Christmas

December busy-ness prevented me from wrapping a single present till Christmas Eve, so we were up super late finishing it all up. (The night before was dedicated to folding every article of clothing in the house--that's how backed-up the laundry situation had become. It was scary. At least it was all clean, just not folded.) I watched a cute movie called The Ultimate Gift that Nicole and Callin had given us. Leif had been sleeping in the kids' room, but he woke up and helped me finish wrapping while we watched Friends. I showered then went to bed just after 3:00, and he was up till 5:00! Yuck. *Note to self: start earlier next year. Like in September.

In the morning, the kids woke up around 7:00, and I hurried to tell them not to come out till Dad was ready. So I went to get him and put a shirt on, and when I went back to get the kids Gavin, who had peeked, said, "I saw marbles magic." I got the kids a marble run because they had played with one at some friends' house and loved it. It was, by far, the  best purchase I made for Christmas. The kids played with it all. day. long. Christmas day. You think I'm kidding. The only problem with it is that we have to be ever-watchful that Dax doesn't put a marble in his mouth.

This was our maiden voyage having Christmas at our house with just our kids. It was rather lovely. I thought we would be done in about 20 minutes, but I was surprised when it took an hour and a half. The kids took their time with each present: Paige opened her book then sat down and read through the whole thing before thinking about opening another package.

We joined the Woodbury clan at my parents' house at 11:00 for breakfast and presents to/from Grandpa Clair and Grandma Jo. We stayed there the rest of the day, playing games and eating and enjoying the day. We went for a family run in the afternoon, which ended with most of the kids bumming a ride in Grandma's new car and with me riding Gavin's bike home after he fell on the bumpy church farm road. Have you ever tried riding a too-small bike for any length of time? It's a really good workout! Mostly because you can't sit down. We broke out the old dance pad for some evening fun and sang our hearts out on the Cliffords' new karaoke machine.

Yesterday I went to help the gym owner at the new location while Heather watched my kids, then the playing continued with games and more dance pad at Mama Jo's. The girls went to Les Miserables last night, which was amazing. Heather, a Les Mis rookie, turned to me at the end and said, "I can't stop crying!" It was beautiful. We missed Breanne, who was at a friend party, Natalie, who was at the in-laws, and Erin, who was at her parents' house for Christmas. Leif and I are braving the storms today, taking the kids to his parents' house for some post-Christmas fun. As soon as I do some laundry. And pack. And shower. And feed the kids again. We're taking his new truck, which will soon be my new truck if he's not careful; it's super fun to drive.