Christmas on New Years & Marcie's Sort-of Black Eye

On the years when we go see my family for Christmas, we celebrate Christmas with Jason's parents after we return. This year was no different. We all gathered together for presents and an excellent meal (Jason's mom sure can cook!). And the kids had a blast (of course!). Casey, not surprising, made out like a bandit (as usual).

He got some granola bars, a space ship that zooms all over a patterned mat (which he thinks is super cool), a Thomas sticker book, and a talking Lightning McQueen. The toy's mouth moves, and so do its eyes. And it has pre-programmed driving courses so that it can whip all over the place. Casey has been practically inseparable from the toy since he opened it.

In fact, when he first got the Lightning McQueen out of its package, he brought it to me and kept saying, "Casey swain" over and over. I didn't understand what he meant until he dragged me to a marker. Then he flipped over the toy, pointed to the bottom of it, and repeated: "Casey swain." What he wanted was for me to write his name on the toy-- to show it was his. (We had done this with all the toys in North Carolina because with five boys only 3 years apart in age, it's easy to get the toys all mixed up.) The rest of the evening, he put that Lightning McQueen in and out of the box (er. . . hem. . . I mean, garage). And he has even been sleeping with the toy since (though I do insist we turn off Lightning at night so he can get some rest).

It's also a tradition with Jason's parents that they give us what we affectionately call Vitamin M each year. Often they hide the money in a gift. Last year, for instance, they hid cash in a sweatshirt pocket for my brother in law Jon. Well, this year they weren't really sneaky about it-- they gave us the money in traditional Lucky Money envelopes. And we asked Casey to help us open the envelopes. These pictures show him opening the envelopes and pulling out the Vitamin M. He calls cash "tickets," and he had great fun waving the money in the air and yelling, "CASEY HAS TICKETS!" That didn't last long though-- it was too much money for us to leave in the hands of a three year old (even one who is almost four). So we pocketed the cash, which we'll be spending in Vegas (what a cool treat!). Who knows-- maybe we'll even be lucky enough to get some return on the money!

While we were opening gifts, Marcie was toddling all around, and as she came barrelling toward her grandmother, she toppled over-- right on top of a box to one of her gifts. It's probably not fair to call it a black eye, and even in the past week it's healed quite nicely. But here is what she looked like after the incident:

Despite the minor mishap, Marcie was no worse for the wear. We have been dutifully keeping her out of the sun so it doesn't scar. And she pretty much picked herself right back up after her little tumble. And proceeded to strut around the house, showing off her newly found walking skills:

And, of course, I saved my favorite photo of the evening for last: