Belated Christmas

 I realized that I forgot to post about our Christmas in Texas on this blog. Not that the world is going to end, but if and when I get my act together and print the blog out I might be sad that we missed Christmas.

As I posted earlier we spent Christmas in California with my family. If I was a kind mom I might have hauled all the presents there and then hauled them back. I am not that kind, and some of the gifts were big, so I ggot some presents for California, most of which stayed there for later vists, and the presents for home. We got home late on New Year’s Eve and celebrated on New Years. Because we had no food (being gone 2 weeks tends to do that) someone had to venture to the store early in the morning and buy some. I got up and was there by 6am. Let me tell you, if you ever wonder if Walmart is empty, try going at 6:30am on New Year’s Day, you will be alone. I think there were 6 cars in the parking lot. If you wonder if the shelves will be well stocked and the checkout lines short, let  me assure you that the shelves will be empty and there will be a line (even though there were 6 people in the parking lot).

Okay so I got the groceries and came home and we had a yummy breakfast of eggs and donuts, probably more donuts than anything else and then we opened presents. 

I need to preface the presents by saying this is the first year that Michael understood presents. Well in actuality this is only his second Christmas.. But last year he didn’t really get it, this year he understands toys. But I made one fatal mistake, since we had been gone a few weeks all his old toys were suddenly new and he wanted to play with them instead of opening new ones. He got over it pretty fast. Also, I may have gone a little overboard. He is the only one, and toys are so fun, some of the toys are still unopened and waiting for his birthday, next year we may have this under control a bit better. So what did Mr. Mike get… well his “big” gift was a play kitchen. Brian joked that I got it for myself and maybe that was a bit true. We had one when I was a kid that I loved, and I thought he would love it with all the food and doors, and plates, and cups, and the list goes on and on. He helped me put it together so he may have gotten a peak, and we had been visiting it at Costco since like September. Let me just say he likes it, he likes it better when we play with him and when other kids come over, but he has gotten some good use out of it. Love it. Okay that doesn’t seem like overboard but let’s continue. I got him food to go with the kitchen, and though he loves it, daily I am kicking myself for  Hm… some mega blocks, which he does like a lot, 15+ books (these were for me, I couldn’t read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie/Pig a Party etc one more time, owl stickers, slippers, crayons, candy, a dump truck, a comfy bear chair (to read in), a box of boy dress up clothes (pirate, fireman, cowboy, super hero etc), and I think there were a few more things. Clearly too much, but we have enjoyed all the new toys in the weeks following Christmas.

Christmas at home was fun, it was fun to let him be crazy, spill the toys everywhere, make a huge mess, and not worry that he was in someone’s way.

Oh an on to Bri Bri, well Brian got a bike for Christmas, I don’t think I got a picture of it, but I think he is excited, when he is working less and the weather is warmer I think it will get used more. He also got some new clothes, cause unlike me, he isn’t constantly stalking the target clearance racks (thank goodness, right. ).

Bri got me some awesome things- a new apron- sorely needed, a canvas print of our family to hang on the wall, a great sweater/shirt (he has great taste, ok I may have picked this myself), and new cutting mat for my silhouette.

It was great to see everyone, but also great to be home and celebrate with just the 3 of us. Merry Late Christmas.

We got Mikey these funny car slippers. He does like to wear them but I think he likes to try and make them race more. 

 First things first we had donuts, mikey is a fan of donuts.

 He got a sand dump truck. the bucket comes off for the sand- he's a fan.

 Cj is also a fan, though she doesnt really like to be run over by the truck which may happen more often than one would guess.

 Mikey does not like to take pictures, shocking considering how well these photos turned out.

 After the real christmas he learned about unwrapping gifts and he was prepared to help.

 Brian got a new jacket... yay!

 See what I mean about unwrapping, he has it under control.

What could be in this box? He seems unsure. 

 

He isnt that interested in the outfits from the dress up bin yet, but he loves the hats, and loves for everyone (including the cat) to wear them. 

We got quite a few new books for christmas (costco is the best!), this airplane book may be the winner- not sure if airplanes are really interesting or if he is just fascinated since the night before he went on an airplane, either way the airplane fascination has continued. 

 The kitchen came with a phone... that was pretty much the best part of the gift for him. Oh and I made him this apron (ok bought it and decorated it), he loves it. So nice not to have to try and tie mine so he can wear them!

 See what I mean about overboard... way too many presents for this kid.

 I think the books were his favorite part of christmas. They have come in handy daily so I think it was money well spent.