So here we are again on Christmas Eve - this one started as others have in the past: early. First things first: Jingle the Elf. He was on his way out this morning, and he left a note to Madison saying as much. It was time for him to return to help Santa out at the North Pole - but it certainly has been a fun month at our house. He left for us some seeds, apparently, and these will actually grow to become a candy cane garden. We'll see how that turns out tomorrow, I guess.
Here he is, showing us the "soil," "pot," and "seeds." There's even a cute little poem he wrote to explain how it all works:
Find yourself a pot that's deep,
Pour in the soil in a great big heap,
Bury your seeds in the soil all the way,
Then watch what comes up out on Christmas Day!
Daddy's a little skeptical, but he's not going to be one to rain on any elf's parade. If he says it will work, we'll give it a try. Here's Daddy and Madison, planting the "garden."
It was fun burying the mint seeds in the sugar, although it was a little sad saying goodbye to Jingle the Elf. He's been a lot of fun this Christmas season, that's for sure.
After the planting, Daddy went out to do a little last-minute shopping for Mommy, and just for fun he brought Madison along for the ride. This gave Mommy some quiet time in the morning, a gift in itself. But Daddy and Madison were having a great time going to the Mall of Georgia, watching people rush by with their treasures. The Christmas decorations were up and the music playing. The mall was packed, as were the shopping centers and roads all around. Really, it was a pain driving - no fun at all. I suppose that's a good sign for the economy though. At least for the local economy: there were a lot of people out on the roads today.
It's not as stressful when you don't have as much to look for at the last minute. Daddy again did not have much to get - it was all about atmosphere. It was fun having Madison as well - we brought the stroller, and went for a stroll up and down the mall. And we went to Cracker Barrel, and a nearby Hallmark store. We even stopped at a Publix. Talk about some desperate shopping there - but believe it or not, I found something exactly right for a stocking stuffer. Mommy's just crazy about that Ghirardelli chocolate, and there was a Ghirardelli nutcracker there. Nice little stocking stuffer!
We got home just in time to relax a bit - Daddy wrapped a few presents, as did Mommy. Another thing we did was read books: Daddy read a whole lot of Christmas books to Madison. Some had the Christmas story in them - a few from the shepherds' perspective, and a few that just told the story as written in the Bible. One thing that Daddy read was "The Night Before Christmas." Daddy's never read that to Madison before (although he has read the "Pirate's Night Before Christmas" several times). We sat by the fireplace, and Daddy literally read about eight or nine books to her, and all was well with the world. It was such a sweet day.
Soon enough, we were on our way over to Ye-Ye and Nana's, as is our tradition each year. This year, we actually drew names for family members, and exchanged a few gifts the night before Christmas. Madison opened a few presents as well!
She's quite happy with this remote-controlled car, especially on the hardwood floor we have at the house. This is something new for her - she was already having a lot of fun with it at their house as well.
Now, as usual, Ye-Ye and Nana prepared a metric ton of food for all of us. It was really great to be with family, just sitting around and talking and being together. Eventually, there was a motion to put in a Christmas-themed movie. Now Daddy had plenty of other options, but Aunt Shain, David and Jonathan all wanted to see the Star Wars Holiday Special. This has been documented here on this blog as really, really, really bad. But if you're a Star Wars enthusiast, there's a bit of morbid curiosity going on - it's almost like a hazing event, some sick initiation to see how much of a fan you really are. So against better judgment, we popped in the DVD of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Here's the general reaction:
Yes, it was that bad. Again. This Christmas Eve will always be remembered now, won't it? We did watch a few other Christmas specials, most notably the Kung Fu Panda holiday special and a few others. It was nice exchanging gifts and having the time to be together this year. We usually have time to spend together, of course. But sometimes, that time is a bit more limited, as there is typically a Christmas Eve service to be involved in some capacity. Not this year - our candlelight service was this past Sunday, so everyone has been pretty excited to have a day or two off this year.
It was a late night for us, but not as late as it usually is. One reason for this: all the presents were already wrapped. Santa got that done early, and there was not much for us to do in regards to helping him out. Still no evidence of growing candy canes in the garden, but I suppose we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if anything pops up!
Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas once again! Santa is on his way, according to NORAD. This year, they were tracking him on a satellite radar, where you can see his positioning on a map of the earth. Following him along, we couldn't help but notice he skipped the entire country of Namibia. Seriously, we were watching him go from country to country in Africa, and he just passed right over that entire nation! Either NORAD is having a hard time really following him, or those people in Namibia are very naughty.
Not long until NORAD has Santa over our place. We put Madison to bed, and left things nice and tidy for Santa. The cookies and milk are in place, as are the carrots for the reindeer.
