SoInspired

Christmas Recap
I was beginning to really enjoy being home with my kids, finally getting a handle on Christmas, when my dear husband announced two days before Christmas, that he wanted to have his family over Christmas Eve. I immediately said "No." I did Thanksgiving. Your mother is doing Christmas and I'm not prepared. In Mark's defense, I will admit that he very sweetly had been praising me the last few weeks on my Christmas decor. By the time he arrived home in the evening, the kids and I would have all of the Christmas lights, garland, villages and fireplace lit. He said he wanted his family to enjoy it too. Of course I caved and spent the last two days before Christmas frantically cleaning and baking. We did have a wonderful Christmas Eve here.


We usually exchange gifts at Christmas dinner, tonight each family was surprised with a digital frame. I need to get busy adding more photos to ours.

Our kids traditionally open a gift from their Auntie Christmas Eve. Daddy read the Christmas story from the Bible and The Night Before Christmas, the cookies and milk were left out for Santa and off to bed we went. We still believe! Wink!
Christmas morning came fast. The kids were surpised by their big gifts. An ITouch for Cole and a Flip Video Camera for Taylor. They were really surprised by our family gift - A Wii Fit. I had put a deposit down on one about three weeks before Christmas. Save-The-Day-Carmen had spotted one at Walmart in Tucson, called me and suggested that she buy it for me just in case . . . mine didn't come in. Low and behold, mine didn't come in. Off to Tucson I went the Sunday before Christmas to have a wonderful lunch with my two dear, sweet friends, Carmen and Tina. Bliss! Of course we snuck in a little shopping at La Encantada. Lucky me, I was able to shop at Anthropologie. The lengths I go to for Christmas gifts. It was worth every penny and minute. We are all four enjoying our Wii Fit. Especially the balancing games.

Mark and I, without knowing, each bought each other Bvgari colognes. He selected their new Green Jade for me.


Cole and Mark shopped together for the cologne. Mark and Taylor went shopping and found a darling pair of pink pajamas adorned with Christmas stockings with matching slippers for me.

Each year, Mark surprises me with a $100 bill in my stocking for after Christmas shopping. They also chose a new Department 56 North Pole village piece. This year it was the Brite Lite village.
Christmas dinner at Grandma and Grandpas was filled with laughter and family.

We decided to only do gifts for the kids this year and they were spoiled! Grandma played Santa this year.

Check out Patti's Christmas tree Converse!

She wore a Candy Cane pair Christmas Eve.
My inlaws gave us a card with money for dinner and a movie with a cute message. "Have dinner and a movie on us and let the kids babysit us for the night." Cute! My sister-in-law gave all of the guys homemade cocoa mix and the girls beeswax candles that she made. Mine is in a darling vintage glass bee jar. We burned it tonight and loved it. We've seen two Christmas movies this week.
Bedtime Stories and Marley and Me. Lots of laughter and tears.