Holiday Parties...

We had our small group (from church) Christmas party last night. Jake and I thought it was so much fun. It was at our friend's house... they have a full basement that is amazingly comfortable and cozy with a nice big fireplace, huge sectional sofa and a full kitchen. All of the food/drinks were set up down there, and they also had a big, beautiful live Christmas tree. We put all of the white elephant gifts under the tree. We ate for a bit, then had the gift exchange (in which I got a the BEST gift out of the bunch- a fajita maker/grill/warmer), and then played Beyond Balderdash and one round of Taboo. The best part about the evening? No children to distract any of us (Ivy was in Iowa and aunt Naomi was at our house babysitting Genesis) from conversation and laughs. Wow, so relaxing in such a great way. I missed the girls, but it was awesome not to have to worry about where they were, what they were getting into, if they were hungry/thirsty...

Tonight we had another party. Another gift exchange. But this time, we had to dress up as part of the Nativity scene. As of 3:30 this afternoon, Jake and I still had no idea what we were going to dress as or what we were giving as gifts. But thanks to Grandma Pinky, who came to our rescue, I do believe that Jake's costume was one of the best at the party. He dressed as a wise man... decked out in a turban, jewels, jewel box, scarves... he looked great. I was an angel. Grandma had a floor length white dress-up dress that she had in her attic, so I just wore that with some pearl jewelry, curled my hair a bit and tried to put on some shiny/sparkly make up. It wasn't amazing, but it worked. People could tell what I was, and that's all that counted. Again, we had great food and then the gift exchange, then more food. I think people were going back downstairs to play games, but Jake and I are tired and we decided to come home. We're really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. Oh, that's right, I forgot to mention- Ivy and Genesis are having a sleepover at Grandma's house tonight. Wooohoo! 

I think I finished my Christmas shopping for the girls today. I knew I needed to stop by Hobby Lobby for a couple of more things for Ivy and then I would be done... so I did that this afternoon when I made my Walmart run for our gift exchange gifts. I am so glad I went into Hobby Lobby. I love their stuff, but I am always surprised at the stuff they have in the craft section that Ivy would go bananas over. It was hard to stop buying stuff for her! I got some things for Genesis there too that were half off, and I am super happy with my buys. I only have a couple more gifts to buy for people and then I'll be done completely with shopping. It always takes me a while to be done.

We are looking forward to church tomorrow. The children have their Christmas performance, so Ivy will be standing up front and singing with everyone. She's wearing her Christmas outfit, and I can't wait to see it on her. Naomi found it this summer for me at a garage sale, and it's so darling and it was so cheap- I think I paid $1.00 for the whole thing? Can't beat that :) I can't wait for summer garage sales again! I think I am going to try to keep Genesis in the auditorium with me instead of putting her in the nursery, so she can watch the kids as well. We'll see how she does. I'm sure she'll want to get down and go join them. 

A friend of mine is going to cut my hair this coming week. I need to look at some magazines to figure out what style I want. 

Goodnight all.