Well, here we are, smack dab in the middle of holiday letdown. It helps this year that the transition from holidays to non-holidays is slow. John had off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He’s back to work today and tomorrow, but then will have next Monday and Tuesday off as well for New Years. So, the letdown is not felt by me as much as it normally is.

Christmas Eve Eve (the day before Christmas Eve), John went to church while I stayed home with the kids. I had a cold and hadn’t slept well, and Will also was getting sick with a cold. That evening we opened our stockings while eating homemade doughnuts. Then I got sent to bed so that John and Elise could set up my Christmas present. That was fine with me as I was exhausted from my cold which seemed to be getting worse.

Christmas Eve is traditionally our day to celebrate Christmas so that we can split Christmas day between both families. Once I got breakfast started we exchanged presents between John, Elise, Will, and me. I was very surprised to find an electric piano as John’s present to me! I really like it and am now encouraged to commit 15 minutes a day to practicing playing (just as John has already committed 15 minutes of each of his days to learning the guitar). Perhaps we can play duets next Christmas. 🙂 Elise got too many presents to list. That evening we had invited both our families over for soup and games. Will was happy and took great naps, but was fighting a high fever most of the day. Elise went home with Nana and Pop to spend the night.
Christmas day John, Will, and I got up early and headed to his parents for our traditional Christmas morning routine. This year we were joined by the newlyweds, Megan and Doug.

We enjoyed the Lein traditional Christmas breakfast: scrambled eggs (made by Pop), sausages, and cinnamon rolls. Then we opened stockings before retiring to the living room to exchange presents. Will slept through most of that, but at least his fever seemed to have disappeared. When he woke up, he had a great time taste-testing all of his presents.

After lunch, games, another nap for Will, and a rest time for Elise, we headed to my parents. Shortly after arriving we sat down to yet another present exchange. This time Tio (Herbie) shared the ribbon from his presents with Will.

I think that Tio is convinced that Will looks just like him.

Elise tried on one of her new dance outfits and wore it for the rest of the afternoon. We all played games, including some new ones that were given as presents. By the end of the day, everyone was tired, but perhaps no one as much as Will.

The day after Christmas we had a laid back day at home where both Elise and Will enjoyed some of their presents. Here’s Elise playing her new Disney Princess game on the wii.

And here’s Will enjoying his new tummy toy.

Late in the afternoon John and I dropped off both kids at my parents house so that we could go on a date. We ate dinner and watched August Rush. It was a great time to get away and we had some good conversations on some of our goals for the future. We went home by way of mom’s house so we could pick up Will. Elise spent the night and I’ll pick her up later this afternoon after I take Will to the doctor. His temperature is up again today, though not high and now he is coughing. I figure I might as well take him in before another holiday hits.