The Day After Christmas

The day after Christmas our close family went separate ways. Russ got up at 4 a.m. to drive back to work. My sister in law, Ari, left at 6 a.m. to bring my nieces, Amanda (8) & Nicole (12) to stay with us for a few days while she and Phil worked. My kids were still asleep at 8 a.m. when they got to the house. It didn't take long for everyone to get up and start playing together.

The boys
Trent and Trevor spent the day playing Wii with Eric and wrestling with the little boys. I'm afraid they've created monsters or tigers or something. I'm not sure they will be able to play with small children without rough housing. Trevor and Ethan like to build things with Legos. All the boys loved to play outside together. Their favorite thing to do is to chase each other around the house screaming at the top of their lungs. Boys need activity. Usually, loud screaming must accompany any activity.


The Girls

Taylor, Nicole, Lisa, my mom, and I went shopping. It is amazing that it wasn't very crowded even though we didn't get to the outlets till after lunch. In only thirty minutes and one store I was able to find a pair of blue jeans, 2 pair of pants, and two shirts. Shopping is as hard for me as it is for Taylor so I was excited with my success. Big girls are so much calmer than big boys. Give them a phone, music, or a magazine and they can be entertained for hours.

Tatum and Amanda stayed with my dad and played Webkinz and listened to Hanana Montana. They enjoyed dancing with the lights off and a glow light for a special effect. I found out much later that they got to do things he normally won't let them do with grandma at home. They put on swimsuits and ate cookies with green frosting and sprinkles and drank coke in the bathtub. They had just as much fun cleaning up as they had making the mess.

The biggest girls are doing their favorite things. Lisa blogs and mom reads.

Today was a beautiful day with family, food, and fun. Sometimes you have to split up to do things each person thinks is fun.