Christmas Day, Part Deux

After the kiddos were sufficiently worn out from playing with their new toys all morning, it was definitely time for a nap. We loaded them up in the car, along with everything else we owned, and headed to Papa's and Nana's house. Ok, so we didn't really take all our belongings, but it sure looked that way when we were stuffing our bags into the car. I'm a serious overpacker. Hey, better to be prepared than unprepared, right?

Jacob and Annabelle were both sound asleep before we even pulled out of the driveway. Seriously. They were that tired. When we reached our destination, Christmas was waiting for us...and so was dinner. Apparently, dinner had been ready for a while and everyone was **patiently** awaiting our arrival. So, before we headed to the Christmas tree to see what surpises might be in store, we stuffed our faces...and it was delicious. Mmmmmmm...I do love the holidays.

By the time we all gathered around the tree, Jacob was more than ready to tear into the gifts. JoBeth played Santa Claus, handing out the presents. Apparently, she wasn't doing a very good job, according to Jacob. "Where's miiiiine???" he asked. Just then, David chimed in. "Jacob, you've got like two dozen presents!" I had to laugh. I guess it was just the way he said it that made it so funny. :)

Just as they did that morning, Jacob and Annabelle helped each other open their presents. I love it when they "play nice."

Annabelle loves blankets.

Another Leapster game? What am I going to do with this?

A couple weeks before Christmas, Annabelle had a doctor's appointment. I let Jacob take his Leapster Explorer to keep him busy while we were there. It worked. He played it the entire time -- in the waiting room, walking down the hall, waiting on the doctor to come in, etc... Well, when we got to the check-out counter, he was offered a sucker. That was an offer he couldn't refuse. He put his Leapster on the floor to unwrap the sucker. Annabelle already had red drool all over her brand new coat, as the lady had unwrapped the candy before handing it to her. I was not happy about this. They don't usually open the candy before they give it to the kids, but they did this time. It was freezing outside and now I was going to have to wipe her down before putting her in her carseat so she wouldn't get everything all sticky. We walked to the car, wiped hands, faces, legs, arms, feet, and were on our way. We got about halfway home when Jacob began to cry. "Oh no! I left my Leapster at the doctor's office!" " WHAT?" I said. "I left it....I left it by the counter on the floor," he said through tears. I immediately called the doctor's office to see if anyone had found it. Nope. And it wasn't on the floor by the counter anymore. I turned around and drove back to the doctor's office. Even though they told me the Leapster wasn't there, I had to look for myself. I searched the car first, just to be certain we had indeed left it at the checkout counter. No sign of it anywhere. It became quite obvious that Jacob's Leapster had been stolen. Someone took it home and acquired themselves a nice little Christmas present. Whoever it was, I sure hope he/she likes it. I checked in with the doctor's office the next day to see if it had turned up. No such luck.

Soooooooooooo...Jacob sure was excited to unwrap a new Leapster Exporer. Santa came to the rescue! Or maybe it was Papa and Nana. In any case, Jacob is thrilled to be playing Mr. Pencil again. :)

By the time we finished opening gifts, we were all exhausted, especially Jacob and Annabelle. They both went to bed happily and fell asleep quickly, no doubt, dreaming about the wonderful day they had. Jacob did stay up for a little while. According to the weather report, we were supposed to get snow around 3:00 AM. He kept looking at the clock, waiting for "snow time." He fell asleep before 3:00 AM, as did the rest of us. I dont know if it snowed much overnight, but it did snow all day the next day. How fun!! We had an almost white Christmas!!

Another wonderful Christmas, now in the books. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Happy New Year!!!