Whad'ya get?

Christmas morning dawned bright and early. Actually, dawn came several hours after Christmas morning started. At about 5:30am I heard the kids out playing with their toys, but I lingered in bed until 6:30am.
When I finally got up, I found that
Santa had been to our house!

And now to the most important after-Christmas question:
What did you get???

We'll go youngest to oldest:
Lydia got a bath sponge and a rubber ducky. She was ecstatic. :)
Jennie got a farm that makes cool animal noises and has cute little animals. Unfortunately, being the wonderful age of two, she has shown very little interest in it, and has instead claimed everyone else's toys. Which, of course, gives her the right to scream at them when they dare to play with her toys. It's gonna be a long year.


Cannon got a bike. It is what he asked for every time he saw Santa. (Quick side note here. Do you remember sitting on Santa's lap half a dozen times before Christmas when you were young? I remember it only being once. Oh well, maybe I'm getting old.) Anyway, it's what he asked for, but I'm glad I took this picture because it's the only time he's sat on the thing. He has been much more thrilled about the cars he found in his stocking. The ones that look like Lightning McQueen, the Hudson Hornet, the King, Chick Hicks, etc. Maybe he'll get back around to the bike when it's a little warmer outside.
Emily got a way cool doll. It is a Baby Alive, but she calls it Annabelle. It is quite the amazing doll. It talks, eats, poops, sleeps, laughs, and cries. Although Emily is such a good little Mommy that I haven't heard it cry yet. On Christmas Day Annabelle got her clothes a little dirty when she was eating her breakfast. Emily went and washed them by hand in the sink and then threw them in the dryer. The doll ran out of diapers very quickly, so now she's being potty trained. Emily feeds her, then sits her on the little potty in the bathroom and waits for her to go.


Ben got an electric guitar. It is really a very cool toy. It will teach you different songs. It plays a phrase, using lights to show what to do. Then it's your turn. If you make more than three mistakes, then it stops and you hear loud Boo-ing. Very unnerving. But if you do it right your hear loud cheering. There are, of course, settings where you can play whatever you want without any booing or cheering, and those are Ben's favorites. And the very best thing about this very loud toy? You can plug in earphones so that you can keep playing after the noise has driven your mom crazy.


Robyn got a sewing machine. Wow. 9-years-old, and she's getting a sewing machine for Christmas. She was THRILLED. Santa also left some various sewing accessories, including a cute skirt pattern and some fabric. Robyn, however, has chosen not to use the pattern and is at this moment sewing herself a skirt of her own creation. I'll keep you posted on how that one turns out.

One of my favorite presents was a complete surprise. Hanging above our dining room table was the ugliest light fixture you can imagine. OK, so maybe if it still had all its globes then it would just look old and mostly unattractive, but the two missing globes and thus bare light bulbs made it hang crooked and the overall effect was just, well, ugly. But now it is out by the road waiting for the garbage man to come, and this gorgeous chandelier is hanging in its place. Hooray!
I also got a new bedspread (that I bought for myself. But hey, if you want something done right...) And a fancy schmancy new Crock Pot that I am so excited to try out.

Jef got several different presents, including two new toasters, but only a couple presents were things he hadn't seen before. (He hauled his presents to the storage unit where I "hid" them, hauled them back, and watched me wrap them.) But I did manage to keep his biggest present a secret. (The other surprises were a pair of pants from M&D which he badly needed so that he could look like a math teacher instead of a pig farmer. And a CD holder from Lisa so our CD's will no longer be flying around the suburban every time we turn a corner.) And the big surprise was.... a handheld GPS! ...and compass, and altimeter, and barometer, and several other cool things all combined. So on Christmas day we went geocaching! It was so fun! This is a picture of us finding our first cache. We attempted to find two other caches near Forsytheville, but their snow it just so stinkin deep that it was pretty much impossible. So the next day we found two more in town. So cool.