Christmas Eve at our house

Annabel just came in and described "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", only she was saying Grandmommy, and at the end she went splat and no one could find her and that's all.


These short conversations really tickle me.

Having two kids still mastering the English language can make for some funny conversations.

Monday night Annabel was so disappointed that the restaurant had no more corn, because she LOVES that corn for the ice cream. I knew they had corn on the buffet, so it had to be cone! She loves the cone for her ice cream.

Grace then read Annabel's fortune cookie. Annabel was to do something with her uniquequinciness.

We had so much fun spending their gift cards yesterday.

Annabel had never been in a Toys R Us store and I think it was somewhat overwhelming. It was so strange to see the store so empty. The girls decided to pool their cards so they could buy one, get one half price on a new Nintendo game. Yes, Father dear, I know tomorrow is Christmas. But the gift cards were the gifts! I know you understand the logic there.

What surprised me was they picked a game where they are taking care of babies. Annabel immediately started fretting that she could not handle 7 babies, the six on the game and her doll, who is named Shomba (?).

They plugged in the games and immediately started playing. Only with this game, if you do not take good care of your baby, then it cries and cries and cries and cries! Annabel couldn't get hers to eat and started talking to it that the rice was so good. Grace questioned feeding the baby rice. Annabel said, ok, green beans then.

We also went to Limited Too as those gift cards were burning a hole in their pocket. The priority was pants or skirts. We could find neither, so they both have cute new tops.

Today we are going back to a tradition I started for us when Jana and the girls first moved to Dallas. Prior to Grace, Annabel, and Jana and her girls, I used to take Mom and Dad to the Fairmount on Christmas Day for brunch. But it is not cheap, so I found Neiman Marcus has their usual "lunch" buffet on Christmas Eve. Somehow we missed it last year, but we are getting ready to go. They have such delicious food and you feel quite festive just being at their store.

Later is church, but then in the morning, the first Christmas ever for Annabel!

I think that Grace was so overwhelmed that first year that she couldn't get past the first package.

I am sorry if you did not get a Christmas card to you. I still plan to mail some, even though they will be late. My way of ensuring the holidays last longer!

I am thankful we are all well and can enjoy these special times together. I am especially grateful we are not in British Columbia where it continues to snow!

More later!