Christmas

Ours was a very, very Merry Christmas -- from satisfied recipients of Santa gifts to the sweet introduction of new four-legged family members, it was wonderful from start to finish!

BJ was awake first, not surprisingly. He was thrilled to see the Big Stuffed Snake he'd asked Santa to bring.
BB was pretty danged excited to see her Princess Leia doll (alas I didn't get a very good pic, tho!)


Stockings were unstuffed -- revealing sweet treats and various Star Wars miniatures. What can I say? Santa knows what these kids like!


"Dad!" BB exclaimed, "You don't have to get me a Princess Leia Action Figure anymore! I GOT ONE FROM SANTA!"


The kids were sweetly thoughtful with their gifts to me -- from BB, a thread organizer!


From BJ, a watch to replace the one he'd given me for my birthday (which got lost at one of my craft shows recently, alas).


BB was so excited to give S the Munchkin Board Game. She could barely contain the secret.

BJ was excited for S to open his gift as well -- a t-shirt that said "VADER IS COMING -- Look Busy!"
Like I've said, Star Wars is popular around here these days!

And I was very excited for our big surprise -- which went off about as well as one could ask. After they opened the book I'd written for them, BJ was all about sitting down and listening to it. BB, not so much. Not wanting to ruin the moment, we took a break for some breakfast, then I read the book to them. It was very, very sweet, BJ's reaction especially. At the end of my story, when I wrote about Shelly and Stormy getting the "forever home" that they'd wished for -- our home -- BJ looked at me with tears in his eyes. "Is it true?" he asked.

"Want to go see?" I replied with a smile.

The kittens behaved beautifully, coming right up to see us when I opened up the door to the master bathroom where they'd spent the night.


BJ was still pretty teary-eyed even after spending a good amount of time playing with the kittens. I think he just couldn't quite believe it. S gave him a big hug and reassured him that the kittens would indeed be staying with us, their "forever home." I love that my son feels things so deeply especially where animals are concerned (reminds me of myself that way).

The kittens were happy to join us for opening the rest of the gifts. After a while, Shelly settled under the tree for a Christmas nap.


Stormy had a great time playing with the Nativity set. (What is it about Baby Jesus that makes the figurine such an attractive cat toy???)


Turns out the palm trees are pretty yummy, too, apparently...
(This picture just cracks up BB.)

Auntie B, I just had to share this picture of BJ opening his gift from you guys -- as you can tell, he was pretty danged excited. That expression is not feigned at all!


BB wanted to get right to work on some of the art and craft kits she received. The shrinky-dink fairy set was definitely a favorite.

Nana J was a great sport about all the kitten excitement -- and she and BJ especially had great fun with the Wii she gave the family for Christmas. It was very cute to see them playing Super Mario together!


Later on, BB decided to "help" the kittens take a nap. She cuddled them for a while...



Then settled them to sleep in a pile of her favorite blankets. Even tucked them in. Their patience with this process is sure testament to their sweet good nature, I tell ya!


I spent the afternoon making the worst Happy Birthday Jesus cake I've made to date (and I've been doing this a while!)



The 7 minute frosting just refused to set up -- and unfortunately, in spite of the evidence in front of me, after about 14 minutes of whipping I decided that it was "done enough" to ice the cake. Gravity promptly did its job, pulling the frosting into puddles around the bottom of the cake. Sigh. At least it tasted good!

After that fiasco, some kitten therapy was definitely in order.
I love how bonded these siblings are. They will just relax together almost anywhere, in that sweet kitten nap state. Here's the view from my perspective:

I am excited to see just how stripey these kitties get -- from this pic, it looks like Shelley especially might be a tabby after all!

All told, it was a lovely Christmas day. Missed my family, and it was exhausting, the way that Christmas is for parents (and unfortunately, no nap this year) but worth it, definitely worth it. Merry Christmas!