We had a wonderful Christmas morning. We told the kids they couldn't get out of bed until 6:30 a.m., but Jack must have missed that memo. At 6:00 he was next to me jumping up and down. Isabelle and Patrick were not too far behind them. We waited until Ella Jane woke up (at 6:30) to go downstairs and open gifts. Before we made it into the living room Kevin fell down the stairs and landed on Patrick. Uh, not the way to start the morning! Thankfully both my guys were okay and once we redirected Patrick the mood went right back to pure joy!
Of course the kids had fun opening all their gifts.
Isabelle wrapped up little gifts for Kevin and I and wrote us sweet little Christmas notes.
Ella Jane was thrilled with her dress up, princess, and Dora gifts. She wore her Dora backpack all day! She had her crown on most the day too. I found this unicorn costume shortly after Halloween and thought this would be perfect for Ella Jane who is really starting to get into imaginary play and dress up.
The boys had fun finding all the little things stuffed in their stockings.
Just when they thought the present excitement was over Daddy told the kids to sit down and wait for one more surprise. Kevin surprised all of us with a Wii and Wii Fit! They kids were very excited! We've had a blast since then trying out all the activities.
After gifts we had breakfast. I have made it an annual tradition to make my grandma's recipe for sticky buns. Christmas day marked two years since her death. This is just a little way I pass on my Grandma's beautiful memory with my kids.
Kevin works so many hours in December, so by Christmas day (his only day off in 19 days) he's pretty tired. After breakfast, but before heading out to his family Christmas party Kevin took a little Christmas morning nap. He went right back to the craziness of the retail world on the morning of the 26th, but not until after we spent Christmas evening with his Mom and her side of the family. It was a lovely day.
On the left is Kevin with his mom and brother, Peter. On the left are Ramona and Tony on the right side of the camera. They are always taking lots of pictures so it's a rare moment to get them in front of the lens. Everyone had a good time celebrating at their house and eating some traditional Polish food... yum perogis and mushroom soup!
Isabelle has done her very first science project. She looked at 3 different paper towel brands to determine which had the best absorbency and which held the most weight. For those of you wondering, Bounty was the clear winner! Isabelle worked very hard on this project. I'm proud of her.
She picked the colors and trim for her board. She wanted to be sure it "popped". I think it does! Her teacher really likes it. Isabelle did careful, precise, neat work. We won't know until next week what her grade will be, but I can already tell you that it will be an A!
Like so many people in my generation I have joined Facebook. At first I wasn't sure if it would be for me. But, I have had fun reconnecting with people I haven't seen or talked to for years. There were a few people that I was really excited to reconnect with. My friend, Betsie, was one of those people. Betsie and I grew up 5 doors down from one another. We played together all the time, had sleep overs, went to summer camp together, and were in the same class. In 9th grade Betsie's family moved North about 5 hours away. We lost touch, until Facebook! We discovered that Betsie's husband has family that lives less than a mile from my parents house! While We were in Michigan, so was Betsie (she now lives in South Carolina). She and I met for breakfast and got to catch up. Boy, that was a lot to talk about! We sat down and I said, "so you moved in 9th grade... GO!" After she told me about the past 21 years, I tried my best to fill her in on my life. It was wonderful! Although, I'm sure we made our server nuts at the restaurant because she had to come back at least 6 times before we were ready to order.
After Breakfast, Betsie came back to my parents house to see them and then the kids and I went to her family's house so our children could meet. As Betsie said, "we've done a little procreating since we last saw each other. And here's the proof". From Left to right: Cooper, Patrick, Brody, Isabelle, Lily, Jack, and Ella Jane. It was fun to see them all together. They all hit it off. Lily and Isabelle became fast friends. I overheard them talking quietly amongst themselves about how annoying it is to have little brothers! Too cute! I really hope it won't be another 21 years before seeing Betsie again. I have many fond memories of our time together as kids. She's just as sweet as I remember!
Betsie found this old picture of the two of us. She thought it must have been around 1987, which would have made us 14 and at the end of 8th grade (it looks spring-like outside). YIKES the feathered hair, long skirts, and boxy sweaters. I'm sure we thought we looked awesome!
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