Christmas...

I am missing a couple of pics. I could wait, but I just don't have the patience... I need to post Christmas!!!
Christmas Eve, we spent at Merrill's parents home, eating yummy food; prime rib, shrimp, crab legs... see, yum...
We played Catch Phrase which was new and fun... then we played memory. We opened our PJs and it was such a fun surprise! Darlene had gotten all of us navy shirts embroidered with the Best Western logo. Our pants coordinated. We looked dang cute. You can see the girls on them in the Christmas Day pics...
That night, we got home, put out our stockings, put out the cookies and milk for Santa (forgot the food for the reindeer... hope they didn't poop on the lawn which was covered with snow during the night :0...) and the girls brushed their teeth and then they, well, Lynn and Ashley, went to bed easily.
Christmas day...
I woke up with Ashley and Peyton in my bed, so I put them back in their beds, that was around 6 am. I thought that would be enough to wake them up for good, the moving thing. But, no. They didn't wake up until 10!! I got all ready, got the kitchen cleaned, had the pull- a-parts all ready to go into the oven... those crazy girls. Lynn was the first one up. She told Ash what she got and then told her sister what Santa had left for her too... Ash had a look of total shock. He really came... It was so cute, as we got downstairs, Ashley saw the plate that once held two sugar cookies and the cup that had had some milk in it... "He really is real!! He ate the cookies and drank the milk all gone!"
Lynn got a bike from Santa, and we got her a easel with a chalkboard on one side, and a magnetic white board on the other side... thanks for the help Christie ;)...
Ashley got a princess scooter from Santa, which Lynn loves as well...
Peyton got a little rolling pony... Santa made this a Christmas on wheels!
Lynn LOVED her snuggie... I totally misjudged her size...
Ash loves her Word Girl cape...
Peyton loves this VTech microphone... she carries it all over the house with her...
We got Ash a "new baby with yellow hair and blue eyes than hers..." just what she wanted. I made a doll quilt and pillow for our new addition.
The girls spent the morning playing... Dixon, Darlene, Kaitlyn, MiKell, and Grandma all came. They brought the girls each a "Fur Real" and a little cheerleader outfit (pictures will come SOON!) Peyton got a baby that plays peek-a-boo... so cute...
Mer and I got a cocoa maker... we've been having fun with that.
Peyton found her favorite place... she loved watching the snow fall.
We went to mom and dad's. Mom loved her quilt... I forgot my camera... Jaclyn has a pic...
The girls each got a toy, but the funnest has to be Lynn's easy bake oven...
I hid some last minute gifts too well... I forgot about them. I was reminded of them when Peyton was walking so good for dad, he said, "Looks like you should put a tutu on that girl!"
TUTUS!!
The girls had fun opening up just one more present...
Mer got me this cute hat and a new printer... check out the before...
...and the after...
We have had problems with our old one... couldn't find a new color cartridge... the scanner doesn't always immediately initialize... so Mer got a new one... what a sweet guy. But because I am so cheap, well, non-wasteful, I won't change it over until the ink runs out :)...
We spent the rest of the night enjoying Christmas movies on the TV which we left in the front room for a little while longer. It was nice to be using that room, together as a family.. watching the snow blow out the window as the girls played with their new toys...
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

So we actually did something today... We went to McDonald's for lunch, rare occasion. We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the mall, where I got myself a Christmas present (woo hoo!), a robe with no holes and that actually covers my prego body, meaning it is Large... the girls saw Santa, but really didn't talk to him. Merrill was so good to wait in line for I don't know how long... Ashley wouldn't even sit on his lap... and we got Mer a new pair of jeans at Dillard's! To get him to shop for himself, and it's clothes... Christmas miracle... I wish I could have got him to buy some new work shoes...
January's CK has me more than pumped about scrapbooking, setting goals, and just getting caught up this next year... My new goal: to scrap at least one layout per day... So I am starting early! That's why there is a page I made tonight at the beginning of my post... I think that maybe if I keep a record, that I will do it, and if I don't, I'll have to have a really good excuse, like I had a baby or something.
Ashley phrase of the day is: "Jimminy Gilickers" (We watch too much Simpson's...)
Lynn described her foot being asleep, "It feels like sparkles are shooting out of my toes!"

Today has been a much more productive day! Do you hear the freedom? No more cough syrups, no more of those awkward little dosing cups or syringes. I am still taking Sudafed, the real stuff, not the PE. Long story short: I am clueless as to this whole meth thing, that some meds are only available behind the counter, you know, the ones I need... I bought the Sudafed PE, my approved list said Sudafed, and that is what they had, I saw no card for Sudafed (no PE in front of it)... Peyton has been really active ever since I took a couple doses of the PE, and Merrill claims she is detoxing now. No worries, I have the right stuff (after going to two different stores). I thought I could be done today too with the meds, but I still felt that sick feeling in my head...
I got all of the Christmas cards done, ready for the mail tomorrow. That is an accomplishment for me, considering I wanted them sent out last week...
I also lay awake last night dreaming about my Hall of Fame entry for CK magazine. I have always wanted to do it, never have. I did enter the Scrapbooker of the Year contest over a year ago. $10,000 sounded really good, like enough to have a baby and a most of a new car. It was kind of a downer, not winning, but to see how much being SOY really entails, I'm so glad it wasn't me! (Like I had the chance...) So Hall of Fame... Brooke really got me thinking, and I read the rules in this month's mag and decided I'd do it. It isn't nearly as much work as I had to put into SOY (20 original layouts, product lists, color copies of all, a portfolio for them, and an essay...) this one sounds like much more fun too. So I've been dreaming about the details for my submissions...
Got a BIG package via UPS today. Although I have to say it's really Santa's deal and not so much mine ;)... Ashley got all excited when she heard the doorbell ring and then a quick knock. I knew what it was, I tried to distract her. I put off going outside to bring it in and then hide it until I had them distracted. I thought I did... Ash came up and saw me struggling to bring it in (it was a lot bigger and heavier than I thought.) she of course started to ask what it was. I kept telling her I really didn't know. She left and I tried to take it to hide it. Before I knew it, Lynn was right there, really excited. She asked what it was. I told her a package. She said, "Let's open it and see what's inside!" Thinking, creatively and on the spot, I told her that we couldn't, it wasn't ours, it was Santa's. She said, "If it's from Santa, then it's for us! Let's open it!" I told her that we were not supposed to open it, he sent it to us so it could be here for him on Christmas Eve, it was too heavy for his sleigh. She still wanted to open it. The only way I could get her to leave it alone was to tell her I was going to have to send it back and tell Santa that we couldn't keep it because she wanted to peek. That settled it. Then another question came. How do I know all of this? I told her that I talk to Santa, everyday just about, either on the phone or via e-mail. That seemed to satisfy her. She's been good all day since then too...