That weekend they had a craft fair that Cathy and I perused while Bennett and the girls checked out the petting zoo. It culminated in a wagon ride with Santa.
Bennett gave Esther and Adele a red Mustang Power Wheels. It was a not a simple snap-snap-and-it's-done job. I was able to get everything else taken care of, including my own set of put-togethers, while Bennett worked on the car. It was your standard late night/early morning doing Christmas. 'Nuf said.
And speaking of the car... Esther immediately loved it, especially getting to drive it from the living room, through the dining room, out the door, down the front walk to the driveway and beyond. Talk about driving it off the showroom floor!
Adele, on the other hand, was terrified to say the least. She was relatively fine until they were outside, then she started screaming bloody murder at even the slightest movement. Did she think Esther was going to pick it up a bit once outside and start cruising 40 mph down the street, wind through her hair, with reckless abandon? Whatever she was thinking, she was FREAKED! Fortunately, she's gotten used to it now and is as happy as a clam to ride or drive.
(Picture of Esther and Adele driving the Power Wheels for the first time.)
Adele has sure enjoyed her new doll, clothes, and doll furniture. I was sure glad that Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen came through with a doll for her. I didn't really want to get her one, since we have PLENTY of girl toys at our house, but then as we got down to the wire, especially on Christmas morning, I was feeling a little bad that I hadn't gone ahead and gotten her a new doll. Being the 4th girl, she survives on LOTS of hand-me-downs, which she doesn't seem to mind... YET!!! Anyway, she was LOVING the doll furniture that Santa left... with an old hand-me-down doll. When she opened the new doll from Grandma and Grandpa, she was THRILLED. It's definitely her doll of choice, mostly because it has hair. She's a hair girl.
(Picture of Adele and her doll of choice.)
We've since turned the under-the-stairs area into Adele (and Esther's) doll room. Arianna and Samantha have adopted a small corner of it for reading. Bennett added a switched outlet in there for us to plug in a rope light which will be mounted around the "ceiling". For the time being, it's just laying along the tops of the bookshelves that line the walls.
(Picture here of under the stairs area.)
Arianna and Samantha got MP3 players from Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen, which have had lots of use, as well as Webkinz from Santa. They earn 30 minutes of computer time each day by completing their morning jobs (bed, dressed, hair, room, dishwasher) and another 30 minutes by completing their afternoon jobs (homework, backpack, flute practice, piano practice). The afternoon jobs have to be done before Bennett or I get sick of reminding them... they're still working on that one. :)
(Picture here of each girl with their Webkinz.)
I got a new camera for Christmas. The old one was... well, old. Being digital, 6 years old is quite archaic these days. It's been a good camera, but it was time for a new one. It's a Panasonic Lumix... don't ask me what number. It's got bells and whistles more than I'll probably ever use.
Bennett got a sattelite radio. He was thrilled, but later decided that due to the merger of Sirius and XM, he wanted to take it back and wait for the next set of versions just in case there were merger problems. Having been a part of the HP/Compaq merger, he knows this could be an issue. For the time being, he traded it in for some music writing/computer/something-or-other and is pleased as punch. Oh, well. I tried. Maybe I'll get double mileage by getting him a sattelite radio again next year!
A couple of days after Christmas we got family photos taken. I'll make a new post when they come in. That's it for now!
I don't think I saw this blogpost before. Adele hair is so cute! She is getting so big. I love how you write because I can totally envision everything you say!
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth