End of Year

So I had planned to do a nice big end of year wrap up post, but that didn't happen. Instead, I'll just post some pictures of the last week. Christmas here was very merry - I got wonderful stuff from everyone (a big THANK YOU to all of you).
Check out all that loot! Seriously, next year we really need to scale it back a bit I'm thinking. That was before the opening, and afterwards the right side remained untouched, and we spread it out for when the Perryites would arrive later on.
After dinner at Aunt Ginny's we all met up at the house for the rest of Christmas. Lots of good stuff. There were a bunch of hats knitted and gifted:
Didn't manage to get a picture of Elliott in his, and that was the best we got of the other boys. Warning - the next photo is slightly PG-13.
The infamous reindeer hat. As my sister requested, to match the infamous Mittens of Doom. And that is it for the knitting of reindeer/moose for a good long while.

The kiddos did get some good toys - never mind that there was a no toy rule this year.
That may not actually qualify as toys - are musical instruments toys? Nah, we'll count them as educational. Next time the Jersey kids come to visit they can put together a band, with the drum that Sarah got (she's good, she demonstrated for us on the video call).
Next post I promise to show some knitting - there's been some going on here and hoping to get more done. Hope everyone has a very happy, healthy, safe New Year, and I'll see you in '010.

Merry Belated Christmas

Here's hoping that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did. Lots of great gifts, and most importantly, a day spent with family. Here's some snapshots of the best bits.

So, after midnight Mass, and the second half of Baryshnikov's "Nutcracker" on PBS, we realized that Dad's stocking was somewhere packed away in the attic. Hmmm. Improvisation.

It's a referee's sock! How appropriate.

Ellie got a ski bunny outfit - she was very excited. So excited that she decided to model it - with props.
Here she is showing us what it'll look like when she falls.

And we of course, had to take plenty of the babies! It was Mason's and Joelle's first Christmas.

The reason to have a baby girl. So cute in the party dresses!

A tradition continues.

And then, after all the gifts were opened, I forced my family to do a fashion show of handknits.

Peggy's Toe Socks (aka CP 4)

Ellie in her new career as a hand model, with her Dashings (aka CP 2)

Mom in her gorgeous Clapotis scarf (aka CP 1)

And speaking of handknits, I had Christmas with friends on Sunday. Gave Bridget here headband and mittens. And Kaylee got lots of plates and utensils and cups (it was what was asked for - I included a book for fun, and made sure that Elmo made an appearance on cups and plates and forks, she loved all of it). As you can see, the knits were a huge hit.Please, no photos.

Annie, you're between me and my crack! Get out of my way! (crack = Elmo's tv special)