Part 1:
We started the Sunday before Christmas with the kids' church pageant.... good thing they are all cute, because it was pretty bad. Hudson did a great job remembering his many, many lines, but besides that there was not much I could say about it. (I could barely even understand it.)
Later that day my good friend Sue came over and gave me the best gift... the Bend the Rules Sewing book! She's so awesome! I got busy that day and started making cute little purses and clutches, that I stuffed everyone's stocking with. The next day, Monday, was Christmas Eve. We went down to Cheap Charlies for the Sullivan's annual joint birthday party, then on to Grandma and Papa's house for the Norman family gathering. It is always so nice to see most of my cousins and aunts and uncles. The evening started off with a bang though- when I ended up with a spider in my mouth when I took a sip of my wine. Ick. After that it was home to wrap gifts with It's a Wonderful Life playing on TV in the background.We must have the only kids around that don't wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day. Alex and Hudson were up around 7:30.... we ate cinnamon rolls while we waited for Grandma Chickie to show up... and Ethan to wake up! At about 8am, Grandma arrived so we decided to wake Ethan up (unbelievable). The kids went right to work on their stockings... and were surprised to find an onion in each (Santa must have run out of coal or rotten potatoes).
Hudson discovers his onion.
Ethan was very pleased with his knuffle bunny, a stuffed version of the toy in one of his favorite books. 
Alex got mostly "practical things" (her words) like clothes, dance stuff, new sheets, a magazine subscription and books. She also got a pretty necklace from her Daddy. Hudson was thrilled with his Lego castle and Ethan's Lego dwarf mine. He also liked the squid shirt I made him, although his Papa said it looked like a p__is.
I was really proud of my kids this year. I told them that they had to either make or buy their siblings gifts this year. I wanted them to learn how to be gracious givers and how selecting a gift for someone else can be almost as fun as receiving presents. They paid attention to what their siblings might want, and made nice thoughtful choices. I helped Ethan out, but Hudson and Alex were pretty independent doing this. They also made some gifts for their grandma's this year- ice candles, where you layer melted wax and crushed ice. We had a lot of fun making them, although Ethan spilled the beans to Grandma Chickie when she babysat a few weeks ago.
Opening gifts at Grandma Chickie's house.
We had a wonderful Christmas dinner at Grandma Chickie's house- her squash recipe was amazing. I'll have to get it from her. Mom and Dad joined us and we all had a nice time chatting and watching the kids be goofy. Then the "boys" packed up and headed home while Alex, Grandma Patty, Papa and I went to see the Smiths. Megan and the family joined us and we all had a very good time... playing guitar, singing, drinking wine, hanging out...figuring out how to make money off of our kids (he, he). It was a perfect ending to a very nice day.
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