Christmas Day

I woke up the morning after my last post, saw the fabric lying on the kitchen table, and thought, "Am I a FREAK? Did I really consider giving my 5-year old a box of FABRIC in the wee hours of last night?" And right then and there, I dragged out my sewing machine and whipped up a blankie with said material. Aidan loved it. :-)


The gifts I made for my sister were received with shouts of joy, but were quickly followed by tears. First, she opened the purse. It was a complete surprise to her, and it's safe to say that she loved it. :-)


Next, she opened the scrapbook pages. These weren't exactly a surprise, as she had specifically requested pages and had even provided the pictures - a mishmash of photos from our dad's childhood and ours. But the way I put them together surprised her. I watched with pride and love as the tears slipped down her cheeks. It was the best part of the entire day. :-) You can see the purse and the scrapbook pages HERE.


I gave Darren and Dani tickets to a "hobbit feast". They'll watch all three LOTR movies in succession - a 12-hour marathon. They'll be served 7 hobbit meals throughout the day. The whole thing takes place at a theater in Austin, so they'll make a weekend of it- a Daddy/Daughter date! They were both thrilled. :-)

Ian's favorite gift was the coveted Spiderman webshooter and light-up mask that Santa brought. And an 88-cent sword that Grandma put in his stocking.


Darren gave me a glass ornament of Bass Hall - our beloved "angel building" in downtown Fort Worth. He also gave me a slinky black nightie, the complete collection of Hemingway's short stories, and computer Scrabble, which we've been playing on his laptop at night in bed. Just like the early days of our marriage, except back then, we used an actual game board, with tiles that slid around with every hint of movement on the bed. We are Scrabble NERDS, baby! :-)

On Christmas Day, I had the most wonderful blessing of getting to hold my brand-new nephew! He was born 8 weeks premature and was 2 weeks old on Christmas day, weighing in at a whopping 4 pounds, 13 ounces. His little head fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. SO TINY!! He was bright-eyed and perfectly beautiful. He's having problems with apnea and eating, but as soon as he can remember to breathe on a regular basis, he'll be cleared to go home. His name is Dawson. He's my first nephew on my side of the family, and I can't wait to spoil him rotten! :-)