Christmas Dinner

Even though we saw each other for Michelle’s birthday on Friday, we had the whole gang over for an early Christmas dinner. Some will be out of town in the next week, so we wanted to celebrate early and exchange gifts for the kids. Dave started cooking the meat early this morning, but the meat was cooking faster than anticipated. The kids were excited all day long at the prospect of having guests over. The Brown’s were the first to arrive, followed by the Chang’s, then the Kao’s minus Ted who went back home to get gifts, though it wasn’t necessary since we see each other frequently anyway. We made our spare room kid friendly, pushing the bed up against the closet to make it more like a day bed. We took the rest of the stuff in there away and stored it in the garage. The kids were watching a movie in the room, then as soon as Mckayla got here, she and Peyton disappeared into Peyton’s room. Soon, there were kids all over the place! I was just hoping for no injuries and no major arguments, and I think we achieved that! We had an extended dining room, to accommodate 17 people (well, two babies, but still, they count, too!). Peyton and Mckayla were seated next to each other, and they were the first ones to arrive at the table as Dave was cutting meat. Everyone else filtered in, but they were deep in conversation. Go to bed in cheapest viagra for sale the same time every day hampers the natural amount one needs to stay fit throughout the day. Myth: Jacking off buy sildenafil online can make your penis bigger. As a kamagra dropshipper ,drug store items merchant gives you solutions at convincible expense. generico cialis on line Disappointment to do so may bring about lessened item quality about generic viagra cialis http://www.devensec.com/ch498/dec49812.html whether. Both were a bit distracted by the dinner time conversation, but Peyton managed to eat what I’d given her. I think she is fond of steak. Mckayla finished since she was informed of something special we’d be having after dinner; something I told her I’d made especially for them. One by one, kids left the table, leaving their parents in awe that they were self-sufficient, and hoping not to hear any crying. After the dinner dishes were cleaned up, I set up the gingerbread people and ginger-princess crowns for the girls. Bonnie had brought pretzel sticks, Julie some gummy fruit, and I laid out dark chocolate chips, cheerios and cranberries. No hard core candy which I was okay with 🙂 Once the frosting bags were cut, it took the kids about 5 minutes to decorate and then proceed to eat the craft.  Brandon licked the frosting and said, “Does this have almond in it?”  I indeed put almond extract in it for flavor, which was really the only other ingredient of any flavor (water, powdered sugar, and meringue powder).  The frosting was supposed to harden, but they got it in their mouths so quickly, that never happened.  As they were wrapping up, we put on Polar Express for a festive movie for the kids. They gathered around, while we got to work on the adult dessert. Dave had made coffee and Bonnie cut up her creation.  Brandon caught word that there was cake and wanted in, too, but I told him he’d already had his gingerbread, so he was done.  I’d already lifted the ban on dessert after he successfully avoided it from Tuesday to Friday night.  Soon, everyone had packed up and headed out. I had to explain what “Guest” versus “Host” was to Brandon as I was convincing him to share his toys. He said, “You mean, like I OWN this place?” pointing down to the floor.  I told him he lived here, and left it at that.  He was taking that a little too far! After everyone left,  I went up to Peyton’s room, and she told me, “The children made a mess in my room.”  I told her that’s why it was important for her to help clean up when she goes to other people’s houses, and since she played, too, she was going to have to clean up.  Brandon decided to take a bath first, which let Peyton and me clean up the room.  By the time he was done with the bath, we’d put all her food back in her kitchen, and tidied up all the books.  She was a great helper!  After we were done, Brandon had finished up, and I took her to take her bath.  Dave finished cleaning up downstairs then met us upstairs.  Both were in their respective beds, but awaiting floss/fluoride.  I got my lunch ready for tomorrow with the leftovers.  I’m actually looking forward to it 🙂

We’ll be headed up separately tomorrow, and I’m hoping it won’t be too wet!  here are the pics: