early Christmas, part one

We celebrated Christmas last weekend.  On purpose.  Early.

No, it's not because I get so DIALED UP to give out presents that I just forced the issue.  Nope.  

In fact, it was because Dustin and Geri are about to move back to Houston from Austin (sniff sniff) and we needed to get together before they were lost in paper and boxes, or better yet, playing caravan with the moving truck.

(Yes, I am aware that Houston is very close to Austin and is not, in fact, on the moon.)

But anyway, we told Jack that it was Christmas and he thought that was GREAT.

It looked like Christmas, after all.

It tasted like Christmas, even.  I had made cookies for the occasion.  Chocolate cookies with peppermint patties inside, to be specific.  I found the recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod.  Deeelish.

And so, sure enough, it was Christmas.

The first order of business on Saturday was Jack's stocking.  I'm not sure why, other than that between Durel, his mom, and I, we really couldn't wait to start giving Jack presents.  And the stocking seems, well, innocent enough to start with.  

Inside, young sir found a new pair of boots and a brand new slinky.  It is important to wear one's pajamas when trying on new boots.  And it is best to wear one's newest boots when examining a new slinky.

I'm not good at math, but it worked something like this:  Slinky = joy.

Well, let me clarify.  Slinky = joy for Jack, and for us watching him.  But if I show you the full picture that I took here, you might spy some family members who were a little less enthused about it all.

I mean, Lucy got over it because she was soon in Pupperoni heaven.  (She has a stocking, too.)  And Bunny is never set aside for long, so he was happy soon enough.  (Though he had pirate goodies to reckon with, as well.  More on that later.)

So, you know, a good time was had by all.

Hope everyone is happy where you are today.

Talk soon,
Heather