Whew!

What an exciting couple of days! Christmas Eve and Christmas day are crazy for my family. I LOVE all the craziness and running around, there is just something about Christmas that makes me happy!

Every year JP's Aunt Pat and Uncle Honey have dinner at their house on Christmas Eve. This is when the little cousins all exchange gifts and get to play together. Tink had a ball playing with all the little girls. Syd is her favorite, they are six months apart and will go to preschool together next year. This is when everyone gets dressed in their Christmas finest and has time to sit and visit and relax. I always enjoy this party.

Christmas day is always a little more rushed and running between families. We got up early and opened gifts at home with Tink. My parents came over from across the yard and watched Tink open gifts. She took forever this year! There is no ripped paper flying like when I was a kid. Tink opens each gift hugging it and exclaiming it is just what she has always wanted, then stacking the gift neatly in a pile and throwing away the paper before opening the next. Can we say OCD???

After our gifts were opened, JP's dad came over to drop off gifts to us and visit with Tink. We then headed to JP's Mom and Stepdad's for breakfast with all his siblings and their families. We opened gifts there with Meme, Pappoo, Court, Chad, Racheal and Shelbi. After leaving Meme's we headed home to drop off gifts and run across the yard to my parents house to open gifts. I helped my mom make dinner and we spent the rest of the day there.

When we got home later in the evening it looked like a bomb had gone off in my recently cleaned house! There wasn't a place to sit or walk for that matter that wasn't covered with toys or boxes with clothes. It took us all evening to unpackage the gifts and get them put away. Tink didn't know what to play with first. I'm pretty sure she has no idea what half the gifts were that she got.

A couple of her favorites are her Chou Chou Baby "My First Tooth," a fur real lion cub, the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie (or "Chick-a-chick-a wa-wa" as my youngest nephew insists it is called), Cinderella's castle and a princess scooter.

JP got a Wii. Thanks to his twin sister, Court. Thanks Court! I'll never get him off the couch now!!

I got some new clothes, three new books including "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", some new snowmen for my tree, and gift certs for a mani and pedi and dinner out. We also got money from both of JP's parents, so we can buy a new tv (ours is ancient and everyone has a greenish tint to their skin now).

What a couple of days!! Today I am back at work. Yuck! Tink cried for me to stay home with her today. Oh how I wish I could have! Tonight we are off to look for a new tv.