The Nice List

We've been pretty full of Christmas cheer the last few days.


Pre-school Christmas Program. Madeline loved watching her cousins -- who each showed their own personalities on stage -- and at the end of each number would say, "More songs?" That's my little musician.


Christmas Eve Gourley Style. Santa came to Granny's house again this year and delivered an impressive amount of loot. Looks like everyone made it on the Nice List this year. Madeline didn't cry, but she still isn't sure about the man in the red suit. In fact, when he came in the door she covered her eyes in hopes that he might go away. She finally got brave enough to peek. And this year we got her to sit on Mommy's lap to see her presents. After a few boxes of blocks and Little People she realized...maybe this guy's not so bad. One of my personal favorites is a picture of the original Gour Four (Mom, Dad, Dave and I) in the kitchen. Gotta remember to get that off Dave's camera.


Dowell Family Christmas. We were snowed in a bit on Christmas morning and got to have a bit of family time before snowblowing and heading to town for the day. At home we kept it simple., especially knowing that the grandmas like to shop for toys. Madeline got some pretty sweet puppy slippers and a bowling set. Apparently she already knows how to bowl. Don't know where she learned that. Seriously. Who taught her to bowl? She was trying to show Daddy how to bowl.



Later on Christmas day we enjoyed time with the Dowells and Gourleys for a turkey lunch with all the fixins. Yum. And once again we left with a car full of stuff. We're on the really nice Nice List. Darrin's aunt and uncle were snowed in at home in Omaha, so we celebrated Christmas with them on Sunday. It included a totally delish brunch at the Iowa Machine Shed and more Christmas goodies. Double yum. Madeline had fun and really started to enjoy playing with her puppy-cousin Molly.


Lazy days at home. Madeline's been digging into her pile of goods. The early favorites are the stroller set, blocks, and Little People farm. We've spent lots of time walking around the house with babies, building towers, and reading books. Madeline's also been working on sharing. She likes to share blocks and books with her babies. I'm not sure how this will translate into actual sharing with humans. Since we have new toys, we packed up some old favorites, baby toys and her summer clothes that have been neglected by me and sitting in her closet untouched for the last three months. It's hard to believe, but true. My baby isn't a baby anymore. She's a full blown toddler. A real live person. Not just a baby. Wow.

Ladies' Night Out. Sunday night I got to hang with some of my best lady friends for a few hours. We did ab workouts together (read: lots of much needed laughter) and were served by a phenomenal hostess (read: my glass never ran dry, nor my plate empty).

It's been a great break so far. Next up...New Year's Eve!






Editorial note: I've edited this post like fifty times because I can't get the pictures right. If anyone is actually reading this (not so sure on that one either), any suggestions on how to do pictures? And how do you get borders and captions on pictures? I've got a lot of learning yet to do...