Had myself a merry little Christmas!

  I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! For me, in spite of not feeling my best on the day, it was one of the best Christmases I've had in years.Our oldest, Emma,stayed all night Christmas Eve, so we had a nice, cozy Christmas eve, with our tradition of everybody falling asleep on me while I read "A Christmas Carol".(Everybody but Fuzzy, that is, who did his tradition of going to bed before everybody else so he didn't have to listen to "A Christmas Carol".) Christmas morning we were all here and Ivy didn't nearly explode, waiting for Emma to come over so she could go downstairs and open her presents. We took the kids' picture in front of the Christmas tree like we have done most of their lives.Fuzz, who has tried to prove how 'adult' he is for the last few years by claiming not to care about anyone but himself, went Christmas shopping! He bought presents for all of us and his best friends.I didn't have much of a chance to do any decent shopping because I only went to The Big City three times since Halloween, and two of those were rush trips.But, in spite of that everybody liked the gifts they got. I did a lot of online shopping, so that helped. As it turned out, a few things that were last minute finds or decisions turned out to be favourite gifts. The down side of online shopping was a few things didn't get here until after Christmas, but that was still ok. So, we had a very cozy Christmas, with everybody here, which is my favourite thing.That was my best gift.
  Of course, I got some other gifts too!

The haul. Note the gift 'for the woman who has everything': that new laundry basket we've been needing. Ken, good thing I know you're kidding!

A couple of Monty Python presents,( a DVD from Ken and a CD from Emma.), and a few Beatles ones,(socks from Emma and magazines from Ken).

Something for my viewing and listening enjoyment,

An obscure and short lived 70's tv series, the soundtrack to a great, underrated movie,and one of my all time favourite movies.) from Ken. 

Dolls, of course!

Maudlynne Macabre and China Girl wonder why Meygana is still in her box. So does Meygana. That sock monkey is just a ham.

  Maudlynne and China Girl are from Ken,as is the set of E.J. Taylor Ivy Cottage dolls,(The kids and I loved the books when they were small.), and the gum ball mini dinosaurs.(I really wanted those!Well, all of those!)And the sock monkey was from Fuzzy.
  And this Lalaoopsy from Ivy!

Guess who got me food!

My favourite Russell Stover chocolates,the best vegetarian marshmallows,candy,chocolate hazelnut Jif, and that bottle of Hershey's syrup I've been wanting to get for ages.Oh, and Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits to make at home! I had to promise Ken I would still go with him to the actual restaraunt. Of course I will: you can't get the Bar Harbor Salad with that blueberry dressing anywhere else!
And then there are some gifts that defy category!

Like this pig whisk from Emma.It matches our pot holder, spatula, and corn forks.
  I hope everybody's holiday was as good as mine was!