a very merry christmas, 2011

what a fantastic day! it started with nina sitting up in bed and whispering, "it's christmas!" at 6:41 am. i heard her thunder down the stairs, then gasps and squeals of excitement. she'd wrapped a present for santa and left it under the tree, and was very excited to see that he'd opened it and left a thank you note for her. what a sweetie she is! then she went through her stocking, and then maggie woke up, came downstairs, and went through her stocking. the clear glue, gum, and skittles were huge hits. maggie ate half of her skittles and chewed up all of her gum before 9. we were cutting gum out of her hair before 8!

erik, isabelle, mom and dad came over to watch the girls open the presents from us, and then we opened the adults gifts that were under our tree. after a brief stint at church, we continued the present-opening merriment at grandma and grandpa's. isabelle's mom and aunt joined us there too. they're very, very nice and very fun to have around.

toy hits were princess celestia, nina's baby doll, the remote controlled pony car, the mining hats, operation, the pop-up books, the ATV--pretty much everything! the kids just love toys! maggie hasn't ridden on the ATV yet, but nina loves it, and i can't wait to see her drive it at twilight with her mining cap on!!

then there was lots of food, lots of playing, more food, more playing, and general merriment. maggie conked out at 8:30 and nina is planning to spend the night at mom and dad's. she's even wearing her new pjs!

as for me, i'm wiped out, so i'll be holding down the fort at our place while maggie sleeps. merry christmas!