Pajamas

Okay, now the packages have been opened and I can reveal the pajamas I was working on.

From left to right-bottoms for Isaac and Chris, a Barbie print for Gracie, "88" Dale Earnhart Jr. for Sydney, and a car print to match Sam's hair color.

I had these cute car buttons in my stash and they worked nicely for Sam's pajamas.

"Mommy, this is just what I was wanting!"

Sam's mom said he had remarked this morning that he hoped Gramma had made him a new set of pajamas, so he was out of his mind when he opened them.

We had our gift exchange with our kids today, complete with pizza and beer for lunch. It was a fun way to do it. Jim and Millie wanted to try staying home for Christmas day, so we did the gift thing a day later. They loved being home, so I think this will be a permanent arrangement. We had one son and his family for dinner yesterday, plus my brother and his two daughters. We still had a lot of fun, even though it was a bit quieter and everybody had gone home by 6:00. It was OK, I don't know if I would have been able to stay coherent much after that.

Tomorrow we'll do the get-together with Stan's family. There will be about 30 people-a lot but not all of them-and we'll eat, play games, and open a few presents. Most of the presents will be homemade-I crocheted Swiffer covers for each couple and Stan made applesauce and crabapple jelly to go with it.

I told our kids today that we should revamp how we do gifts. My suggestion was something homemade, a voucher for chores, or food gifts. We're all pretty much set for "stuff" and making gifts seems more loving and sacrificial to me. So far my favorite gift is one Millie made-a calendar with pictures of all their kids. It looks like those slick calendars you see in the mall kiosks, but much more personal and something that won't ever get tossed.

Hubs gave me the Rosetta Stone, Spanish edition. Now maybe when I go to Mexico I won't look like an idiot.