the grandparents asked for these.

christmas eve:
white elephant gift follows.
i totally scored with what i got to keep.

brennan scored too.
christmas day:

i've never made jello salad before. it was really good.

things i learned on christmas:

white elephant gifts are funny...and fun. whichever.

the real work begins at 9:30pm on christmas eve.

if you run out of wrapping paper at 10:30pm on christmas eve, it is really great if you live in your cousin's basement.

"it's a wonderful life" is really sad.

i don't think i want to finish watching it.

maybe the ending is what makes it so wonderful?

i'm just as excited to wake up on christmas morning now as i was when i was 10.

doing all of the present clean up, all of the cooking, & all of the clean up from the cooking was a lot of work, even when you have a husband that helps with everything.

all of the work was worth it.

being home for the first time was bitter sweet. i missed my family, but it was really relaxing to be in my own home.

by the time it's dinner, not only am i not hungry, but i'm not in the mood to make dinner.

brennan ate mostly jello and cool whip for dinner. he doesn't eat on holidays. too much action.

there is no need for dessert on christmas. my dessert didn't turn out, and we still felt like we'd eaten dessert all day...b/c we had. yum, neighbor treats...

little boys are really funny with cars and play tools.

and boxes.

kids and boxes are funny.

my tummy makes a great hill to drive cars on. especially the Taz big wheel mega truck. ask brennan.

spending my remaining birthday money on the scout master's stocking and special holiday foods was worth the money. the baked brie made my holiday perfect.

so did a foot rub from the scout master.

glory be, my feet were sore.

almost 2 yr. olds can open one gift and play with that gift for a good 30 min-an hour before realizing there are other gifts they can open with MORE toys in them.

and then they can forget this newly learned fact and repeat the original pattern.

the scout master is really good at picking out socks and earrings.

grandparents and great grandparents are great at gift giving. brennan is a happy man. so am i. muchas, MUCHAS gracias family. thank you just isn't enough.

parents don't need to open gifts on christmas for it to be fun. besides, there is no time to open gifts for yourself anyway.

i loved pushing our couches out and letting brennan play in the big open space all day.

nemo may have been replaced by the "puppy movie." aka "101 Dalmatians." (thank you adam, kels, & jess).

my cell phone battery will not last past 3pm if i talk on it all morning.

if you plan to eat dinner at 6:30pm, it is smart to get dinner started before 6:14pm.

cheese fondue needs to be warming 1 hr before eating and meat fondue oil needs to be warming 30 min. before using.

if i want to make the rice pudding for dessert for christmas next year, i need to make the 1st part the night before, as the directions noted. trying to "hurry it up" two hours before will not work. the rice will not just "hurry up" and soak up the milk and sugar.

there are zero pictures of me on christmas day this year. at least i have my hannah montana wig picture as christmas memorabilia (big thanks to mary. rockin' white elephant gift girlfriend!).

i don't want to hear the mirah carey song again until christmas day next year. i may even need to skip her song next year all together.

all i want for christmas is exactly what i got: sean, brennan, and baby to be.

and my brie cheese. yum.

okay, okay, and the gifts were really fun too;-)