Christmas with family!

After last year's humble Christmas in Mexico, our kids were bombarded with American Consumerism (aka...Grandparent love and generosity) this year! I have to admit that I am quite proud of our $2 Mexican Christmas in 2008, but this year, when the grandparents wanted to spoil our kids with presents that we would never be able to get them...who am I to say no?! They made out like bandits (and they better appreciate it--this is not the norm in our house)!

My parents arrived in Peachtree City only 3 days after we were able to make the week-long trek here from their home (they flew here--those cheaters)! On Christmas morning (spent just with my parents, as Lara & Greg left us their home to attend Greg's family's Christmas in Tennessee), the girls opened goodies like Candyland and Chutes & Ladders (our children's 1st board games!), a new Dora movie, tights galore, Goldfish Crackers (an easy hit with my children--you should have seen their enthusiasm over a palm-size box of Goldfish!), a playdough set, etc. Next, they opened their Grandma & Grandpa's present...a Dora playhouse! I hope you can see the shock and excitement on Ella's face in the middle bottom picture (let's just say it was a HIT)! It is officially the largest toy our children have ever been allowed to have. If we were still going to Alaska every summer, we probably would have had to reconsider. They play well with it, and it came with a ton of accessories (don't you love ebay?). We will be leaving behind some other boring hand-me-down toys to make room for this winner!

And on Christmas night, the rest of the Saville crew began to arrive. The final party filled the house the day after Christmas, for a 2nd Christmas Morning. This amounted to 12 adults, and 7 children running around...it was chaos...but it was great! Ella scored with her white elephant gift bag from the dollar store. It included this cute chef apron and cap, as well as some glitter glue/paint, and some other goodies.

The next morning, Ella came into the office (where we were sleeping on an air mattress...due to the large amount of guests!), and whispered to me "Can I use the glitter paint?" I said "Are you going to use it by yourself, or with Hunter & Cole (her cousins)?" She thought for a second, and replied, "What do you WANT me to say?" BRILLIANT ANSWER. I quickly replied that I preferred that she didn't involve her highly active boy cousins, and do the craft by herself. And she did!

Maiya has begun to act like her older sister, dressing up in crazy outfits. This ensemble was particularly humorous--she has on an INFANT sweater/dress that I wore when I was a baby.

And just her sister, a few hours later, the ensemble changes...perhaps something like this?

And DARE I forget Maiya's new potty chair from Grandma & Grandpa that she got for her birthday? Maiya was SOOO excited to use it! Now, if only we could keep up that excitement, and get her to always use it? Ella trained herself by age 2...but Maiya is going to need more motivation/help than that!

If she fails? Maybe we'll just give her to the postman?

And this is where I admit that is the accounting time of year, again. I REALLY don't like it. So, I am avoiding the yucky work load by blogging (while Jared takes a nap, and the kids rummage through my purse behind me...pulling all the cards out of our wallets...and generally just making a mess), and by researching "other" things that simply "have" to get done...(right?).