Christmas Days

Christmas Eve was so nice, we baked Snickerdoodles, and I made the dough for more sugar cookies (they were gone in like 4 days! Someone even ate my special cookie!). We prepped stuff for the homemade chicken soup we were having on Christmas, and made the Egg sandwiches, so all we had to do Christmas morning is stick them in the oven for a half hour.

Next we gathered and did Secret Santa and Gifts from the Heart. We did S.S. first. Katie had me and got me some make-up (I loved the lip stuff, but finally had to tell her I was worried I would never wear the eye shadows, they were so dark and dramatic...perfect for a bellydancer and yes she decided she wanted them!lol) and I had Mike so I couldn't be there to see if he liked the Utes hat. Then G.F.T.H., and Katie went first. It was one envelope so we all waited while Dad read it aloud. She wants to pay for tickets to do the Pirate and Princess party at Magic Kingdom in Florida again, or if they don't do it, tickets for a new adventure...whoa...generous but poor Kat needs all the money she can get, but NO ONE tells Katie what to do, so Thanks Kate!! Then my Dad went. There was a special letter for each of us, too private to put here sorry. And various objects, like:
A compass to help us find our ways. A lantern so we are never left in the dark, and a lock, so we are always protected. Plus a something sweet and a movie to entertain, but the first three were so nice and cute!
Mom went next. She made us all framed pics with Christmas themes. She wants to hang them up every year, as a new tradition! So sweet! We need picture hangers, that is why they are on the floor!
Sam had done framed pictures too, but very differently. Tiny frames to keep out when the pictures go back up on our picture shelves. Pictures of US, the family.
This is a pic of the ones of me and Kat. That is my current fave pic of Katie, I took it on her birthday!!
Then it was my turn, I had butterflies. The cookbooks had arrives wrapped, totally unexpected, so I never got to see them until they unwrapped them. They were seriously, they were stunned. They loved them. 50 of our favorite family recipes, each recipe has a picture I uploaded and a quote about families, I found some good ones. They were beautiful. I was able to write a dedication page too, and it was ME who got all teary-eyed while Mom read it out loud. They look so preofessional, I am so pleased!
They are bound just as professionally as the Betty Crocker ones! My Dad loves it so much, he wants to get one for my Aunt Maureen, and when he found out I didn't get myself one (why would I, it was for them? And they were not cheap!) he wants to get me one. He'd like to order one for Mike too, I am thinking about it.

Then we picked up pizza and ate and started watching the latest Indiana Jones movie. I have not been sleeping even more so, so 15 minutes in and I was finally unconscious! I was put to bed (LOL) and slept until midnight. Dang having to pee! From then on out, I was awake every 40 minutes or so, looking at the clock. Finally at 7 am I gave up. I went downstairs, glanced at the tree, yup Santa visited us, and proceeded to watch 3 1/2 episodes of Lost. My Mom showed up at 9:30, and then Sam 15 minutes later.

We put the egg-wiches in the oven and I cut up a half dozen oranges to go along with them, then we heated up breakfast for Maxie and took him for a drive...my Dad takes him every morning so since the ER, we take him when we can. We drove around for 15 minutes, so he could run around the car with his ball, and eat his chicken. He was so MORE into playing that morning. We got home and Dad and Kat, still asleep, so we just waited until 11, like we agreed (while I was sleep) before waking them with Max's sloppy help. Breakfast was ready so all we needed was people all to gather. That took 15 minutes but finally we prayed, or I did actually, and ate...mmmm so good! And it was something different from last year!
Then after everyone took "loo" breaks, and got situated we got down to "bidness"! Everyone was loving their gifts. Katie and I were really the only ones totally in the dark about what we got. The rest of them picked them out!! Except for a few surprises. I got this Fleur-de-Lis necklace I really wanted. I have been looking for one for years, but they were either way too expensive or ugly as sin, and then I stumbled on this one, and it is even prettier than I remember!
And does my family know me or what?! Look at my dvd stash! Plus a pre-ordered copy of Season 2 of Kyle XY!!And many cute things. And then there was a final present. My Dad was very anxious about it, Apparently it had been HIS idea, and he was very proud. Mom does most of the shopping with help from us daughters, so he was giddy. LOOK:
At first I was confused. I bought myself one, with my Dad's input this past summer. I record (onto rewritable dvd's) shows on it. That's when Dad explained. I record on mine, the main vcr and Sam's vcr when I can get her to let me. This way, I can record 2 shows at a time n my room! And when we are gone for 2 weeks in Florida, I won't miss any of my shows, he was proud to tell me. So sweet, and he was so proud and happy, that was what made me really smile. He was just so proud of himself. Many hugs were exchanged and we cleaned up. And sat for a little bit, me flanked by both my parents, they both get that I am doing badly, and even today, on Christmas, it was hard. So many hugs. And then we had to get ready for the 2:40 showing of our Christmas movie.

Which ended up being "Bedtime Stories"! It was so funny and so cute. So makes up (mostly) for that awful Zohan movie! And the kids on the movie were so cute, and Keri Russell was quite good as the girl who ended up being "the right one".And then there were cameos by some of Adam Sandler's people who always show up, like . It was just a really cute movie, don't listen to stupid critics who are prejudiced!

When we got home, my Dad went to rest his leg while we started the last stages of the soup, and made the rolls and biscuits. We ate together AT our dining room table, which is rare, but was so nice, and the soup was SO good! Then we decided to watch Wall-E, which both Sam and my Dad got as gifts. And what happened 15 minutes in...and I was gone. They decided to leave me on the couch to see if that helped and left the tv on as noise. I was in and out until midnight when I just woke up and was wide awake. Yup, I have no sleep lately! I watched 2 really good movies, Death Race (okay full of swears but Jason Statham was really good in it) and The Lazarus Project (with Paul Walker and it was twisty and turny, I liked it, and it was a direct to dvd movie, so I was very impressed!) and then like 4 episodes of Lost season 1. Finally I was so desperate I took an extra half an Ambien and was lethargic until Mom found me, dragged me to my room, and I FELL asleep, sure I only got about 6 hours, as we had plans but it was deep non-waking up sleep. Please PLEASE happen again! We had dinner at Outback tonight. They even had my fave soup today, the creamy potato, and Mom and I shared a filet mignon, the meal was heavenly. When we got home, we put the pellet stove on and watched a movie I had been dying for my parents to see, Tropic Thunder!! My sisters didn;t think it was THAT funny but it made me laugh so hard in the theatres I needed to pee...but waited!! And I was able to stay awake, YAY! My Dad hated it (boo) but my Mom thought it was funny too, so I was happy a little. Then I took a shower, watched some shows on TLC, and then went onto blogger to catch up with my friends, and now here I am, writing a post.
Tommorrow I will do the exciting task of going out to buy much needed T.P. and what not AND picking up Eagle Eye, yay I LOVED this movie and am very excited to own it!! Yay!