Christmas

We are having such a wonderful time with my Mom. I am so blessed that my husband and my mother get along so well. They really get each other.

We had a lovely Christmas. The kids were so excited on Christmas Eve -- for the first time in a looooong time they went right to bed.  Blue practically tore her freakin' clothes off to get into her Christmas jammies and lay in her bed, flat on her back with her eyes tightly shut, just willing herself to sleep. Very cute.

decorating the cookies for Santa with Grandma

Lion's cookie for Santa

We were very tired and full from eating cookies and sandwiches and more and more cookies all day so we had a simple dinner of Caprese salad and Italian bread on Christmas Eve. And it was delicious.

The kids got so many toys on Christmas morning. It was a little ridiculous.


I think they were overwhelmed.


But they've recovered. And even though the new chairs were our gift to each other, Jonathan still managed to give me some lovely things I had been wanting: the newest Philippa Gregory book, some vanilla bubblebath, the new Weezer album, the "Sun & Sand" Yankee Candle I have been wanting but have been too cheap to buy, some nerdy logic puzzles to feed my sad little addiction and an adorable Starbucks ornament, among other things.

He got me this book, too, which is really cool:

It is a collection of found items -- grocery lists, hateful notes left on cars, random doodles ... I am loving it. And I am wondering how many people have found any of the lists I tend to lose in Target. And laughed at me.

We rested and read books and magazines and napped all day ("we" being the adults -- the kids did not nap) and Jonathan made fettuccine for dinner and we had more Caprese salad. Then after dinner, we piled into the Pilot (the kids wore the Christmas jammies that they had on all day) and drove through the neighborhood admiring everyone's Christmas lights. Except for Lion smacking his forehead on his bookcase and getting a gorgeous, lumpy scrape right between his eyes, it was a perfect day.

Today we went out to Target, looking for amazing deals. And I have to say I am proud of the restraint I showed. Mom wanted to but me everything in the store, anything I so much as looked at, so I spent the trip talking her out of buying me things. I did let her buy me two different outrageously expensive Oil of Olay moisturizers -- for my birthday. So I will let you know if they are worth the exorbitant prices. (Maybe it is just me, but $20 for 2 ounces of lotion seems like a lot of money.)

Jonathan cooked all day for us, making a full "Thanksgiving" dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, giblet gravy, green bean casserole ... everything. And now Mom and the kids are in bed and we are going out to see Twilight at 11pm. So. Another perfect day.

Tomorrow we are taking Mom to see Boulder and Estes Park, because this is her second trip here and we haven't taken her anywhere. We just hang out and talk and she plays with the kids. But tomorrow we are actually going to show her a bit more of Colorado. I cannot wait to see what she thinks.