December 18th, Today began with us all snuggling up in the beds Eric and Serenity had set up downstairs. Serenity woke up with a bad dream before Eric went to bed with her, so I actually ended up camping out with her last night. I fell asleep as her pillow =) So snuggly and sweet, even if I woke up with my back very achy! It got better when I walked around. Donovan came downstairs and saw us and started calling for Mama! Sis! Mama! Sis! So we all ended up snuggling in for awhile.
That was the last calm time though, as we headed out for way more errands than I would usually schedule in the same day. The kids were great though so we picked up the new Christmas cards, the dvds so I can burn our home movies onto a disc for tonight, some food, snacks for the dance class party tonight, and various other random things. But I DID forget the stamps! Luckily, Mom came over to open presents with the kids, and she very kindly picked some up for me.
She brought over yogurt from Peachwave, which was a big hit. A little scary though, because just half an hour earlier Serenity turned to me and said, "Dude, I've had a LOT of sugar today." She's been bouncing off a few walls. And crying because the walls are hard. Serenity is still enjoying her first Kiwi Crate from Grandma, and Donovan got to open his present. He got a TON of new balls from Grandma. You'd have thought he hit the jackpot when he opened the box. "Soccer ball! Soccer ball!" Then he got the balls out and when I asked him to kick me the ball, he pointed at Mom and said, "nama!" (Which is how he pronounces Grandma right now. So cute.) Anyway, they played soccer in the house, which all my siblings will find hilarious.
In the evening we headed out for Serenity's Parent's day at dance class. It's also her last day of dance. Eric was really excited about signing her up for indoor soccer, and since the time of her dance class was really inconvenient for us, we decided to switch to soccer for a session. As much as I love gymnastics, dance, and soccer, I really want to try to keep her to just one activity at this age. I think we'll let her choose when soccer ends in March her next activity again. The program was adorable! Her teacher had the girls teach their parents all their dance moves. Serenity was very conscientious about telling us when we were doing it wrong! ;)
Then, when we got home, I put on our home movies. I love this tradition, especially because it means I get my act together and collect all our videos for the year and put them on a dvd. I choose my favorite videos and edit some of the longer ones, like the ones Dad takes of the kids birthdays, so we just have a nice selection. It lasted about an hour and a half, and the kids actually watched a lot of it! They loved seeing themselves on t.v. When Serenity excitedly announced that she was on tv, Donovan piped right up, "I too!" (This is what he says whenever he wants to be included or to be given something his sister has. "I Too!" too cute)