Nightgown update

Betsy did indeed wear her nightgown last night - ALL night. I put it on her at bedtime and she whined for two solid hours and then, for some reason, she got over it. I don't know what caused the sudden change of heart but I think it had something to do with the fact that she and Porter were playing together and watching 'Cars.' Anyway, she slept all night in her flowers nightgown, and she woke up in a really good mood and didn't try to take it off.

Who knows what this child is thinking...

And if Betsy's teeth look especially clean in that photo, it's because she has brushed them five times this morning with her new Barbie toothbrush.

Santa was here!

Christmas is the best with little kids in the house, isn't it?!

The kids actually slept in (we're enjoying it while we can; all the times Matt and I woke our parents up at 4 a.m. will be back to haunt us soon!) so they came down the stairs together. They ran right to their gifts, knowing exactly what belonged to whom: a basketball set for Porter ("BAAALLLLLL!") and a blue bicycle for Betsy.

They didn't even want to open their other gifts; they just wanted to play with their new stuff! But, I found out Betsy really likes the wooden cars and puzzles that Santa brought to her baby brother.

I gave Matt new slippers, pants, and a new bag for work. Super original, I know. Matt came through as always - he's a really good gift giver, despite annual protests to the contrary - with chocolate, and some other stuff... like a Hobby Lobby giftcard, and a really cool shirt from H&M that's kind of like a corset, without the organ-squeezing and fainting.

We had the missionaries over for dessert on Christmas Eve - they were impressed with the sheer volume of cookies I've produced - but on Christmas Day it was just the fam; we wore pajamas all day and watched Cars and ate, ate, ate. Good times!

And by the way, the pictures are in B&W because I've already started editing them to scrapbook. (I'm a dork, I know.) I was thinking maybe American Crafts paper and ribbons on a black background; but I still haven't ruled out Chatterbox. Because the best thing about after Christmas - besides the sales - are scrapbooking all the awesome pictures of the kids having fun.

The countdown is on.

Presents are bought. Cookies are baked. The cards were finally mailed today and the ham is in the fridge. We have watched The Grinch and Charlie Brown and listened to the Muppets. We're almost ready for Christmas. But...

But...

It's raining today. Actually raining. And if the weatherman is right, there won't be any snow for Christmas. This isn't a full scale disaster, but it's certainly distressing. Betsy actually told me the other day that we can't have Christmas yet: we have to wait for snow.

And you know, I think she's right.

...And a PSA from Betsy.

Those cars have to watch out for me. They must not bleed me. 'Acause they must only drive on the road, and not on me.

So, please watch where you're driving. ;-)

A girl's gotta party...

Betsy celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday. Yes, we had her party on a Friday, because Saturdays in December are too completely insane, and because none of her friends are in school yet anyway. It was the first birthday party I've ever done, and theough everything was VERY low key, it seemed to go really well.

We started off decorating aprons: I'd gotten some little kid sized aprons for like $3 apiece at Hobby Lobby, and gave the kids some fabric markers to use. Then they all wore their aprons while decorating cookies (helpfully made from that break-and-bake dough; I don't bake from scratch for a bunch of 4-year-olds) with frosting and various candies. We fed them lunch, opened presents (Betsy's really excited about her new Barbies) and let them watch Charlie and Lola for a while. The kids all got to take their aprons and their cookies home: handy party favors that the parents probably won't hate me for. It was easy, required almost no planning, and really fun!