"Inside the snow globe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world."
— Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones)
We spent most of our Christmas day indoors and I felt like we were trapped in our own little version of a perfect world. The kids played very hard today, beginning at 2:00 am. That was when we received our first "Can we go downstairs yet?" request. We sent Anna back to bed but she and Lauren were back at the foot of our bed at 4:41 am asking again. We knew they were too excited to sleep so we grabbed the baby and headed downstairs. There was a present frenzy, followed by lots of laughter and play. We all got new bikes this year, each bike suited to its new owner. Anna has a blue bike with flowers, ribbons, and a basket while Lauren's bike is neon green and black. Doug and I got a Townie and a Trek and Jacob even got his own little cart. Since it was still too early for a bike ride, Anna set to work putting together her Rapunzel tower with help from Daddy, while Lauren and Jacob headed into the dark bathroom for an epic lightsaber battle. I made cinnamon roll filled pancakes (in my new ebelskiver pan) for breakfast and put the beef tenderloin in the marinade. Doug spent the morning putting together a princess tower, a bigfoot, a tent and tunnel, a basketball hoop, a tricycle, remote controlled bumper cars, and teaching Lauren chords on her new guitar. The weather finally cleared and Doug and the kids headed out for a bike ride in front of the house. We spent the rest of the day eating and napping and playing. It was a great day and only could have been better if we could have spent it with the rest of our family. Hope you all spent the day trapped in your own perfect worlds as well. Merry Christmas!! XOXO! If you'd like to see pictures of our Christmas, click here.
