Christmas countdown, day 13

Our kids know the famous Clement Clarke Moore work "Twas the Night Before Christmas" well. So well, in fact, that the older girls could probably recite most if by heart. It's been a part of our Christmas reading for years.

Imagine their surprise when the quaint, holiday house they received today tells the story to them with the push of a button.

With glowing lights and a snowy rooftop, the house recounts the Christmas favorite aloud to the little listening ears gathered around. With 12 days left, even the smallest listeners will be retelling the tale by Christmas day.

Christmas countdown, day 12

Ignoring Sunday morning's unbrushed hair and lazy day clothes, the unwrapping continues. The kids are still going strong in their training for the big day of paper tearing.

Found beneath the gift wrap today were holiday window covers. Once attached, the light from within the house illuminates the Santa or snowman illustrations for passers by.

Christmas countdown, day 11

Number eleven might take the cake for most unique surprise of advent. Now chilling (literally) in the yard, I'm going to bet we're the only house in the neighborhood (township?) that's got one of these babies.

The kids actually got a little put off that Ben was staked outside. They were hoping he'd stay inside, I think.

And, yes, his name is Ben ... at Trace's insistence. There was a naming discussion among the giftees after opening the package, but Trace (after hugging the lighted Steeler) was most adamant the player be named Ben.

Christmas countdown, day 10

Let's talk adjectives that succinctly describe our children ... nuts and cheesy. Now, wrap up those adjectives and you've got two-thirds of today's surprises.

First, a can of holiday nuts. In an ironic turn of events, our "nuts" love nuts. The two pounds of assorted, in-shell nuts we recently purchased at Jungle Jim's lasted approximately five days. With their new can of holiday crunchiness, they should be able to quicken the shoveling of nuts into their mouths since these came sans-shells and their mouths won't have to be held up by our "slow" cracking and discarding of shells.

Second, cheesiness is involved by way of an entire can of popcorn. While we must make mention that Alysse guessed the package would contain a super big marshmallow and was subsequently disappointed when that wasn't the case; she quickly warmed up to what WAS inside when she realized the can contained popcorn. Yes, they love popcorn (almost as much as nuts).

These snacks should last about as long as the final treat - Disney's "A Christmas Carol" on DVD. Good munching must always accompany a holiday flick. Can you hear the crunching?

Christmas countdown, day 9

This is always one of MY favorite packages in the advent parade of gifts. The fleece, the holiday patterns, the cuddle factor all combine to make for cozy holiday goodness. There's something extra cute about kids in holiday pjs.

Oddly enough, a couple nights ago the kids were putting on their passed-down holiday pajamas from last year and someone was without a pair. The odd-kid out had to put on *gasp* pjs sporting no Santa hats, reindeer or ice skating kittens.


Problem now remedied.