Christmas 2009!

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care....

Oh. Did you notice that one was missing? Did I mention we had four house guests, a dinner for eight (plus two kids), and I made 15 pairs (PAIRS!) of elf shoes? DON'T JUDGE ME!

Just to review... Molly's stocking 7 days before Christmas:

Molly's stocking on Christmas Eve:

At this rate, I should be able to finish it by the time she's 13 - you know, just in time for her to hate it because it's "not cool."

Speaking of stockings..... What was Santa thinking?!

Sure, give a kid a toothbrush....

... and a kaleidoscope...

and WHAT does he do with them?

Ah, yes. Look for bad guys, find them under his pillow, and stab them to death.

Merry Christmas.

Nevertheless, we nervously went downstairs to the tree, unsure of what other weapons James might unwrap.

Big centerpiece for Christmas this year: a big train table from Oma and Opa.

Molly really opened all of her gifts. One. strip. of. paper. at. a. time.

Big hit for James.... a Little Henry vacuum cleaner. It's like a mini shopvac with all kinds of attachments and it really works!

Or was it a gift for me because he hasn't stopped "cleaning" since he opened it....

even the baseboards....

Molly really loved anything she could push, squeeze or eat.

Couple of small gifts for the little lady...

This ball popper from Aunt Katie was (and still is) a hit with both kids. Here, you can see James get popped in the head and then his general annoyance at Molly for eating a ball.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Christmas Eve

Norman Rockwell, eat your heart out. Sledding, cookie decorating, a family dinner (NOT made by me - hooray!), and a letter to Santa. Eat. Your. Heart. Out.

First up, sledding! Here's the hill. Please note, if you are lucky enough to miss the basketball pole at the bottom, it is icy enough to just keep sliding right into the Potomac.

James, of course, showed NO FEAR. I think he rode that hill about um, 1,000 times.

Walking back UP the hill, however, was not his favorite so here he gets a lift from Marissa.

And here, blog readers, is a little New Year's treat. Me. Sledding the hill.

Enjoy.

For the second year in a row, James decorated his "santa cookies" with Oma. He did a LOT of taste testing....

Here,

here,

and here.

Then naps (for everyone) and Christmas Eve dinner at our favorite tapas restaurant.

James ordered his usual. "3 french fries and one giant bowl of ice cream, please."

Back home to sprinkle reindeer food (a gift from Halley). Do you know this stuff? It's oats with glitter mixed in "so Santa's reindeer can find your house." I explained all of this to James (several times), but something got lost in the translation and he just stood there, holding the little container of "food" up to the sky. Who knows how long he would have stood there, waiting for the reindeer to come and eat the food right out of his hand.

So after yet another explanation, he just dumped the whole thing right at his feet.

Carefully placing Santa's cookies out and....

... another taste test "just to be sure."

and I will leave you, on Christmas Eve, with this:

Oma: James what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?

James: drums, cymbals, a REAL camera, and a telescope

LONG PAUSE

Oh, and a gun.

Norman Rockwell, indeed.

ICE!

That is really the name of it, "ICE!" - all caps with an exclamation point. I think it's named as such because it's a whopping nine (NINE!) degrees inside and that's about all you can make your mouth do. ICE! (see more pics of the exhibit here)

Brian's parents came for Christmas and, as you know, I only take them to things that are cold. REALLY cold. See here. I thought to myself, how can I beat a 16 degree parade? Oh yes, a 9 (NINE!) degree ice exhibit.

This little wonder was put on by the good folks at the Gaylord Hotel at the National Harbor. They were kind enough to loan us these enormous parkas that we wore over our own 18 layers of warmth. I was telling Brian's dad about the exhibit and the loaner coats and he said, "I think my jacket will do just fine." And then we walked in.....

It really was amazing. Every single thing was made of ice, er ICE!

A horse-drawn sleigh....

These penguins....

James....

Just kidding - he was fine, because they had SLIDES!

although they were a bit slippery (go figure - it was ICE!) so he didn't always have control of WHICH way he went down....

I loved it too....

Then we were off to lunch with "Santa or Mrs. Claus" as it was written on the website. We got Mrs. Claus, and later Santa, but then our camera broke so I don't have any pics of our kids NOT going anywhere near Santa.

I really talked her up as she visited a different table and James seemed warm (yet skeptical) to the idea at first.

But then she started talking and he quickly scooted over to Daddy's lap.

Molly was fine with her because she offered food.

Here we are, thawing out after the ICE!

Snow Day!

What is better than a snow day? A snow day that you are prepared for! This particular one was December 19 and I spent all of December 18 dragging the kids to all kinds of stores stocking up on... no, no, not milk. Nope, not bread. Soup? Wrong again.

My list:

snowsuits for both kids

one sled

wine

Check. check. check.

Here's what it looked like the night of the 18th right out our front door.

And then it snowed for the next 36 hours. Supposedly the most snow seen here since the 70s.

Happy, happy snow day.

Even Molly loved it. I could just carve out a "seat" in the snow and plop her in it.

Good to go.

Going for a walk....

Here's one of many tunnels made, by Daddy, for James. One of them even had steps up to a hole in the top of a snow pile and then a tunnel-slide down to the bottom.

Warming up back in the house with hot chocolate with marshmallows...and a side of marshmallows.

Of course, the hours and hours of shoveling snow were less fun. But still....

Happy, happy snow day.