Merry Christmas!

Fletcher woke at 7am and had not forgotten for one moment that it was Christmas morning. He was very excited and woke everyone immediately! When he got downstairs he saw that Santa had come! We had a nice time opening gifts, I made orange sweet rolls and country ham biscuits for breakfast and Mom made chili beans for dinner. We had a very lazy day, laying around, playing with Fletcher, and enjoying the company. Although we enjoyed Christmas, it has taken us a few days to recover from the excitement.

Christmas Eve

We sprinkled reindeer food and put out treats for Santa and Santa Mouse. Fletcher got to open two gifts (new PJ's and a snow globe, both traditions at our house) and had a hard time going to sleep at bedtime!

Grandmaw and Uncle Aaron here!

Yeah! Our family arrived Saturday at noon! Fletcher was so excited and had asked me all morning how much longer it would be before they arrived. And we have enjoyed visiting, making treats, and eating. Fletcher and Grandmaw made cookies and we all made Chex Mix together yesterday. We've watched football and listened to Christmas music, played with toys, and Aaron and Fletcher are working on a "big show".






Yesterday morning (while everyone else were being sleepy heads) Fletcher and I went to Northlake mall. I had promised him a while ago that we could go and see the snowglobes, Santa, and eat pizza in the food court. We did just that plus played in the play area, went to Build-a-Bear, and rode the elevator and escalators (3 times). The mall wasn't too bad until about the time we were ready to go and when we got home, everyone was up.

One Complaint

I'm entitled at least one complaint for the holidays, right? Well, here it is along with a piece of advice: Never order from a company called Young Explorers. I placed the order online on December 7 and still have not received the item! It never shipped until the 13th, and I paid $11.00 in shipping! Their website is no help when it comes to anything other than actually placing an order. I have called customer service 2 times (which they outsource to another company that you have to call at a separate number) and they are most unhelpful. Today they told me that my son's Christmas gift from his Mommy and Daddy could still arrive before Christmas but had no specific tracking info. other than it had shipped. Aaargh!

Update: It arrived at 6:30pm on Friday night, thankfully.

Handsome (and Silly) Boys

The boys looked so handsome this morning in their (unintentionally) matching outfits so I thought I would take some pictures by the Christmas tree before we headed out to school. Here is the result:

Let's Celebrate!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas with the Harrington's on Saturday night. Tonya made some delicious (vegan) food and the kids played and we all enjoyed each other's company.

Yesterday we went to my Aunt Hilda's house for lunch and then the rest of the family came with the sole purpose of showering Fletcher (and Ed and I) with gifts. He was thrilled by tools, trucks, and trains, and got some very nice clothes, too. We are so thankful to have such wonderful family and really enjoyed seeing them all!

"It's Christmas Time in the City"

Today we headed to uptown Charlotte to go to Discovery Place and to see some Christmas sights of the city. We had a good time playing and exploring at Discovery Place then ate some lunch at Fuel Pizza before heading to Founders Hall to see the Leonard Bearstein Bears, but were a little disappointed to find they were not working today. We saw lots of nice Christmas decorations in town and although it was rainy and cold it felt much more like Christmas than the weather we have had.