Merry Christmas Vacation!

Apparently, when you don't work, Christmas vacation just goes on and on. It's really kind of nice! Abby's been off of school since, well, for nine days now since she had a snow day the Friday before Christmas break actually began. So, we had snow day, Saturday, Sunday, two days of work for Dave (with no work for me on Monday the 22nd), Christmas Eve, Christmas, day after Christmas, and now Saturday. To come is Sunday, two days of vacation at the Dells with my family, half day or work for Dave on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Day after New Year's Day, Saturday, Sunday. (And then we won't talk about the "real life" after that, where it's back to school and work, and where Dave's telling me he's going to have to travel even more than usual. Ugh.)

But anyway, Christmas was really great here. We barely got out of our pjs, and in fact, I don't think the kids actually did. They got up at 5:50, and I'm not sure how they coordinated it, but Max got up at 5:50, too. Nolan was literally bouncing down the stairs asking, "Did Santa come? Did Santa come?" They were so excited. We did stockings and presents, and it's really interesting to watch the differences between kids. Abby goes through her presents in an instant, barely looking at everything before she moves on to the next, and the next, and the next. Nolan, on the other hand, looks at everything he opens. I think he would actually put everything together, put in batteries, and play with it for an hour or two before he moved onto the next gift if we let him. And then there's Max... he just wants every present that everyone else is opening!

I think the kids really liked all their presents, though. Abby got an iPod (an ebay, old school version... cheap!) that she really liked, along with an iPod player and a Patrick Star (from SpongeBob) stuffed animal she asked Santa for (among other things, of course!). Nolan got a Star Wars lego ship, and Indiana Jones whip, and the shovel he asked Santa for (yes, a shovel, and he loved it). Max got what everyone else got. :)

I haven't taken any pictures off the camera yet, and I'm not inclined to do that tonight, so I'll have to post pictures later, and leave you with these pictures that I downloaded the other day...

Dave and Max... Duke fans forever!


The kids at the hotel two weeks ago with Dave's sister and family... Presents!


The kids at the waterpark. Perfect sized, with a regular swimming pool, a little kid pool and a big water slide.


Abby's Christmas program... She's third row up, just left of middle. Good luck finding her! Although, she's one of the only ones without Christmas clothes on. Not sure what I was thinking that morning. She came down in a sweatshirt and I didn't think twice about it. Oh well.

Here she is reading her part in the play. It was very cute. And at least the girl next to her (who I believe is Nevaeh (or Heaven backwards)) doesn't have Christmas clothes on either!

Nolan's little Christmas program... Do you like his sweats? It was not a good day for getting dressed that day.

Back to the pool. I'm too lazy to switch the pictures around tonight!

Ready? Set? Jump!

More presents!

Ok, these are the snacks I brought for Nolan's class the other week. They were supposed to look like ornaments originally, but didn't really. They're crescent rolls in circles with cream cheese and veggies. They were really cute, until I left them in the porch and the veggies froze. And the kids didn't like them so much anyway. Oh well. What's a girl to do?

These are the moments... Max dumped out the entire box of Cheerios, and Nolan decided to eat them off the floor. Who's children are these?!?

AND... Back to the pool! Max loved jumping in, but needed his goggles on!

Abby on the slide

And that's it! I hope you had a great Christmas, and, since I may not get back to the computer until after new year's, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!