Our Christmas

Last night we had Christmas at our house. The kids were hardly able to wait through dinner! After a little quick clean-up we handed out presents and brought down the stockings (or, socks, as Jamie calls them). The kids are very pleased with their new toys and books. (It seems that an inexpensive wooden top from Target is the favorite toy of all. Dot keeps trying to get Jamie to trade!)
Dot is at the age where she wants to give presents, but doesn't have much money. While we do let the kids pick out presents for us and each other, she wanted to give something all by herself. That means that I now own a new cookbook (cards from my recipe box copied on each page). Also, there were poems in our stockings:

Love
by Dot
love is love
no matter
what
love is
alive no
matter
what
love is
strong
love is
beautiful
love has
me and you

Trains
by Dot
trains are
going by today
so wave and
say hi trains
are big and
trains are
small trains
are a sleek
person
trains
arrive and
go goodbye
but there
are trains
everywhere

Christmas cards

Remember when you were young, and it was exciting to get the mail each day? You looked for something with your name on it, or the Highlights ads that would have stickers in them. It was wonderful to have something addressed to you, something you could open!

Christmas is great time of the year for mail. Yeah, the same bills come every month, and the same junk mail, but so do a bunch of cards from friends and family! Apparently it was too much for Dot. She has been the one to bring in the mail this week, and has quickly learned to separate out the cards. She was opening them, too, until I noticed that she had opened Jim's Christmas present by mistake... We put it back together as best we could, and now she lets me oversee the mail each day. I still let her open a card or two...

Hooray!

The cookies are done! I spent over two hours dipping chocolate the other day - I used 6 bags of chocolate chips! We have buckeyes, cookie truffles, oreo biscotti, pumpkin fudge, sugared pecans, cookie dough bites, frosted sugar cookies and cranberry-lemon cutouts. Oh yeah, and Jim has chocolate covered pretzels and ritz sandwiches. Not to mention the cherry crumb pie sitting in the fridge...

Yesterday we went on a theatre field trip. Goucher college does a series of plays for schools and homeschool. We joined an auditorium full of grade-schoolers to watch the Nutcracker. I wasn't sure if Jamie would sit through it, but he thought it was funny. The music was canned, the dancing and acting were adequate, and the sets and costumes were at local college production level. The kids loved it though, and Dot wants to see it every year. We'll go back for Seussical in May.

After the ballet we ate lunch at a nearby mall. I had chosen this mall for one reason - I had been told it set up a large model train layout for Christmas. Jamie loved it! He didn't want to leave... However, he has a cold, and needed a nap. We had plans to carol in the evening.

We met up with others from our church, and traveled to three houses. We sang pretty well for an unpracticed a capella group. It seems the "audiences" enjoyed it. It's Christmas!

it was a bad hair day

One morning last week I let the kids play together while I finished some work. They seemed to be playing so nicely, no whining or screaming. I soon found out why...
If you were 8 years old, would you let a three year old cut your hair? Apparently Dot thought it was a good idea. It really wasn't so bad on the sides, easily cut into a short bob, but that sort of thin patch at the top of her bangs? It's a crew cut! There wasn't a thing I could do about that. 

Laugh, it's good for you

I was looking up some quilting sites recently and came across this story. There are some other funny things on that site as well...