Christmas is over.

Wow, it's already 2013! Happy New Year, by the way. ;)

How were your Christmases though? What did you do? Do you have a favorite Christmas tradition?

Mine is probably having homemade hot chocolate & blueberry muffins for breakfast while opening or handing out gifts.

This was one of the best Christmases in my memory bank. I just had such a wonderful day from beginning to end. Honestly, the entire season was just wonderful. :)

This Christmas was special for my daughter as well. She made a gift for my husband (a little clay coffee cup, painted orange. Because he loves coffee & the color orange), got a Little Mermaid CD for me & picked out the stuffed tool set we all gave to her new little brother. She was very proud of this. :)

She got a lot of great gifts, but there was one that made her cry.

Here's the story:

Three(ish) years ago, Elexis got sick while I was at work. On my way to pick her up I stopped by the store to grab some medicine for her & while there I spotted an adorable, stuffed St. Bernard puppy. He was $5.00 & was screaming at me to take him home to my sick little girl. With the combination of his face & price tag, I could not argue. She loved him. His name was Jellybean & she took him everywhere. He slept with her at night & joined us for activities during the day.

And then he was gone.

We looked everywhere! Our apartment, Grandma's house, my boyfriend's (now husband's) house. We called stores that we had recently been to, but no one had seen him. He was gone. And she was so sad. :(

Since then I have been searching for the exact same puppy & have failed. Miserably.

Until last month. I found a puppy that was VERY similar. Similar enough that I knew she wouldn't notice a difference. I mentioned it to my husband & we decided that at $10.00 it was worth a shot.

Here's how it went.... :)

'Twas the night before Christmas....
Just kidding. I'm not going to attempt a parody. :-P

Santa ate up his cookies & he drank up his coffee (Elexis thought he would need more energy if he was going to visit ALL the children of the world).

Jellybean is left by the cookie plate with a note.

A note from Santa!
Didn't he burn the edges so nicely?? Way to go, Mr. C! ;)

She cried. She was so happy.

She barely put him down the rest of the day.

Gifts from my sister, brother-in-law & their kids.

This is a pretty fun game. :)

Setting it up.
The only thing is that you have to be very careful not to bump it or all the marbles spill & you have to start over.

Iron Chef Mini!!
Lol, she was having fun with her new chef gear. She made herself some oatmeal. Then she helped me make the icing for my German Chocolate Cake.

THIS is my German Chocolate Cake!
It is so delicious yummy divine!
Seriously, this is without question the best German Chocolate Cake I have ever had.
I will make it again & post the recipe.

This is what Christmas is like in a Filipino household. They eat well. :)

This is more of my delicious cake. Oh my soul.
We didn't actually eat the pieces that large. That would have killed us.

Lexi enjoyed it too.
This picture is SOOO blurry! She wouldn't hold still! 

That was a very very fun & very exhausting Christmas. We all slept like babies when we got home. :)