Christmas Day 2010

I wanted to get this posted while it is still 2010 (barely).   Usually, I make a little video of our Christmas season festivities for the kids to watch on New Year's Eve but I have been so lazy and "in the moment" with my kids this break that I have not even done that! But this is a long post so it will probably feel like a 10 minute video;) We have had a very nice Christmas break but I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that I am kinda looking forward to the peace and quiet of Tuesday morning when school begins again!

Christmas Day was fabulous!!!! Harry work up early as usual and he woke up an excited Kate and a grumpy teenager who wanted to sleep in (Will). Look how grumpy he is???  Yup, we have a teen in the house!

This is them waiting upstairs (above) while I turn on the tree, check to see if Santa came and get the coffee going.

The annual "coming down the stairs" photos.

Harry is smart enough to peek around the corner to where the tree and gifts await!

Will cheered up substantially when the first gift he opened was a sole skate.

Kate and Harry were excited to see pillow pets under the tree.

Kate loved some of the lip gloss and pretend make-up in her stocking.  She also LOVED the pink wallet that was in there.

Harry got some juggling balls in his stocking but Dave quickly absconded them:)
Dave is great at juggling!

The kids each got Dave a new pan.  Our skillets were in BAD shape.  We love these new "green" pans.


I love this one...Kate is leaning in to kiss Harry as a thank you for his gift.
He got her a neat finger paint set.  She loves art!



Here she kisses and hugs Will.  He bought her two new Fancy Nancy books.



Aunt Dooney, Uncle Moon and Ashton (my sister and her family) got Kate an Easy Bake oven and some accessories.  She loves it.  We plan on doing a lot of easy baking;)



Harry got an Ipod Nano and a spy video watch.  But I think he liked this soccer shirt that Santa brought him as a surprise best of all.  He has worn in 3 times this week;)



Dave really wanted an American flag.  He also got a cashmere sweater and two wool sweaters.

Dave bought me an external flash for my camera.  I still have not figured out how to use it yet but I m sure I will love it.  He also got me some J Crew clothes and a replacement pair of Tory Burch shoes since Snickers ate my favorite pair just before Christmas.

We had our traditional breakfast of baked french toast (Harry's favorite) and an egg and sausage strata (Will's favorite).  Then we went out into the VERY COLD weather so Kate could try out her new roller-skates (the only thing she really asked for) and Will's sole skate.





Look at how Kate is looking up to Dave.



Kate and Harry did a little baking (in the easy bake oven) while Dave and I cooked a turkey, a beef tenderloin, mashed potatoes, herbed green beans, homemade gluten free macaroni and cheese, zucchini casserole,  marinated and roasted mushrooms (they were SO good), biscuits and two gluten free/ dairy free pies (apple and blueberry). There were 11 of us for dinner and it was really nice.






After dinner, the peanuts had so much fun playing with their college aged cousins...









Will got a nook and could not resist reading while everyone was hanging out.  He is so much like me.  Reading is my very favorite thing to do and I love my Nook color!!!!



Kate and cousin Jamie.

Here is most of the gang....


from left to right
Michael (Aunt Waukita's oldest son), Kate, cousin Jamie, Harry, Scout, Uncle Joe (Dave's older brother), Dave and Snickers, Will, cousin Olivia, Kim (me) and Aunt Waukita (Uncle Joe's wife).
Aunt Waukita's Mom also joined us but did not want to be in the photo. So, she took it for us!



And our little family!

Two things made me so thrilled on Christmas day that I did not capture here.  One is the gift Harry gave me.  It is a book called "In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits."  I about cried when I opened it.  Harry knows I love photography and he bought this with his own money.  It is a beautiful and thoughtful gift.

Also, at the very end of the day Harry exclaimed, "This was the greatest Christmas!  And not because of the presents (although he did love them).  It was because our whole family was here."

Our whole family was not here.  My sisters and Mom and their families  (they live in PA and CA) were not here and Dave's sister lives far away too (in VA) and was not here.  But I knew what he meant.  He really enjoyed having some extended family here.  It was a fun day.

Thank you for all of the kind and wonderful feedback y'all have given me this year (and for the past 4 years!).  We plan to hunker down tonight playing games and watching TV and making a gluten free -dairy free chocolate cake for NYE.  I wish you all a blessed and healthy New Year.