Christmas All The Way

There was some confusion at our house about when it was going to really be Christmas. Harrison got it pretty quickly, he knew it was on the 25th. Elizabeth finally grasped that it was just Christmastime not "Christmas All The Way," as she dubbed it. So I give you, Christmas All The Way.

Despite my overload of pictures of Christmastime, I don't have very many pictures of the big day. I guess I was busy enjoying it all, which is probably better. I am a little bitter that my significant other didn't think to grab the camera and document that the little red hen of Christmas really was there that morning to enjoy all of her hard work. I guess that's part of being the little red hen, who really was somewhat of a martyr, and should have just demanded what she wanted (which I usually do and should have done that morning regarding the pictures!)

Nate's brother Jayson and his wife, Victoria spent the night on Christmas Eve. I was glad, because I am a more-the-merrier-especially-on-holidays kind of girl. Otherwise, we would have been alone. The night before I told them all that I wasn't going to make the kids wait any longer than 8 AM to open their presents. I was laying there awake long before the kids (pregnancy insomnia + Christmas excitement = I can't believe these kids are actually still asleep). They finally woke up around 7:30, watched one show (Harrison said, "We better stay in here so Santa will come." I guess he thought we were last on the route or something.) Then at 8, everyone else got up and we commenced.

This is the Santa Stuff. The hit of the stockings were the fun (Hello Kitty and Bakugan) spinning toothbrushes and toothpaste. They got sleeping bags (The practical side of me kicked in and I remember getting sleeping bags one year and being SO excited. They weren't as excited, but we needed good sleeping bags and got a great deal.) Harrison got the "Bakugan Gauntlet Power Strike (basically a $25 calculator that he was dying to have), and a Baukugan 3 pack. Elizabeth got her Sleeping Beauty Barbie and a Dr. set (that she loved as much as I thought she would).

I won't bore you with listing0 off the rest of the loot.

A few years ago Harrison was obsessed with Spiderman and had a Spiderman Christmas. This year he is obsessed with Bakugan and had a Bakugan Christmas. He was pleased as punch. He did get some non-Bakugan things.

Elizabeth got this Snow White dress up from my mom, she likes it. I will say, Snow White is an under appreciated princess. Me theory is that it's because she doesn't wear any pink or have long hair. I pointed out to Elizabeth that out of all the princesses, she looks the most like Snow White. I just remembered, I played the part of Snow White in a play in 8th Grade. Maybe if I show her the video of that, she'll be even more excited about her dress up.

For Christmas breakfast I tried two new recipes. Cottage Cheese Pancakes (sounds a little weird, I know. Had potential, but I think I either didn't do it right or need to tweak it a bit). With Orange Sauce (very yummy - definitely a keeper). Thanks, Megan. Please note who is NOT pictured!

For Christmas dinner, we went to Becky's. She was on a mission to make a fancy roast. Not a pot roast with gravy, but "carved meat" with au jus and horse radish (I'm still developing a taste for horse radish.) We were a little nervous that it was underdone, but it tasted delicious. Funny story about the au jus. She asked me to make it. I got the drippings (sadly, there weren't that many), and was trying to remove the fat. It wasn't going well, so I had the idea to freeze it and then I could pick the fat off the top. The freezer was full, so I stuck it outside (love using outside as a freezer/fridge in the winter). A few minutes later I went to retrieve my limited amount of drippings, and was a little perplexed to find an empty bowl. I didn't know the dog was outside on a potty break. Kaki had her Christmas feast in the form of roast beef drippings (what could be more yummy for a dog?) And our au jus was beef bullion.

Auntie Victoria did the little girls' hair in pony tails (one of Elizabeth's first ever!) and I thought they looked darling. The I remembered why I've never attempted this myself, because she wanted hers removed within minutes.

Wendy found these green sweaters at Banana Republic on clearance for something like $1.47. So she got one for all the guys. The girls happened to have on black. So we did a little couples picture.

And here's the whole gang. Well, as much of the gang as was there for Christmas. Technically it's about half the gang.

Merry Christmas All The Way!