Christmas rehab.

We are slowly getting through the pile of presents, etc. left over from Christmas.  It's taking a while to find a place for everything and Bodhi keeps taking out toys that I've already put away.  I think that it'll probably be a while until our place returns to something resembling normal.  Until then, we're taking a relaxed attitude about the mess.

Christmas time!

Bodhi knows exactly what to do...

Christmas went over pretty well at our place.  We had our little family Christmas at home first where the kids opened their gifts from us and Santa, then we went to Sherry's house for the bigger, full-family Christmas.

... Kira seems a little uncertain.

After opening even more presents and having a huge Christmas dinner we got to hang out with the family and chat for a while.  Some of us ended up staying the night, partly to extend the festivities and partly to help clean the amazing mess we'd managed to make.  The next day, after breakfast, we headed up north to visit my family in Bakersfield. 

Better than rolling in a pile of money, when you're a kid.

Unfortunately, we ran into traffic that turned a 1 1/2 hour trip into a 3 1/2 hour trip.  The kids were super good though: Kira slept most of the time and Bodhi played with toys, read books and talked with us for the whole ride.  We really are lucky in that respect.

How are we going to fit all this stuff in the car? 

We had yet another big meal and opened even more presents at my parents' place then stayed to chat with my family and then headed back home.  The only further difficulty we had for the ride home was trying to find enough room in the car for the gifts for the kids from Jen's family and my family.

Kira had a great first-Christmas!

Of course, once we got home we had to try to find room for all the loot at our place, too.  Oh well, if you've got to have problems at Christmas, I suppose having too many presents is a good one to have.  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Party Animals!

A good time was had by all...

We've been attending a lot of parties lately.  It's affected the kids a bit because they have been out past bedtime a lot lately.  Bodhi likes the parties because he gets to play with the other kids but Kira isn't so sure about all the noise and activity.

... and Bodhi was doing... uh, whatever he's doing.

One party was the extended family holiday party / dinner party / gift exchange.  We had a nice dinner, talked a lot and then had the gift exchange.  It's the kind where you draw a number, open a gift of your choosing then the next person either opens a gift or steals one.  It's highly entertaining for the adults and the kids get to run around and play all night.

Mmmm... Christmas cookies...

The next party was a cookie party.  One of Jen's friends has the party annually where they exchange recipes and cookies that they've baked.  They vote on a winner and eat a lot of cookies.  Since Jen takes the kids, I get a day off, yay!

... and Bodhi made a ... uh... whatever that is...

Next stop, Christmas!!

We forgot the crackers, Kira!

I was doing some dishes in the kitchen and came back to find the kids building a rocket!  I think that Kira is playing supervisor... either that or she's just eating the tools, I'm not sure.  I do know that Bodhi has been really into Wallace and Gromit lately and I think he may be planning a moon expedition.  It is so cute, though, when the kids are playing together.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This month has been really busy with all the things to do for Christmas.  Bodhi is really enjoying it this year.  He’s learning Christmas carols and counting down the days with an Advent calendar that Jen made. 

He also helped with the tree shopping, though he was more interested in some gardening clippers he found than the trees themselves.  And he’s been helping to cook and bake all the various dishes for all the holiday events.

Kira is only 8 months old (only!?) but she seems to like all the new lights, colors and decorations around her.  Our biggest challenge is keeping her from getting ahold of any of them.  She’s very good with her hands these days and quick to get things to her mouth, too.