Things to Do - Christmas

So I finally uploaded the Xmas pictures, I have no idea how people post pictures so fast, it always takes me weeks. We spent this Xmas at my mom's house, in the Chicago suburbs. For the first time ever we made the drive in one day (11.5 hours), which wasn't as bad as we feared but still not really a "fun" day. Dan and I figured that if we left around 5 am the kids would sleep in the car, but the excitement of driving "in the middle of the night" (the kids don't really understand time yet) kept them awake the whole trip. Within two hours of arrival they all crashed together on my mom's sofabed.

A minor "disaster" occupied our Christmas morning. F only wanted American Girl accessories for gifts, which unfortunately come in very SMALL boxes. Whereas P and T's gifts came in large boxes. DRAMA! I blamed Santa for everything (actually I blame the obnoxious American Girl manufacturers who fill their catalog full of overpriced miniature plastic crap) and all was (finally) forgiven. After the tears cleared, we had a wonderful day together. Dan cooked his first goose, which was shockingly delicious (especially the gravy). My mom spent hours playing superhero crime fighters with T (his new "drill" quickly became a gun). The girls played Barbies all day. I finally started 1Q84, the latest book from my absolute favorite author (so far it's amazing). And we all watched Sound of Music, which our whole family used to watch with my grandparents when I was a child (my grandmother's favorite song was Edelweiss), funny how movies can incorporate their way into your life. The absence of my father hung a little heavy over the day, but luckily the kids' excitement over a floor full of plastic toys (and I mean FULL) kept the Xmas spirit going (I oddly wrote that with no sarcasm involved).

I hope you all had a good holiday season! Now we need to conquer January . . .

RANDOM LINKS:

*The obliteration room - This is what happens when you give thousands of stickers to thousands of kids.

*I know it's January already (wow, didn't that happen fast?) but in case you haven't ODed on Christmas yet, this might be the BEST advent calendar ever.

*Love the houses in this new issue of Covet Garden. LOVE!!!

*I really like 365 Small Detail's new year's resolution. I might have to copy it.

*If you're a Disneyworld lover (as I am), then these might make your day.

*A truly beautiful set of photos.



My mom acquired a new dog, Murphy. The kids quickly fell in love with him. Okay, I admit it, I did too.