Christmas!

How were your holidays?  We had a lovely weekend. On Christmas Eve we hosted a gathering for family and friends, made a couple of big pots of soup, some homemade bread, lots of appetizers and cookies galore! Though the house was crowded and loud,  Charlene and Wylla didn't seem to mind one bit and were quite present at the party.

Bean spent a good 15 minutes belly-up on the living room rug in the middle of the madness.  Wylla did a lot of inspecting and sniffed the shoes of nearly every guest. She was very curious about the smells they brought in with them!

We opened presents with the girls on Christmas Morning and had a leisurely start to the day.  They enjoyed the ribbons and bows, stepping on the crinkly papers, and investigating gift bags.  They loved their gifts, too. Wylla got a feather wand (because Marigold destroyed her other one!) and Charlene got a fringy mouse toy on a wand.  She has a similar one, but it's getting a little worn out and isn't as fun to play with as it once was.  

 We lounged around the living room, called family, finished party clean-up, let the girls spend a little time on the back deck, and eventually got out of our pajamas and into the world.  Craig and I explored a little nature and took a hike, then headed into Seattle for some Chinese food and a movie.

When we returned that evening, we expected to find the girls waiting for us at the door, but no one was there.  We called, and no one came, which was really odd -- we always get a greeting!  Eventually, we found them curled up together on the bed in the guest room. I guess they were too happy and cozy to come say hello!

We coaxed them out with their new toys and spent the rest of the night playing with the cats.

All in all, a pretty great weekend!

We're still in holiday mode around here and are being kind of lazy, which is awesome. The whole month of December was bonkers, so it's nice to have some quiet time.


One last thing before I go, I just marked down the IBKC Christmas cards in the shop, and they are now 50% OFF!!!  Normally $15 for a set of 10, now only $7.50!! They'll be on sale until Wednesday at midnight, then I'll tuck any remaining cards away until next year.  SO, if you want to get an early start on your 2017 Christmas cards, pop on over there and take advantage of the big discount!!

We're out of the large Sparkle Balls, but I've got them on order, and they'll be back in the store in early January!