a merry little Christmas

...
Only little because there were 7 of us, altogether, home all day -- but it was really merry and wonderful.

The kids slept in till 8:30, and that was a gift right there. We let them open their Santa stuff first, then breakfast, then a looong time opening the presents from everyone else. The kids were really happy with everything they got. DS2, who had asked Santa for a polar bear, found his nice squishy-huggable bear on the top of his Santa bag and just sat there hugging it and saying, "My polar bear!" over and over, with this look of absolute joy on his face, for at least 5 minutes... it was the cutest thing. He loved his fossils, too.

For lunch I made stuffed mushrooms -- but found we had no crab! Arg! Instead I used some salad shrimp and whizzed them in the food processor. They came out great even with the substitution. Then I made the baked brie using sf maple syrup instead of honey, and it was soooo yummy, seriously, I could've eaten the whole thing.

The turkey came out great, as did the stuffing (made way too much), and the gravy -- oh, my! I put the xanthan gum in a tea strainer and shook a tiny bit into the liquid while I whisked furiously... it came out fantastic. My inlaws were very pleased with everything, even though it was totally LC -- f-i-l complemented my "potatoes" !

Ate way too much but don't care -- it's only one day and I don't feel bad, now...

I helped DS1 put together several Bionicle guys and man, those things are cool. Also, unpacked all 5 of DD's "My Little Pony" toys. She loves them so much! She also colored 12 pages of her MLP coloring book! She did try her "Barbie Swan Lake" PC Game, but she got frustrated -- it is way more complicated than her "Barbie Rapunzel" game. I actually played the whole thing through tonight so I could help her with it. It has some quirks but it is a pretty cool game. You just have to pay more attention to details and actually do things, as opposed to just coloring things. I'm not sure if she'll like it all that much, as it challenging. There's one game where you have to catch the fireflies -- man, that was annoying!

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time playing today, too. DH got me a digital camera, it's still in the box! Hee. Also, he got me a gift certificate for a 1/2 hour "discovery flight" on a 4-seater plane. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy that or be too terrified to, !

Now... DH is watching "Sometimes They Come Back", a lame made-for-tv Stephen King movie! Perfect Christmas stuff, huh?