Merry Christmas to All!

It's been a very busy few days for our little family. Last Saturday, we did laundry, sort of cleaned house, packed up the van and headed west for Joplin, MO to see Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gary (and the Kansas and Belgium Zustiaks). We had a great visit--shopping, eating, playing games, singing Christmas carols and opening presents.

On our journey to Joplin, we made a pit stop. Since it was about 15 degrees out (windchill of -100, I believe), Caleb pulled the van up to the front door after we paid. While we waited, Connor discovered these awesome antler headbands, which we just had to have. He proceeded to wear them for the next 2 days straight (with the exception of church the following morning).

On Christmas Eve, we made our way home (in record time, I might add--I don't even want to know just how fast my husband must have been driving). We got home last evening, unloaded the van, started laundry again and we ate supper. We finally got the kids in bed at their normal bed time (first time in several days, now). We finished up Connor's advent calendar (see the picture below-there's a book for each night of December leading up to Christmas). We set out cookies for Santa and then it was off to bed for Mom and Dad as well.

Connor and Riley made quite the haul in Joplin. So much so, that I wasn't sure Santa even needed to stop by our house last night. But he did. So this morning, after a quick peek out the window to see if it had snowed overnight (Connor was convinced it would snow for
Christmas so he could build a snow man), we went to the tree to look for evidence
that the big man had shown up.

Con-Man got this cool marble race-track-thingy, the Piston Cup Challenge (the big race track--as in "takes up all my living room floor"--from the Cars movie), and the Imaginext Fire Station (with a firetruck, as Connor is quick to point out).

Riley received the Leap Frog Refrigerator Phonics toy (as in "all 26 letter magnets will be lost by New Year's"), a My Little Pony doll house and a real doll house.

While we ate pancakes, Caleb tried to pry all the toys loose from their boxes. (As my brother-in-law, Aaron says, the guy who invented those twist-tie things to secure toys in their packages should have his wallet and keys secured like that every day. Caleb says he thinks the zipper of that guy's pants should have those idiotic twist-ties.) The kids only got to play for a short bit before it was time to "don we our gay apparel" and go to mass.

Once we got home and changed into comfy clothes (our not-so-gay-apparel), it was time for some serious play.

Santa did not realize that this particular toy requires an engineering degree to put together...

But look how much fun it is! So far, I think this one's been the favorite toy of Christmas, 2008. (Of course, we still have 3 more Christmases, so that could easily change.)

Strangely enough, Santa did not leave anything for Caleb or me. However, Caleb got a sweet video game chair and an argyle sweater that he looks quite handsome in. And I got this from my handsome husband and beautiful children:

(Sorry, it's not the greatest photo. I played around with last year's Christmas present quite a bit and found that it will not take a very good picture of something this small up close. Guess I know what to ask for next year, huh?) The ring is an opal with a pink tourmaline (I think) on each side. The band has some little diamonds embedded in it as well. The pendant matches the ring, with the pink stone on top of it. The picture just doesn't do the "beautiful JEWels" (Connor's pronunciation) justice. I gotta say, Caleb did a great job picking out my presents!! I love them!

Nap time ended a few minutes ago (complete with a set of wet sheets to add to the laundry pile), so I need to get off the computer and head upstairs. We haven't even gotten the fire station or doll house out of their boxes yet. There is much playing to be done, still. Plus, it's almost time to order our Chinese dinner. Once the kids are in bed, Caleb and I will watch A Christmas Story and our quiet little Christmas at home will be complete. As Connor has told me several times today, "This is the BEST Christmas ever!" I think he might be right about that.

Merry Christmas!!