Merry Christmas

The post is a few days late, but I've been too busy playing with Christmas toys to update the blog. I think Santa might have brought more than we needed this year. The kids got a Nintendo Wii and four games. Michael and I went out yesterday and bought Guitar Hero. We played with Mitchell's over at Grandmother's house. I fell in love with it. Michael found one on sale at Walmart with 2 guitars for only 69.00. We went in half. I was so proud that my kid suggested he pay for half of it that I couldn't say no. Samantha had a very BATMAN Christmas. She got so many Batman toys. She loves them all. It's been the cutest thing watching them play. Sabrina got a dollhouse. Her dollhouse family was in danger when the Penguin launched an attack on them. Batman and Robyn left the Batcave in their Batmobile and saved Beanie's dollhouse family. Pixie has been the greatest distraction this week. She's such a great dog. She lets the girls lug her around everywhere without even a whimper. She is so tiny. The girls love to dress her up. Samantha was pushing her through the house in the toy grocery cart. Destiny got a video camera for Christmas. It's a little tykes camera, but it's the one she wanted. I haven't seen any of her footage yet, but she's been taking some. As it turns out, Sam and the Bean's little camera's have a video mode too. Michael got UGA sheets and comforter for his bed. The comforter is made out of the same material as the player's jerseys. Very cool. I've had a lot of fun with my kids this week. On Christmas Eve, I burned my hand on the stove pretty badly. I had to keep my fingers in ice water for about 6 hours. It was painful and I was miserable, but it was over before midnight and I felt fine on Christmas day. We watched our traditional Christmas movies: How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Eight Crazy Nights, and A Christmas Carol (three different versions). So how does a Hanukkah movie end up on our Christmas list? No idea. We picked it out the first Christmas we had with the kids and Michael and I laughed so hard we watched it again that next year....and the next....and now it's a tradition. Every Christmas Eve, we watch that silly movie. My Christmas couldn't have been better. Peyton bought me a real slot machine and Santa filled my stocking with a dozen, red roses. They are beautiful. Peyton and I put our small Christmas tree up in our room and exchanged some of our smaller gifts alone on Christmas Eve after the little elves went to sleep. This is the same tree that I put up in his bachlor pad our first Christmas together....actually, I broke into his house that first year, while he was at work to decorate. (Very funny story. A neighbor, David Pooley, told me two years later that he saw me pop the lock on the window and climb through. He thought about calling the police, but decided that he had seen my car at Peyton's house enough in the previous few weeks to know that whatever I was up to, Peyton probably deserved it. He just laughs everytime he tells the story. I think he really saw Jessica and I stuffing the tree and bows in the window and realized we were playing Santa. The good news is, the alarm wasn't set. I don't think I knew the code back then.) The old tree is falling apart and I don't know if it will make it much longer, but it is a very special tree. It is the tip, top of the tree that was in my house when I was growing up. My mom and dad used the same tree for 17 years. I will always love it.

We spent Christmas day and most of the 26th at Tingle Manor. The kids are at the perfect age for playing with the cousins, so they didn't want to leave. I got to meet my neice Mary Lauren and my nephew Bryson James for the first time. Two more cute Tingles to add to the bunch. Grandmother made all of "us" girls shawls. They are beautiful. Amber was upstairs with Riley, who was sick, so she missed our group picture. Grandmother also made Peyton a work apron. It's really perfect and he loves it. I'm horrible with ages, but I believe that Grandmother is 91 this year. She still helped us clear the tables and put the food away. She's fiesty and is still in good health.

Santa came to visit. My girls and Katelyn were scared. I think it has something to do with their ages. You'll see a picture of Granddaddy holding Samantha. She's so upset because Santa is in the room. She was trying to hide from him by crawling up against Adriene. Aunt Adriene didn't see her in the commotion, but Aunt Lisa pointed her out to me. I scooped her up just before she had a nervous breakdown. Christmas dinner was delicious as usual. The dish I loved the most was Mary's Apple Cheesecake.