It's Saturday, January 3rd. My parents left this morning to return to Ohio, and my husband is taking my brother and his family to the airport for their flight to New Mexico. I am taking a break from undecking the halls to write about the final part of our Christmas week.

On the 30th, my brother and his family came to our house to open gifts and visit. My nephew and niece are 2 and 1, and they are adorable (my opinion is completely unbiased). My kids enjoyed being the big cousins for a change. My niece was a little reticent around the unfamiliar faces, but my Favorite Boy could get a smile from her; and as long as my nephew had a car in his hand, he was a happy boy.

We ate lunch and opened presents. Grammy was nice enough to let her grandkids help her. One of her gifts was a box of books. I admit that I immediately borrowed the newest Nicholas Sparks book to read before she left. My Favorite Boy received some new Xbox games, so he gave his uncle a video game tutorial.

It was a beautiful day, so Papa took the kids outside for some play time. My Best Girl loves her new scooter from Grammy and Papa; my nephew loved being driven around in the pink convertible.

On Friday evening, we took my Favorite Boy, Best Girl, and my nephew to see the lights at the Opryland Hotel. Taking pictures of them was kind of like herding cats, but they enjoyed the evening.

Christmas 2008 has come to a close. We had a wonderful time with family and friends. We now return to our regularly scheduled life!

Grammy, my Best Girl, and I decided to have some special girls' time today, so we left the boys at home in front of the television. We headed to the mall to take advantage of the Build-a-Bear gift card that Grammy gave my Best Girl for Christmas.

On our way to Build-a-Bear, we stopped at Bath and Body to check out the sale items (Wallflowers and refills are $5), and then we were stopped by a man selling curling irons at a kiosk. He asked my Best Girl if he could style her hair. She hopped right up in his seat so she could get beautiful. I let him know it was fine with me as long as he knew I wasn't planning to buy anything! She was very pleased with her fancy look.

After the glamour session was complete, we were off to Build-a-Bear. My Best Girl had never been there, so she was intrigued by the entire process. She chose a pink bear and named it Abby.

Her favorite part was the air bath and brushing station. She spent about 20 minutes working on Abby's fur.

We finished our outing with lunch in the food court. My Best Girl was excited to get a huge cone at McDonald's.


We enjoyed our special time, and it was a great way to start the New Year. I am sure the boys felt the same way about their time on the couch watching football!