Unto Us, A Child is Born!

And His name shall be called.....Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

This was the scene at our home this morning as the kids' anxiously awaited gift-opening time. Since I stayed up until 3 a.m. finishing the wrapping, I was very thankful that they slept in until almost 9:00 before begging us to come downstairs and get the festivities started. So, after getting the steamings cups of cocoa and coffee ready, we dove into the stockings.

What a blessed time we enjoyed. Highlights included my son FINALLY getting the "marble machine" that he wanted. We bought him a really cool set called Quadrilla, which is basically a set of wooden structures that allows you to build different tracks for marbles to go on. Very fun and educational to boot. And, for my daughter, a life-sized tiger and.....YES, we ended the morning with both kids unwrapping hamster cages. We will go to the pet shop tomorrow to pick them out. I guess her Christmas wish did come true! What a joy as a parent to have in your hands the power of making kids' wishes come true! And, my husband surprised me with a gorgeous Relic watch, gifts cards to Barnes and Noble, Beaners, and iTunes, as well as a pre-paid VISA card. This is all after we agreed that we weren't getting gifts for each other. But, I guess we're even....I got him one of the new iPod nan0s that plays movies.....so much fun to see his surprise.
Most of the day was spent playing with the new toys, including lots of games and puzzles....my favorite is the new COLORKU game, which is basically a Sudoku game played with colored marbles.....I have mastered the "easy" challenges, so on to the intermediate! And many, many, MANY games of Dart Tag with the new Nerf set. This is the gift that my son picked out for my daughter, but we all know that he really wanted it for himself....we have all enjoyed it so much as we run around the house, hide, and shoot at each other










Ruby has the right idea....we are settling in to watch a few Christmas movies and relax in front of the once-again bare Christmas tree. All is peaceful and we are filled with Christmas memories of another year nearly past. We are looking forward for a week of relaxation, play, and together time as we await the start of 2008. Merry Christmas, and may the birth of Jesus be more real to you and yours today than ever before. Happy Christmas Night!