Christmas in Lexington

My family headed down to my sister's house for Christmas...and it was wonderful.

when we arrived lydie and miri were jumping up and down by the front door yelling, "The Haywards are here, the Haywards are here" - how's that for an amazing welcome!

the weather was warm (in teh 50's a few days)...and a warm(er) not white Christmas is just fine with me!

Christmas was different than normal this year. for the first time the siblings drew names. and the little girls just couldn't seem to handle the "one gift at a time" and "watch other people open their gifts" approach that is normal for our family...and it was all wonderful. it was fun to watch the girls get so excited about Christmas morning, and stockings, and their gifts. they got a big doll house, (taller than both of them!) and Miri was more interested in enjoying that gift than opening more under the tree.

we also did a family Christmas competition. (we're a pretty competitive bunch...cut throat...i didn't even feel bad when i eliminated lydie from the memory competition and she cried...well, i felt a little bad, but not enough to let her win!) we each came up with an event...and kept a running tally for the whole time together. i took an early and commanding lead. but by the time it was over i only had a 10 point lead! there wasn't a prize, just bragging rights, i guess...but it was tons of fun...and everyone excelled at something. marshmallow toothpick towers, nerf b-ball free-throw competition, memory, uno, imaginiff, sudoku, and a timed walk or run (we had to estimate our time, and placed based on how close we got to our guess).

the weather was bad as we drove home, and the bad weather ended up cancelling a trip to NY that my mom, dad and I were going to take. disappointing for sure, but i've also enjoyed the past few days of down time. i took down the christmas tree, have done some shopping (spending Christmas money, and getting things i want to take with me), and i'm so close to finishing my last WMF book...if i weren't procrastinating right now, i'd be done.