Memphis Christmas

Last year we started a tradition -- one that will be short-lived, I hope -- of having our own little family Christmas before visiting our families for real Christmas.  We all woke up to a few presents under the tree, enjoyed a cozy morning together, an after-nap trip to the zoo and burgers at Huey's.  This was our first time ordering a meal for Paul off the kid's menu (Mama didn't want to share her burger) and he ate every bite!  I think it was five mini corn dogs, a bowl of applesauce and some of my fries.

Paul was great at opening his presents!  He got right into it and wanted to open everyone else's too.

So far, Paul's favorite presents: his cup, which has Sesame Street characters playing baseball (x100 cool points for Elmo at bat); the Etch-a-Sketch, which he likes to "color" on, and I like to doodle on; and the little blue camera, which goes through a number of pictures, all Toy Story characters, displaying one after each click.  These were also the three cheapest toys, although none of them cost very much.  The camera is probably his top toy.  He loves to take pictures, and will announce what he's taken a picture of excitedly: "A pig!", "A hat!" (that is for Woody, with his big cowboy hat), "A dinosaur!".

Michael got a stocking with candy in it.  This sounds like a cop out for me, but his real present was donating all the junk I'd been hoarding in the sake of some future yard sale I never got around to planning the last 8 months.  He hates clutter and is anti-accumulation, so it was a great gift that I think he really appreciated! I got an awesome pair of boots and a nice light for my sewing area!