Christmas and other news.

We hope that all our family and friends had a Merry Christmas. We had a quiet day - as quiet as it can be with two excited kids around - and spent it opening presents and playing with the toys. We had supper with our neighbours, put the kids to bed, and played Wii. It was perfect. The boys started the day by checking to see if Santa had come. He finished the hot chocolate, the "beer," and almost all the cookies. Liam left him a note the night before, which he apparently read. Next came the stockings: Santa brought them each a toy, as well as some chocolate and an orange. Once the sugar high from the chocolate kicked in, the present opening began. It was all surprisingly quite civilized; the boys sort of took turns picking a present and watching each other open them, then played for a bit with each one. This year, Liam really "gets" Christmas - the commercial kind, anyway; leaving cookies for Santa, expecting a present from him (a good thing?), going straight to sleep so Santa can come. Logan knows who Santa is and this year he understood about the presents and the songs and the cookie making and the tree decorating. I wonder if Liam believes in Santa, or if he knows. When getting out a "beer" (pop) for Santa, he asked Craig what kind to get. Then, he put the cookies on the plate in the shape of a "D." It could all be a big coincidence, and he may be shocked some day to find out, but I wouldn't be surprised if at some point he claims to have known all along. It remains to be seen who exactly is putting on the show for whom!

Making cookies for Santa - he only likes chocolate chip.	After Craig pointed them out at noon on the 24th, they finally found where we'd put the presents the night before.
After they found the presents, they moved them all under the tree, checking each name as they went.	For every present he held up, Logan said "It says me!"
Santa found his treats.	Everything ready under the tree.
The stockings were too heavy to stay hanging up.	They were emptied pretty quickly in the morning!
It was so much fun to watch the boys open their presents!	They thoroughly enjoyed each package.
A real kid oven!	His very own "lego."

---

In other news....

This was what noon on December 21st looked like - not as pretty as the day before! What a difference the clouds make. Unfortunately, it has been cloudy most days, making it actually seem like less light than before the solstice.

The boys have been helping me get supper ready. They enjoy using "their" knives (that they manage very well) to help cut veggies like mushrooms and zucchini.

There was, of course, another very important birthday. This time, the request was for a B fifty two cake, so we did it cheesecake style.

So far the boys have made chocolate donuts, a waffle, and a pancake in the real kid oven - the pancakes made with our own batter turned our especially well. Realistically, we can only make one for each boy in the oven, and the rest need to be made in the pan. Twelve minutes to bake, at least 5 to cool.... it would take a long time to make brunch! However, they were very happy to be eating their own creations!