MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'Twas the day before Christmas and Alyssa (usually our early riser) was awoken by Natalie (our late sleeper) yelling "TOMORROW IS CHRISTMAS! AND TODAY IS CHRISTMAS EVE!!"
The last ornament was placed on the advent calendar and the kids were getting even more excited than ever!

That night we had our traditional pizza dinner. . . .

And telling of the Nativity story. This year's script and program was written by Alyssa.

The stockings were placed (we don't have the tree by our fireplace) and cookies and milk set out. We watched a movie, Horton Hears a Who (we hadn't seen it yet) and ate treats.

The children MUST have fallen asleep, because Santa came and left presents among the ones from the family.

My great find for Logan was a hit - he saw it right off (hard to miss) and hopped right in.

Logan's first run down the slide ended in a hard land on the floor and it took him a bit to want to go back on, but he did and loves it.

The rest of the gifts were open and all were "just what they always wanted"
(a line from Winnie the Pooh, if you didn't know)Alyssa, especially was super excited for her gift from her siblings - she's been wanting a remote control airplane and a helicopter was just as great. She has been flying it, recharging, and flying some more.

Jake's Hot Wheels set has been played with and rearranged most of the day. Among other things, Natalie got a mirror from Robert, and a cross-stitch from me (not quite finished, but with horses even a mostly finished gift is met with excitement from Natalie).

After I got my gift of a mid-Christmas morning nap and after lunch, Alyssa, Robert and I headed out for the annual Christmas Day work in the woods. It was a beautiful mild day (65 degrees and overcast). Last year we burned a lot stuff we had cut down, this year we worked on privet. Robert has been working on it off and on and today had Alyssa and I to help clear away into piles what he cut down. The bush hog works on the smaller stuff, but in the woods closer to the river they are really thick - some like small trees (and medium size trees) so Robert has been using the ax to cut them.
So we went from this:

To this:
To this:
(not all in one afternoon, but this is what we are working on)
Robert didn't have gloves (he needs a new pair), so we only worked for about 1 1/2 hours before he started getting blisters. Natalie, Jake and Logan survived in the house under Natalie's supervision. Pretty easy when Logan is asleep and she and Jake are on Webkinz playing with their new Lil' Kinz Santa brought.
We have enjoyed our beautiful Christmas day and hope all of you have as well.
Merry Christmas!