Christmas and New Year

We had a low-key Christmas at home. Libby had been asking for a "stuffed animal robot that is electric and has a remote control" for months. The exact particulars of her wish did not get fulfilled, but she did get a remote-control robot as well as a small robot toy and she was pretty happy. The first time Piper saw Santa this season, it was at our church Christmas party. She knew that I had brought candy canes for Santa to hand out, so when she sat on Santa's lap, she simply asked for a candy cane. Santa laughed and said that was pretty easy. She saw Santa again when we went to an Iowa Energy basketball game and this time she asked for a monkey. So she got a little monkey that shoots balls from its mouth. The kids also got new dresses, stockings, several drawing books and art supplies, hairbows. They also wrapped lots of random objects from around the house and gifted them to each other. By far the biggest hit for Piper was the pack of gum she got in her stocking. She is always asking for gum, so it was the best day of her life to get her very own pack and chew piece after piece. The pack of gum seriously did not leave her hands for hours.

Santa gave me socks?!

Piper and her beloved gum

Birdie didn't get anything in her stocking except a big pile of love and hugs and kisses

We have a tradition of giving the kids a box of sugared cereal for Christmas, since we try not to eat it year round

Libby has been doing tae kwon do since October and has really loved it, so she got a uniform for Christmas

Remote control robot

We spent New Year's Eve at a friend's house with a few other families and had a great time. We didn't stay late enough to ring in the new year, but the kids still stayed up waaay past their bedtime (I think we left at 10:30) and on the way home, Libby was finishing a little bag of popcorn. She told me she was "sleep-eating." "I'm so tired, I'm sleeping, but I'm still eating."



On New Year's Day, we went sledding. The kids were much braver than I expected. Libby screamed every time she went down the hill, but she loved it. They play on the sleds in our yard and driveway, but this was the first time they've really been sledding. Birdie was asleep, so we kept her in the carseat with lots of blankets and brought her to the hill with us. She woke up while we were still playing, so Jared and I took turns sitting in the car with her. Piper fell off the sled once and scraped her face, so was done after that, but everyone had a great time.