14th Day of Christmas

The five of us worked on a puzzle last night that my mom had given us a few years ago.

The kids usually have three days of opening Christmas gifts. Many times they have opened their gifts from Paul and I in the morning on Christmas Eve, their gifts from Paul's family on Christmas morning or afternoon, and from my family on December 26. This year they opened their gifts from Wendy and my Dad on Christmas Day, and then they had to wait until today to open their gifts from Paul's brother, Paul's parents, and one of Paul's aunts. Maybe we can add two verses to the "Twelve Days of Christmas" song, ha ha. The kids were itching to open their presents right after we finished eating after church, but Paul had them wait until the half-time of my football game. I missed most of the third quarter of the game because it took longer than half-time for the kids to open all their gifts, but the good news is that the Steelers won! We are headed to Kansas City next week! Unfortunately for Paul, his team didn't win today. 

Surprise, Surprise - Ian got more Legos! His grandparents gave him three large sets that altogether included 1,500 pieces. The smaller sets he received on December 24 and 25 he assembled the same day he got them. These three sets will take him more than one day to assemble. Nadia got more magnetic dolls - Frozen ones from Aunt Millie and Uncle Al and Melissa and Doug ones from Grandma and Pop Pop. I got a Steelers drinking glass (which was perfect because in August Paul broke the one I had used for more than 10 years) and a new memory card for my camera. The kids were also excited to introduce their pets to their grandparents. Pop Pop only wanted to be introduced from a distance. Grandma held Patches for a little bit. Having these guinea pigs makes me really wish we could have a cat, but I know we can't because of Paul's allergies. I'm glad the kids love their little furry friends as I'm not ready for a dog. 

When the kids were tucked into bed tonight they said goodnight and goodbye to Paul. He is going to spend the night at his

parents house and then will leave for Baltimore tomorrow morning, and I don't think we'll see him again until Saturday night. Thankfully my Bible studies haven't started back up yet, as I'd have to miss it this week due to Paul's trip. The only thing I'll miss is part of my choir rehearsal on Wednesday night as I'll arrive late and have to leave early to take the kids to and from AWANA. Otherwise, I am accustomed to being their exclusive chauffeur when it comes to basketball practices, ice skating lessons, field trips, etc. We didn't have any field trips last week, but I have a couple planned for this week, which put a big smile on Nadia's face. 

Lastly, I'll close with a funny story from this morning. After my Sunday School class let out at noon, I went down to get the kids from their choir rehearsal. The kids knew that Paul's grandparents had come for the second service, and so Oliver scampered ahead of me and before I realized what had happened he had opened one of the doors to the sanctuary and

walked in (the front) wearing a dinosaur mask from his Sunday school class (the lesson was on God made the dinosaurs). The pastor was still preaching, but Oliver didn't comprehend this. He just wanted to get to his grandparents ASAP who were seated near the front on the opposite side of where he entered. Thankfully I got his attention and he came back to me so we could exit the sanctuary and wait for the service to come to a close. I think my face was bright red, but I saw several smiles at the little child charging in wearing a dinosaur mask and a three piece suit.