Xmas 2009

As Christmas weekend comes to a close...here's our Xmas 2009 wrap up. Along with some of my random thoughts.

Christmas Eve

At my in-laws in the Bronx, the girls were super well behaved & enjoyed the amazing eats that only Dominicans can pull off. By the end of the evening the savages grew weary but managed to maintain their composure for some family pics.

Christmas Day

We woke up nice & early & headed out for church followed by another visit to grandma & grandpa in NJ....I doubt I'll be able to get away with putting off gift opening next year. They were totally clueless so they went along blissfully unaware.

One out of two kids must always be in some kind of foul mood. So family pics...eeeh not so much on this day. Their cousin David was very cooperative & even dressed up accordingly :)

However ripping up paper, now that was something everyone was willing to help out with.

And this toy did not belong to either of these two.

Cousin David was happy to have some cardboard boxes to play with.

And his brother Nick was happy with his gifts.

And us big kids got some goodies too! And check out my little elves.

And just in case dinner ran a little late, Cati got pre-Xmas dinner snack. CHEERIOS! Never leave home without them.

Notice Val in the corner making sure no one tries to take a snag of her stash.

And we got home...the real gift giving began!!

Santa had clearly arrived while we were gone.

Looks like we have a winner here. The table & chairs were a big hit!

Another big hit was their Dora The Explorer Backpacks! Mommy woke up in the weee hours of the morning on Black Friday to get these suckers at half-price. Twins are not cheap!

And here is my child drunk with exhaustion but still unable to release her talking back-pack.

And we also found out that JUST like Dora's Back-pack holds lots of amazing (and sometimes unbelievable) stuff our Back-Pack holds incredible stuff too like juices, legos, and other useful items that will save you when you're in a bind.

My kid has a bit of an obsession with Dora. I'm not ashamed to admit it because I think it's a healthy obsession and one that hopefully won't ever land her in jail or an insane asylum. As you can see here she's hiding her Back-Pack under legs lest someone may try to come & swipe it from her while she's distracted.

AND last but certainly not least, Santa opted not to leave me a sack of coal. Instead he remembered how much I do throughout the year despite being a royal pain in the arrears to J. He remembered that I never seem to catch up with my book club reads (my only escape from the daily madness of my home) and he got me THIS!

I was quite surprised & excited to find this under the tree with my name on it. AAAAND it already had my book for this month's book club downloaded AHA!! Now that is what you call incredibly thoughtful. Thank you Santa ;O)

But really, I am so grateful that under the tree I could also find this. The little ones I love most in this world happy & healthy & running me ragged. And I wouldn't have it any other way.