Early Christmas

We are going to Atlanta for Christmas so we decided (on the spur of the moment) to celebrate Christmas last night. Because it was last minute, only Richie and Kathryn were able to make it. None the less, we had the kids open gifts from us, Grandma K, and Richie ~ Santa will be bringing his gifts to Atlanta :o) We wanted to let the kids open the gifts now from us so they have some time to enjoy them before we hop on a plane and leave the new presents here. Ben was very excited about every gift and enjoyed lining his gifts up in a straight line :o) Cailey liked everything, too. They are still young enough that they don't care about the cost ~ it's just the thought that counts and the thrill of opening a present. Some of their favorites are the least expensive. That's nice ~ for us :o) :o)

Cailey got a brand new bike, clothes, books, jewelry, and craft projects. Ben got a new computer game (Kid Pix) with a wireless mouse, movies, toy cars, board games, and toys. We got Ben the computer game because, unbeknownst to us (until last weekend), he knows how to work the computer ~ he uses the mouse like a pro...clicks and drags, erases, clicks in and out of programs...it's really very cute...and disturbing. Our three year old can use the computer better than some adults. He has computer class at school, so I guess it doesn't surprise me when I think about it ~ but it was quite surprising as I watched him for the first time at the Apple store doing things I never showed him and had no idea he even knew how to do! He gets really focused on his computer project ~ he never sits still that long for anything else.

As a bonus, Richie and Kathryn helped us decorate our tree. We've had the tree up for weeks, but have been so busy that we haven't put any ornaments on it. It was actually a lot of fun to have a bunch of people decorating the tree! I am glad we waited.