Christmas re-hash

Well, this is plain ridiculous. Christmas was 6 weeks ago and I'm just now getting to this. Funny - 6 weeks doesn't actually seem all that long, though Christmas feels like it was forever ago. Christmas Eve and Christmas day were actually really great, though things have generally gone downhill ever since Christmas evening and we are just now getting our heads above water. Sickness for Erik, sickness for Molly (Lund family Christmas was thrown in there as a highlight), sickness for Georgia x several, snow, prep for vacation, vacation (HIGH POINT), lots more snow, medical drama, and wrapped up with 6 days indoor with 2 children. I'm going to claim February 10th as my New Year's Day and start fresh - ya with me?

Nicholas, our Elf on the Shelf, brought Christmas jammies for the girls on Christmas Eve. Ellen was very tearful last year when Nicholas left, so I tried to be proactive and help her write him a note saying thanks for visiting again. I mentioned, sort of in an off-hand way, that some of our friends are allowed to give their elves a hug and kiss on the night they leave since they won't see them for a whole year. It kind of backfired and she became genuinely concerned and very sad about the whole thing thinking that she would cause him to lose his magic. She was really, truly, conflicted! (Yes - this elf thing is sometimes, ok often, too much). After consulting the book and finding a picture that supported our theory, she was finally OK with giving him a hug.

We again had a pretty calm Christmas morning that didn't start too terribly early ... keep wondering when that is going to change!

Ellen's main wish was for Saige, the American Girl Doll. She had many (many) other things on her list, but knew that Santa would pick out what he thought was best. She was thrilled and was happy to pick out some special things at the American Girl Doll store with gift certificates from the rest of her family, but Saige doesn't get much play. I think (hope) this will change. Georgia got a new table with 4 chairs so the girls can do projects and eat together with friends. Her most favorite gift, though, was a box of band-aids.

As good as it gets - Ellen still chewing leftover Santa cookies and Georgia, clearly, not pleased. 

My family came over for a tasty breakfast and present opening before the rest of my extended family came for lunch. Traditional Christmas feast? Nope. Tacos. BUT - I think they were festive holiday tacos? The company was great ("customers" as Ellen calls them), and the food was tasty and it was really nice to have everyone together.

Special delivery!

Big cousins, little table

We had Lund family Christmas dinner - the traditional fondue - at Erik's brother's house and it was delicious as always, if not tiring at the end of a busy 24 hours. Unfortunately, Erik got sick when he got home and I got sick the night of the 26th, leading me to believe for a short period of time that I had given our entire family some kind of foodborne illness. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, but my bug lingered for about 5 days, putting a serious damper on the rest of Lund Family Christmas when the Denver crew came to town.

Santa brought an anatomy kit! #stagemom

Georgia was gifted a new bike by Grammy and Papa. She is getting pretty good at it - I think she'll be a pro on the balance bike!

Best of the series of 10 pics

Traditional stocking picture!

And, another one!

And, just to remember that Christmas coincided with Georgia's phase of sticking her tongue out all the time.

I was still a little puny on New Year's Eve, so we just stayed in, had hot tea and toast, and vowed to start 2014 in a really fresh way. I was up early on the First and it felt great, though the rest of the month proved to be rather hectic. Ellen helped me decorate the tree for the first time this year and really was a nice helper. I realized about half-way through the month that I didn't get any pictures of it! So ... she helped me take down the tree, too.