We know he isn't coming until we ourselves get to bed - so it's time for a long winter's nap. To all a good night!
Here he is, showing us the "soil," "pot," and "seeds." There's even a cute little poem he wrote to explain how it all works:
Find yourself a pot that's deep,
Pour in the soil in a great big heap,
Bury your seeds in the soil all the way,
Then watch what comes up out on Christmas Day!
Daddy's a little skeptical, but he's not going to be one to rain on any elf's parade. If he says it will work, we'll give it a try. Here's Daddy and Madison, planting the "garden."
It was fun burying the mint seeds in the sugar, although it was a little sad saying goodbye to Jingle the Elf. He's been a lot of fun this Christmas season, that's for sure.
After the planting, Daddy went out to do a little last-minute shopping for Mommy, and just for fun he brought Madison along for the ride. This gave Mommy some quiet time in the morning, a gift in itself. But Daddy and Madison were having a great time going to the Mall of Georgia, watching people rush by with their treasures. The Christmas decorations were up and the music playing. The mall was packed, as were the shopping centers and roads all around. Really, it was a pain driving - no fun at all. I suppose that's a good sign for the economy though. At least for the local economy: there were a lot of people out on the roads today.
It's not as stressful when you don't have as much to look for at the last minute. Daddy again did not have much to get - it was all about atmosphere. It was fun having Madison as well - we brought the stroller, and went for a stroll up and down the mall. And we went to Cracker Barrel, and a nearby Hallmark store. We even stopped at a Publix. Talk about some desperate shopping there - but believe it or not, I found something exactly right for a stocking stuffer. Mommy's just crazy about that Ghirardelli chocolate, and there was a Ghirardelli nutcracker there. Nice little stocking stuffer!
We got home just in time to relax a bit - Daddy wrapped a few presents, as did Mommy. Another thing we did was read books: Daddy read a whole lot of Christmas books to Madison. Some had the Christmas story in them - a few from the shepherds' perspective, and a few that just told the story as written in the Bible. One thing that Daddy read was "The Night Before Christmas." Daddy's never read that to Madison before (although he has read the "Pirate's Night Before Christmas" several times). We sat by the fireplace, and Daddy literally read about eight or nine books to her, and all was well with the world. It was such a sweet day.
Soon enough, we were on our way over to Ye-Ye and Nana's, as is our tradition each year. This year, we actually drew names for family members, and exchanged a few gifts the night before Christmas. Madison opened a few presents as well!
She's quite happy with this remote-controlled car, especially on the hardwood floor we have at the house. This is something new for her - she was already having a lot of fun with it at their house as well.
Now, as usual, Ye-Ye and Nana prepared a metric ton of food for all of us. It was really great to be with family, just sitting around and talking and being together. Eventually, there was a motion to put in a Christmas-themed movie. Now Daddy had plenty of other options, but Aunt Shain, David and Jonathan all wanted to see the Star Wars Holiday Special. This has been documented here on this blog as really, really, really bad. But if you're a Star Wars enthusiast, there's a bit of morbid curiosity going on - it's almost like a hazing event, some sick initiation to see how much of a fan you really are. So against better judgment, we popped in the DVD of the Star Wars Holiday Special. Here's the general reaction:
Yes, it was that bad. Again. This Christmas Eve will always be remembered now, won't it? We did watch a few other Christmas specials, most notably the Kung Fu Panda holiday special and a few others. It was nice exchanging gifts and having the time to be together this year. We usually have time to spend together, of course. But sometimes, that time is a bit more limited, as there is typically a Christmas Eve service to be involved in some capacity. Not this year - our candlelight service was this past Sunday, so everyone has been pretty excited to have a day or two off this year.
It was a late night for us, but not as late as it usually is. One reason for this: all the presents were already wrapped. Santa got that done early, and there was not much for us to do in regards to helping him out. Still no evidence of growing candy canes in the garden, but I suppose we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if anything pops up!
Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas once again! Santa is on his way, according to NORAD. This year, they were tracking him on a satellite radar, where you can see his positioning on a map of the earth. Following him along, we couldn't help but notice he skipped the entire country of Namibia. Seriously, we were watching him go from country to country in Africa, and he just passed right over that entire nation! Either NORAD is having a hard time really following him, or those people in Namibia are very naughty.
Not long until NORAD has Santa over our place. We put Madison to bed, and left things nice and tidy for Santa. The cookies and milk are in place, as are the carrots for the reindeer.
We know he isn't coming until we ourselves get to bed - so it's time for a long winter's nap. To all a good night!
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