Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to everyone.
So far, it has been a wonderful (if not tiring) day. I ended up not getting nearly as much sleep as I would have liked to have gotten last night (thanks to Fatty Cat), and the kids were up WAY too early this morning for my preference; but Christmas morning was a success at the Mullen family household.
I'm told that Delaney was the first one up this morning, just a little before 6 AM. Jo Ann found her in the kitchen, and then she came into the living room and started counting presents. She apparently was a little upset that Santa had not put all of the presents inside of their giant stockings; but it was explained to her that not everything would have fit, so Santa decided to pile them up in front of the stockings. Then she was convinced that Jack had gotten more presents than she was getting, and Karen had to count them out for her to prove that there were the same amount of wrapped gifts.
Karen came downstairs and woke me up a little before 7 AM and told me that the kids couldn't wait any longer, so we were about to open presents. Four hours of sleep is not enough to go on, and I was a little bit crabby; but I managed to get up stairs and get ready with the camera in time to see the kids chomping at the bit to tear into the wrapping paper. I think they actually loved every gift they opened this year. It was exciting to see them so happy. I got quite a few pictures of them sorting through the presents, and about 10 minutes worth of video as they oohed and aaahd over each new item revealed.
Karen was very happy with her gifts this year. At least I think so. Obviously, she loved the kindle fire and the pink case that I bought to go with it. She knew about one of her books, but was pleasantly surprised to receive the other one as well; and she was very excited to get her new wireless mouse for her laptop. She already had her new boots and blouse top that we bought the other day while shopping, and I think this was a pretty good year for her as far as gifts from me goes. I'm a horrible gift giver, but this year seems to have been a success.
There were a few other items on my list to give to her that I didn't get around to being able to get for her, partially due to time and mostly due to lack of cash funds... but I'll keep those items in mind as Valentine's Day, our 9th wedding anniversary, Mother's day and birthday all come up within the first half of the 2012 year.
I received some really nice gifts this year as well. Karen got me a pair of size 12, soft soled moccasins that fit wonderfully. The episode 1 expansion pack for Half Life 2; which I'm very excited to be able to play later this upcoming week after I get the Half Life 2 game loaded onto my laptop PC. And amongst the other neat things I got, my favorite gift of all was a really cool Celtic ring made out of Carbide Tungsten. She got it from somewhere called Metal Masters, and it is even better than the example ring I had sent her a link for on my Christmas list. I absolutely love it.
After opening presents, I came down to feed the dogs while Karen and Jo Ann made a delicious breakfast. Scrambled eggs, biscuits, and sausage with cold OJ to drink. Now I'm just taking a little bit of time to relax, and getting ready to nap a bit before we go to my Mom's house at 3 PM for Christmas with the rest of the Mullen family, then over to Karen's uncle Jim's house for Christmas with the Tegethoff side of the family around 6 PM. I've been trying to watch a full showing of A Christmas Story on TBS, but I keep dozing off.
Another showing of A Christmas Story came on at 11 AM, but I'm really tired, and I don't want to be cranky this afternoon and evening... so... now, for that much needed nap.
So far, it has been a wonderful (if not tiring) day. I ended up not getting nearly as much sleep as I would have liked to have gotten last night (thanks to Fatty Cat), and the kids were up WAY too early this morning for my preference; but Christmas morning was a success at the Mullen family household.
I'm told that Delaney was the first one up this morning, just a little before 6 AM. Jo Ann found her in the kitchen, and then she came into the living room and started counting presents. She apparently was a little upset that Santa had not put all of the presents inside of their giant stockings; but it was explained to her that not everything would have fit, so Santa decided to pile them up in front of the stockings. Then she was convinced that Jack had gotten more presents than she was getting, and Karen had to count them out for her to prove that there were the same amount of wrapped gifts.
Karen came downstairs and woke me up a little before 7 AM and told me that the kids couldn't wait any longer, so we were about to open presents. Four hours of sleep is not enough to go on, and I was a little bit crabby; but I managed to get up stairs and get ready with the camera in time to see the kids chomping at the bit to tear into the wrapping paper. I think they actually loved every gift they opened this year. It was exciting to see them so happy. I got quite a few pictures of them sorting through the presents, and about 10 minutes worth of video as they oohed and aaahd over each new item revealed.
Karen was very happy with her gifts this year. At least I think so. Obviously, she loved the kindle fire and the pink case that I bought to go with it. She knew about one of her books, but was pleasantly surprised to receive the other one as well; and she was very excited to get her new wireless mouse for her laptop. She already had her new boots and blouse top that we bought the other day while shopping, and I think this was a pretty good year for her as far as gifts from me goes. I'm a horrible gift giver, but this year seems to have been a success.
There were a few other items on my list to give to her that I didn't get around to being able to get for her, partially due to time and mostly due to lack of cash funds... but I'll keep those items in mind as Valentine's Day, our 9th wedding anniversary, Mother's day and birthday all come up within the first half of the 2012 year.
I received some really nice gifts this year as well. Karen got me a pair of size 12, soft soled moccasins that fit wonderfully. The episode 1 expansion pack for Half Life 2; which I'm very excited to be able to play later this upcoming week after I get the Half Life 2 game loaded onto my laptop PC. And amongst the other neat things I got, my favorite gift of all was a really cool Celtic ring made out of Carbide Tungsten. She got it from somewhere called Metal Masters, and it is even better than the example ring I had sent her a link for on my Christmas list. I absolutely love it.
After opening presents, I came down to feed the dogs while Karen and Jo Ann made a delicious breakfast. Scrambled eggs, biscuits, and sausage with cold OJ to drink. Now I'm just taking a little bit of time to relax, and getting ready to nap a bit before we go to my Mom's house at 3 PM for Christmas with the rest of the Mullen family, then over to Karen's uncle Jim's house for Christmas with the Tegethoff side of the family around 6 PM. I've been trying to watch a full showing of A Christmas Story on TBS, but I keep dozing off.
Another showing of A Christmas Story came on at 11 AM, but I'm really tired, and I don't want to be cranky this afternoon and evening... so... now, for that much needed nap.