Christmas morning

Santa delivered the promised Barbie, and everyone was delighted with all the fun presents. We had yummy sausage egg casserole and orange rolls for breakfast, which put Mr. B into a euphoric trance. Christmas has some good traditions.

Well, we tried

Yesterday Mr. B and I celebrated seven years of marriage! We had decided to go on a date, and we wanted to do something different from our usual dinner and a movie. We first considered ice skating, but wimped out because of the cold weather and both of us recovering from illness. Then we decided we would go to the art museum and out to eat. Perfect. The night before, I looked up the art museum for directions and discovered that it's closed on Mondays. Oops. So we gave in to our usual and decided to go see Avatar. We got our sitter and showed up at the theater. It was sold out. A Monday matinee. Sheesh. I guess it is Christmas break. So we drove up to The Cheesecake Factory and had an amazing meal (plus I think I saw Usher!), and then Spencer took me on an unexpected shopping spree. Yay new clothes! Maybe next year we'll have better planning, but it was great to get away from the kids and have time with my wonderful husband.

It's not supposed to be funny

This morning, after Audrey had been awake for a few hours, I noticed a small dark spot on her sheets, thought it might be a nosebleed. Mr. B and I were in her room getting her dressed, and I asked, "Did that come from your nose or your mouth?" She said, "My mouth." Daddy said, "Did you throw up?" Audrey said, "Yes. Like this." And then she threw up ALL over Daddy and the floor. Mr. B and I looked at each other in shock and then just started laughing. Whaaa??? You can just puke on demand? We are still giggling.

P.S. She just took herself calmly to the bathroom sink and threw up again, asked for some water and went back to play. What a weird kid. I'm assuming she's sick, but she's acting so normal.

Christmas activities

We have been busy this month with an abundance of activities. Here are a few highlights:

Sinter Klaas at the Croxalls, our third year. So much fun as always. Ian at Sinter Klaas. He ate the traditional dinner: sausage and potatoes w/sauerkraut. The Sinter Klaas gifts. I think our gifts (far left) win least original this year. But our poems were pretty good.
The Reindog parade at the botanical garden. We went last year and were excited to have the Croxalls along with us this year. People dress their dogs up in holiday garb and parade them around the gardens. It was freezing; I only took one picture.
Playgroup birthday party. Lisa hosted an amazing event for the December birthdays, with a Nutcracker theme. Here's Audrey with her individualized cake.

Ian's rash

Poor kid has had one illness after another lately. Yesterday he broke out in this terrible rash. The doctor thinks it's viral--roseola. He's pretty miserable, but he's being a trooper. Mommy is not being as good a trooper, but she's trying...

Ian's stocking

Here is the finished product. Thanks Mom!!

Happy Birthday Audrey!

Audrey turned three! We had our best friends the Croxalls come over for cake and ice cream. Our new neighbor stopped by too. Audrey loved the attention, the birthday song, blowing out the candles, eating the cake, and opening her presents. She is loved! Here she is with her requested Dora cake. She also requested a leaf cake, but said the leaf cake was for her next birthday. The day after her birthday, she said, "I want my leaf cake now." Um, birthdays are annual, not daily. Sorry sweetie.

Gingerbread FHE

Last night for FHE, we made a gingerbread house from a kit. Ian kept himself occupied by eating the gingerbread snowman and Christmas tree. Audrey sampled a bit of everything.

Hard at work. Audrey's either concentrating or she's ready to devour the whole thing.Thought we were done, but the roof fell off. More icing glue to the rescue:

The finished product.
Today we got out the Christmas decorations; December is a fun month!

Thanksgiving at the Egers

The kids shared a blue slushie on the drive home. Can you see Ian's blue tongue? I know it's not approved toddler fare, but he loved it.

Dress up

Ian was generous enough to play dress up with Audrey.