December 9th: BUSY day! Cookie exchange party, family pics, brunch!
Today was absolutely wonderful! The day began with a big surprise... for me! When Serenity went to check the advent calendar, besides the activity I'd put in there (the cookie party and family pics) there was another paper that said "top the tree"! I got to open my Christmas present! I was SO surprised! Inside was an absolutely perfect Christmas star topper. It's silver and sparkly and lights up. We put it right on the tree. It made me so very happy. It was just like the Splendiferous Christmas story that Serenity and I read together. And she found the absolute perfect one for me. At the first store they went to the only one was gold, and she knew I didn't want that so she kept looking instead of getting the first one. And it was her idea! I am so grateful and amazed by my thoughtful girl!
After we got ourselves together, we drove to OKC to meet Heather Warren, our photographer for our family pics. The photo session was amazing! She was perfect with the kids. She rolled with it when one of them needed a break, kept us moving into different, interesting poses and groupings. It was pretty cold, so we had to move fast. So it's even more impressive that the kids had so much fun with the photos and I am so excited to see the results!
We ran around Penn Square Mall for awhile, waiting on our brunch time with the Richards and Palfreymans. There wasn't a playspace, but someone had abandoned a red racecar cart, so Donovan had a blast riding around in the car. Serenity took a short turn, but Donovan had so much trouble sharing that she didn't ride long. I was amazed at how nice she was to let her baby brother take longer turns. She's such a great sister!
Brunch was perfect, chaos and family and fun. Getting together with our dear friends, and watching our children becoming friends, is just so precious. We ate yummy food together, took turns holding babies, and just enjoyed each other.
We headed to the spice shop next, where I got a lot of Christmas shopping done. The girls were so cute in the shop. They kept flying into each other's arms, and hugging each other so tightly I was afraid they might fall into a spice rack. Then all three big kids were lined up on the bench playing iphones while the parents finished up their shopping. It was like a Norman Rockwell painting. =)
The cookie exchange party was a blast! The Tompound (Tom and Emily's gigantic house) is a perfect party place. There is a big playground, so the kids got to run off all the sugar they ate. The cookies and desserts were truly yummy. Tom and Will encouraged me to try their two toffee recipes and the fudge. SO good. It was so nice to see Will, and Kela is at 36 weeks now which is such a relief, and so exciting! Will is going to be an amazing Daddy, he's had so much practice at being Uncle Will. =) Santa made an appearance, and Serenity sat on his lap. She mostly liked examining his costume, and asked him for a bell. I'm sure she asked that because he had such nice bells on his coat. =) Donovan didn't want anything to do with Santa, not crying, but not interested in high fives, hellos, or even candy canes and presents. =)
After we arrived home, Donovan was sound asleep so he went right to bed. Serenity was still a bit wired, so after she was ready for bed, we snuggled up in front of the perfect Christmas tree topper. She said, "Ohhhh, thank me." =) Eric and I cracked up, but I did thank her again. She truly was a thoughtful, helpful, considerate girl today!