Here it is already 2010. I guess I’ll back up and start with how Christmas went. Christmas Eve my sister came over with her husband and 9 y/o son, Ryan. So, it was a small gathering and I had a dinner mostly of polish food one last time to honor my parents. That’s what they always made for Christmas Eve dinner. Since it’s no longer my sis’s or mine favorite, next year will be a new dinner of some sort, maybe beef tenderloin... Anyway, my nephew Ryan, decided to play hide-n-seek with Reese. Well, she didn’t know anything about that, and I guess you had to be there because my explanation won’t do it justice, but it was SO funny watching her try to play. We were all in hysterics watching this game unfold. Basically, as Ryan was counting with his eyes closed, we all told Reese she had to run and hide. Well, she starts running with her hands over her face. That took about 6 tries before she finally got that she couldn’t run with her eyes closed and Ryan was the one who had to have his eyes closed. And on it went with her giving herself away and barely hiding. So memorable. Ryan also read them the book Twas the Night Before Christmas, which went over very well. He was a wonderful playmate for them to have around on Christmas Eve. As they went to bed we tried again to explain that when they awoke Santa will have placed toys for them under the tree. Niko didn’t seem to get it or care, but Reese seemed to understand a bit more we think because she woke up at 6:30. She normally wakes around 7 or 7:15. We had her wait in our room until it was at least 7, them we went to wake Niko. They were very slow to get what had happened. Partly because Niko wasn’t fully awake yet and Reese seemed unsure of it all. They slowly opened the gifts. They seemed very happy about their toys and especially of their new play kitchen. They played with the food and the kitchen the rest of the day. They also seemed overwhelmed in my opinion because they had several disagreements that morning while playing. This has never happened before while playing. They also didn’t know where or which toy to focus their attention on either throughout the day. Going from one to the next haphazardly. We certainly didn’t go overboard in buying gifts either. I think they’ve never gotten more than 1 gift at a time before so it was too stimulating still. Roger’s mom came over late morning and then we all had a lunch together. As the kids went down for their nap, grandma insisted on staying so Roger and I could go to a movie. Something he and I have always done on Christmas, so it was very much appreciated that he and I were still able to do this.
I’ve enclosed a few photos and one of them is R & N on the train to the North Pole drinking their hot chocolate. For this they were truly excited. Much anticipation and Niko very animated on the train. They loved it! Once at the north pole (you could only see it through the trains windows-we weren’t allowed to get off), Santa got on the trains and quickly handed out bells to all the children. Needless to say the train ride back was filled with noise, but they loved every minute of it. The next morning we were fortunate enough to go sledding about a half hours drive from there. It snowed the week prior and the conditions were perfect for sledding, and it was nice and warm outside. The kids loved this, too. They both have no fear and wanted to go down the steeper hills. They’re gonna love amusement parks as they get older.
New Years was quiet, but we didn’t mind. Never been much for staying out late in all that craziness. Roger was off the week between Christmas and New Years so we’ve gone to the park and the kids saw their first theater movie, The Princess and the Frog and just spending quality time together. I hope all of you have a fantastic 2010 filled with happiness, abundance and health!!! I know this year will be a great year as it seems like a new chapter in our lives has begun.
