The kids were, of course, dying to get to the opening presents bit. So, after a few hours, we decided to send them all downstairs where they were to wait until we had set up all the gifts and were prepared with our video cameras for The Grand Present Opening Celebration of 2011.
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| Yes, that is an obnoxious amount of presents. But there are 7 people in the family, and the tree is only a 4 footer!! But still, over the top. |
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| Josie opens one present- a Pocahontas doll. Ooooooohhhh. |
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| This Angry Bird toy was WAY bigger than I expected it to be... But Steven seems to love it. |
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| Isabel asked for (and received) a LOT of books this year. She loves all the American Girl "smart girls' guide to..." books. |
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| Katie was a little amazed that I managed to buy her books she had read already (several times) and even one that she already owned but had lent out to a friend... We sent the books back to Amazon, and she was able to pick out books she ACTUALLY wanted to read... |
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| A boy and his stingray; it's a beautiful thing. |
Josie: Several "Little Critter" books, some Princess dolls, a Barbie, 3 sets of wooden play food (she LOVES to play with these), an electronic "touch pad" toy that she mostly ignores, and some other stuff that I can't remember right now... Her special Secret Santa gift was from Steven, and he gave her a fairy dress-up outfit and a Princess Cell Phone toy which started to malfunction almost immediately, but she still uses it to talk to her imaginary friends to arrange playdates.
Luke: Lots of Galactic Heroes (star wars) figures, the Skylanders video game (which was a HUGE hit), a shark and a tree frog Webkinz, the sting ray stuffed friend, and several books about marine life, which he loves. His Secret Santa gift was from Isabel, who gave him a small Star Wars lego set and a light saber.
Isabel: Lots and lots and lots of books. Several Dear Dumb Diary type books, as well as the American Girl books, and some journals and stationary sets. She also got some DS games, a barn-owl Webkinz, some headphones (that Kate wanted to steal right away), and some clothes and winter wear. Her Secret Santa was Kate, and Kate got Isabel a dress from H&M. Will Izzy ever wear it? She says she will...
Steven: Some lego sets, some books, a Webkinz Winter Fawn, some clothes (including some stuff from the University of Maryland which Steven is really into right now), the Harry Potter Wii game, and a Pirates of the Caribbean lego DS game. Steven's Secret Santa was Luke, and Luke bought Steven an Angry Birds winter hat and some special candy from the special candy store in the mall.
Katie: Gift cards were the main thing this year. I got her the books which were a bomb, but she ended up getting books she wanted eventually. I got her some bath stuff which she did not like (apparently she has never liked Sweet Pea scent from Bath and Body Works but I always give her Sweet Pea...). I did get her a North Face fleece jacket (she took it back because it was too big), and two scarves. I also got her several sets of little earrings since she decided to pierce her ears all the way up the cartilage. She just did it "in her room" but she "was really careful" and "cleaned everything with alcohol wipes." I'll touch back on this whole issue of cartilage earrings in a second, but to finish up the Christmas Presents for Kate, she DID manage to be happy with her replaced iPod even though it's an old one (3rd generation). We replaced it for her just before Christmas at the Apple Store (Mac did this- Mac is a genius at getting people to do nice stuff for him-- and the guy allowed Kate to trade in her non-functioning 64 GB iPod touch for a NEW and functioning 64 GB iPod touch for only $79-- What happened to the OLD iPod (last year's Christmas gift)? Well, Kate carried it with her to swimming inside her backpack and the shampoo in her swim bag exploded all over her iPod, so it's basically filled up with shampoo. So toast.) Kate's Secret Santa gift was Fancy Makeup from Josie- glittery eyeliner. Kate has even given Josie makeovers using this glittery eyeliner. Bonus.
Anyway, to retouch on the Story of the Cartilage Piercings...
So anyway, Kate put in the new earrings from Christmas, and wore them CONSTANTLY for about 3 weeks, and then her ear "ate" one of the earrings. Really gross! Mac says he sees this all the time with cartilage piercings, and he was worried he was going to have to bring her into the clinic to get her ear drained and cleaned out. The ear was swollen, the infection was spreading, and then Kate somehow pushed the earring out of her ear and removed it. (For a girl who faints at the sight of other people's blood, she has a remarkably high threshold for grossness with her own blood, etc..) Anyway, Mac squeezed the pus out of it (gross gross gross) and Kate started on antibiotics... Luckily the infection backed off quickly with the meds and the "intense cleaning". I don't know what will happen to Kate's cartilage now though... But the earrings for Christmas? Probably not a gift she's going to wear again...
I got Mac a few things, including a headlamp for his dorky surgery stuff and what not. He likes to wear headlamps instead of hold a flashlight in general. I ordered him a laser pointer that he really wanted. He picked it out in fact, so I don't know that it counts as a "gift". I got him some DVDs that he's really not interested in watching, since they aren't involved with studying for his Boards and that's about all he's interested in watching...
Mac gave me a couple of pairs of boots that I chose and ordered. But he knew about it, and I've been enjoying my new boots.
Anyway, it was a good Christmas... Even Kate enjoyed her gifts after she returned everything she could!
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