merriest xmas!

We had a wonderful time this year with friends and family! As KellyO and Wrekehavoc have already documented on
their blogs, we enjoyed a fabulous Christmas Eve dinner with all our kids at Wreke's place. The kids all played (some of them actually ate real food), Wreke had an eclectic collection of holiday tunes playing on her stereo, and we all had fun drinking wine, eating too much, and taunting AJS with forks.

At my parents' house the next day, the Strings (that's us) all showed up, loaded down with a perfectly cooked leg of lamb, and all our gifts for each other, including the kids, my folks, and Auntie M. AJS's lamb was delicious! Dash ate some of it, but only while sitting in my lap and from my fork (Rosie had Cheerios); Auntie M. made her most wondrously fluffy and tasty mashed taters, and we also had minted carrots and steamed green beans. Auntie M. had baked a carrot cake, which I LOVED!! and we all came back for dessert after opening gifts.

Dash opened the enormous towering gift that was labeled his; it was literally taller than him, in the box. When it was revealed to be a Tonka Firetruck with motorized parts, well, he was just lost for anything else; we just heard a lot of "YAY-HOO!" and "COOL!" from his part of the room. I'll try to post some vids later. Later on, he did extend some interest in two other gifts: a ping-pong-tube-air-gun set from AJS (guns? sigh; AJS wants the boy to learn about/respect guns. Dash was running around with them like a Stormtrooper with a laserpistol), and a
space-ship shaped tent, where Dash and Rosie can hide out (it's big enough for a couple of friends, too!).

Rosie got a few dolls, notably an "Emma" American Girl Doll from Grandma, and soft "Toy Story 2" Woody & Jesse dolls from me. AJS ordered her a doll house, but it hasn't arrived. Auntie M. got her some more figure sets for the Unicorn Village of chokeables (my silly name for it) that stays at Grandma's; she and Rosie really do have lots of fun with it. Auntie M. has a way with creative playtime! Rosie also has lots of new books, puzzles, and drawing sets. Thanks everyone!!!

I have a new phone, which I've already posted about, and am loving it! I just need to figure out the volume situation (if I'm outside, I can't hear what callers are saying, even though the volume is at max). But I generally don't use my cell phone for phone calls, mostly for IM, texting, and emails. And now, for posting to my blog!

AJS isn't thrilled with the gifts that I gave him (even though three of them WERE on his Amazon.com wishlist and the other one is for emergencies only), so I offered to help fund his projector TV project, which has only been a dream of his for the past five years or more. It's quite pricey. I hereby am putting my portion of my parents' generous monetary gift toward it.

Happy Holidays EVERYONE! And an early happy birthday to Thea-O, who will be four tomorrow! They are all growing up so fast.