This year wasn't near as x-rated; in fact, it was all about Bonner! She absolutely loved all of the animals!
The deer were everywhere!
I did get up close and personal with this cow :-) but he kept his tongue to himself!
The zebra loved the crackers! So cool!
They sell baby bottles for you to feed to the little animals. Bonner was so upset that she couldn't find any animal to drink her "juice". She first tried feeding a little calf...
and then a llama...
and then an unknown type of animal....
and, lastly, a little deer! No luck!
So she gave up and went on her first pony ride!
And then cheesed it up at a cut-out board!
For those of you that have spent any time with Bonner, you might be surprised with all this. She is truly coming out of her shell each and every day and I am very proud of her. However, pray for me because she is definitely coming into her own little attitude :) I hope I survive this single-parenthood with a little girl as defiant as myself!
The children left on Monday afternoon and were gone until Christmas Eve. To say I missed them is a total understatement. But I found plenty of things to keep me busy:
I made another wreath;
I sewed these 2 aprons;
I hung out with the girls one night and painted this silly reindeer;
I drove to Athens, test-drove this Honda Pilot, and bought it for my dad;
and, I helped Santa's elves make this puppet theatre and helped them to...
put these together! Merry Christmas!
To say that I made the most of the week is an understatement. Didn't sleep very good at all, so I was super excited when I heard the little knock on the door Saturday night about 9:45 pm. And when I heard Bonner say, "Oh, mommy, I missed you so much!" my heart simply melted! I was almost crying... but so relieved to have them home in time for Santa to come that I just took in the moment and held them both for a really long time!
Ian and Bonner wanted to put the nativity set out on the table with the cookies, milk, and celery for Santa & his reindeer. Of course, Ian wanted to include Woody in the fun - he told me, "Mommy, I put Woody in front of Mary so he could keep the wind off of her!" So sweet and so funny!
Santa brought the puppet show with several puppets and brought these little bags for each child to organize their markers, crayons, etc.
Santa left each child with a note telling them about the big "surprises" out in the garage - the new Jeeps.
Of course, it didn't take Ian long to dump out the markers and crayons from his bag to make room for his Toy Story friends.
I guess many of you might question my Christmas present-opening techniques, but I decided last year that I didn't want Ian and Bonner to rip through all the gifts in just a few minutes so I paced them and let them open toys throughout the day. I had the same desire this year so I used a timer and set it for 45 mins to an hour after they opened a gift. When the timer went off, the children knew it was time to open another present. This way, they played with everything they opened for a considerable amount of time before moving on to the next present. The day was so smooth actually and the children were entertained from when they woke up until they went to bed! I was so proud of them; and because of the timer, they only asked 2 times if they could open another gift. It truly made for such a terrific day! I know that my day will come when "ripping through the gifts" is the norm, but until them, I will relish in the enjoyable times of this Christmas Day.
Stewart celebrated Santa with us when the children woke up around 9:15 a.m. And, in fact, the kiddos played with the puppet stage until breakfast was served around 10:15 a.m. Because it was so chilly outside, they waited a little while to enjoy the Jeeps on Christmas morning (video to come very soon). They each opened their first wrapped gift about 10:45 a.m. ... I know, I'm an awful mother for teaching them patience :-)
Bonner got a Cleaning Trolley (which she calls her "Cleaning Trough") - she loves to clean around the house so it was a great gift for her. However, I guess I should have gotten her an iron instead because she wanted to "clean" her clothes with the play "Dustbuster" that came with her trough :-)
Ian got some Buzz "Likeyear" wings. I put on the gift tag "To: Ian ~ From: Buzz" so Ian asked me if Buzz really brought the gift by. When I told him that I was just teasing with the gift tag, he said, "No, mommy, Buzz really came over." :-)
Both Ian & Bonner love music so I got them some new instruments to enjoy! They were so cute with their "band"! Gigi got Ian a guitar with Woody on it so it was a musical kindof day!
Bonner got a "Pet Vet" and they played with it together for along time. I will have to get a better picture of her with the Vet glasses on; so funny! It came with a stuffed kitty cat and a stuffed puppy dog. They enjoyed helping their animals feel better over and over again!
I am not a big proponent of Santa and don't really push the idea that he comes down the chimney to leave gifts, etc. I know what you are thinking ... "Mother of the Year!" Well, instead, I like to stress the real meaning so we got Jesus a Birthday cake and sang to him after dinner.
Here are the children ready to sing "Happy Birthday!" (another video to post)
As you can see out the windows behind Bonner in this picture, by the time they got to their last gift, it was dark outside! To say we made the most of the day was an understatement! Bonner said that this was her favorite gift - given by our neighbor, Princess Hannelore. It's a doll that cries when you take the bottle out and makes a drinking noise when the bottle is in her mouth. Bonner loves it! And, Ian loved the cars that Princess Hannelore got him :-)
In addition to these gifts, I want to recap what the children got for posterity! Bonner's "pile" included a Dora Lego set from Ian (he picked it out for her himself); Play-doh tools; paper dolls from our neighbors; magnetic doll from Aunt Tay-Tay and Uncle Justin; a big puzzle from Aunt Joyce; 2 new dress-up dresses (Snow White & Aurora) and, a microphone. Ian got a Yo Gabba Gabbo Lego Set from Bonner (she picked it out for him herself); a new ball for him to jump around on (video coming); a trainset; a wooden Noah's ark by Haba with lots of animals; the Cars Memory game from our neighbors; a new Toy Story chair from our neighbors; a big set of dinosaurs; and, a microphone. We are truly blessed with everything that God has done for us! I pray that He will continue to protect us and keep us safe and, most importantly, continue to love us in spite of ourselves!
I would be lying if I said that Christmas 2011 wasn't different; it was so vastly different, but we all survived and even thrived at times! I have no idea what 2012 holds, but I pray it is not filled with the pain that I have endured in 2011! As the divorce is finalized in the coming weeks, I am sure the emotions will be running high; but I am prayerful that God will continue to overshadow the sadness with much happiness as He did for me on Christmas Day! I pray that you and yours had a wonderful holiday and that you remembered the true reason for the season! Happy Birthday, Jesus!
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