Christmas 2008

So, our Christmas celebration! Well, insane people that we are, we decided to try to attend Midnight Mass again this year. We made the kids take a nap that afternoon (thankfully they complied). We put them to bed at the usual time, and then woke them up at about 10:30 to get ready to go to Mass. This was probably the most difficult part -- Mr. Pickles had to hold Miriam upright and start getting her dressed before she showed any signs of life. She didn't really wake up until I accidentally pinched her leg while trying to put her tights on. Katie bounded right out of bed once we got her awake.

The girls wore their matching dresses from Grandma B. (for which I am so grateful, since I didn't have a chance to do any shopping for them).

The Mass itself was beautiful; there's something unearthly -- in a good sense -- about being awake in the middle of the night. Because the girls were a little sleepy, they were perfect angels during Mass. All they wanted to do was sit and lean against the nearest parent. Joseph, on the other hand, was in his maniac stage of tiredness, and kept our hands full. By the final blessing he'd had enough of this being awake thing and shrieked until we finally left.

When we got home we discovered that Santa had come while we were gone!! So of COURSE we had to see what he brought:

...a dollhouse for all that furniture inherited from Mommy! We put the house together (the elves didn't do it b/c it was easier to fit into Santa's pack while still in the box, don't you know) and put the furniture in, and had a snack of pulla. The time stamp on this picture is 2:30 am.

Santa also brought some wooden vehicles for Joseph, handmade by elves. (The airplane with its spinning propeller is his favorite.)

I think we finally called it a night around 3 am, and all slept in the next morning. Christmas Day itself was very peaceful and lovely. After our late morning, we stumbled downstairs, the girls opened a couple presents, we had a huge feast of a breakfast (with more pulla), and then had the present opening fest.

the cutest little package ever! Isn't he scrumptious?

We got lots of things we wanted, and a couple things we didn't know we wanted, and the obligatory present or two that we didn't want. But all in all, a good haul this year! :)

These adorable pj's are from Nana. I'm glad I can still get them to dress alike!

Katie LOVES little bitty things. She was so excited to get these little bunnies!

All right, a football! I'm sure it will be put to very good use soon.

Wow, Grandma E., thanks for the great box!! :)

The Aftermath

Sometime around noon we finally got dressed, and I started on dinner (which I made as simple as possible -- ham, boxed potatoes au gratin, salad, and razzleberry pie), which we ate early in the afternoon. Afterwards we played with our toys some more, and then went over to some friends' for dessert. So we got the best of both worlds -- a quiet family celebration and a party with friends. It was just a lovely, lovely day!