christmastime in st. louis

you'll have to excuse me for jumping from one holiday to the next as if nothing happened in between, but the OCD part of me won't let me write about anything current till we're at least nominally caught up ;-)

christmas break came early this year for us.  we set off at 7 pm, friday the 16th of december.  five hours later, we stopped for the night just past charleston, WV.  to everyone's relief, the girls were great about going back to sleep at 2 am, in the same bed and all.  an uneventful drive through kentucky, indiana and illinois brought us over the river, if not through the woods, to grandmother nicholson's house in time for dinner. 

it was a wonderful, relaxing, reunion of a week.  it felt luxurious to be able to go for a run or go to the gym every day or every other day (okay, those who don't have kids may not view running as luxurious, but i do ;-) ).  instead of rushing breathlessly into the festivities, we had all week to lounge, catch up with friends, spend a day at work (only the 3rd time i've been into the office), sleep in... i spent an evening with katie and sara and heather (why oh why didn't i take a picture?!), while ben went out with the guys.  we snuck back into grandma and grandpa's around 2 am ;-)

so, enough talk =)

possibly my favorite pic of the trip!

a lot of game playing took place

everything, err, everyone, was on the table ;-)

enjoying some daffy duck with uncle neil

christmas eve finery

on our way to christmas eve service

gearing up for presents

chloe has first dibbs.. this one was a decorate-your-own piggy bank
from nai nai and ah gong that she wanted to do our very first day back
in maryland, even before breakfast

personalized puzzle stools from g&g nicholson

guess who got a onesie for christmas? ;-)  lucy only spilled the beans, oh,
four or five times in advance ;-)

christmas morning stockings

taking a picture of taking a picture, first of many, i'm sure ;-)

lucy looooves her abigail

as one of our advent activities, we had wrapped a present for Jesus weeks before, with a slit cut in the box. when the girls wanted to 'give a present to Jesus', we wrote it on an index card and slipped it in. 

by christmas, they had quite a collection:

i let lucy choose where she wanted to sleep at naptime, even when she changed her mind twice. love, chloe
i gave chloe a napkin to clean up her oatmeal at breakfast.  love, lucy
i said, 'okay if you want me to' when mommy asked if i could have a 'dilla instead of grilled cheese.  love, chloe
i let jie jie ride my bikey-bikey!  love, lucy
i got lucy a tissue when her nose was running.  love, chloe
i brought a book, a shoelace and a blankie blankie to jie jie.  love, lucy
i let lucy have some extra turns jumping on the couch.  love, chloe
i was helpful and obedient putting on my pajamas and brushing my teeth.  love, lucy
i agreed to get in the bath because mommy asked me to, even though i didn't want to, and got dressed with a cheerful heart.  love, chloe
i spontaneously shared my m&m's with jie jie even though she had already had her treat.  love, lucy
i got mommy's bag all by myself when i saw she was looking for it.  love, chloe
my memory verses:  psalm 9:1, proverbs 19:20, philippians 2:4, proverbs 15:1, etc. love, chloe [she knows about 10!]

christmas day was a beautiful one

as was christmas night

we miss you, grandma and grandpa and uncle neil!!