What Did You Get For Christmas?

There were certainly enough presents under the tree, but which ones stood out from all the rest? It would take a few days for the answer to emerge, but here's a recap.

From Veronica's standpoint, her favorite present had to be her first Christmas. She soaked in all the comotion that is unwrapping, smiling, posing for pictures and then playing. She did receive some pretty neat playthings, too, which the girls happily "tried out" for her.

For Emily, this Care Bear proved to be a favorite. Of course it makes noise, is soft and cuddly and one of her friends (Jennifer) has one. She also received some new discs and a set of headsets for her Video Now player. When she has the headphones on and her Video Now player in hand, dad jokes that she looks like an NBA player getting ready to hop on the team bus.

Lauren has joined the video revolution with a Video Now player of her own. After watching Emily enjoy her Video Now player for about a year, Lauren finally doesn't have to peek over her older sister's shoulder. And both girls have headphones to go with them, so there's no bothering their sisters (or parents) watching shows like "America's Funniest Home Videos."

Lauren also enjoyed getting a new coloring book and regular book from the Brooks', as did her fellow sisters.

Julia normally doesn't get into clothes. In fact, one of her favorite outfits is a pair of well-worn jeans and an Oakland Raiders jersey (No. 80 - Jerry Rice). But in this case, she absolutely adored her "Noel" sweater. Dad joked that it's her "Leon" outfit.

Julia also received a huge inflatable basketball, similar to the soccer ball Emily received a few years back. And that was the only thing she asked Santa for a few weeks ago. Again, the big guy delivers...

Olivia and her babies. Olivia and her strollers. Olivia and her new "deluxe" stroller. Yes, that's about the story of Olivia these days. She's proudly pushing the stroller all over the place. It even made a trip to one of dad's basketball practices.

Though it's not pictured here, Olivia also received a pretty neat little cash register, complete with "paging" microphone that allows her to conduct a "price check."

But the gift the girls seem to enjoy the most is our new air hockey table. Very cool. And it is certainly getting a lot of action these days.

(Early) Christmas Day 2005

We awoke to seven full stockings hanging above the fireplace.

Here's how Dad's Christmas of 2005 will be remembered:

Mom: The girls are already up.
Dad: (mumbling and still asleep) So.
Mom: Go downstairs and tell them to go back to bed.
Dad: (still comatose) Huh?
Mom: It's four o'clock in the morning!
Dad: Uh, OK.

So dad shuffled downstairs to find Emily and Lauren scouting out the loot around the tree. No, they hadn't opened anything. But they did have a rundown of how many presents everyone had, as well as ideas on what was inside each one.

Santa Claus Is Coming...

Exactly what are Emily and Lauren doing outside in their PJs?

The night before Christmas was an exciting one in our house. After all, we had heard from Santa himself that his reindeer liked carrots. And the girls already had plans to leave him a nice plate of cookies and a glass of milk.

But there was a new twist this year. Julia's preschool class made some special reindeer food. But when she didn't want to venture out into the cold, Emily and Lauren took it upon themselves to spread the reindeer food on the front yard.

It's Pajama Time

Every year on Christmas Eve, Santa makes an early trip to the YD house to deliver a special gift: new pajamas.

The girls look forward to these "footie" pajamas. But this year, Santa must have been drinking a little too much eggnog because Lauren's, Julia's and Emily's were all a bit too small. Julia and Emily decided to hang onto theirs, though, so Lauren will be waiting for an exchange.

Stay tuned for the entire review of Christmas 2005.

Shop 'Til You Drop

The old saying that you'll "spend money before it burns a hole in your pocket" was never more evident yesterday than when the girls hit the road for an afternoon of shopping.

So many things to look at, so many toys to try, so many that cost more than the $2 or $3 limit... It all added up to an exciting day, with one exception. Yep, Lauren was in her "Wendy Whiner" mode.

In the picture above, Uncle Jon is moderating the shopping experience (and holding a lollipop that any dentist is sure to recommend). Emily appears to have her hands full of cash, while Julia is taking a ride in style in the stroller. Olivia enjoyed purchasing a new cell phone to go with the pink purse she's holding. Lauren is not picture, though I can guess that she was probably on her hands and knees with her head down, whining about being "too tired" or "not seeing anything" she likes.

A Little Tub Time

Veronica has a serene moment with mom during bath time.

"Bath nights" are always cause for concern at our house. For one, dad wants to have no part of them. Sure, he'll turn on the water or adjust the shower head just right. But when it comes to watching or assisting the littler ones, he'd rather not get wet and leave the bathroom feeling like he needs to towel off, too.

Mom probably feels about the same way, but never says it out loud. Instead, she gets the girls' towels ready, as well as a fresh change of clothes (or pajamas) and makes sure the girls use "no knots" after shampooing their hair. Again, dad rarely gets involved in this part of the routine for two reasons: 1) he has little or no hair himself; 2) This makes him "inexperienced" with the process, so he defers to the "expert" in hair care (mom).

Veronica seems to enjoy her time in the tub. As long as the water is warm and there's not a big audience of gawkers (Olivia and Julia, this means you), she's just fine.

Forget Apples, We've Got Good Stuff!

The girls show off their teacher gifts before taking them to school.

It's always a tough decision - what to get your teacher for Christmas. Since mom is a teacher, she knows there are "bad" gift ideas for teachers. Some of the gifts that mysteriously "disappeared" from our house after she got them included: coffee mugs, stuffed animals, books (because she usually already had them) and perfume (unless you asked her what kind she wanted).

