25th and 26th

i am having a really hard time getting on top of this thing, so i'm going to combine the few days following christmas into one post. we woke on christmas morning to two very excited children climbing all over us. bw was in their wake, but he wasn't quite sure what all the commotion was about. we followed the kids downstairs and spent the next hour and a half watching the kids tear through presents. bw found swedish fish in his stocking and was consumed with their deliciousness for nearly fifteen minutes. aw got the pink coat with fur trim that she asked for two days before christmas. santa was really clutch this year. she also got a new dollhouse, sweatpants (she would live in them if we would let her), books, my little ponies, and petshops. when she opened a box with jeans in it she proclaimed, "i didn't ask for jeans and i don't want them." great. cw was thrilled with his new leapster and black benny shoes (benny is the kid in the sandlot that wears chuck taylors when he pickles the beast). bw opened a play drill and i officially regret purchasing this horribly annoying toy. he is also wowing us with the radio and microphone he received from santa. he walks around the house yelling into the mic.

mw and i decided in the fall that we would cut back on christmas this year. and though it was kind of sad to see fewer presents under the tree it was nice to focus on why we celebrate and not let ourselves be consumed with how we celebrate. we have the rest of our lives to spoil our children with physical gifts. so we spent this christmas season spoiling them with time and love. lots of both.

we spent a fantastic day at mom's with weed and mor and meg and jason's family. we ate a great dinner and spent the night with mom before heading over to dad's on the twenty sixth. dad's family came over to eat with us and it was great to see them. we left mom's late that afternoon to pick gary and ellie up at the airport.

to be continued . . .