Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas Eve and Day
On Christmas Eve, the girls were sooo excited! You could just feel it in the air all day. We made some brownies that morning and put the presents under the tree. (I held off because I knew they would be shaken to death by Christmas). They could barely keep their little hands off of them checking out each and every tag. Nick and Alex and Drew hung around all day and Tyler and Emily came over that afternoon. They brought their Wii. They had a ball playing it. It's hard to watch your kids get older. Christmas can lose some of it's magic, but my boys genuinely seemed as excited as the girls this year. They love to tease them about hearing Santa's sleigh bells or getting a glimpse of him looking through the window as he's checking out whose naughty and nice. They love watching the girls' uncontainable excitement. We made our traditional big pot of Christmas Eve chili. Keith actually makes it, it's his dad's recipe and a favorite for the Nicholson clan. Then all the kids got to open one gift. The girls opened giant piggy banks to put allllll their change in that they collect when the boys leave it laying around. They were so thrilled and played for hours with those little things. (they were actually last minute dollar items I picked up while I was in line to get the jingle jammies at Old Navy.) All the boys (including our "son" Nick) and Emily opened jingle jammies and immediately ran to slip into them and get comfy.
Christmas Morning came too soon. The girls popped up early and ran in our room to wake us up! I sent them upstairs to wake up the "big kids". We made a pot of coffee and lit a fire and put on some Christmas music and got the camera and camcorder ready. Then after teasing the girls with gasps of "Oh my, would you look at what Santa brought this year". We let them come in. Gosh, I love the looks on their little faces. Not just the girls, but the boys watching the girls was priceless. Emma got a bike with a seat for her doll in the back. She also got pink pj's for her American girl doll. She's really been into dolls lately! Ellie got a DS and some games. Santa replaced the girls dvd player for the car and brought them a few new dvd's. (Boy does that make long trips easier). The boys and Emily each got money and the message bible (my favorite). Then Keith and the boys made a big breakfast while Emily and I played with the girls toys. Oh yeah, Ellie got a dog that eats and poops and Emma got a doll that swims in the tub and both the girls got a beauty shop for their Liv dolls. Later we headed to my sister Jeannie's to have Christmas dinner and see all my sisters and their husbands and kids. My nephew Will, who is the smartest 2 year old you'll ever meet, has been trying to figure out Christmikah. My sister's husband Ray is Jewish, so they celebrate Hanukkah (sp?) as well as Christmas. Out of the blue one day, Will said, "Ohhhhh, now I know why we light the candles... it's Jesus' Birthday!" He is just too smart! His wheels are always turning. Their daughter Maggie lets no one hold her except mommy (and Jeannie, since she kept her while Natalie worked). But she actually let me hold her. Only because she wanted to go to the playroom in the basement so badly and I'm the only one that would take her. She's a punkin! We played the cleanup game and every time she put a ball in the bucket I said, "Yay Maggie" and she'd hug me and then I'd melt! Jeannie's son Jonathan is a year older than Ellie. I played foozball with him and he clobbered me! He acts all tough, but when Miss Maggie tried to climb the stairs, he was the first to come to her rescue. He's very protective of all his little cousins, but would never admit it! Then there's Dawn's kids Matt and Brandy and Tom's kids Chris and Amanda. They're closer to my boys ages. Matt just got engaged and Chris is pretty serious with his girlfriend. I think in the next few years we'll have a few more weddings. Brandy just bought herself a loft and her and Amanda are really close. I took a family picture of them, I'll post it! All and all, it was a great Christmas!!!
Christmas Morning came too soon. The girls popped up early and ran in our room to wake us up! I sent them upstairs to wake up the "big kids". We made a pot of coffee and lit a fire and put on some Christmas music and got the camera and camcorder ready. Then after teasing the girls with gasps of "Oh my, would you look at what Santa brought this year". We let them come in. Gosh, I love the looks on their little faces. Not just the girls, but the boys watching the girls was priceless. Emma got a bike with a seat for her doll in the back. She also got pink pj's for her American girl doll. She's really been into dolls lately! Ellie got a DS and some games. Santa replaced the girls dvd player for the car and brought them a few new dvd's. (Boy does that make long trips easier). The boys and Emily each got money and the message bible (my favorite). Then Keith and the boys made a big breakfast while Emily and I played with the girls toys. Oh yeah, Ellie got a dog that eats and poops and Emma got a doll that swims in the tub and both the girls got a beauty shop for their Liv dolls. Later we headed to my sister Jeannie's to have Christmas dinner and see all my sisters and their husbands and kids. My nephew Will, who is the smartest 2 year old you'll ever meet, has been trying to figure out Christmikah. My sister's husband Ray is Jewish, so they celebrate Hanukkah (sp?) as well as Christmas. Out of the blue one day, Will said, "Ohhhhh, now I know why we light the candles... it's Jesus' Birthday!" He is just too smart! His wheels are always turning. Their daughter Maggie lets no one hold her except mommy (and Jeannie, since she kept her while Natalie worked). But she actually let me hold her. Only because she wanted to go to the playroom in the basement so badly and I'm the only one that would take her. She's a punkin! We played the cleanup game and every time she put a ball in the bucket I said, "Yay Maggie" and she'd hug me and then I'd melt! Jeannie's son Jonathan is a year older than Ellie. I played foozball with him and he clobbered me! He acts all tough, but when Miss Maggie tried to climb the stairs, he was the first to come to her rescue. He's very protective of all his little cousins, but would never admit it! Then there's Dawn's kids Matt and Brandy and Tom's kids Chris and Amanda. They're closer to my boys ages. Matt just got engaged and Chris is pretty serious with his girlfriend. I think in the next few years we'll have a few more weddings. Brandy just bought herself a loft and her and Amanda are really close. I took a family picture of them, I'll post it! All and all, it was a great Christmas!!!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Birthday and more holiday fun
Ellie turned 8 on Sunday and we celebrated by going to Chuckee Cheeses. She invited Julia, the girls' little friend from the neighborhood. Also Fei and Ray (the girls' mentors), and Alex and Drew (brothers) dropped by to wish Ellie a Happy Birthday. They all got into the games (including Keith). I'm not sure who had more fun the little ones or the big ones. I sat at the table and guarded the purses and camera's... (had my purse and camera stolen there once).
The weather has been mild lately and the girls have had a few play dates. They played with their dolls in the cul de sac and made concoctions with water, pinestraw, mud, and unfortunately dog poop. I shouldn't have asked what was in it. Then they had a few days of indoor fun painting Christmas ornaments and making a gingerbread house. Boy, the directions made the gingerbread house look so easy. It's a lie, don't believe it! Our roof kept sliding off and the gumballs rolled every where. Every time I looked over at Emma, she had a mouthful of gumdrops or gumballs. We had sprinkles all over the place. And the icing was like smearing toothpaste. We did have fun though.
The weather has been mild lately and the girls have had a few play dates. They played with their dolls in the cul de sac and made concoctions with water, pinestraw, mud, and unfortunately dog poop. I shouldn't have asked what was in it. Then they had a few days of indoor fun painting Christmas ornaments and making a gingerbread house. Boy, the directions made the gingerbread house look so easy. It's a lie, don't believe it! Our roof kept sliding off and the gumballs rolled every where. Every time I looked over at Emma, she had a mouthful of gumdrops or gumballs. We had sprinkles all over the place. And the icing was like smearing toothpaste. We did have fun though.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Big holiday weekend
On Friday the girls helped me make haystacks and cupcakes. Then Julia came over and helped the girls decorate the cupcakes. Later Julia's family and ours went out to dinner. On Saturday we got up early and headed for the Watkinsville Christmas Parade. Keith got a call to go in to work, so he had to miss it. Alex and Drew had to work, so they missed it too. Tyler and Emily (and Spud) came to the parade as well as the girls' aunts and cousins. Every year the girls are in the annual Watkinsville Christmas parade and walk with the Athens AAFCC (our chinese group). This year the ACMP (Asian Children's Mentoring Program) decorated a float for us and we were all able to ride. Fei came, but Ray had to study for finals. After the parade my sisters and their children all stayed in town for the afternoon. We went to downtown Athens for lunch and then to a Christmas festival where the kids decorated Christmas cookies and sat on Santa's lap. After the aunts and cousins left, the girls and I did a little Christmas shopping and then headed over to Barnes and Noble for some hot tea and a hot pretzel. On the way home, we stopped by the string of houses on Cole Springs with tons of Christmas decorations covering their lawns. The girls get a kick out of that every year. Whew, I'm exhausted! It was a really fun day though!
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