Monkey's Uncle.

Well, I didn't wake up Headache free, unfortunately... But I did wake up - ha! I didn't sleep well, because I kept thinking I was hearing kid raiding their stockings. Which they were not. Ha! Maybe next year Santa will leave stuff inside my room! That way, I'll KNOW it will be safe. See, last year, they opened their stocking BEFORE I even woke up, and I didn't get to see! So rude!

Here's Jim's stocking and Santa presents:
Joe's
Eme's
Tom's
Jake's (these stockings are HUGE - those are size 13 shoes...)


And Boxer's.
Tom and Eme woke up at 7:30am, so I hurried out to the couch and was there when they came downstairs. They went and told Joe and Jim that Santa came, then let Jake know too. And we were opening presents and stockings by 7:45am. My kids LOVED their Santa stockings!!!

After stockings, Jim and Joe opened their Santa presents. They each got a DSi!!! With a Nerf case, and 6 games between the 2 of them! They were pretty excited! Then the kids each opened up their Mom and Dad presents. Jim got a Hot Wheels track.
Guns from Santa
Jakes High School sweatshirt and headlight from Santa. He got an MP3 player from Mom and Dad. Which, we found out later, was broken out of the box, and I'd lost the receipt. I'm gonna have to go and fenagle Big Lots into getting a replacement... Poor kid has the WORST luck when it comes to electronics... He's jinxed! Did I tell you that out of all of the headlights from Aunt Sue, his was the only one that was broke?
Eme got a generic Tablet from Mom and Dad. It's an eReader and MP3 player and movie player and WiFi ready and the works. She was pretty excited.
Here's her stocking loot.
Tom ended up with a generic eReader. He was SO super excited about it!
Presents exploded in our house. hehe.
Here's the DSi's that the boys got. Santa told me that he got them Refurbished at GameStop. Did you know that Santa shops there? $70 or $80. I can't remember what he said he paid for them.
Boxer wasn't quite sure what to make of all of the paper and the mess...

After we got done opening all of the presents, Captain America was online! Woohoo! The kids got to show him what they got from Santa and from mom and him, and then I got to chat with him briefly. He was sleepy and still needed to go and eat dinner, so I didn't get to chat long. But it was nice to chat for a little while.

He was FREEZING. hehe. Funny, because it was like 61 degrees there. And it's 25 here. But when you're used to it being 120-140, yeah, I can see how 61 would feel cold. ROLF! Still, it seemed funny to me :)
After we were done chatting, kids hopped in the shower, and I did too (yeah, SO not in the same one!), and we all got ready for church. Check out the white hat with red accents! hehe :)
And we headed out to late start church! 10:30 sounded about pERFECT for today! And yeah, we were still about 10 minutes late.





Luckily, our row was still available. We hadn't missed sacrament, so that was good. They must have started late. Because we hadn't even missed the sacrament song or opening prayer. And we were a good 10 minutes late. And I only had to confiscate one video camera, one gameboy, and one other thing. Oh yeah, maybe that's not such good odds. Captain Ameria! I need your super powers! Come home soon! These kids are OUT OF CONTROL! hehe :)

Sacrament went fairly well, then it was time for the choir to sing. And I thought that they weren't gonna sit up front, but I was wrong. After our first song, we stayed up there. Oh well, I didn't really wanna sit with the kids anyway. ha! And from where I was sitting, they appeared to be good. At least I couldn't hear them. Someone would thump them if they were bad, right? Wouldn't someone step in?? Ha! Not my concern.

The choir sounded really nice, and the program was very well done. I know Rebecca (RS president and in charge of the program) was stressing about it, but I thought it was really nice. I enjoyed it. Good job, my dear! You did fab :) The Young Women did a song. The men did a song. The Women did a song. The Young Men did a song. The primary did a song. The choir did 3 songs. There was a solo. Talking parts. What more do you need :) A nice tribute to the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was simple and perfect.

After the program, I went back to sit with the kids. Then it was closing song, and prayer, and we were ready to leave. And the new girl, Maria, came to chat. Her hubby leave VERY soon for a deployment, or training, or something, and her assignment for the day from him (ha!) was to chat with someone and make a friend. And apparently, I'm fun. Or approachable. Or picked at random. I don't know. hehe.

She has 5 or 6 little kids, and seems like a lot of fun. I told her that she's free to come and play anytime she wants. She said she has little kids at home, and I told her to bring them along. I don't have kids at home, but if she doesn't mind bringing them, then to come - ha! Maggie brings Hannah, right? And Kari is ALWAYS looking for a baby fix - hehe :) Maybe she'll come to something with us sometimes and get to know the girls :)

Anyway, she and I were trying to chat, and Jake was being AWFUL. Every 2 seconds, he was butting in with "Can we go" "Lets Go". "Come to the car" "We are ready to go". It was getting really annoying. Super annoying. I didn't like it at all. And he was super persistent. I wanted to smack him. My patience was already running thin because of the lingering headache...

