Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas!!

It's been a busy few days for us. On Christmas Eve, we went to Mass, then had dinner and opened presents over at Dave's parents' house. The kids also got to light the menorah with Opa and play dreidel. Elizabeth still needed a little encouragement to put in one of her gelt pieces as her ante to start a new round, but was placated by the periodic chance to eat one of the pieces.

We spent a lovely, lazy Christmas morning at our house opening presents and having a special breakfast. Afterward, the kids played with their toys while Dave and I finished making dessert to bring to the family dinner tonight. We had a good evening with the extended family. Despite coaching ahead of time, Elizabeth did start to cry when someone "stole" her ornament in the ornament exchange game (following in a long line of similar meltdowns from cousins in previous years), at least until Dave stole it back on his turn, at which point she decided she didn't really want it anymore.

The kids' big gift from us was a Lego table, inspired by some extensive Pinterest searching and the opening of an IKEA a few miles from my office.  It gives both of the kids a lot of building space. While we're not naive enough to think the blocks will stay as organized as they are now, the hope is that at least we won't step on them as often!

Opening up the gifts from Santa- Ben got Connect Four and Elizabeth got a stuffed Santa & glittery reindeer (but Santa forgot the vegetable she requested).

A few weeks ago, Ben got to shop at the Christmas Market at his school, where his 8th grade buddy helped him pick out garage sale-type gifts for us. Elizabeth got a teddy bear, Dave got golf balls, and I got a mug that said, "I'm retired- I'll take my coffee breaks when I feel like it!" He did a much better job keeping secrets this year- he didn't tell any of us which gifts he picked out and he didn't tell Dave about a book I let him help wrap.

I was apparently squeezing her too tightly, based on her expression!

Excited about a new book series with each book set in a different MLB ballpark.

Ben was thrilled to get a couple KC Royals mini-figs (Billy Butler & Alex Gordon) from Uncle Tony & Aunt Jen to go with the Royals field set from his grandparents. We played with them this afternoon and it seems suspiciously like the umpire (Ben) bias that is usually present toward the Royals (Ben) in our backyard or living room baseball games has carried over into Lego baseball as well! His Royals were successful in stealing home yet again...

Playing with the Lego table

I found Dave an Abraham Lincoln minifig, so he decided that Abe and the Royals needed to get together and celebrate too.

Tomorrow is Ben's 6th birthday, so I've got a birthday cake to bake tonight. He's picked out his favorite buffet for lunch and Elizabeth is excited to try out her new chopsticks (Christmas present from Opa & Grandma) there.