Johnson-Parks Christmas

Well the Johnson and Parks family had another wonderful Christmas! My family (Mom, Dad and sister) came to Palm Bay to celebrate for the 3rd year in a row which is really nice. It's especially nice because my mom and dad also bring the food since I have yet to attempt a holiday meal. Terry, the kids and I woke up before my family came, ate breakfast, and opened gifts from the Parks' family in Columbus since they were unable to travel to Florida for the holiday. I did a separate post of those pictures. Shortly after we finished opening the gifts from The Parks, my family arrived. The kids, as expected, were not as interested in what was in the bag/paper as they were the bag and paper itself...until Tara's gifts of Crayola "Mess-Free Color Wonder" and "Aquadoodle" coloring and painting supplies were opened! From that point on they were only interested in coloring. What is nice about these gifts is that I don't have to worry about finding crayon on my walls (which hasn't happened yet, thankfully) since these markers and paints only show up on the special paper. Good job Crayola and Aquadoodle (and good job, Tara for giving them such a wonderful gift!)

Another hit was a gift from Terry and I...their "band in a box". It included a tamborine, morracas, symbols, a triangle, a clacker thing and a wooden noise maker "thing". Upon opening that gift, the entire family proceeded to make 'music' for a good 2 or 3 minutes. The kids LOVED IT...and, quite franky, so did the adults! I can't remember who all had which instrument, but we certainly put on a show! Good times. The kids were also fortunate to get gifts that they needed, like undershirts, shirts for school and cute pajamas! TJ got Superman pajamas (complete with the cape) and Olivia got "Disney Princesses" pajamas. They also got these cute 8x10 alphabet cards with animals on them to put up in their playroom...after I take down all of their Christmas decorations. They were fortunate to receive several books which will be a nice replacement for the mangled books that are now in their playroom. They received books from me (of course), my coworker who adores them and our beloved BCC Montessori school. And, as if they didn't have enough of these, their Ti-Ti (Aunt Tara) got them more mini-volleyballs from the women's volleyball national tournament in Nebraska that she bravely attended last week.

Of course, throughout the day, we enjoyed my mother's cooking and baking (mostly baking in my case...I couldn't put the pound cake and sweet potato pie down!). My mom was able to braid Oivia's hair (yes!...that means I don't have to do it!) and most everyone except myself and Olivia was able to take a nap.

I had such a wonderful time with my family...and especially loved seeing TJ and Olivia have so much fun with them.
Everyone has gone back home now, the kids are asleep and Terry is watching his 4th Christmas Day NBA game (the boy is obsessed...although I must admit there were some great games on today...). As soon as I post this blog, I am off to sleep as well...

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!