covered. No fast buying on ebay and asking the seller to ship priority for them.
Opening the gingerbread I made them ... if you look, the gingerbread have on the same flannel pajama pants that Gretchen & Carl have. Special Christmas Eve Pajamas! Well, we got home from Aunt Kay's way too late for a bath, so the Christmas Eve pajamas turned into Christmas morning pajamas. Oh well. Still cozy!
Grammie's tree
After breakfast, we decorated the houses we constructed the day before. They changed back into their other pajamas for this potentially messy project. It was no where near as messy as the school event.
Carl loved putting on the little colored balls. They added a house number 4901 and he covered the whole thing all by himself. (He picked the house number. I have no idea why.)
Gretchen's house
It was pretty chilly outside so Swiper decided to hang out inside Grammie's house for a little bit. Smart kitty!
The life sized popcorn from Grammie was a huge hit!
We had a wonderful ham dinner with all the trimmings! No photos. Just full belly memories.
Grammie and the kids!
Traditional timer shot! I don't remember who has the remote. Can't see it in anyone's hands either.
Unwrapping chaos and fun!!
Special soccer shoes for Joe!!
A camel backpack for Kenny!
Then, back to the dining room for apple, pecan or sweet potato with pecans. Or, "a small slice of each, please!"
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