On tap for Emily, Lauren, Julia and Olivia's teachers today was a host of goodies: Custom-made penguin bags filled with snowmen, gingerbread and Santa figurines and a matching embroidered kitchen towel. The figurines are designed to double as picture holders. But instead of pictures, we included each girls' favorite cookie recipe: Emily had chocolate brownies (sprinkled with powdered sugar), Lauren had forget 'em cookies (with crushed peppermint sticks), Julia's was oatmeal scotchies and Olivia had scotcheroos (an OB family favorite). Besides the recipes themselves, the girls each baked their favorite cookies and each teacher received a sampling of all four girls' baked goods.

Three Months Old

Veronica turned three months old today and the celebration was marked by... well, not much at all.

That's probably because the entire family is pretty focused on Christmas. The girls only have two more days before school lets out for the year. And that means getting their teachers' gifts made, baked and wrapped.

But all that aside, Veronica is progressing along pretty well. Her "pooper problems" still remain. Perhaps if she was drinking prune milk, she would be a little more regular. As it is, she seems to have tummy troubles more than any of the other girls did when they were infants.

Veronica is also starting to smile a lot more. She still seems to get upset if she's left alone - perhaps because she is used to being the middle of everything. As for her sleeping habits, she regularly sleeps four, five or even six hours at a time.

It's Us... Again

Aunt Dee-Dee makes trips to the emergency room feel better.

It is pretty sad that staffers at the Children's Hospital emergency room practically know us by name. In the last year, we've zoomed up the ramp to the ER for fingers slammed in doors, allergic reactions, deep cuts and now a bite through the lip.

It happened when Olivia decided to make a late-night stop in mom and dad's room. Instead of sleeping peacefully in her cozy, warm bed, she hopped up on their bed, only to tumble backwards to the floor moments later. What at first appeared to be a bloody lip was actually a cut opened up when she bit through her bottom lip.

Fortunately, no stitches were needed and about an hour later, she was back at home and sleeping in the bed where she belongs.


Olivia wasn't too thrilled to give us a close up of the damage.

Christmas Programs Galore

Recognize anyone in this nativity scene? Yep, that's Emily as the Virgin Mary. And Veronica did a tremendous job playing the part of baby Jesus, save for the time period snafu (her binkie).

The theme of this year's Christmas program was "Signs." Fortunately, mom attended the rehearsals and knew not to make eye contact with any students when they begin searching the audience for parents to participate in the program's grand finale.

To help you better spot her, we have highlighted Lauren amongst her classmates. Since mom and dad had a front row seat (because of Emily and Veronica's VIP status), she was easy for us to spot.

Julia had her own school Christmas program on a different day. But it was still a solid performance. She also brought home a colorful holiday wreath she made (not pictured, sorry) that we hung above the stairway leading down from the kitchen.

Julia later starred as a sheep (below) in a home version of a traditional Christmas program. (Note the stand-in for Veronica this time.)

Emily (left) shows off her thespian versatility by playing the Innkeeper. Missing is Olivia, who may very well have been following a different star to another stable.

Checking His List...

Our friends, the Graeves, invited us to a special party to get the girl's last-minute requests into Santa. As you can see from the pictures, he was all ears for (clockwise from top left) Emily, Julia, Olivia and Veronica. Where is Lauren? She was on the "naughty" list for the night and had to stay home.


By the way, this is the REAL Santa. He told us his reindeer were back at the North Pole resting up for the big night.

Welcome To God’s Family

Veronica was officially welcomed into Christianity today, in front of a large crowd of family and friends at St. Thomas More Church. With Fr. Paul hustling to squeeze the baptism in before a memorial service and two funerals that day, it was a "splash and dash" ceremony. Uncle Karl and Tante Mion (above and below) proudly served as Veronica's Godparents.

Uncle Karlie's Visit

Uncle Karl and Aunt Shirl enjoyed a game of Princess Monopoly Junior.

The much-anticipated arrival of Uncle Karl for Veronica's baptism was heralded by an unexpected announcement: he is engaged. Mom's older brother arrived at our house tonight with his fiancé Shirl sporting a good-sized rock on her left hand. The girls easily warmed up to the two, inviting them to partake in a game of Princess Monopoly Junior. The winner? Mom, of course. Like the girls always tell her, "cheaters never win!"

A Visit from St. Nick

There was a flurry of activity following St. Nicholas' visit.

Setting a shoe out for St. Nicholas' day (Dec. 6) is a Dutch tradition we honor — and it always pays great dividends. This year was no exception.

St. Nicholas delivered the girls some unique winter wear: elbow gloves. As Emily put it, "with regular gloves you always get snow up your coat and it makes your arm cold. But with these, you just roll the long part up your arm and it keeps the snow from getting in."

There was also a "sisters gift" of Princess Monopoly Junior, which Lauren likes very much (she's our "princess" fan). It's a children's version of the popular Monopoly board game.

The Annual Cookie Decorating Party

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That's a piece of pizza, not a cookie.

Part of our annual holiday routine, in addition to getting a live Christmas tree, is to attend the McCarty's cookie decorating party. It's an afternoon of icing, sprinkles and all kinds of decorative toppings for sugar cookies. Because dad was out of town this year, we took the McCarty's up on their invitation to stay for dinner (thus, the pizza). We did save some cookies for dad, though.

Emily Goes To The Hoop

Emily got her first taste of organized basketball this morning, playing in dad's grade-school gymnasium at Christ The King.

Sporting shiny, gold uniforms, the Bengals played well but came up short in the end, losing 14-12. Emily didn't score, but she did say she had fun. Mark it down — this could be the start of a productive career on the hardwood with her promising height.

Judging by this picture, Emily (left) will need to brush up on her defensive skills in the low post.