Saturday, December 27, 2008

(Early) Weekend Wrap-Up & (Early) Happy New Year

Phew! I've been offline at home for the past couple of days due to some technical difficulties. It's nice to be back!

We had a really nice, quiet Christmas. My dad made the tamales, rice and beans for Xmas Eve dinner and baked cookies with the girls. We enjoyed a bottle of champagne I'd been given from one of the lawyers, and opened our traditional PJs.



Riley was beside herself with excitement, but they went to bed at a fairly reasonable hour. We opened a bottle of wine I'd been given from another one of the lawyers :) and talked until enough time had passed to grab the presents, stuff the stockings, etc. Then we had some Bailey's (this time provided by my parents) and talked some more. We finally headed to bed around midnight.

Riley got up and woke her sister around 2:30 a.m. Sylvia very wisely went back to bed after peeking at the stockings and the tree. Riley stayed up for about an hour and then fell back asleep on the couch. Sylvia thankfully let me sleep until seven.

Once we were done oohing and aahing over the gifts, my dad made the popovers, and we gobbled them up. Riley popped in her new Mamma Mia dvd and we enjoyed that before my parents took the girls to my cousin's house and I loaded up all our new treasures and went home.

I watched 4 episodes of West Wing in a row - I totally miss that show - and then called Kori to hear all about her Christmas. I couldn't help but beam. Then I finished the wine while watching The Breakfast Club - which I'm sure is not nearly as good as I think it is.

The next morning was again a breeze not getting up with children and work was serenely quiet. I finally cleaned up my email inbox at work and in Gmail. I spent the rest of my payflex money stocking up on supplies from drugstore.com (they have an HSA store which makes it easy), and got my Reader down to nothing. Grabbed some groceries, and met the girls. We are now caught up on Lost. And I have NO unread New Yorkers!

I'm now doing some end-of-year cleaning around the house, but I desperately needed my internet up and running for those well-deserved breaks. That took a good 4 hours of my day. But it's done and I'm here!

Here are the girls modeling their new outfits:





I hope you all had a great holiday. I think I'll take a blogging break until 2009, but I'll continue to keep up with you all in the meantime. I can't believe how many of you I've now "known" for a year, and I'm so grateful to have had the pleasure to meet some of you this past year. I hope to meet more of you in the coming year, but if not, I'll continue enjoying the pleasure of your company in my Reader, your comments, and emails.

Here's hoping for a new year filled with love, laughter, and joy for all of us!

19 comments:

Julie@My5monkeys said...

your girls look like models in their new ourfits. Hope that you have good 2009.If I am down in the la area visiting my sister..I will meet you.

Anonymous said...

Champagne, wine, ad Bailey's -- I'm spending Christmas with you next year! So glad you had a lovely and relaxing Christmas. The girls look so happy and stylish.

Shiona said...

Those are great outfits. See ya in 2009.

I know what being without a computer is like... :)

Happy New Year

Jen said...

Happy New Year, and I echo Dingo, but I also want to add in the TAMALES! Oooooo... I'm jealous.

And way too lazy to make them.

I'm so glad it was a lovely Christmas. And Sylvia and Riley are way too cute for words.

I hope you all have a lovely New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!

Anonymous said...

Your Christmas sounded nothing short of fantastic, wow. The spirit and calm you exude here is contagious, even. The girls are beautiful and look so happy. I'm sure I'll be around again before the New Year, but if not, Happy '09! I hope there's a bit more champagne in the forecast :)

won said...

What beautiful models...er, I mean children you have.

Glad your time is a happy one. See you next year.

Karen MEG said...

Those lawyers certainly kept you well stocked :).

Your girls are beautiful and quite the fashionistas.

Have a wonderful New Year, April. You more than deserve it.
xoxo

yellojkt said...

Those are really cute jammies. Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas. We cracked open a bottle of Baileys and then I noticed that it has an expiration date. I better get cracking at draining it in time.

Anonymous said...

Cute pj's and outfits!

Also, I need coworkers like yours. I never get alcohol as a gift.

Anonymous said...

I have high hopes for next year, though I know its going to be rough for a while. Thanks for your comments and updates on Kori! I read her Christmas Eve post and felt a little twinge of happiness knowing that there was a special present under the tree for Eli sent with love from Colorado.

I'm glad you had a great Christmas!

jenn said...

You have beautiful girls. Glad you had a good Christmas.

Kori said...

You are such a drunk, jeez! hahahahhahaha. I love the photo of both the girls in their outfits, but Riley's especially makes me smile. They are both so sweet!

Julia@SometimesLucid said...

Great outfits, especitally the boots. I love the poses too :)

OHmommy said...

Merry Christmas and happy new year April!

At what age do kids get up THAT early. Whoa. They must have been soooooo stinking excited.

Anonymous said...

May next year bring joy and champagne and new outfits! The girls look adorable, and I love the poses. I'm glad you had some good me time.

Meg said...

The girls look great. Happy New Year, April!

Anna Lefler said...

Great photos! What a lovely Christmas you had!

Wishing you a 2009 that brings you all that you wish for...and more.

:^) Anna

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, beautiful!

We do xmas eve jammies too! So glad to hear that you've enjoyed your Christmas...happy happy new year to you!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Sounds relaxing... Happy New YEar!