Merry Christmas!

Leilani woke us all bright 'n early. Well, not too incredibly early, really, but she was unwrapping presents at 7 o'clock. Natalia slept through Leilani's unwrapping. Leilani loved her gifts, but her favorite was the snowglobe. She's been asking for one for a few months now, so when I saw a plastic, unbreakable snowglobe, I knew I had to get it for her. Of course, she thinks Santa brought it :). Leilani also got a LeapPad, it has a camera and everything, just like an iPad, so she's pretty excited about that!

Both girls got train sets: Leilani's is a battery operated My Little Pony one, and Natalia's is the Disney Baby train. The trains have gotten more play time than all the other toys combines. Natalia got a toy laptop instead of a LeapPad. They each got puzzles and books, lots of little things in their stockings and got each other some fantastic gifts - Leilani got Natalia a talking lunch basket and Natalia got Leilani a Backpack kit with Map, a bracelet and fake phone. Natalia got a shape sorter and Leialni got a Minnie Mouse dress-up doll. I got Jeremy a book on General Custer (his current obsession) and he got me the Harry Potter Complete 8-film Collection.

After gifts, I popped breakfast in the oven. I was so excited - sticky pecan rolls. But not everything that I make can be a homerun - it wasn't very sweet. I made the recipe exactly as it was written, but I think if I make it again, I'm going to tweak it. Dinner was a much better success - vegan roast with veggies, and garlic mashed potatoes. After dinner, Natalia took a nap and Leilani watched some movies. I steamed the Christmas Pudding. Once it was done steaming, we poured some brandy over it and lit it on fire. Leilani was so excited and Natalia was mesmerized by the flames. I pulled out the reindeer rootbeer I made last week. Just IBC rootbeer decorated to look like reindeer. Brown pipe cleaners twisted around the top for antlers, googly eyes and a poofy red ball for eyes and nose. Leilani was super excited, both to have soda and at the decoration :).

Last night, between movies and bed, we tracked Santa's progress and Leilani got a phone call from the big man himself. She was so excited! We also did every single action rhyme I know. Leilani and Natalia had a blast with it and we had to do most of them twice.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas!