Our new washer! The one we'd purchased about a year ago on craigslist started smoking one Sunday when I was washing Alice's coat that had gotten a stain on it. Bruce thinks it started smoking because I was doing wash on Sunday, but really, it was the motor burning out. Needless to say, we got a great Black Friday deal, which was made even sweeter when the delivery guy told me there was a small dent on the back (that I couldn't even see), but that apparently gave us the option of returning the washer for a pristine one or keeping the dented washer and getting $75. Seeing as we hadn't had a washer for two weeks (one of the cons of getting a washer during the peak buying season is you have to wait forever for it to be delivered) I would have paid them $75 to just leave the washer. This is our first new-from-the-store washer and our favorite feature is the 10 year warranty on the motor!
Making an amazing gingerbread house! I thought if we made a homemade gingerbread house instead of purchasing a kit that it wouldn't taste like cardboard once we got around to eating it, but apparently, anything that sits out for two weeks isn't going to taste that great. It was still really fun making it though.
Shoveling the drive! Well, at least the girls were really excited about this--I'm not sure if Bruce would include this as one of his favorite things.
Eating five dozen Christmas cookies! I participated in a cookie exchange with some friends and got some pretty yummy morsels.
Acting out the Christmas story! Miles and Myra were angels, Alice was Mary, Ezra was Joseph, and the talented Anika took on the roles of a Shepard and Wise Man. Our friend's new adopted baby, Mia, though not pictured, was the star of the show, playing baby Jesus. We also got to gobble up some of Anna's yummy Czech Christmas bread, which was amazing.
Anticipating Santa's arrival! The girls put out eggnog and cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer. They did a great job going to sleep when they realized that Santa would not come if they were awake, and then actually stayed asleep until about 7am, which we thought was pretty darn impressive.
And last but not least, opening presents! Bruce convinced me that we didn't need to get them a 'big' gift this year, because this was probably the last year we could get away with not getting them a 'big' gift from Santa. So, this Christmas was very budget friendly, especially since most of what we gave them I'd gotten for 50-75% off during the after-Christmas toy clearance sales last January.
