Christmas Monsters

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, Joddie and her mother came over and the dinner was great. Little Monster had glazed ham, horseradish mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pearl onions, sweet potatoes, and salad. Her favorite part of dinner was the croutons, and of course a little bit of the ice cream that came with apple cobbler.

Sweet Girl had a lovely Christmas in her new house, getting up early to open presents and then having a fine Christmas breakfast as prepared by Mama. Let me tell you, this Little Monster made quite the haul this year! Sweet Goblin seemed to be on everyone's mind, and for that Mama and Daddy thank their wonderful families and friends for making it a happy yuletide despite not being able to spend it in Texas like they did last year. Perhaps next year will see everyone back in Texas....

Christmas morning began with presents, which Madeleine opened from the "cargo bay" of the wagon Grandpa Roger and Grandma BJ gave her. She was instantly enthralled with it, and asks for rides in her "wagga" by name. Other popular gifts were the overalls and baby doll Grandma Raye sent her, the angel ornament with her name on it sent by Uncle Cameron and Aunt Anne, the karaoke microphone stand sent by Uncle Reade and Aunt Jamie, and the telephone (with a recorded message!) sent by Papa Den and Nona. She also spent some of the morning chasing around her early Christmas gift, Gigi the cat. Daddy has about ten minutes of raw video footage of Sweet Girl opening presents, which he'll get uploaded once he gets it edited down to something presentable.

After opening gifts, Baby Girl took a ride down the street in her fancy wagon, where she waved at the neighbors and met a little boy who was riding his bigwheel with his parents. It was a very comfortable ride, spent reading a book from Grandma Raye and sipping on refreshing juice. As you can see from her picture, she was very proud of her wagon and enjoying the ride immensely.

Today while Mama was at work, Daddy took her for another wagon ride down a different street, which was a little more hilly. When you're Daddy, you just have to put your back into it and pull the wagon, but when you're a charming little Tickle Bug, you can just relax in your wagon like you're Cleopatra on a litter and watch the scenery go by.