We went to Perry last Saturday to celebrate Christmas with Stewart's side of the family. They enjoyed pulling lots of ornaments off Nanny's tree and then "bouncing" her very delicate Santa collection. Ian even found some fingernail polish and enjoyed busting a bottle of that on Nanny's nice rug. At least it was him and not one of his parents that made that big mess! Here are some pictures of our time in Perry!
Now don't get me wrong, they enjoyed all the presents they got, but I think that empty boxes would have been much more cost-effective :-)
They got one of those Cozy Coupe Cars that we all remember ... the only thing is that we really needed one with a bigger front seat, as you can see! I can already hear "Mommy, Ian won't let me get in the car!"
We have found this great place to eat nearby and I just have to get their chicken salad to bring back to Greenville before we head home. The kids just like to "WOK"!
And after a great trip, we headed home on Tuesday. It wasn't too far up the road that the munchkins were asleep!
It was our first year being home for Christmas Eve and I was able to do something I've always wanted to do for our great neighbors - put them together breakfast casseroles so they wouldn't have to worry about anything on Christmas morning! The children must have known how excited I was to be able to do this because they took great naps on Thursday so that I could get everything cooked and mixed together.
And, of course, Thursday night, Santa came to visit Ian and Bonner ... only because they have been so good all year long :-)
He brought Ian a Mega Blocks truck and then a smaller truck and filled his stocking with a "How Boys Potty" book (it actually has a button you push to hear the toilet flush and the little boy cackle) and an Elmo towel with his name on it.
Santa brought Bonner a grocery cart and a little musical thing and filled her stocking with a "How Girls Potty" book (also flushes) and an Elmo towel with her name on it.
Santa had to make sure that they had enough stuff so he left a rocking doggie and a little LeapPad computer thing for them as well.
As you can tell from these pictures, Ian really enjoyed the "woking dog" and Bonner just couldn't get out of her grocery cart ... literally :-)
Gam-Gam and Grandbuddy definitely gave them their 2 favorite toys of the day - a John Deere wheelbarrow and a tent/tunnel thing for them to crawl through!
Here, they are both sitting in the wheelbarrow - should make for a very interesting spring when we can get outside and ram it into things ... hopefully, there won't be anybody in it when we start ramming!
Bonner LOVED the tunnel and putting all of her toys in and then racing back and forth!
Daddy bought them cute little chairs for them to "lounge in" ... they took it right to heart!
And, lastly, the funniest thing all day was probably when Grandbuddy got out one of his gifts, a neck massager! Ian really enjoyed it - it was the stillest he was all day!
We spread out the present-opening all day ... and I was so proud of the kids, they played with everything they got! And even fought over most things so that meant they liked them. Now, I've gotta sort through all their "old" toys and get those put up since we have no place to put our own toy store!
Stewart and I exchanged gifts as well throughout the day - I was excited to get a new TV for our bedroom, a new TV for our den, a new photo printer that will print all different sizes, and Adobe Photoshop (so I can make this blog look top-notch)! Stewart got a Kindle and a map where we can pinpoint all the places we have traveled to and mark those that we still would love to see one day!
I hope that everyone has a very safe and fun New Year! We have no plans yet but look forward to 2010 - as a friend of mine said, "I'm an even number kindof girl!" Love to each of you as you wind down this Christmas season - thank you so much for being there for us in 2009 and we look forward to another year of fun in 2010!
