Merry Christmas

Madeline definitely felt the excitement of Santa coming last night. Although she was put into bed at 9pm, she didn't fall asleep until after 11pm. The good news though is that she slept until 10am this morning! David and I joked that we are probably the only parents in the universe that were able to sleep in on Christmas morning.

Madeline was very pleased with all the goodies that Santa brought. She was very leisurely (as were we) with opening our gifts. Madeline would open a gift, play with and explore it a little bit and then open up another gift. It was nice that the moment wasn't lost in a 5 minute flurry of flying wrapping paper. As a family, we spent a very relaxing morning together. We were actually in our PJ's, playing with our Christmas goodies until well after 3pm! I was so glad that we decided to go to Mass last night so that we could be this leisurely today.

Madeline's big hits from Santa were the Fischer Price Lovin' Family doll house and the Polly Pocket "Race to the Mall" car track. (Note to Santa for next year: Please set up all the toys that need assembly for us before the morning!) Also, I wanted to get David a toy for Christmas so one of the gifts he got was a small remote control helicopter that can be used indoors. This idea backfired as he ended up stalking me with it while I was trying to make dinner. The stupid thing kept buzzing around my head. He was like a 10 year old boy with that silly thing!

We enjoyed a nice Christmas meal this evening too. I made a Rib Roast with a Cracked Pepper Blend and Mushrooms, Brussel Sprouts (the *only* edible way like my brother, Paul, taught me) and I fried up some left over parsley potatoes with fennel and crumbled blue cheese.

I am now only partially packed to leave tomorrow for Northwest Indiana to visit David's family. This will also be a nice family time for us. We now stay in a hotel on our visits and Madeline really enjoys pool time. But for now, I must continue packing in preparation for our departure.