Christmas begins...

On Friday, I got to go to Caleb's daycare Christmas party. It was hilarious! There were 12 kids, a slew of adults and a whole lot of new toys for the classroom. Those kids were on those presents like lions on a baby wildebeest. Initially when the gifts were open, Caleb played with the dumptrucks and cars. Then, he saw present that he most wanted to get his hands on: the princess dress-up trunk. He stalked the little boy who was wearing one of the dresses and as soon as it was available - he jumped on it. He ended up with this lovely ensemble for the rest of the party: I think the rosettes and the purple high heels add the perfect touch, don't you?

When the party was over, Caleb and his classmates changed into their angel costumes for the Christmas program. We had been practicing Caleb's song for weeks! He knew the whole thing...including the hand motions. Everybody sing along now...(to the tune of Wheels on the Bus): The angels bells went ding-dong-ding, ding-dong,ding, ding-dong-ding; The angels bells went ding-dong-ding, the day that Christ was born (The angels horns went toot-toot-toot & the angels drums went rat-a-tat-tat...) Really, it was very creative and we were quite excited. Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca arranged their travel so that they could be at the church for the program. Rudy hustled home from work so he wouldn't miss Caleb's debut performance. We endured the singing of 2 other classes and finally, it was time. The angels marched in, holding their line-up rope, escorted by their teachers. They climbed the steps and stood on the stage. The music started. Caleb put 2 fingers in his mouth and froze like a deer in headlights. He seemed to be looking around for me, probably because I told him I'd be there to watch him. He didn't sing a single word. (Here's the best video I could manage. We're hoping to invest in a real video camera soon. Caleb is on the far right, towards the bottom.)

Regardless of the freeze-up, he was a very cute little angel.

After the program, we went into the foyer for cupcakes and punch. Santa was there, so we got a few more shots with him...and Caleb got in one more plug for Buzz, Woody and some cars. We also made sure to tell Santa that we would be at LaLa's for Christmas morning. Just in case he didn't already know.

After the hoopla was over, we said farewell to daycare for 2 whole weeks! We headed home and met Rudy, Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca. We all hung out at the house for a little while before heading to Las Palmas for dinner. YUM!

Saturday morning, we hit the ground running to get ready for the Villines family Christmas dinner at our house. Rudy baked a ham and we made hashbrown casserole, green bean bundles, creamed corn, rolls and deviled eggs. It was quite an undertaking for our first holiday hosting experience! Caleb asked all day about when his "Cousin Elle" would be getting there, so he was excited when Rudy picked up Todd, Tammy and Elle at the airport and made it back here just in time to eat. We hosted Jerry, Sherry, Rebecca, Tom, Alan, Terry, Steve, Todd, Tammy and Elle. Whew - that's a houseful of people! We had a great time, though! The kids loved playing together and everyone had a chance to visit and catch up. Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca gave Caleb a big tractor-trailer truck that is a case for his cars. He LOVES it! We are grateful to have a home where we can host a family meal and grateful to have a family to host. I think we'll definitely do it again!

When the last of the Villines family trickled out into the bitter cold night, Rudy, Caleb and I all but crashed into bed. We were pretty tired! Caleb's cough got to him in the middle of the night, so he ended up in bed with me and slept until almost 9:00! Yeah!!!

We went to Ft. Smith today for Christmas with Jan, Grandma, Chris, Todd, Tammy and Elle. Again, the kids had a blast playing together. Jan prepared a fantastic meal for us and Caleb received some fun gifts: 2 dinosaur books, Happy Feet (movie), a Curious George book and stuffed animal, a tabletop sandbox, Fridge Phonics, a tractor and a doctor's kit. He's modeling parts of the doctor's kit here: After dinner, it was evident that Caleb was starting to meltdown. He had missed his nap and been so overstimulated by the events of the past two days - it's a wonder he didn't just collapse in the floor. Being the trooper he is, though - he managed to keep it together until almost the very end. He said some tearful goodbyes, then fell asleep in the car about 30 minutes after we left Jan's.

Now, we're home again for a quick turnaround before leaving for Hot Springs on Tuesday morning. As I write this, the laundry machines are humming and I'm enjoying my last few moments of our Christmas tree. I'll take it down shortly after we get home next week. The boys are both sound asleep (vision of sugarplums dancing in their heads?) Tomorrow is packing and last minute errands for Christmas.

I realize that gifts aren't the important thing about Christmas, but to keep a record and to keep me honest on thank you notes, I'll also add that Caleb has gotten a Toys R Us giftcard from Doug & Lisa and an electronic bowling game from Todd, Tammy and Elle.

12/22 Edit: We opened gifts here at home tonight before leaving for Hot Springs tomorrow. Strictly for the sake of the scrapbook and my memory, Rudy and I gave Caleb: some Cars figurines, a WonderPets search and find book, a doctor dress-up set, a cowboy dress-up set, some play food with pots and pans, some football PJ's, a sweatshirt with a bulldog on it, a camo vest, a recorder, an echo microphone and some play-doh. He quickly retreated to his room to introduce the new cars to the old ones and played "racecar" for quite a while before coming back out to make a big mess in the living room with the toy food. It was over an hour later that he decided to venture into the dress-up stuff. The cowboy suit didn't go over too well. He didn't like the bandana and that was the end of that. The doctor set only had a lab coat to wear, but he paired that with his other new doctor playset and I got a thorough physical. He's all kinds of excited about going to see LaLa and Pops tomorrow. He must have asked me a hundred times tonight if I was "packing up" then threw a holy fit when I told him it was time to go to bed. He seemed to think we were leaving tonight. Oops. He's asleep now. We'd better hit the ground running tomorrow morning or he's going to come unglued!

And so Christmas begins...