Christmas Morning Pics

Christmas morning and Santa has left us many presents! We had several trees this year. Since we were afraid Abby would pull a large tree down, we purchased several live small trees and decorated them throughout the house.

The girls had a tea party while the grownups got ready. margaret told Abby to be gentle with her tea set and she listened!

The girls add the last of the ornaments to the Christmas countdown calendar for the year.

The kids openned their stockings first. The kids got Blockbuster cards, electric toothbrushes and more! Then we had homeade sticky buns and orange slices- yummy!

Christmas Eve

Margaret went to her best friend Barbara's house to make Christmas cookies.

Christmas Eve...

Sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn.

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope that you did too! We went to church on Christmas Eve and had a candlelight service, which is always special. It was sweet to have the kids all dressed up. AP grumbled a bit about having to wear a suit- it was really large on him, but I stuck to my guns. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for my hair- hence the pony tail- and Deacon Heelen had bits of pink marshmallow on the back of his pants when he helped serve the Lord's supper! Then Abby spilled milk all over the pew and Margaret stole every unused candle in sight. Then we discovered she had pockets bursting with candy she had taken from a jar in the church rectory and was eating them in time out. The pictures came out cute- but reality is never quite as picturesque!

When we returned home the kids wrote letters to Santa and put out milk, cookies and carrots for the reindeer. We read the Christmas story and the Night Before Christmas and tucked the kids in bed. Unfortunately, AP snuck downstairs and caught me loading up the stockings- his bad move... We retired around midnight and woke around 8 am to get the Christmas festivities started.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We saw the REAL DEAL last weekend when Dad and Carol were in town. The authentic Santa was in town and even Abby spent some time on his lap. Margaret asked for an adding machine! She used Pop's machine at Thanksgiving time and loved the paper rolls. Abby asked for more playdough and horse toys. Unfortunately, AP asked for an ATV!!

We love you all and miss you. We hope that you will have a wonderful Christmas with your family and that you get everything on your list!

Abby and Margaret doing the countdown to Christmas calendar.

Both girls are "horse crazy" right now. It helps that we can walk to the neighbors and visit with the horses every day. The girls like to feed them carrots.

We are busy preparing for Christmas. We are in the middle of our gingerbread house still. We always have big plans for it and then have to pair it down when reality hits and we don't have the time or skill to make it like we had envisioned it! I am also in the middle of sewing the girls matching Christmas dresses. I try to make at least one dress a year for them. I should never have selected Christmas fabric. I don't think I will be able to finish them in time for Christmas. At least we have Russian Christmas to celebrate- that gives me an extra week!!

Some recent pics of Abby... We had a really bad scare last night. Abby fell off the couch and hit the coffee table. We had to take her to the emergency room and she had to have three staples to close the cut on her scalp. It was an awful experience- but through it all, she was a champ. She was singing on her way there and on the way home. I ran her into the ER saying, "I've got a baby with a head injury" but when she began skipping around the waiting room, dancing and drawing, I realized it could have been much worse. We're thankful she is fine- and doesn't seem to be fazed by it at all...Thank the Lord.

Trip to see Santa

Our first trip to see Santa of the season... Margaret hasn't decided what she would like yet, and told Santa she'd come up with a letter soon. Abby didn't want any part of it- even after Mrs. Claus gave her a candy cane. AP didn't want to sit on Santa's lap...

Thanksgiving

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving this year. We traveled to Maryland and spent time with Patrick's family. We had Thanksgiving dinner at an Irish restaurant. The kids did well on the drive and at the restaurant- they liked sitting on the bar stools and spread out at the bar and colored. After the meal we went to a school playground and then to Pop's house where Abby napped and the rest of us played charades and card games. When she woke up she spent an hour with Margaret playing on his adding machine- both girls really enjoyed playing with it together, it was cute. Since we ate our turkey dinner early, we ended up going to Fridays to eat. The kids had a lot of fun there too and Abby ate a ton.

Unfortunately, might have eaten too much. She got sick after we got back to the hotel and I had already given the girls baths and did their lotion and tucked them in for the night. I ended up being up most of the night with her.

She was better by the morning and on Friday we visited St. Mary's City- where we met 12 years ago. It's hard to believe it has been that long. Lots has changed down there and they have more buildings and historical interpreters than they used to. The children had fun going on the recreated ship- the Dove. They also liked playing in the sand and seeing the animals on the plantation. Abby fell asleep in the wagon and we bundled her up and pulled her all around the museum. The ride back to Annapolis was too long and we were all ready to get back. We found a barbecue place next to the hotel and had another good dinner.

On Saturday we visited Anne and walked around the Annapolis Harbor with Sean and Carley and baby Caitrin. Santa Claus actually pulled up in a big fire engine, right next to the horse-drawn carriages, so it was a real treat for the kids!