Christmas 2009

6:30 a.m. Christmas Morning
Lots of things we planned to make were finished by the time the Big Day arrived. These ornaments, painted and glittered by this girl, were displayed on a little, white tree and delivered to a special lady(Mrs. Giltner).

People were finished for Caroline, designed and wrapped by her big sister. They were the first present Jenna wanted opened on Christmas morning. Caroline laughed and laughed when she saw them.
This pillow was finished for the kitties. ;It was Jenna's idea and she also chose to make it a circle, designed the face, pushed the foot on the sewing machine for the pillow part, and stuffed it full. The fabric is part of an old flannel robe of Rita’s. We were concerned that Purrcilla saw it before the Big Day. “That was really bad,” Jenna said, when Purrcilla got in the house and ran right by it.
After several weeks of these being all over the kitchen and dining room, two banners got finished! One was delivered to a delighted Grandma Postmaster. (thank you, husband for patiently cutting out so many letters!)
These three kids managed to sit still just long enough for my brother to capture beautiful individual shots. All the cousins in one picture just wasn't gonna happen, though.
And this very special dollhouse received some much-needed improvements, thanks mainly to a daddy willing to stay up until 2am Christmas Eve. Mommy only made it to midnight. But oh we had so much fun getting all the surprises ready! How is it that Christmas Eve can feel as magical as it did when I was a child? Kids have a wonderful way of bringing back the magic to all kinds of things.
My four-year-old was just as delighted to find this treasure in the kitchen as I was when my daddy gave it to me on my fourth Christmas. The magic is passed on

the one-year-old thinks it is pretty cool too

Later Christmas morning, we moved on to my grandparent's house.
The tree was loaded with gifts, many of them joke gifts, like this pic...

which, once framed, evoked responses like this one...
It was another Christmas of thoughtfully selected or handmade gifts, surprises, laughter, and love. It was awesome.