So I stayed and chatted longer than I normally would have had he not been quite so annoying. ha! If you bug me, I'm gonna bug you back, Jake... I know, super childish of me... I got Maria's number, and we headed out. And, with a name like Maria, you'd think she was Spanish. Nope. White girl with bright red hair! LOL! Too funny :) She said she's from Canada, too!

I was pretty on edge as we drove home. I was agitated from the encounter with Jake, and was missing Captain America. I was almost in tears by the time we got to the gate, but held it together, and was fine by the time we got home. Thank goodness! I couldn't afford to lose it today :)

We had our shrimp platter for lunch, and the kids played with their electronics for the afternoon. And this is when Jake discovered that his MP3 player didn't work. He was SO frustrated with it. He threw it in the trash, called it a piece of junk, and yelled at me saying that I'd gotten everyone else better gifts. Sigh. I don't like it when he's on edge...

Tom and I saved it from the trash, and tried to charge it again. Still didn't work, Sigh. But we didn't know it at the time. I made some brownies with White Chocolate Candy Cane topping, then worked on an oatmeal pie. It didn't turn out so well... But I tried.

I tried to lay down for a few minutes, but it wasn't very successful. I should have taken some more meds before we went to Kim's house for dinner, but I forgot. Oops.

We headed over around 3pm. Jake was kinda doing better. Kinda. Slightly...

Check out the COOL charger/speakers that Kim got for her iPhone!!!
I changed hats. The White fuzzy one was too hot. I like my black hat too :)
Tom and Eme playing with their tablet/eReader
The boys on the DSi/3DS's

Kim had spent ALL day long cooking Christmas Dinner. I felt bad that all I brought was brownies, a pumpkin pie, and some cookies. I'm a slacker friend. I did tell her that our Christmas tradition was tacos.... hehe :) Check out the spread! Turkey AND ham!
We all sat down to eat, and those that didn't fit at the table sat at the bar or stood around. It was SUPER yummy. I may have to buy a ham and cook it for a holiday. It was FANTABULOUS! She said that she cooked it in honey in the slow cooker. OMHeavens, it was good! Salty and sweet at the same time. Yeah, it was good! And buttery mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole, and stuffing from inside the turkey. It was SO tasty :)

Then, it was clean up, and after it all settled, we got out dessert. Here's my brownines. They don't look pretty, but they sure tasted good!
These cookies tasted EXACTLY like the bakery ones!

Pumpkin Pie



She called them Haystacks. I would have eaten a buttload of them, but they were butterscotch. Not my favorite. But one was good :)

Peppermint Bark. Oh yeah, it was super tasty!

Kim and I

Joe and Corey

Jimmy played on the DSi the WHOLE day. He loves that thing. hehe.
Jake and his new sweatshirt.



Kim got a back massager chair insert, and we had fun trying it out. I LOVED IT!!!


So did she! But we liked this one of Hunter chowing down on the Jello Cheesecake in the background! Ha!
Jim still playing away on the DSi, and Austin snoozing.
We watched 2 Indiana Jones', and part of Elf, then it was time to go home. We'd had a GREAT time over at Kim and Tim's house. Thanks, you guys, for letting us come over! It was a fun time! Made being away from Captain America a little easier to bear :)

We headed home, and I had the kids do their chores before they could have electronics back. And it took some of them a LOT longer than others.
Joe, not doing chores, but playing with Tom's mustaches...

Ha! I blogged for yesterday, and my head just got worse and worse. I published yesterday blog, and then my computer was about to die, so I moved to the bedroom.

Jake and I searched for the Big Lots receipt for the MP3 player when we realized that it was dead out of the box, but we couldn't find it... So not cool. I did see the purchase show up on my Club Card for Big Lots, but it didn't list the exact item. But it was a single item purchase, for a little $50 plus tax... I'm gonna go in tomorrow and try and get them to swap it out for him. Poor Jake. He's got the worst luck...

Anyway, I finally took a migraine pill, and I'm almost done with todays blog now. It's almost 10pm. I'm gonna let the kids stay up till 10:30. I'm going shopping with Kari in the morning. She's coming to get me at 8am. So I'd better feel good! No more headaches. I'm gonna medicate myself tonight so I feel better - hehe :)

Counting down the days till Captain America is home with us! Not too much longer! Fewer than 30 days now!!! (can't give away the exact date, you know...)

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Awe, baby and Uncle!!! So cute, Sharon! Lovin' the layout, my dear!