Christmas Eve at the Compound

Went out to Bobbins' folks' house for Christmas Eve dinner this year -- a delicious turkey and sweet potatoes with other good fixin's.  We sang some carols and opened a few presents.
V I D E O         (http://youtu.be/EFB1aNR4bfM)

 

 

Christmas Eve Mass

I got home from work a tad early, rounded up the troops, who all looked stunning, esp. the girls in the dresses Bobbins made for them, and Bobbins herself in black, and we headed for Christmas Eve Mass.  We arrived about 3:30 for the 4pm service and managed good seats in the third row, left side.  The girls went over to look at the creche on the north side of the church.  Jack and Paul sat with us.  Fr. John gave his homily to the kids and walked around asking them about the make-up of the nativity scene.  MM raised her hand and said there was a star.  (Cue tears of pride from mom and dad.)  Afterward, we got our annual pic's with friends, this time Kevin and Jessica.  The kids let off their usual steam.  Somehow the outfits seemed pretty matching this year...  Julia sure loves baby Sam Sam.

That is the unedited group shot.  Ask Bobbins or Jess about the "original."

Decorating the Tree

 

 

 

Picking Out the Tree

Unlike last year, we returned to Home Depot to purchase our Christmas tree.  We took Julia's friend Ruama (who had spent the night) along.  Here they're holding snow chucked out of the truck along with a new load of trees.  Bobbins joked that we didn't have to take Julia up to the snow anymore.  They were seriously having fun with these little chunks...

We ended up with a 6-7' Noble that was smaller than year's past but a nice smelling, stout little tree.  That is, until Bobbins nearly killed it.  More on that later...

Cookie Decorating

Making Santas

 

 

Winter Cleaning

Julia decided to do a major house cleaning the weekend before Christmas, to which Bobbins agreed.  It was Julia who got down on her hands and knees and cleaned the floor, just like Cinderella.  Boy did it need it.  They cleaned all the windows and the baseboards and washed everything, including the white couch covers.  I think they found money, crayons, and various bits of food in the girls' room, esp. near MM's bed.  She is a pack-rat, for some reason.  The place sure looked spick and span.

To keep the girls out of their way, we played basketball out front, which is where we also ate lunch.  For some reason the girls wanted to shoot around in their flamenco dresses.